Post by @strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz

Today I was reminded that there are grouplets in Aotearoa who think that supporting Ukraine's self-defence, against an imperial invader, is morally equivalent to supporting Israel's genocide in Gaza, or the US bombardment of Iran;

https://community.scoop.co.nz/2026/03/new-zealand-government-backs-criminal-war-against-iran/

This kind of Vulgar Marxist apologetics was already decades out of date when it was defending the USSR's imperial conquests. It makes absolutely no sense now that Russia is an openly capitalist state with a crypto-fascist dictator.

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Strypey

@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz 3 hr. ago

You have to wonder what kind of a Marxist group would push this pro-Putin line, and why. In this case, I don't think it has much to do with Russian bots.

This piece was published on behalf of campus Marxists called the Socialist Equality Group. They're aligned with a Marxist faction in the UK, called the Socialist Equity Party. I suspect both groups would dismiss Wikipedia as a tool of US imperialism, but their article is nevertheless an eyebrow-raising read;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Committee_of_the_Fourth_International

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Strypey

@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz 3 hr. ago

Both groups are part of international network of Marxists who consider themselves the inheritors of Leon Trotsky's Fourth International. Which according to Marxist lore, was formed in 1938, after Stalin ejected him from the USSR. There are 2 Marxist of groups in the UK alone who make this claim.

The whole thing reminds me of the guy who who thought he was the hidden king of the UK;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sPl1deOLps

Even in the unlikely event it's true, it changes nothing.

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Strypey

@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz 2 hr. ago

When the USSR collapsed and stopped funding Marxist parties outside the Soviet bloc, it quickly became clear how little popular support they really had. Most had collapsed by the end of the decade. Surviving only via bored retirees, posting on blogs, and recruiting students into groups like Social Equality.

Like the rest of them, Trotsky's splinter group and its successors didn't achieve anything of significance.
Why would any sensible political group fight over its inheritance?

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Strypey

@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz 2 hr. ago

Some campus Marxist groups are more pragmatic. They're led by people who broke with the USSR-funded parties, inspired by currents like autonomism. Rather than parroting whatever their offshore parent group is saying, they base their analysis on what's observable in the country, and around the world.

But groups like Socialist Equality Group just can't be taken seriously. They're not so much political groups as Protestant cults who've swapped out Jesus for Trotsky, or Mao, or whoever.

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Strypey

@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz 2 hr. ago

This is a group who dismisses the ISO - another campus Marxist group - as "middle-class". Despite the fact that when they say;

"Workers and young people must draw fundamental political lessons from the failure of this perspective."

... they're specifically appealing to students who are *not* workers. Which class are they again?

If anyone can think of a better example of 'the narcissism of small differences', I'd love to hear it.

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Strypey

@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz 2 hr. ago

Similarly - following the line of their UK parent group - SEG try to spin the Greens as being pro-war. A party for whom non-violence is one of their 4 core values;

https://www.greens.org.nz/charter

They claim that;

"The party backed the US-NATO war against Ukraine"

https://community.scoop.co.nz/2026/03/new-zealand-government-backs-criminal-war-against-iran/

That sentence is, in itself, a pretty impressive example of Naomi Klein's Mirror World. But here are some examples of what Greens actually said about Ukraine;

https://web.archive.org/web/20220319164219/https://www.greens.org.nz/greens_call_government_mediator_peace_ukraine

https://web.archive.org/web/20220306202900/https://www.greens.org.nz/greens_support_resettlement_ukrainian_refugees

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Strypey

@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz 1 hr. ago

The SEG also claim that the Greens;

"... argued for a major increase in NZ’s military spending."

https://community.scoop.co.nz/2026/03/new-zealand-government-backs-criminal-war-against-iran/

This seems ... unlikely. Again, here's an example of what Greens were really saying during the 2017-23 government they were part of;

"That is a lot of money and defence equipment costs a lot - but again we could have invested in smaller planes and done without the war-making capability that we're renewing,"

#GolrizGhahraman, 2019

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/391812/defence-force-s-1b-spend-unnecessary-greens

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RNZ

Defence Force's $1b spend unnecessary - Greens

The centrepiece of the Defence Force's new $20 billion upgrade is being labelled as unnecessary.

Community Scoop » New Zealand Government Backs Criminal War Against Iran

Strypey

@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz 1 hr. ago

SEG's idea of backing up this claim about the Greens supporting increased military spending is quoting this recent select committee comment by Teanau Tuiono;

“I hear what you’re saying around being combat ready.”

I don't need to consult the transcript to know selective quoting when I see it. This is the kind of sentence that's almost always followed by a "but".

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Strypey

@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz 48 min. ago

Teanau Tuiono is a fellow veteran of Aotearoa Indymedia, and the 2002 anti-WTO protests in Sydney. I consider him a friend, although we haven't caught up in a long time.

But despite all that, and the obvious unreliability of anything the SEG says, I can't rule out the possibility that Teanau's politics have changed since becoming an MP.

Plus I'm a pedantic nerd with time on my hands (I'm sick and stuck in bed), and now I'm wondering what he actually said. Let's go find that transcript!

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Strypey

@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz 40 min. ago

With a quick web search, I learned that select committee hearings aren't part of the Hansard. Which only covers debates in the house itself.

Instead, select committee transcripts are part of their reports. To find these, we go to;

https://www.parliament.nz/

... and click on 'select committees' under 'Parliamentary business'. Then click on the relevant committee.

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#SelectCommittees #NZParliament #transparency #OpenGovernment

Strypey

@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz 30 min. ago

I think it's safe to assume that in this case, I'm looking for the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade select committee. Clicking on that, and then on the 'reports' tab, I'm faced with 10 reports for 2026 alone.

Which one was SEG quoting from?

Further investigation is clearly required (as I say, I'm bored, and in the mood to pick apart disinfo).

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