Some of the comrades who saw my posts and comments know where I live, but for those who don’t know, I live in one of the worst parts of the Global South.
The country became a US land base right after its founder leader’s death, and the current government is speedrunning its collapse. It was always a horrible place to live if you were not one of the ruling class elites (govt officials, landowners, bourgeoisie, and their relatives). And anyone who doesn’t fit the “ideal citizen” bill gets brutally oppressed, which is something inherited from the predecessor state. Most of the brilliant minds got murdered because of this politics, and the remaining people became self-centered opportunists.
Combining all these factors, we have got masses who are,
—Protesting the govt and getting brutalized and getting their future ruined (I am one of them),
—Agitators who cry over social media but refuse to help the protesters because either they see themselves as too important or they are justifiably scared of their future,
—Ignorant of the situation because they have seen the previous governments and believe nothing will ever happen,
—Scum of humanity who’s profiting off of the decline.
The last two people are, unfortunately, the majority of the people. They have been pushed to those roads by the state and the foreign actors for paving the way for the collapse of the state. Why aren’t we educating them? The leftist movements were strong during the 60s and early 70s, but NATO pushed the button, and the state has been cracking down on us like we are a crime syndicate. Btw, the crime rates are at an all-time high because of these factors.
While we are struggling for literal survival, the current govt is selling the country’s lands, assets, and even its people. We are dying by natural disasters, drought, unaffordable living standards, murders, drug overdoses, and workplace safety violations; our govt rubs their hands, calculating how to profit off of it. This is literal colonial government behavior, and it consists of dumb village fucks who can’t see farther than their noses.
I’ve tried, comrades; I’ve really tried for a better future. But with an oppressive regime and its blind followers, that’s all I can do. I am tired; I want out, but the West refuses me because I am a “filthy barbarian” while accepting literal baby killers, and AES states are averse to me because I am from the semi-periphery with a comprador government. I feel I am trapped in Purgatory’s border with Hell. Not only that, but I don’t even feel safe for my life; I might get killed randomly by anything, but I still try to hold on to that strain of hope.
Pretty much the history of the global South, sir. Have you considered going to another global south country where things are bad but not as bad as yours?
Western parts are EU, and they don’t want “our kind”. Northern, southern and eastern parts are warzones.
I can move to a place not bordering the country, but it costs much more than what I earn monthly. Saving money you say? Good luck trying to save the money left from paying the taxes, rent, bills, and buying “food” and gas.
I don’t want to in any way marginalize the struggles that you and people in your country are going through which are real and painful and i am very sorry you have to experience them. We have been following news about natural disasters in your country here for a while and you have all our sympathies. I just want to offer some perspective:
While your country is not quite part of the imperial core despite its membership in an imperialist organization, it is also not fully a global south country. Rather it is one of very few that are in between, on the semi-periphery. That comes with certain advantages and freedoms that neither imperial core countries nor global south countries have.
On the one hand you are insulated from direct violence perpetrated by the imperial core, on the other hand you still have more national autonomy and freedom of alignment than full imperial vassals do. As a result your country has been sort of straddling both worlds for some time. Not always to the advantage of its people, and sometimes to the detriment of global south countries around you, but nevertheless this should give you some hope.
Because it means that you have the potential as the imperialist bloc weakens to seek alignment with the rising multipolar world instead, which can greatly improve material conditions in your country even without a full socialist revolution. You also have a strong enough military to protect your independence and not become a victim of imperialist aggression when you do choose to leave their camp.
It will take some time to build the social consciousness in the people necessary for real revolutionary changes, but i believe that will come in time as it becomes clear that continuing to bet on the declining imperialist camp is no longer advantageous and a realignment with more progressive global forces is in the interest of both the working class and the national bourgeoisie. What matters now is getting rid of the compradors and the opportunists.
It is not something that will happen overnight but if progressive and independence-minded political forces in your country can build up real organization and a political base, then the global situation will undoubtedly, sooner or later, provide a catalyst (some major crisis that will make continuing status quo impossible and mobilize the masses) for real change.
As I said in another comment, the contradictions are grinding down the country. This is actually the main cause of the issues at hand.
As for the military, after the July 15 civil coup—it needs its own post to explain, but tldr: Erdoğan and AKP soared after that—the govt purged any military personnel who weren’t Atlantic sea cucumbers. The conscripted soldiers are getting abused by their superiors for their sadistic entertainment, and the commanding officer makes the worst decisions possible during the conflicts they are involved in. The tariqa fights in the military are a whole other can of worms and a branch of the tariqas-government relationships.
And I don’t believe an imperialist invasion will happen under this govt since the country is NATO’s backyard. If they want to destabilize the government, just persecute them for their mountain of crimes and install a moderate one. If they want to destabilize the country further, just let the govt start the civil war they’ve been waiting for.
We have to wait for our turn to shine since the material reality is very hostile against the left.
Sorry to hear about your struggles comrade. But personally I’d still not quite consider your country really “global South”, at least not as it materially exists in the imperialist economy.
Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, or if I’m misunderstanding where this is, but compared to the global average, is significantly higher up on mean living standards and even freedom of movement/travel compared to the vast majority of countries out there. If I wanted to travel to the EU for example, I’d have to spend absurd amounts of time and money getting a visa application (because of course we are filthy barbarians here) but as I understand it’s not as difficult for you, is it not? I still consider it to be global North in a material sense, but that says little more than that the capitalist class in your country are miles better off thanks to imperialism, while in reality the average people like you and I likely live in similar precarity even across countries.
It is hard to travel to the West for us as much as to you. We have to file shit ton of documents to prove we are not going to live there, pay the thieving visa centers ridiculous amounts, pay the exit toll to the govt because “we are going to spend money in other countries”, buy the bloated plane tickets, and then still get rejected because “fuck you that’s why.”
Our place in the global is very controversial. We are like Japan and false Korea to the USA, we operate with the NATO, EU and other imperial organizations, but nobody truly supports us. We also have imperialist tendencies, but nobody wants a rival to Israel. We are a country of contradictions, and those contradictions are currently grinding down what’s left over.
