Collective action to revolutionize political structures by force doesn’t necessarily entail going on a ‘rampage’ or just murdering your enemies summarily. The state uses force against it’s people and enemies every day. There are many forms force can take.
This reminds me of a nice Mark Twain quote I just posted a little while ago, talking about the French Revolution and the ‘Reign of Terror’:
There were two “Reigns of Terror,” if we would but remember it and consider it; the one wrought murder in hot passion, the other in heartless cold blood; the one lasted mere months, the other had lasted a thousand years; the one inflicted death upon ten thousand persons, the other upon a hundred millions; but our shudders are all for the “horrors” of the minor Terror, the momentary Terror, so to speak; whereas, what is the horror of swift death by the axe, compared with lifelong death from hunger, cold, insult, cruelty, and heart-break? What is swift death by lightning compared with death by slow fire at the stake? A city cemetery could contain the coffins filled by that brief Terror which we have all been so diligently taught to shiver at and mourn over; but all France could hardly contain the coffins filled by that older and real Terror—that unspeakably bitter and awful Terror which none of us has been taught to see in its vastness or pity as it deserves.
Let’s also not forget that collective action, etc, tends to not be violent. If it utilizes force it tends to do against things or systems, not people. The other side does not hesitate to use violence.
It’s interesting the different ideas people have when they hear ‘force’ or what power and violence are. A worker strike I think is a form of force, in that the employer is forced to work through the demands of the workers or go through the trouble of hiring new workers. The working class is a massive majority compared to the upper class, so when that sort of action is done it doesn’t necessarily have to have any bloodshed.
Collective action to revolutionize political structures by force doesn’t necessarily entail going on a ‘rampage’ or just murdering your enemies summarily. The state uses force against it’s people and enemies every day. There are many forms force can take.
This reminds me of a nice Mark Twain quote I just posted a little while ago, talking about the French Revolution and the ‘Reign of Terror’:
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Let’s also not forget that collective action, etc, tends to not be violent. If it utilizes force it tends to do against things or systems, not people. The other side does not hesitate to use violence.
It’s interesting the different ideas people have when they hear ‘force’ or what power and violence are. A worker strike I think is a form of force, in that the employer is forced to work through the demands of the workers or go through the trouble of hiring new workers. The working class is a massive majority compared to the upper class, so when that sort of action is done it doesn’t necessarily have to have any bloodshed.