Episode 55: An Endorsement of Whataboutism, Tankies and Moral Equivalence with Justin Podur

In the Context of Empire

Matt was joined by Justin Podur to discuss the terms "whataboutism," "tankies" and "moral equivalence" as useful tools for anti imperialists, despite imperialist attempts to dismiss them. Justin is the founder of the Anti Empire Project and Anti Empire project Podcast. He is the author of America’s Wars on Democracy in Rwanda and the DR Congo and The Path of the Unarmed. He is the co-author of Extraordinary Threat: The U.S. Empire, the Media, and Twenty Years of Coup Attempts in Venezuela Justin is also an Associate Professor at York University's Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change.

Discussed in this Episode:

- The origins of "whataboutism," how it has been used, and why imperialists are so quick to dismiss it as a tactics

- The racist origins of imperialists dismissing calls for racial equality as "whataboutism" throughout the the Cold War

- A discussion about how literally EVERY BEHAVIOR the United States accuses other nations of are behaviors that US either engages in itself, or supports governments that do so.

- The value of "whatboutism" as a tool in argument

- The charge of being a "tankie" or engaging in moral equivalence

- Is calling out hypocrisy useful? There are endless examples, but do the imperialists actually care if they are behaving in obviously hypocritical ways?

Our Work:

Read our "In the Context of Empire" blog with corresponding and expanded posts to this content!

Find some of Matt's writing at CovertAction Magazine

Social Media: Twitter- @JonTheContrary and @Mattylongruns

Music produced by Zac McKenna- @mcktasty