Imperialism And The Washington Office On Latin America http://www.swans.com/library/art16/barker50.html

Today the dominant discourse of liberal intellectuals is human rights; while at the same time the dominant discursive ideology intent on deforming life is imperialism. Yoked together these two ideologies present a formidable tool in the capitalist war chest, which critical intellectuals like Noam Chomsky rightly criticize. However, as Richard Seymour points out, this potent mixture is far from new, as: "From the very origins of socialism and social democracy as unique currents independent of liberalism, strong pro-imperialist currents existed within them, including among those who claimed to owe their politics to Marx and Engels. Like their liberal antecedents, they drew upon Enlightenment ideals of progress, social engineering and humanitarianism to legitimize, rather than criticize, empire." (2)