Terorizam

Pojam nasilja ima istorijsku prirodu. U modernom dobu on se određuje u odnosu prema osnovnim ljudskim i građanskim pravima koja su proklamovana u Francuskoj građanskoj revoluciji i koja predstavljaju osnov modernog humanizma. U konkretnom smislu, priroda vladajućeg poretka uslovljava prirodu vladajućeg nasilja. U liberalnom kapitalizmu vladajuće nasilje zasnivalo se na principu bellum omnium contra omnes. U monopolističkom kapitalizmu vladajuće nasilje zasniva se na principu „Uništi konkurenciju!“. U njemu ne dominira borba između građana, koji su svedeni na atomizovane privatne subjekte, već borba između mamutskih korporacija. Savremeno vladajuće nasilje uslovljeno je time, da je kapitalizam postao totalitarni poredak destrukcije. Ono ima destruktivni i totalitarni karakter.

Istorijski gledano, nasilje ima emancipatorsku dimenziju. Polazeći od Američke i Francuske građanske revolucije, Marks je došao do zaključka da je „sila babica istorije“. U vreme nastanka kapitalizma, građanski teoretičari insistirali na pravu suprodstavljanja vladajućem nasilju, uključujući i oružanu borbu. Lok i Kant smatraju da slobodni građani nemaju samo pravo da se suprotstave nasilju koje ugrožava njihovu slobodu, već da je suprotstavljanje nasilju njihova najvažnija građanska obaveza. Za Njegoša, „tiranstvu stati nogom za vrat je ljudska dužnost najsvetija“. Lenjin na tragu emancipatorskog nasleđa građanske misli dolazi do teorije o „neopravdanim“ (osvajačkim) i „opravdanim“ (slobodarskim) ratovima. U Marksovom shvatanju proleterske revolucije nasilje nije cilj, već je sredstvo za obračun s kapitalističkom tiranijom. Razvojem političkih institucija, revolucionarno nasilje postaje samo jedno od mogućih sredstava za ukidanje kapitalizma. Što se tiče Engelsovog zalaganja za „diktaturu proletarijata“, ono je besmisleno jer nakon (istinske) socijalističke revolucije neće biti klasa već samo slobodnih ljudi koji žive od svoga rada.

U savremenom svetu nasilje koje je usmereno protiv kapitalističkog poretka i savremenog imperijalizma dobija oznaku „terorizam“. Rukovodeći se klasnim i kolonijalnim principom, ideolozi kapitalizma ne prave razliku između borbe za slobodu i terorizma, tačnije, oni svode borbu radnika protiv kapitalizma i borbu porobljenih naroda protiv imperijalizma na „terorizam“. U osvojenim zemljama kolonijalni zavojevači borce protiv kolonijalnog jarma nazivaju „banditima“, „ubicama“, „monstrumima“… Pojam „terorizam“ objedinjuje u sebi tradicionalne kvalifikacije boraca protiv klasnog poretka i kolonijalizma. Istovremeno, on podrazumeva i spontano suprotstavljanje gnevnih mladih ljudi kapitalističkom poretku koji ih je lišio budućnosti.

