How do we organize to achieve political power? That is the big question. As of yet, no one has found the answer. Obviously, since no one has achieved political power. Again, a wealth of theory. But, no results in actual practice. Blah, blah, blah... "We are going to do such and such..." Blah, blah, blah... Nothing ever happens... Intellectual dreams. Mental masturbation. The vehicle hasn't been designed yet that will take us to where we want to go.
Talk tough. Be adamant about nothing. Make lots of enemies. Get mad when the world laughs at you. Let your ego run wild. After all, you are just so 'special'. You KNOW all the answers. And, yet nobody listens to what you have to say, and when they do they just get angry. Their anger creates resistance. You say, "Well, I tried to do it the legal way but it didn't work." Next stop: a shoot-out with the Federales - resulting in your death or imprisonment!
Failure is a sure sign of poor leadership. You haven't done your homework. You don't grasp the basic principles of politics. You have to win the hearts and minds of the broad masses. You have to neutralize potential enemies - not make more enemies! You have to know what the people want and try to get it for them. (Or, at least make them think you are trying to get it for them.) Nobody cares what you want. That 'spoiled brat' type mentality might have worked in a former monarchy but it won't work in a Corporate Capitalist society. Hitler could never take over here.
You like to call yourself a National Socialist. But you don't give a damn about the nation, and you don't even understand what socialism is. You want to live in your dream world, and pretend that you are the superior Aryan type in a world of Jews and subhumans. Which begs the question: Just what makes you so superior?
Are you stronger, tougher, braver, smarter, more wealthy, better looking, more pleasant, or more skilled than those you consider 'inferior'?
What exactly is your contribution to so-called Western Civilization? To Christianity? To the United States? To the World?
If you disappeared tonight would the world miss you tomorrow? Will your ideas and beliefs live on without you? Just what is your legacy to the Future?
How much power do you really have? Why do you say 'we' - do you have a mouse in your pocket?
Can you answer these questions honestly? Can you approach politics with an 'open mind'.
Let's keep it real: Alone a man is a zilch - a big zero - united with others he gains both power and stature. NOBODY ever accomplished anything by himself. (All that Ayn Rand twaddle notwithstanding.) The only way you can influence the world by yourself is to fly your bomb laden plane into an aircraft carrier, Kamikaze style, and blow yourself to bits. (Or become a suicide bomber.) Anders Behring Breivik killed 77 people and didn't make a dent in the System... Leopold II of Belgium killed 15 million, Adolf Hitler killed 17 million, Josef Stalin killed 23 million, Mao Zedong killed 78 million... and, Belgium, Germany, Russia, and China are still Belgium, Germany, Russia, and China... The world keeps turning...
So, what do you think you can do? To change things? Or, to win a place in history?
Apparently, Hitler and Stalin combined killed less people that Mao Zedong. During his rule in China, Mao killed 78 million people. It’s the size of entire population of Germany... I mention this because you like so much to talk about violence. Do you really have any idea what war and violence is like?
Better start reading the works of Chairman Mao... Maybe get a copy of his little red book... He's the guy to beat. He's got more kills than anybody.
But, before we jump to the Revolutionary Phase of politics, we need to examine an overlooked facet of the revolutionary diamond: namely, political legitimacy.
The root cause of revolution is the existence of real or perceived inequities within a society which a significant segment of the population believes negates the established order's legitimate right to govern. As Bard O~Neill points out in his work "The Analysis of Insurgency", insurgency is essentially a question of political legitimacy: that is, whether or not there is a perception within the general population that the ruling regime has lost its moral right to govern under the existing conditions.
The first objective of a revolution is the undermining of the established regime's legitimacy: the notion that it can rule and should rule. Revolutionary movements, however, must be very careful not to lose their own legitimacy by a premature and indiscriminate use of violence to accomplish their political agenda. As Che Guevara pointed out, the employment of violence should only be resorted to in those instances where the illegitimacy of the government is clearly evident and the population believes that the injustices existing within the society cannot be redressed by civil means. Guevara cautioned:
"Where a government has come into power through
some form of popular vote, fraudulent or not, and
maintains at least an appearance of constitutional
legality, the guerrilla outbreak cannot be promoted
since the possibilities of peaceful struggle have not
yet been exhausted."
Whether its aim is the liberation of its society from control by a foreign power, the deposition of a corrupt and tyrannical government, or the protection of existing institutions and values against forces advocating their transformation or demise, a revolutionary movement pursuing revolutionary goals must first exhaust all peaceful remedies to redress the inequities existing within its society before resorting to violence. Otherwise, it risks the danger of negating its own legitimacy: without which it cannot claim the moral ascendancy of its cause nor generate substantial support within the general population. As history has shown, popular support for war is essential for its success. According to Mao Zedong, "the richest source of power to wage war lies in the masses of people." Men will fight wars for causes they believe in but oppose those which they find morally repugnant.
Revolutionaries must also be cautious of the fact that their association with a foreign power can also weaken their claim of legitimacy by projecting an impression that they are dominated and manipulated by that power, especially when the values and beliefs of that power are antithetical to those prevalent within the revolutionary's own society.
Therefore, in order to first exhaust all peaceful remedies to redress the inequities existing within our society before resorting to violence, we must create an ABOVE GROUND ORGANIZATION and work to become a POPULAR MOVEMENT.
As distasteful as it might be to compromise - to achieve a UNITED FRONT - it has to be done in order that the revolutionary forces can achieve legitimacy. Because without legitimacy they have no chance of winning the struggle for political power.
And, that's the Truth!
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