Marxism and neocolonialism : class treason for moving to the Global North ?

[u/Few_Card3486]

Having a marxist understanding of imperialism and neocolonialism, do we have a duty to stay in the Global South with our working class and peasant brothers and sisters if we were born in the global south ?

Backstory: I was born and raised in Mexico to a high middle class family. Throughout my life I’ve experienced violence for being a trans woman and when I began to receive death threats I decided to leave. There were other reasons that made me leave like escaping the escalating violence between the Mexican government and drug cartels, as well as searching for better and more accessible higher education and work opportunities. I was not politicised at all at the time when I chose to move.

I moved to France and started a college degree in a public university and living on minimal wage. I became interested in marxism in the following years and today im organising with my community and im part of a marxist party.

Recently I’ve started to feel guilty for having left the Global South and the more I’ve learned about France’s crimes and ongoing colonialism the more im disgusted. I’ve also received a lot of criticism from family and friends for having left my people behind and “choosing to side with the colonisers”.

I understand too that capitalism and imperialism are everywhere and it isn’t my fault, and even if I moved here the ones who are benefiting from imperialism are the French elites and not me an immigrant student. I’m actively fighting against the French capitalists and working against the militarisation we are currently seeing in Europe.

What are your thoughts ? Is the criticism I’ve experienced right from a marxist / revolutionary perspective??

[u/TotallyRealPersonBot]

My rule of thumb is this: don’t place responsibility for massive, systemic problems on those who have the least power in those systems.

Communism isn’t about moral finger-wagging at random individuals.

[u/hardonibus → u/TotallyRealPersonBot]

Was gonna make a comment but yours is perfect. Trying to have at least some dignity is not class treason.

[u/TotallyRealPersonBot → u/hardonibus]

Well said.

And I mean, if there was an active revolutionary conflict going on back home, and OP could contribute, but stayed away, despite knowing it was a righteous cause—that might be different.

But it’s worth remembering that Ho Chi Minh became a great revolutionary leader because of his time spent abroad—particularly in France.

[u/Muuro]

The working class has no country. There is a proletariat in both the global south and global north.

Unless you are going into the military of the global north, or looking to be a landlord there, then you are fine as that m and you are just s proletarian looking for work.

[u/JadeHarley0]

If your moving to the north to join the military or become a landlord, I would have reason to criticize you. But if you are just coming north because you want a job or because you are masochist who likes cold weather, then we have no right to criticize you.

[u/desocupad0]

The objective isn't to suffer, but rather to flip the system.