Nije „terorizam“ kada kapitalisti, rukovodeći se gramzivošću, prouzrokuju havarije na nuklearnim elektranama što ima pogubne posledice za živi svet; kada dnevno zapale na hiljade požara u brazilskoj džungli; kada iz aviona sistematski zaprašuju otrovima i teškim metalima zemljište i vodne tokove; kada svakodnevno bace u okeane na hiljade kontejnera punih nuklearnog otpada i kada naftom zagade mora i obalu i pri tom ubiju milione životinja; kada fosfornim bombama spale čitave gradove i kada projektilima punjenim osiromašenim uranijumom kontaminiraju reke i zemljište; kada, zahvaljujući ekonomskom fašizmu, primoravaju ljude da proizvode i konzumiraju zatrovanu hranu i genetski modifikovane žitarice; kada kapitalisti izbace sa posla milione ljudi i primoraju žene da se sterilišu da bi dobile posao; kada najrazvijenije kapitalističke zemlje ekonomskim merama i političkim i vojnim pritiscima unište ekonomije nerazvijenih zemalja i na taj način uzrokuju patnju i smrt desetine miliona dece; kada ljudi bivaju gurnuti u dužničko ropstvo i lišeni osnovnih ljudskih i građanskih prava; kada američki kapitalisti izazivaju ratove i kada stvaraju ratnu histeriju da bi obezbedili opstanak američke vojne industrije; kada CIA stvara terorističke grupe koje služe za izazivanje građanskih ratova i cepanje postojećih država…. – ali je „terorizam“ kada grupa nezadovoljnih mladih ljudi iz pariskih predgrađa, koji žive na marginama društva, polupa stakla na luksuznim automobilima, razbije izloge prodavnica u elitnim delovima grada, ili gađa kamenicama oklopljene i do zuba naoružane policajce koji štite vladajući poredak koji stvara socijalnu bedu i uništava život.

Kapitalizam se obračunava s emancipatorskim nasleđem građanskog društva i proizvodi oblike političke borbe koji imaju destruktivni karakter. Savremeni „terorizam“ je na kapitalistički način degenerisani oblik borbe protiv kapitalizma, što znači destruktivno nasilje koje se koristi sredstvima i metodima kapitalizma koji samo doprinose intenziviranju procesa destrukcije. On je jedan od oblika u kome se pojavljuje vladajući duh destruktivnog kapitalističkog iracionalizma. On ne teži stvaranju novog, već uništenju postojećeg sveta. To je suštinska razlika između revolucionarne borbe i terorističkih akcija. U terorističkom nasilju ne dominira vizionarska svest već fanatizam koji je posledica sve bespoštednijeg uništavanja čitavih naroda od strane najmoćnijih kapitalističkih korporacija. Tipičan primer је „islamski terorizam“: on je neminovna posledica sve agresivnijeg nastojanja Zapada da uništi muslimane i ovlada naftnim izvorima.

Sve dublja egzistencijalna kriza sveta stvara uslove za razvoj religioznog fanatizma koji ima fatalistički i destruktivni karakter. Za fanatike koji glorifikuje iluzorni svet „na nebu“ ovozemaljski svet pretstavlja samo odskočnu dasku za odlazak u „večnost“. Ubijanjem „nevernika“ stiče se ulaznica za „rajske vrtove“. Terorizam koji je zaodenut velom religioznog fanatizma zasniva se na anti-egzistencijalnom nihilizmu. Međutim, samo naivan čovek može da veruje da će iskorenjivanjem religije biti iskorenjeno nasilje. Preko 99% mladih „terorista“ nije pročitalo ni jednu knjigu religioznog sadržaja koje Mišel Onfre, u Ateološkoj raspravi, proglašava za izvor njihovog nasilništva. Istovremeno, gotovo svim „teroristima“ na Zapadu glavna duhovna hrana su proizvodi kapitalističke industrije zabave: holivudski filmovi, kompjuterske „igrice“ i sportske predstave u kojima je nasilje dobilo spektakularnu dimenziju. Onfre „previđa“ najvažnije: nasilništvo mladih je uslovljeno prirodom vladajućeg poretka i njihovim položajem u društvu. Ono je posledica toga što su mladi, pogotovu oni koji žive u getima, svedeni na „prljavu“ radnu snagu i „huligane“. Onfreova namera je očigledna: prebacujući odgovornost na religiju, on lišava vladajući kapitalistički poredak odgovornosti za sve veće nasilje u društvu. Istovremeno, on ne pravi razliku između nasilničkog karaktera i nasilničke svesti. Isto tako, on ne pravi razliku između nasilništva mladih kao imitiranja modela ponašanja i nasilništva kao izraza nezadovoljstva postojećim svetom. Destruktivno ponašanje mladih je na kapitalistički način degenerisani oblik ispoljavanja njihovog opravdanog nezadovoljstva svojim životom i svetom u kome žive. Onfre, poput vladajućih religija, prikriva pravu prirodu monopolističkog kapitalizma i poseže za „antropološkim argumentom“ koji drži čoveka u socijalno-darvinističkoj ravni koja je karakteristična za liberalni kapitalizam.

