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Radical tourists have been deluded pimps for Venezuela
The GuardianRadical tourism is no different from sex tourism. In both the political and the coital, the inhabitants of the rich world go to the poor to find the thrills no one will give them at home.
...snip...
For their part, political tourists are stuck in a sexless marriage to a Britain that offers them no excitement. The proletariat has refused their entreaties to revolt. Their radical fantasies are never fulfilled. So they, too, scour the world. For years, the top radical tourist destination, the political equivalent of the Pattaya Beach brothel, has been Chavista Venezuela. Hollywood stars, the leaders of the British Labour party and Spanish popular resistance, and every half-baked pseudo-left intellectual from Noam Chomsky to John Pilger has engaged in a left orientalism as they wallowed in the others exotic delights.
Venezuela stroked all their erogenous zones. Hugo Chávez and his successor Nicolás Maduro were anti-American and anti-imperialist. That both allied with imperial powers, most notably Russia, did not appear to concern them in the slightest. Venezuela, cried Seumas Milne in the Guardian, has redistributed wealth and power, rejected western neoliberal orthodoxy, and challenged imperial domination. What more could a breathless Western punter ask for?
Never underestimate the power worship of those who claim to speak for the powerless, or the credulity of the supposedly wised-up critical theorist. For those who yearn in their dark hearts for strong men, who can crush all enemies, Chavismo reeked of machismo, and provided the great leaders they could adore.
...snip...
For their part, political tourists are stuck in a sexless marriage to a Britain that offers them no excitement. The proletariat has refused their entreaties to revolt. Their radical fantasies are never fulfilled. So they, too, scour the world. For years, the top radical tourist destination, the political equivalent of the Pattaya Beach brothel, has been Chavista Venezuela. Hollywood stars, the leaders of the British Labour party and Spanish popular resistance, and every half-baked pseudo-left intellectual from Noam Chomsky to John Pilger has engaged in a left orientalism as they wallowed in the others exotic delights.
Venezuela stroked all their erogenous zones. Hugo Chávez and his successor Nicolás Maduro were anti-American and anti-imperialist. That both allied with imperial powers, most notably Russia, did not appear to concern them in the slightest. Venezuela, cried Seumas Milne in the Guardian, has redistributed wealth and power, rejected western neoliberal orthodoxy, and challenged imperial domination. What more could a breathless Western punter ask for?
Never underestimate the power worship of those who claim to speak for the powerless, or the credulity of the supposedly wised-up critical theorist. For those who yearn in their dark hearts for strong men, who can crush all enemies, Chavismo reeked of machismo, and provided the great leaders they could adore.
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Radical tourists have been deluded pimps for Venezuela (Original Post)
brooklynite
May 2016
OP
pmorlan1
(2,096 posts)1. Nick Cohen? Seriously
Not a fan of Nick Cohen.
Ten years on, the case for invading Iraq is still valid
Nick Cohen
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/mar/03/10-years-right-invaded-iraq
KG
(28,751 posts)2. I lulz'd
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)3. I'm surprised the Guardian would even print this
given that it's so far from the 'official positions' of that paper and staff...