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Title: Sacrificing life Author: Anonymous Language: en Topics: death, Anarchist Fighter, propaganda of the deed, Russia Source: Retrieved on 13th January 2022 from http://boakor7dmr63zguccltp6nki56ou4oppirhyllfck7yd3sifywinhkyd.onion/index.php/en/theory-en/177-heroic-act
We live in a world where an endless stream of information and constant
updates in news feeds force out even the most important events of the
recent past.
However among the events there are those which can not be allowed to
fade. One of them occured on October 31, 2018. Anarchist Mikhail
Zhlobitsky committed an act of retaliation by activating an explosive
device in the building of the FSB Directorate in Arkhangelsk. It was the
act of self-sacrifice — Mikhail Zhlobitsky died.
He left a note stating that this brave step was motivated by the
atrocities of the security forces against the anarchists they had
arrested.
What is the ethical and vital meaning of the attack of Mikhail
Zhlobitsky on the executioners? If every action is a statement, what did
Michael say to us, consciously going to certain death? What did he
remind us about?
First of all, about self-sacrifice and its meaning. You don’t really
think about it when such things occur somewhere far away from you. But
when the bomb is in the hands of your compatriot, your like-minded
person, with whom you could even be acquainted, these thoughts catch up
with you along with a storm of emotions. What is self-sacrifice and what
for do we need it?
Self-sacrifice it is not only about death
You can sacrifice not only your life, but also many things in life:
hobbies and habits, comfort and safety, the opportunity to see relatives
and friends or the opportunity to visit their places of origin, etc.
None of us is a masochist. We are happy to minimize all sacrifices. But
there are inexorable laws of human life. The simplest of them says that
in order to achieve something, you almost always need to sacrifice
something. At least, time and effort. Another law is much more
serious...
A person who avoids suffering at all costs is doomed to be a slave. This
idea is not new, but it rarely stays in our minds. In fact, everything
is obvious here. The rulers and owners always offer people a certain
amount of peace and security in exchange for submission and loyalty.
In the case of disobedience, the oppressors threaten persecution or
violence. So those for whom comfort and personal integrity are always in
the first place and can not be sacrificed are doomed to be submitted and
kneeled. Today the process of submission is softened by etiquette of
official communication and access to all kinds of entertainment but it
is still a process of submission.
But those who are ready to deny these baits for the sake of dignity have
a chance to win freedom. But there is no chance to sit in the “safe
haven”, to avoid deprivation and threats and be free. That is not just a
words and you realize it when explosions thunder in the FSB offices.
You understand that it is time either to run aside, having issued a
squeak of submission to those who are in power or to fight and sacrfice.
If you made a decision to fight you have to gain and maintain the
ability to sacrifice both small sticky pleasures, and truly important,
deep and dear to us personally things if it is neccesarry for struggle.
Finally, overcoming the fear of torture, pain, prison — is the way that
everyone has to go in order to get free.
Self-sacrifice is about death as well
In the modern world of “human playing”, where everything is for fun,
people rarely sacrifice their lives for the sake of ideals. After all,
life today is understood as a ticket for the continuation of the
banquet, the continuation of the holiday; chance for new fun and
enjoyment. Therefore, life becomes “the most expensive” — becomes
something that is guarded by all means.
Revolutionaries see life differently. We believe that life makes sense
only if it embodies the highest values, which include freedom and
equality. As for us, a person must live according to his conscience and
in accordance with his true ideals and beliefs. Even if it brings
suffering and can cost life.
It is obvious that an uncompromising struggle against the system will
inevitably cause violence on its part. And you must realize that you
could suffer and even die. This probability is not small at all. One may
oppose this comparison: «The one thing is to fight and another thing is
to commit a suicide». Yes, putting yourself in mortal danger and
consciously sacrificing yourself are very different things. But they
have a very important thing in common — the readiness to reject their
personal life for the sake of values that give meaning to life.
Yes, thoughts about death are terrible. Moreover, anarchism is not
historically religious, so most of us do not expect paradise after
death. In addition, some of our contemporaries like to present anarchism
as an exceptionally peaceful worldview. The task of anarchism is to
achieve a free and fair life. However, this is often falsely mixed with
the desire for a comfortable, “trouble-free” life in Utopia, on the way
to which it is desirable to avoid any kind of suffering.
This is a fatal distortion. Being applied to anarchism, it completely
deprives anarchism of its heroic, adversary spirit, which is an integral
part of its essence.
The partisan attack by Mikhail Zhlobitsky is a significant event. For
years it will sound louder or quieter, like background theme,
accompanying any anarchist activity in Russia. So, what kind of sound it
will be, a sound of a curse or a sound of a blessing?
Mikhail’s action won’t be forgotten. The explosion in Arkhangelsk
sounded as a bitter reproach and as a call to fight. This call will not
let go and will not give peace to any honest revolutionary heart that
has not been devoured by the rust of fear.
Liberty or death!
Long live the revolution!