Onfreu ne pada na pamet da ukaže na to, da se država i pravni sistem, kao i druge institucije kapitalističkog društva, ne suprotstavljaju nasilju, već su regulativni mehanizmi kapitalizma kao nasilničkog (destruktivnog) poretka. Tipičan primer su pravila fair-playa u sportu. Pod “nasiljem u sportu” podrazumeva se ono ponašanje koje prekoračuje pravilima utvrđene granice „sportske borbe“. Nije nasilje ukoliko bokser, „na propisani način“, udarcem u glavu usmrti svog „protivnika“, ali je nasilje ukoliko ga nogom udari u zadnjicu. U prvom slučaju, biće proglašen „šampionom“; u drugom slučaju, biće diskvalifikovan. Nasilje nije ono ponašanje koje ugrožava slobodu i život čoveka, već vladajući poredak. Sport je spektakularna reklama destruktivnog nasilja i kao takav je poziv na nasilje. „Vrhunski sportisti“, koji se služe najgorim oblicima destruktivnog nasilja, postali su „idoli“ mladih. Sportom se uništavaju međuljudski odnosi koji se zasnivaju na solidarnosti i vizionarska svest i mladi bivaju uvučeni u kapitalističku vrednosnu i životnu sferu. Nije slučajno što je sport najmilije čedo kapitalizma.

„Borba protiv terorizma“ je ideološka maska sa kojom nastupa američki imperijalizam, koja odgovara nacističkoj „borbi protiv judeo-boljševizma“ koja je bila pokriće za uništenje Jevreja i Slovena i za osvajanje „životnog prostora“ (Lebensraum) za nemački kapital. Ona је izgovor za uspostavljanje „novog svetskog poretka“ koji se zasniva na američkom imperijalizmu. Oni koji terorišu svet, u formi „borbe protiv terorizma“ nastoje da se obračunaju sa svakim ko ugrožava njihovo nastojanje da svet pretvore u koncentracioni logor. „Borba protiv terorizma“ je, zapravo, borba Zapada da stekne monopol nad nasiljem, a to znači da teror postane ekskluzivno sredstvo Zapada za vladanje svetom. „Zaštita od terorizma“ koja se nudi ima маfijaški karakter: onaj ko ne prihvati čelični zagrljaj „svetskog žandara“ biće izložen najgorem teroru. „Svetski terorizam“ postaje „glavna opasnost koja preti čovečanstvu“ – то neprestano ponavljaju sluge američke politike širom sveta da bi se dodvorile svojim gazdama. Kroz odnos prema terorizmu mogu se prepoznati prave ambicije i domašaj američke politike : „borba protiv terorizma“ nema blokovski i ideološki, već globalni i anti-egzistencijalni karakter. Istovremeno, kapitalisti u najrazvijenijim zemljama Zapada nastoje, putem kontrolisanih informacionih medija, da izazovu egzistencijalnu paniku koja treba da dovede do toga, da građani bespogovorno prihvate takvu „zaštitu od terorističke opasnosti“ koja podrazumeva da budu lišeni osnovnih građanskih i ljudskih prava. Na delu je totalitarna „integracija društva“ pod dominacijom najreakcionarnijih političkih snaga. Desetine miliona kamera, prisluškivanje, čipovanje građana poput čipovanja pasa i žigosanja stoke, upadanje u stanove, kidnapovanje, mučenje, „tihe“ likvidacije, totalna kontrola medija, razmeštanje specijalnih vojnih jedinica po gradovima, stvaranje koncentracionih logora… „Borba protiv terorizma“ je, zapravo, oblik u kome kapitalisti zavode ogoljenu diktaturu.

