Marco Rubio warns the world about left-wing terrorism, apparently with a straight face

Video: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio used a global counterterrorism stage to cast radical leftism as a threat to civilisation, urging more than 60 countries to fear Marxists, anarchists and anti-capitalists. (ABC 7 News)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has warned more than 60 countries that radical leftism is a supposed international terrorist menace threatening civilisation itself. It was a remarkable performance from an American administration surrounded by far more immediate threats than trade unions, anti-capitalists and university Marxists.

Rubio wants the world to be afraid of the left. Afraid of leftism itself. In a sweeping 20-minute speech, the US Secretary of State portrayed radical left-wing politics as a transnational force driven by resentment, destruction and hatred of Western civilisation.

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Image: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned the world about a supposed left-wing terrorist threat, portraying Marxists, anarchists and anti-capitalists as enemies of civilisation. (ABC 7 News)

Rubio described leftist ideology as a “distinctive and unique evil”.

He claimed leftists could not build, create or achieve great things. They simply wanted to destroy the achievements of supposedly greater men. The speech was delivered as a serious counterterrorism address and that is what made it so bizarre.

A member of the most embarrassing government on Earth warned an international audience about Marxists, anarchists and anti-capitalists as if the world were facing an imminent invasion of militant sociology students.

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It must be clarified that political violence is real and it happens. Violence carried out should be investigated, prosecuted and condemned. The strange part was Rubio’s attempt to elevate it into the central civilisational struggle of the age while blaming the whole world.

The bizarre speech repeatedly blurred lines between violent organisations and left-wing political ideas. Historical guerrilla armies, terrorist cells, protesters, communists, anarchists and anti-capitalists were folded into one enormous ideological threat against conservatives.

The message was that the left is inherently destructive.

Rubio claimed radical leftism was a “poisonous resentment” disguised as equality. He said its followers wanted to tear down everything beautiful, noble and successful.

This was a right-wing fantasy about what left-wing people supposedly believe. The left does not oppose civilisation. It opposes a civilisation in which a tiny number of people accumulate extraordinary wealth while millions struggle to afford housing, healthcare, food and education.

The left questions why the achievements of workers are credited almost entirely to executives, investors and “great men”. It does not despise infrastructure and much of the left wants governments to build more of it. Public housing, hospitals, schools, railways, renewable electricity and water systems are evidence of a belief that society should function for people who are not rich.

Rubio’s speech also required an extraordinary narrowing of the political lens. The world is dealing with war and one in particular started by the Americans against Iran. He chose this moment to announce that the great neglected threat was the radical left.

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Image: Donald Trump speaks from the Oval Office during a White House media appearance. (Jill Colvin / Associated Press / Getty Images)

US President Donald Trump’s radical MAGA political movement has spent years portraying protesters, migrants, academics, journalists and political opponents as enemies of the state.

Governments possess enormous powers when they invoke terrorism. They can expand surveillance, freeze funds, share intelligence, restrict travel and criminalise association. Those powers are dangerous enough when directed at clearly defined organisations involved in violence. They become politically explosive when loose categories such as “radical leftism”, “anti-capitalism” or “anti-imperialism” are used.

Rubio’s warning becomes especially ridiculous when translated into the New Zealand political eco system.

New Zealand was not mentioned, but the omission may strengthen an argument against leftie terrorism. Many American conservatives would regard New Zealand as dangerously left-wing, but that is largely shaped by political trends imported from overseas. We have public hospitals, state schools, welfare, workplace protections, accident compensation, public broadcasters, government-owned assets and a political culture that should shy away from the American orbit of political woes.

The local “radical left” is more likely to be found arguing over housing density, benefit levels, Treaty obligations or whether public transport should cost less. Its most formidable weapon is usually a strongly worded submission.

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The speech should not be laughed off entirely. But lefties can laugh at the absurdity, then recognise the danger it poses to democracy.

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