Left Wing Militias

[Spartacus2002]

notice how there is all sorts of right wing militias and no left wing ones? we should create one...its not fair, we could do it constitutionally right?

[nz revolution]

Hear Hear!

In the paper in the weekend, this fascist group had a press release saying they are going to set up a militia with cells in all. Defence of the nation is necessary, from all non-europeans immigrants. Deporting all non-european people apart from the native Maori, obviously want our, help. I'll help them, to the grave with 7.62 short to the head.

WORKERS AND STUDENT MILITIA. ENLIST NOW!

[nz revolution]

Constitution, isn't that now defunct?

[redstar2000]

The right-wing groups in the United States that have formed armed militias have been nutball groups who are deeply convinced that this country is run by a secret Jewish conspiracy, the anti-christ, or aliens from another planet.

I think it likely they have other psychological problems as well; there is something "dubious" about the masculinity of those who feel the need to "strut" their weaponry...as if a semi-automatic was the 21st century equivalent of the 16th century codpiece.

Serious armed groups do not hold press conferences or boast of their weaponry.

Is there a constructive role for a "left" armed militia in advanced capitalist countries? None occurs to me at the moment, but I'm open to argument on the subject.

What about a secret armed "left" group that would conduct "terrorist" operations? This was tried in both the U.S. and Europe in the 1970s...without much to show for the efforts. I can't see much to be gained by attempting to replicate the experiment at the present time.

What about clearly pre-revolutionary situations? That is an entirely different matter; when the social order is clearly "on the ropes", then both public and secret armed left groups need to be formed. Two countries where this would be appropriate now are Argentina and Venezuela.

This might well also be the case in any country in the Middle East.

People need to remember that communist revolution is not a matter of "who has the most guns" or "who has the best generals". Revolutions, real ones, are made by enormous numbers of ordinary people so infuriated by the old order that they will stop at nothing to overturn it. When they take place, the armed forces of the previous regime simply melt away...they lack the stomach or even the ability to kill almost everybody.

If you are so inclined and have the resources, by all means purchase a serious weapon, learn to use it and take care of it properly. There might come a time when it will come in very handy indeed.

But don't get hung up on the "romance" of armed struggle. A weapon is just a tool, nothing more (and certainly not a surrogate penis). A computer and an internet connection are probably the most effective revolutionary weapons in our arsenal right now...use them well enough and we may never need guns at all.

:cool:

[synthesis]

I've heard this kind of suggestion before. And whenever it pops up, I inevitably remember Winston Smith saying that "the proles could shake the Party off their backs without hardly an effort, if they were conscious of their oppression."

The difference between us Twenty-First Century socialists and both the armed militias and the Leninist, Twentieth Century socialists is that we aren't a small group seeking to usurp the power of the state for ourselves.

Our job is simply to agitate for the class consciousness of the proletariat - not to fight their battles for them. Once we awaken the working class to their plight, it is obvious that they could throw off the chains of the capitalists without, of course, hardly an effort.

There's something any anti-Stalinist, pro-Leninist needs to face - they were both inflicted with the same disease. And that is the delusion that the individual should serve the State, not the other way around.

Watch yourselves, comrades. Bolshevism is not our friend.

[Anonymous]

Quote: from Spartacus2002 on 8:49 pm on April 28, 2003
notice how there is all sorts of right wing militias and no left wing ones? we should create one...its not fair, we could do it constitutionally right?


One problem: Firearms and a political stance that advocates the violent overthrow of the US government makes you a domestic enemy.

Most right wing militias are waiting for the colaspe of the US government. Only the truely crazy ones are adovcating armed overthrow, and most of them are in jail or being watched by the FBI.

[synthesis]

A weapon is just a tool, nothing more (and certainly not a surrogate penis).

I just realized what a brilliant line this is. Did you come up with it?

[redstar2000]

Yes, I think so.

Although every writer is probably guilty of "unconscious plagiarism" from time to time...a good line sticks in your mind and ten years later you use it without remembering that someone else said it first.

:cool: