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As usual, lots of people in this thread calling for other people to sacrifice on their behalf by assassinating someone.
And as I said in response to someone, I do not think assassination solves systemic problems, but if you do, expecting else to go to prison (or die) for you is ridiculous.
I think that it's time we stopped putting the expectation on the working class to avoid violence while the ruling class and the state can use violence against us every single day.
I talked about what constitutes violence in another thread, but needless to say violence and the threat of violence is constantly used against us. Eviction, starvation, execution by police, denial of healthcare, denial of warmth and shelter, these are all kinds of violence that are used against the working class all the time. These things kill us, we die when we are evicted onto the street in the cold of winter. Or when our wages stagnate and we cannot afford food or healthcare. Or when some have disabilities and cannot produce endlessly for the ruling class. Those things cause death. Murder in its purest form.
We are systematically discouraged from perceiving them that way because if we did, we would see violence in return as justified. We have every right to riot against the conditions imposed upon us. We have every right to violently resist the rule of the state and the ruling class. I agree that assassination won't fix the system because the system is broken all the way down to its foundations. Merely executing one billionaire won't magically fix this. The ruling class will never give up their position within society, however. There are no conditions in which the ruling class will relinquish their capital or return any amount of power to the working class. For the sake of not breaking any rules of this community, I'll end that thought there.
I will say that it's super easy to say "someone else (not me) should assassinate these guys". I think that's the biggest gripe, that people are all too willing to volunteer other people to take the risks while themselves shying away. Either you personally are willing to take the advocated action or if you think "well for me, personally, the risk isn't worth it", well then maybe if it isn't worth the risk to you, you should not be advocating that it is worth the risk to others.
if 10,000 people in a stadium are shouting "Fuck Shit Up! Fuck Shit Up!" it gives that 1/10000th person in the crowd -courage- perhaps even a primal 'permission' to ya know, Fuck Shit Up.
if an old lady is standing outside a burning building on the sidewalk and pointing up at a window says "someone should do something", you wouldn't start yelling at her to shut up and intellectualizing how she has no right to tell others what to do. in fact, you telling her that makes you worse than her. she's at least encouraging action while you advocate...what? silence?
scolding others who SAY the right thing, because you're unhappy they should DO the right thing (themselves) is peak hypocrisy/braindead logic and misapprehends basic group psychology and the nature of humans as social mammals that yes, god forbid, do need some encouragement from the crowd sometimes before taking action.
no one is volunteering anyone else... we're telegraphing to the person who finally does take action that we approve of their decision to act.
I'm not calling for anyone to commit an assassination. I am ideologically justifying the use of violence to advance the working class struggle. I am pointing out the way violence is used against the working class by the ruling class and the state every single day.
What makes you believe that there aren't other people out there right now trying to figure out what the movements are of a particular CEO or billionaire are, so they can be near them with a gun or a bomb?
In unrelated news...
I have no idea if there are or there aren't. I do know there are lots of people here expecting others to sacrifice their lives and their freedom so the people here don't have to.
I'm not sure what relevance it is that others are less lazy about doing what they believe absolutely has to be done.
No, it doesn't. Luigi is a tragedy, that boy is facing life in prison, and for what? A lot of people are parroting his name, but have they stuck their necks out too? No
I'm not against collective use of force if done appropriately, but people are generally cowards and lone actors are almost always left hung out to dry.
That was an execution after the revolution had already been fought. A more apt comparison would be https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Archduke_Franz_Ferdinand or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Alexander_II_of_Russia
lol, lmao even
reading comprehension of a Tumblr user, wtf? I'm literally an anarchist
Also don't call me bro, please
Direct action is not convenient. Building on-the-ground worker solidarity is not convenient. Building and maintaining syndicates to aid and support both those alienated- and those discarded by capital is not convenient.
But I'm sure a keyboard warrior like you is much more knowledgeable and involved in the class war than little naive me. Please, enlighten me. What do you suggest we do to abolish capital?
Okay, since you're not a coward, when are you going to assassinate someone? Today? Tomorrow? What are you waiting for?
Who is "you guys"? I'm not saying the revolution was (or will be, in the future) bloodless. But to have a revolution, you need to organize, before you go out and shoot someone in the streets. To think that simply assassinating some of the worst offenders will bring about systemic change is naive, imo.
There is an argument to be made that in the age of social media Propaganda of the Deed could make a successful comeback as a tool to build collective action (and some anarchists are making that argument), but it's this collective action we need, not lone wolves.
That's funny, how many CEOs have you shot so far?
That's not the point I'm trying to make. As one of the 'bloodthirsty subfucks' I'm well aware that the war likely would have started either way, all the imperial powers in Europe were eager to try out their new weaponry. But the commenter above claims that assassinations can solve structural problems. Which I don't think is true.
You sure know a lot about my political beliefs, huh? Check my other comment before you jump to conclusions. I don't disagree with violence as a tactic (but I still don't like it, and try to avoid it), but assassinations are only useful in so far as they are used to build a movement. The vindication you feel by seeing someone horrible killed will not change the system, collective action will. And that takes actual organizing, not posting Luigi memes online.
Ah, you're both going through my history now and exposing yourself as a shill for the modern Tsar. If you think Russian imperialism furthers the left, we can end it right here and you'll end up on the blocklist. Have a good life!
Also, what do you think a germanist is? lol