Collective action to revolutionize political structures by force doesn’t necessarily entail going on a ‘rampage’ or just murdering your enemies summarily. The state uses force against it’s people and enemies every day. There are many forms force can take.
This reminds me of a nice Mark Twain quote I just posted a little while ago, talking about the French Revolution and the ‘Reign of Terror’:
There were two “Reigns of Terror,” if we would but remember it and consider it; the one wrought murder in hot passion, the other in heartless cold blood; the one lasted mere months, the other had lasted a thousand years; the one inflicted death upon ten thousand persons, the other upon a hundred millions; but our shudders are all for the “horrors” of the minor Terror, the momentary Terror, so to speak; whereas, what is the horror of swift death by the axe, compared with lifelong death from hunger, cold, insult, cruelty, and heart-break? What is swift death by lightning compared with death by slow fire at the stake? A city cemetery could contain the coffins filled by that brief Terror which we have all been so diligently taught to shiver at and mourn over; but all France could hardly contain the coffins filled by that older and real Terror—that unspeakably bitter and awful Terror which none of us has been taught to see in its vastness or pity as it deserves.
Let’s also not forget that collective action, etc, tends to not be violent. If it utilizes force it tends to do against things or systems, not people. The other side does not hesitate to use violence.
It’s interesting the different ideas people have when they hear ‘force’ or what power and violence are. A worker strike I think is a form of force, in that the employer is forced to work through the demands of the workers or go through the trouble of hiring new workers. The working class is a massive majority compared to the upper class, so when that sort of action is done it doesn’t necessarily have to have any bloodshed.
Imaginationless, is that why you choose to use the words of men who do not live in our times? Justice changes with each generation’s values, and so does the world and how we can do things…
History might repeat itself, but you don’t know what will repeat. You don’t know if these ideas are just taking brilliant minds from a fight that would actually make a positive difference or maybe they will work. Who knows, not me, not you, no one. All I’m saying is, if we have to choose a path, I’ll choose one that will make me less cruel then “them”.
Because I wouldn’t want to become “them” in the middle of my fight against “them”.
I chose those words because someone else quoted them earlier today and I thought it was relevant, it may be from ‘another time’ but the prevailing political and economic structures of today are essentially the same. Is self-defense cruel? If someone is beating someone to death, and you use force to stop that person from murdering them, is that as cruel as murder?
Yhe no, people can read and write, if they are willing to think there would be billions of better way to do it.
But yhe sure, what is a quick death by ax compared to starvation…it’s no the world we live in anymore. Read, learn, and you will see more ways to help make a more equal society.
Only then when you piss off whoever it is that tries to come for you, you can claim self defense. Anything else and you stroke first or swooped down to the level of the people you hate.
In what way is the world described in the quote not the world we live in anymore? The life expectancy in the US has been decreasing. People still do starve to death in the US, they die of hypothermia and heat stroke due to lack of shelter, they die from poor working conditions, and nations wage wars in the name of borders or resources every day.
We have also never been so advanced, even if we did it at the cost of the rest of the world.
Hey I like to say that no one fucking knows to I’m just guessing here.
Maybe we die, maybe we evolve, the fact that there are platforms where we can discuss this is delicious to me.
But above it all, I also have no idea, I prefer to think of things as being headed towards every cenario possible, cuz like this I can imagine the worse and the best, even the middle.
If we are frank I don’t think any one really knows which one we’ll end up in either way soo, yhe I just like to think we can make it without stopping to lowest levels, but at the same time I know it might happen.
Very true, I don’t mean to come off like I think anything I say has any kind of certainty haha, even in ancient times the earth and the human mind are so complex that really how can we make any solid predictions. I agree that it’s good to try to imagine the best and worst ways any trend can go.
Life can be great and horrific haha, my mom would say ‘try not to take things too seriously because no one makes it out alive anyway’ :p
I honestly I think it has helped me out more than a lot of ideas in life! It can be a glum sort of thought but she was light-hearted. It’s probably a known quote from somewhere else, she would say a lot of good phrases like that and I’d learn long later it would be a popular Mark Twain quote or something lol.
Collective action to revolutionize political structures by force doesn’t necessarily entail going on a ‘rampage’ or just murdering your enemies summarily. The state uses force against it’s people and enemies every day. There are many forms force can take.
This reminds me of a nice Mark Twain quote I just posted a little while ago, talking about the French Revolution and the ‘Reign of Terror’:
deleted by creator
Let’s also not forget that collective action, etc, tends to not be violent. If it utilizes force it tends to do against things or systems, not people. The other side does not hesitate to use violence.
It’s interesting the different ideas people have when they hear ‘force’ or what power and violence are. A worker strike I think is a form of force, in that the employer is forced to work through the demands of the workers or go through the trouble of hiring new workers. The working class is a massive majority compared to the upper class, so when that sort of action is done it doesn’t necessarily have to have any bloodshed.
Imaginationless, is that why you choose to use the words of men who do not live in our times? Justice changes with each generation’s values, and so does the world and how we can do things…
History might repeat itself, but you don’t know what will repeat. You don’t know if these ideas are just taking brilliant minds from a fight that would actually make a positive difference or maybe they will work. Who knows, not me, not you, no one. All I’m saying is, if we have to choose a path, I’ll choose one that will make me less cruel then “them”.
Because I wouldn’t want to become “them” in the middle of my fight against “them”.
I chose those words because someone else quoted them earlier today and I thought it was relevant, it may be from ‘another time’ but the prevailing political and economic structures of today are essentially the same. Is self-defense cruel? If someone is beating someone to death, and you use force to stop that person from murdering them, is that as cruel as murder?
Yhe no, people can read and write, if they are willing to think there would be billions of better way to do it. But yhe sure, what is a quick death by ax compared to starvation…it’s no the world we live in anymore. Read, learn, and you will see more ways to help make a more equal society.
Only then when you piss off whoever it is that tries to come for you, you can claim self defense. Anything else and you stroke first or swooped down to the level of the people you hate.
In what way is the world described in the quote not the world we live in anymore? The life expectancy in the US has been decreasing. People still do starve to death in the US, they die of hypothermia and heat stroke due to lack of shelter, they die from poor working conditions, and nations wage wars in the name of borders or resources every day.
We have also never been so advanced, even if we did it at the cost of the rest of the world.
Hey I like to say that no one fucking knows to I’m just guessing here.
Maybe we die, maybe we evolve, the fact that there are platforms where we can discuss this is delicious to me.
But above it all, I also have no idea, I prefer to think of things as being headed towards every cenario possible, cuz like this I can imagine the worse and the best, even the middle.
If we are frank I don’t think any one really knows which one we’ll end up in either way soo, yhe I just like to think we can make it without stopping to lowest levels, but at the same time I know it might happen.
Hahahahahahha isn’t life wonderful
Very true, I don’t mean to come off like I think anything I say has any kind of certainty haha, even in ancient times the earth and the human mind are so complex that really how can we make any solid predictions. I agree that it’s good to try to imagine the best and worst ways any trend can go.
Life can be great and horrific haha, my mom would say ‘try not to take things too seriously because no one makes it out alive anyway’ :p
Omg I love that, your mom is the biggest mad lad. I’m stealing that saying, I’ll give her credit tho
I honestly I think it has helped me out more than a lot of ideas in life! It can be a glum sort of thought but she was light-hearted. It’s probably a known quote from somewhere else, she would say a lot of good phrases like that and I’d learn long later it would be a popular Mark Twain quote or something lol.