what if i told you that you should support the bugaloo boys in their struggle against american imperialism because they represent american culture on the ground, and it's invasive to insist on demanding i uphold concepts like universal human rights laws, as they have minimal meaning to americans?
first, i'd have to accept the premise that the bugaloo boys are representative of american culture - which i don't, just as i don't accept the premise that arabs are all a bunch of fundamentalist muslims; the fact that some of the most repressive governments in the world are fundamentalist islamic states notwithstanding, they really aren't. i mean, there's a small percentage of arabs that think like that, sure - just as there are a small number of americans that have extreme right-wing positions. but, we see how ridiculous it is to generalize americans that way pretty much immediately, and would probably call foreigners that insist on it racists. then, we apply the same ridiculous caricatures to arabs readily and gratuitously, and call it "cultural sensitivity" - while they laugh at us for our ignorance and absurdity.
second, i'd have to ignore the rights of everybody that the bugaloo boys would hurt if they took over power as unimportant in the face of the supremacy of american culture, insofar as erecting the strawman does. i'd have to decide that the right of americans to be americans means looking the other way as they lynch blacks and jews. well, what right do we have to enforce our values on them? the blacks just need to get out of the way. do you realize that's what you're telling shias and druze and everybody else, in context?
and, then, once all of this absurdity has run it's course, you'd have to rationalize the fact that you've told leftwing groups on the ground that their struggle is less important, and you're aligning with the most right-wing, reactionary forces you can find instead, because you have cultural sensitivity and respect the rights of americans to uphold their culture, which you're not judging and refuse to condemn.
said is extremely useful in breaking through this and deconstructing it for what it really is - an orwellian presentation of abject racism. and, that's all i've ever cited him for and i'll i ever would cite him for. he may be less useful in other contexts, but i'm not citing him in those contexts, so it doesn't matter, and i don't actually really care.
i mean, i don't have these debates about post-colonialism or post-structuralism. i agitate for international working class solidarity and revolution across borders, which i argue should not exist. it is for that reason that when i look at politics in the region, i will only support leftist groups that seek to overthrow the traditional culture - just as i support groups in the west that seek to advocate secularism, and reduce the role of traditional european cultural values. the left needs consistency here, not the celebration of difference.
in the end, it's the difference between being an actual leftist and being some kind of multiculturalist liberal.