Ekocid je napogubniji oblik kapitalističkog terora. To je ništeće nasilje. „Potrošačko društvo“ je najviši stepen u razvoju kapitalizma kao ekocidnog poretka. U “konzumerskoj” fazi razvoja destruktivni potencijali kapitalizma doživeli su metastazu i on je postao totalitarni destruktivni poredak. Zapravo, sam na kapitalistički način uslovljeni život postao teror nad čovekom. Svaki segment društvenog života i svaki deo prirode podređeni su destruktivnom procesu kapitalističke reprodukcije. Kada sam život postane teror nad čovekom, onda je besmisleno nastojanje da se terorizam definiše u normativnoj ravni i reguliše zakonima.

Postajanje kapitalizma totalitarnim poretkom destrukcije, i u tom kontekstu uništavanje emancipatorskog nasleđa građanskog društva i čoveka kao humanog i biološkog bića, predstavlja nezaobilazno polazište kako za kritiku kapitalizma, tako i za političku borbu protiv kapitalizma. Ne može politička procena mogućeg društvenog zbivanja da bude polazište u kritici kapitalizma. Takav pristup je neprihvatljiv ne samo zbog istine, već je pre svega iz egzistencijalnih razloga. Nezavisno od toga šta u konkretnom političkom trenutku može da se uradi, priroda kapitalizma mora da bude polazište u kritici kapitalizma. Nije „voluntarizam radikalne političke svesti“ taj koji proizvodi „juriš na barikade“ (Negt), već sve dramatičnije uništavanje života od strane kapitalizma nameće „juriš na barikade“ kao legitimni oblik političke borbe protiv kapitalizma. Bez spremnosti radničke klase da izađe na barikade, sve druge političke opcije same po sebi su proizvođenje političke galame koja ništa bitno ne može da promeni. Militarizacija radničke klase i mladih na temelju borbe za opstanak života na planeti i na temelju humanističke vizionarske svesti ima prvorazredni egzistencijalni značaj. Umesto pacifističkog vaspitanja, kod mladih treba razviti volju za borbu protiv kapitalizma i za stvaranje humanog sveta. Imajući u vidu da ekonomska kriza kapitalizma pogađa sve veći broj ljudi, kao i da dovodi do biološkog propadanja naroda koji žive u najrazvijenijim kapitalističkim državama, „odlaganje“ radikalne političke opcije može da dovede do stvaranja takve „političke klime“ koja će iznedriti novi fašizam. Istovremeno, bez političkog organizovanja i svakodnevnog političkog angažmana radnika, juriš na barikade ne može da ima istinski revolucionarni, što znači vizionarski, već pobunjenički i rušilački karakter. Revolucionara borba nije samo borba protiv vladajućeg poretka, već i borba za humani svet.

Pojam revolucionarnog nasilja treba odrediti po principu da se do konkretne humanosti može doći u odnosu prema konkretnoj nehumanosti. Drugim rečima, priroda kapitalizma kao totalitarnog destruktivnog poretka uslovljava prirodu borbe protiv kapitalizma. Ukoliko se to nema u vidu, zalaganje za „humanizam“ postaje isprazna „humanistička“ retorika. U savremenom svetu pojam nasilja izlazi iz okvira morala i politike i pojavljuje se u egzistencijalnoj sferi. Ne mogu više humanistički ideali modernog društva, koji su proklamovani u Francuskoj građanskoj revoluciji, da budu polazište u borbi protiv kapitalizma. Isto tako, savremena kritika kapitalističkog nasilja ne može da bude ograničena na klasne i međuljudske odnose, već mora imati u vidu opstanak čovečanstva. Kapitalistička nehumanost ima antiegzistencijalni karakter. Otuda savremena humanost ne može da ima samo slobodarsku, već pre svega egzistencijalnu prirodu. Kao totalitarni poredak destrukcije kapitalizam je dao novi kvalitet razvoju društva: mogućnost konkretne slobode čoveka ne pojavljuje se više u odnosu prema ropstvu, već u odnosu prema sve realnijoj mogućnosti uništenja sveta. Borba za slobodu čoveka postala je borba za opstanak čovečanstva.

