Speaks for the people
13th May 2015, 08:38
“At the risk of seeming ridiculous, let me say that the true revolutionary is guided by a great feeling of love. It is impossible to think of a genuine revolutionary lacking this quality.” - Che
Che was so many things and this remains one of my favorite quotes. But when speaking of love and the revolutionary, I am also reminded of Fernando Narvaja. A good friend of mine used to bring him food when he was later imprisoned. When speaking of love and revolution, the Monteneros were probably one of the least loved revolutionaries of the last century. They were idealists who sadly found they had actually sold themselves into a war of old men struggling with each other were simply used to die for them in the Peron power struggles of Argentina.
She said to him once that he should return to the countryside when free, this time to teach the people to grow tomatoes. To grow the future in all forms can be a beautiful thing, and even revolutionary, especially when finding other ways to empower those outside of the present power structures, which was her deeper message in this. To have hope for there to be a future to continue into is also an act of unconditional love, to and for those who will come after, of those not even seen or known, not yet born but who one day will be in this world.
Of course, of the present power structures, some say there is no freedom, justice, or democracy, but that is not strictly true. All are available in the US empire, as a commodity, much like everything else in a capitalist society, and is simply outside the price of/unaffordable and inaccessible to most. But Uncle Sam is perhaps the world's greatest used car and empire salesman, and he can sell the American dream to ever eager generations of people willing to work hard only to find they have been doing so to make those already wealthy even wealthier. That however is antithesis of love, and is the inhumanity of the world we find today.
While others call this capitalism, this is what we sometimes call the Wasicu disease and see capitalism simply as it's most recent form. Wherever they go they carry it with them, starting with the memes of Rome, and they recreate it in newer and more horrific forms. It is a belief system as well as an economic model based on the idea that some are privileged and that the rest of humanity is subhuman. "White man's burden" remains the burden of their capitalism on the rest of humanity.
Yet we are are here and continue today because those before us managed to as well, and so for them we remember what it was to have once lived as free human beings. That is where I think Che's meaning of love comes from. I always thought of his meaning as the love of all others, for the true revolutionary must deeply feel love of strangers, comarades, people who all yearn to be free, and even those who do not. To defend people who often will not defend you is truly unconditional love for humanity. That is to me what Che meant, and yes, that can be hard to realize.
Che was so many things and this remains one of my favorite quotes. But when speaking of love and the revolutionary, I am also reminded of Fernando Narvaja. A good friend of mine used to bring him food when he was later imprisoned. When speaking of love and revolution, the Monteneros were probably one of the least loved revolutionaries of the last century. They were idealists who sadly found they had actually sold themselves into a war of old men struggling with each other were simply used to die for them in the Peron power struggles of Argentina.
She said to him once that he should return to the countryside when free, this time to teach the people to grow tomatoes. To grow the future in all forms can be a beautiful thing, and even revolutionary, especially when finding other ways to empower those outside of the present power structures, which was her deeper message in this. To have hope for there to be a future to continue into is also an act of unconditional love, to and for those who will come after, of those not even seen or known, not yet born but who one day will be in this world.
Of course, of the present power structures, some say there is no freedom, justice, or democracy, but that is not strictly true. All are available in the US empire, as a commodity, much like everything else in a capitalist society, and is simply outside the price of/unaffordable and inaccessible to most. But Uncle Sam is perhaps the world's greatest used car and empire salesman, and he can sell the American dream to ever eager generations of people willing to work hard only to find they have been doing so to make those already wealthy even wealthier. That however is antithesis of love, and is the inhumanity of the world we find today.
While others call this capitalism, this is what we sometimes call the Wasicu disease and see capitalism simply as it's most recent form. Wherever they go they carry it with them, starting with the memes of Rome, and they recreate it in newer and more horrific forms. It is a belief system as well as an economic model based on the idea that some are privileged and that the rest of humanity is subhuman. "White man's burden" remains the burden of their capitalism on the rest of humanity.
Yet we are are here and continue today because those before us managed to as well, and so for them we remember what it was to have once lived as free human beings. That is where I think Che's meaning of love comes from. I always thought of his meaning as the love of all others, for the true revolutionary must deeply feel love of strangers, comarades, people who all yearn to be free, and even those who do not. To defend people who often will not defend you is truly unconditional love for humanity. That is to me what Che meant, and yes, that can be hard to realize.