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Title: To be a revolutionary Author: Phil Kuznetsov Language: en Topics: Revolutionary Anarchism, Anarchist Fighter, Russia Source: Retrieved on 13th January 2022 from http://boakor7dmr63zguccltp6nki56ou4oppirhyllfck7yd3sifywinhkyd.onion/index.php/en/theory-en/183-to-be-a-revolutionary-today
Being an anarchist is not at all as easy as it sounds. It is significant
that among people who consider themselves anarchists, not everyone will
call himself or herself a revolutionary and even less anarchists
seriously think about what does it mean to be a revolutionary. But it’s
impossible to be an anarchist and not to be a revolutionary.
A revolutionary is a person whose striving for fundamental social change
is embodied in the consistent life path — in the revolutionary struggle.
A serious approach to the struggle requires the developement of a number
of personal qualities. What are the characteristics of a revolutionary?
Perhaps it all starts with this. It is necessary to believe that your
activity will be crowned with success. Otherwise, a person simply has no
reason to make proper efforts in doing it. Disbelief in final success is
tantamount to alienation from his activity.
We want to remind all pessimists that there are no “objective” reasons
for considering the social revolution and the triumph of libertarian
ideas to be a matter of an indefinitely distant future. The speed and
unpredictability of social changes in the modern world teach us one
important lesson: everything is possible. Including freedom and justice.
It is normal to have doubts. All thinking people doubt. And yet, when
doubts prevail at the end, resurrect in the soul that force with which
your convictions were originally filled. Feel the enormous size and
significance of your goal, dignity and fullness with the meaning of your
chosen path — the path of the revolutionary. We are sure that faith will
show the way to escape from the darkness of any doubt. And go ahead!
Also we are to note that revolutionary struggle is such a giantic task
that everyone who consider himself to be a part of the revolutionary
movement should perceive the fight as the main occupation of his life,
his main work and craft.
We understand discipline as the willingness to take on tasks related to
preparations of the struggle, and as the capacity to fulfill taken
tasks. Discipline begins with small things: not to be late for meetings,
and then implement the decisions taken at these meetings in time. And
yet, it begins even a bit earlier — it begins in the head, with an
internal desire to work systematically and without sloppiness in order
to develop movement and struggle.
Discipline is a very broad concept, intersecting many aspects of our
life. For example, it intersects with psychological restraint – the
ability to stay cool at crucial moments associated with the risk of
repression, arrest or physical confrontation with a political enemy or
at the time of the direct action — is a real manifestation of
discipline.
It is also associated with ethics. Discipline is the understanding that
“everything personal is political”, that each of us is the face of the
movement in which we participate. This, in addition to pure ethics, is
an additional reason not to violate anarchist principles in your daily
life. This is a discipline of life behavior.
Finally, the discipline is manifested in devoting the proper time and
energy to self-development, both individual and collective: the
acquisition of knowledge, the development of practical skills, physical
training, thinking and analysis.
We know, that the word discipline is not always welcome in the anarchist
community. And yet, we hope there are only few who will stigmatize this
understanding of the discipline as “authoritarian.”
For the fight against the oppressors relies hatred from the state
machine, the capitalists and their servants. Revolutionary activity
causes problems and hardships. There is nothing new, and so it always
happened with all the fighters against evil. We talked about the subject
of self-sacrifice in the article Giving Your Life. What did Zhlobitsky
recall? and we don’t want to repeat — we just summarize that anarchists
will most likely have to pay a price for their worldview and life
choice, someone less, someone more. And anarchists should be ready for
it.
One of the most important qualities that the members of the movement
often forget is loyalty or otherwise devotion. Devotion to his comrades,
his team, his obligations and chosen path.
Today in the anarchist environment one can often see how people easily
change priorities and positions (and the reference to the “ideological
search”, as a rule, is only a mask for changing superficial hobbies),
such activists don’t want to solve problems that arise with colleagues,
and prefer to make scandals in order to waive their obligations.
Often such behavior is served as part of an anarchist understanding of
freedom. One can say that affection and loyalty are attributes of
possessiveness. However, it is not. Volatility is a manifestation of the
liberal ideology and liberal lifestyle of the era of consumer capitalism
(in the frames of which people and ideas are beginning to be treated as
disposable goods). The impermanence and lack of devotion are companions
of egoism and inability to feel and deeply love your comrades with whom
you once sealed your union.
Anarchist understanding of freedom is different — anarchist freedom does
not exist without brotherhood and sisterhood. Therefore, anarchist
freedom cannot be the freedom to repudiate your own comrades. Anarchist
freedom is the responsibility to make an active contribution to the
common goals, not to obey and not to subordinate, and also not to give
up.
Finally, in a revolutionary struggle it is very important to be able to
rely on a comrade, on the immutability of his or her basic values ​​and
life priorities. Without constancy and devotion, one cannot rely on
anyone, just as one cannot fully trust anyone. As a result, without
trust it is impossible to fight. Consequently, freedom understood in a
liberal way as the right of the constant variability makes resistance to
the state monster and capitalism impossible.
Even when discord and conflict arise with comrades, and you think that
they are seriously mistaken or do not want to overcome their weaknesses,
it is your duty as a comrade to make all possible efforts to help them
by your criticism and, ultimately, to come to an agreement or at least
to a compromise.
It is sad to see people who have devoted dozens of years to stewing in a
political subculture by performing ritual actions that imitate a
political struggle (for example, internal scandals or “dialogue with the
masses” through leaflets and publications written with the use of lexics
that can’t be understood by these masses).
A genuine revolutionary as a person who sincerely wishes to achieve
victory over the system of injustice always evaluates the results of his
or her own actions, treat his or her tactics and strategy with great
criticism, constantly rethinks and corrects them without falling into
inertia.
After direct action you should check the reaction of people and how
widely the information was spread. It will help you understand the
effectiveness of your action or what has been done wrong. If you remain
in a narrow circle for years, look for new ways to recruit people,
establish new connections with other groups and initiatives. That are
the examples of how to asses the results on your way to make the
revolution come true.
The principle of control over results applies to learning useful skills.
We too often stop halfway without mastering this or that skill
thoroughly. For example, sometimes we are ready to be satisfied with a
hundred readers for our site, when a simple set of promotional
activities can bring us a thousand. This principle applies to any other
area of ​​anarchist activity.
A revolutionary will certainly find a response in the hearts of the
people around him. This is because the suffering, hardened in the throes
of doubts. Convictions overwhelm this revolutionary and pour over the
edge. Perhaps no one will agree with this revolutionary at first. Surely
many will argue with him or her. But the ideas he or she expressed, in
which her or she sincerely believes, as well as he or her life example,
will make people think about what they have never thought before and
feel what they’ve never felt before. To be a spark igniting a flame —
this is truly a magical ability. If you are still unfamiliar with this
feeling, it certainly awaits you ahead. This property is a reward to a
revolutionary for lots of difficulties that cannot be avoided.
We have described only some of the features that seem fundamental to the
personality of our revolutionary comrade-in-arms. Of course, it is
impossible to create step-by-step instructions, “how to become an ideal
anarchist.” Here we need a creative approach, but in this text we talked
about the problems we all face.
Comrade, you can no longer live like a beast. The revolution can not be
an imitation, there can not be a game. The qualities of a revolutionary
are not given to anyone from birth. They are brought up by like-minded
people in themselves and in each other.
Our day has come. Our duty is to be at the height of the declared goals.
The road arises under the feet of the walking.