Kapitalizam je dovukao čovečanstvo na ivicu provalije i na taj način je ukinuo prostor za političke igre sa kojima se kupuje vreme kapitalizmu. Sve bespoštednije uništavanje života primorava čoveka da učini ono što je neophodno da bi sprečio uništenje čovečanstva. Čovek postaje žrtva kapitalizma i na taj način, što ga kapitalizam primorava da upotrebi i ona sredstva u borbi za opstanak života koja su strana njegovom ljudskom biću i koja ne odgovaraju viziji humanog društva. Sve dramatičnije uništavanje sveta dovodi do toga, da pitanje revolucionarnog nasilja postaje sve manje etičko, a sve više prvorazredno egzistencijalno pitanje.

Na poslednjem istorijskom bojištu ostala su dva smrtna neprijatelja: kapitalizam i čovečanstvo. Kapitalizam je odavno krenuo u ništeći rat protiv čovečanstva. Radi se o tome da čovečanstvo krene u opšti rat protiv kapitalizma, što podrazumeva upotrebu svih oblika borbe којi mogu da dovedu do njegovog uništenja.

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Ljubodrag Simonovic

E-mail:comrade@orion.rs

Terrorism

The notion of violence has a historical nature. In modern times, it is determined according to the basic human and civil rights, proclaimed in the French Revolution, which form the basis of modern humanism. Concretely, the nature of the ruling order conditions the nature of the prevailing violence. In liberal capitalism, the prevailing violence was based on the principle bellum omnium contra omnes. In monopolistic capitalism, the prevailing violence is based on the principle “Destroy the competition!”. It is not characterized by a struggle between citizens, who are reduced to atomized private subjects, but by a struggle between gigantic corporations. The prevailing contemporary violence results from capitalism as a totalitarian destructive order.

From the historical point of view, violence has an emancipatory dimension. Departing from the American and French Revolutions, Marx came to the conclusion that “violence is the midwife of history”. From the onset of capitalism, bourgeois theorists insisted on the right to combat the prevailing violence, including the armed struggle. Locke and Kant share the view that free citizens not only have the right to oppose the violence threatening their freedoms, but that the opposition to violence is their most important civic duty. For Njegos, “to place a foot upon tyranny’s neck, this is the most sacred of man’s duties”. Following in the footsteps of this emancipatory legacy, Lenin put forward a theory of ”unjust” (conquering) and “just” (liberating) wars. According to Marx, violence in a proletarian revolution is not the aim, but the means for doing away with capitalist tyranny. With the development of political institutions, revolutionary violence has become one of the available means for abolishing capitalism. Engels’ insistence on a ”dictatorship of the proletariat” is meaningless, because, after a (true) socialist revolution, classes will no longer exist, and there will only be free people whose livelihoods will derive from their own work.

In the contemporary world, the violence directed towards the capitalist order and contemporary imperialism is referred to as “terrorism”. Following the class and the colonial principles, the ideologues of capitalism do not make a distinction between the struggle for freedom and terrorism; more precisely, they equate the workers’ struggle against capitalism and the struggle of oppressed peoples against imperialism with “terrorism”. In conquered countries, colonial masters refer to those who fight against the colonial yoke as “bandits”, “murderers”, “thugs”… The notion of “terrorism” comprises all traditional qualifications of fighters against the class order and colonialism. At the same time, it also involves the spontaneous opposition of enraged young people to the capitalist order, which has deprived them of their future.

