Today's Anarchist Summer Reading Program selection is Emma Goldman's afterword to "My Disillusionment in Russia" - the most vital part, according to her:
"My manuscript was sent to the original purchaser in two parts, at different times. Subsequently [...] I discovered to my dismay [...] that the last twelve chapters were entirely missing, including my Afterword which is, at least to myself, the most vital part."
Emma Goldman
Initial Thoughts
I have to admit I feel really vindicated on studying this. I have long known that she famously had a change of heart on the role of violence, seeing how the Bolsheviks betrayed and set back the revolution in profoundly damaging ways in the eyes of humanity. I tend to draw my pacifism from spiritual inspirations, but the "means and ends" argument resonates with me.
Essentially she is saying that when we make "violent revolution" the object of ideation, we train our minds in the habit of violence, and this is inherently counter-revolutionary. She identifies this deformity of thought as the key lesson to take from the failure of the revolution in Russia to achieve liberatory ends.
What I Think She's Saying
She's making a psychological argument here, not a tactical one. If we aren't developing habits of thought, word, and deed to embody the spirit of the world we're trying to build, then we are making ourselves incapable of achieving it.
"The means employed become, through individual habit and social practice, part and parcel of the final purpose [...] The means used to prepare the future become its cornerstone."
I don't think this is necessarily as controversial in anarchist spaces as it might be in authcom ones. But I still often hear a distinction made between property damage and interpersonal violence, and I want to suggest that this isn't really a meaningful difference in the context of Goldman's argument here. She's not asking us to decide what kind of confrontation with power is acceptable.
She's asking us to contend with the nature of that confrontation itself. Are we confronting the power structures in front of us, or are we confronting how they show up in our thinking, and our ideas about what is necessary or acceptable?
"There is no greater fallacy than the belief that aims and purposes are one thing, while methods and tactics are another."
The Implications
I deeply sympathize with how uncomfortable it is to look inside one's heart and realize that one harbors hatred, and malice, and murder inside of it. Especially if one's identity is tied up in a self-image of justice, equality, and liberation. Take a deep breath - you're not being accused.
You're also not being asked to roll over and let empire have its way. The question being asked is much more profound and interesting than that, and it's essentially whether we're rolling over and letting empire have its way when we fail to unpack the logic of violence within us. For we see throughout history that our values are anathema to authority no matter what form it takes.
"The sense of justice and equality, the love of liberty and of human brotherhood—these fundamentals of the real regeneration of society—the Communist State suppressed to the point of extermination."
When we work to "exterminate" the idea that non-violent means can achieve revolutionary ends, aren't we doing the work of empire? So then you might ask, what are we supposed to do?
Is Pacifism a Tool of the Oppressor?
Goldman points out that when our focus is narrowly on militance as the only way forward, we crowd out our imaginations for what else is possible. And this might be what's happening when too few of us seem to have any other ideas. If the thought-habits we developed living under empire always lead us back to the ways of empire, isn't it revolutionary to insist on challenging ourselves to imagine another way?
I don't have any easy answers, and neither did Goldman, but she reminds us over and over in this passage that "revolution is the mirror of the coming day" and that "to divest one's methods of ethical concepts means to sink into the depths of utter demoralization".
We've got ourselves in a real pickle by letting the US slide into fascism, and there aren't any clear answers about what to do about that. Under the prior status quo, we were free to imagine and dream and take meaningful action while the meddling liberals were at brunch. Now that we have to worry about gulags and financial ruin, so be it.
Final Thoughts
If the goal is to develop the habit of living the way I want the world to be, then the question I want to unwaveringly ask myself is "what do I envision and how can I embody it now?" Education that is free, and a well-read population? Great, here goes this reading project. Equality that is rooted in mutuality and respect? Great, here goes inner work around humility, compassion, and loving-kindness.
I don't know what's coming but I know that empires always fall - Russia fell, and so will the US if it doesn't course correct soon. And what will emerge from its ashes is a product of the habits of thought we cultivate right now. We decide together what the next phase of history looks like, so I'll leave you with one last question.
When you look into that future, what do you see, and how can you bring it to life right now?
