This post really highlights my frustration with being a Marxist— I had a friend call me a conspiracy theorist when I explained to him what Banana Republics were and the coup in Nicaragua as an example of socialism “not working” because of outside forces. He constantly trolls me for being a communist and I demonstrate his lack of knowledge of history and philosophy, when he asks me for where I get my information he refuses to engage with the resources I send him. He refuses to understand that the dichotomy of American politics is a lie and thinks any third party left of the Democrats is useless and will be the same as the Democrats (well, we know why he is kind of right), and he keeps voting Democrat. He even told me I don’t know what liberal means, when I use it in the philosophical sense, and when I asked him if he knows what philosophical liberalism is (after claiming he took a political science class in college) he just choked up and didn’t answer the question.

Ever since I fully lost my liberal brain, it makes me want to punch walls when people bring up absolute nonsense or regurgitated propaganda about communism/Marxism and socialism. Even that, the vast majority of talking points can be used against capitalist countries tenfold. People will shit all over communism from 85 years ago when their country (USA in my case) was actually an apartheid state 85 years ago. I like to bring up that people like me (mixed race black and white) were illegal until 1968 and if you tried to make a law like that in the USSR they would have rightfully shot you at the time in the 1920s-30s (I use this with black friends who give me the common arguments against communism). Also, limiting of freedom of speech is a nonsense argument because liberal democracies constantly suppress narratives they don’t like. There’s just contradictions in everything that comes out of a liberal’s mouth.

I have begun to liken the development of communism with the development of the scientific method, as theory vs praxis with dialectic change, and how you can’t make arguments like above when the country you live in is static in nature and was worse socially.

I was pointing out the usage of language and its intersubjectivity to create narratives, I wasn’t insinuating it was RDK or Russian Neo-Nazis specifically.

In this context the usage of extremist is null if I’ve seen Western news articles call actual extremists patriots and omit their extremist ideology.

RDK (Russvolcorps) and a few other associated groups are known to be Neo-Nazis (sorry their names escape me right now). RDK’s philosophy is fighting for a smaller Russia just for ethnic Russians. The leader of RDK and other members have openly said they are Neo-Nazis. They are ethnonationalists. Also yes, they are paramilitary.

That image in the OP has the RDK flag.

This image is from their first incursion into Belgorod, the recent one wasn’t the first. The guy standing on the BMP has a small RDK flag, and you can see their armbands.

EDIT: I just realized the guy with the censored face in my photo is the same as the guy with the patches in the OP. Same body type, gear, and tattoo on arm.

Yeah well, “extremists” of what variety? Western media calls RDK “patriots who love their country and hate Putin”.

Inside the West, acts by individuals driven by dominant or obscure ideals are put to liberal scrutiny and it’s narrated as their own volition acting with liberty.

Outside the West, everything is facilitated by authoritarian regimes and individuals don’t exist.

I was thinking about this exact contradiction the other day.