It doesn’t even need to be crouched in terms of socialism, just “the American empire is bad for the world writ large, NATO is a facet of that empire, ergo NATO taking an L with regards to Ukraine is a lesser of two evils situation as while Putin is not good either, Russia is not destabilizing for the world the way America is.”

I think that’s where the counterhegemonic position part comes in; libs will acknowledge that America is not perfect (unlike conservatives), but even entertaining the idea that America is not the least-bad force is beyond the pale.

[–] FunkyStuff@hexbear.net 22 points 2 weeks ago

I was reflecting on it and I think for most American libs, reckoning with the principled anti-imperialist positions that they encounter on here is probably just asking a lot, psychologically speaking. It's a real "are we the baddies?" moment where you have to really entertain the possibility that all that surrounds you is legitimately evil and has been that way for a long time. It's much easier to think that Russia is behind the fascism they see around them than to face the reality that that's the essence of America itself.