Are we the goodies?

People on the left tend to point out that the U.S. has a long history of meddling in other countries' affairs and exerting power on the global stage. As they see it, war mainly benefits rich people and weapons manufacturers, and it is inextricably linked to capitalism. They deplore the money spent on weapons, believing that it would be better spent on infrastructure and services for people at home. They strongly believe that countries should settle disputes through diplomacy rather than war. They oppose U.S. imperialism with every fiber of their being, believing that other countries have the right to make their own decisions without interference from the U.S. Last year, Russia invaded Ukraine, and the U.S. and the EU have sanctioned Russia and provided weapons to Ukraine. So some people on the U.S. left see U.S. imperialism. They feel that the war primarily benefits rich people and weapons manufacturers and that the U.S. is sending weapons to Ukraine with money that would be better spent at home. They would like for Russia and Ukraine to settle their dispute with diplomacy, rather than war. They are doing the thing that I wrote about here, that I would call lens drift, where they see a new situation as an extension of their existing world view, though it may not be the best way to look at the situation, even as it may have been appropriate in other situations that they have experienced in their lives.

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