It is not “terrorism” when capitalists, guided by greed, cause accidents in nuclear power plants, with lethal consequences to the living world; when they start thousands of fires in the Brazilian jungles every single day; when they contaminate the soil and water with poisonous heavy metals dropped from aircraft; when they empty thousands of nuclear waste containers into the oceans every single day and contaminate the seas and the coastlands with oil, killing millions of animals; when they burn entire towns with phosphorus bombs and contaminate rivers and the earth with projectiles tipped with depleted uranium; when, thanks to economic fascism, they force people to produce and consume contaminated food and genetically modified crops; when they fire millions of people from work and force women to undergo sterilization in order to get a job; when the most developed capitalist countries, through economic measures and political and military pressures, destroy the economies of less developed countries, causing suffering and death to tens of millions of children; when people are pushed into debt-slavery and deprived of their basic human and civil rights; when American capitalists provoke wars and create a war hysteria in order to ensure the survival of the American military industry; when the CIA forms terrorist groups to incite civil wars and destroy existing states… However, it is “terrorism” when a group of dissatisfied young people from the Parisian suburbs, who live on the margins of society, smash the windows of limousines or of the shops in posh areas, or throw stones at armored police vehicles and heavily armed police forces, who protect the ruling order, which creates social poverty and destroys life on Earth.

Capitalism is opposed to the emancipatory legacy of bourgeois society and produces forms of political struggle with a destructive character. Contemporary “terrorism” is a capitalistically degenerated struggle against capitalism, namely, a destructive violence that uses the capitalist means and methods and thus further intensifies the process of destruction. It is a manifestation of the ruling spirit of destructive capitalist irrationalism. It does not seek to create a new world, but to destroy the existing one. That is the basic difference between a revolutionary struggle and terrorist acts. Terrorism is not marked by a visionary consciousness, but by fanaticism, as a result of the increasingly ruthless destruction of entire nations by the most powerful capitalist corporations.

The ever-deeper existential crisis in the world creates conditions for the development of religious fanaticism, with a fatalistic and destructive character. For fanatics, who glorify an illusory world “in the heavens”, this world is but a springboard for their departure into “eternity”. By killing the “infidels”, they acquire their tickets for “The Pearly Gates”. Terrorism, under the veil of religious fanaticism, is based on anti-existential nihilism. However, only a naive person can believe that the eradication of religion would bring the eradication of violence. Over 99% of young “terrorists” have not read a single religious book, a fact Michel Onfray, in his “Atheist Manifesto”, claims is the source of their violent behavior.

At the same time, the main “spiritual sustenance” for almost all “terrorists” in the West is the products of the capitalist entertainment industry: Hollywood films, “video games” and sports, where violence acquires a spectacular dimension. Onfray “overlooks” the most important point: young people’s violence results from their positions in society and the nature of the ruling order. It is the consequence of reducing young people, particularly those living in ghettos, to “hooliganism”. Onfray’s intention is clear: by shifting the responsibility to religion, he relieves the ruling capitalist order of any responsibility for the increasing violence in society. At the same time, he does not see the difference between the violent character and the violent consciousness. He also does not make any distinction between the violence of the young, who just mimic the model behavior, and the violence used to express dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs. The destructive behavior of the young is a capitalistically degenerated expression of their justified dissatisfaction with their life and the world in which they live. Just as do existing religions, Onfray conceals the true nature of monopolistic capitalism and resorts to an “anthropological argument”, which holds man at the social-Darwinist level that characterizes liberal capitalism.

It does not occur to Onfray to show that rather than opposing the violence, the state and the legal system, as well as other institutions of capitalist society, are regulatory mechanisms of capitalism as a violent (destructive) order. A typical example is the rules of fair play in sport. The “violence in sport” involves behavior that crosses the established limits of a “sporting fight”. It is not considered violence if a boxer, “in a proper manner”, kills his “opponent” by hitting him in the head, but it is considered violence if he kicks his bottom. In the first case, he will be declared “champion”; in the second case, he will be disqualified. Violence is not the behavior that threatens man’s freedom and life, but it does threaten the ruling order. Sport is the best promoter of destructive violence and, as such, is a call to violence. “Top sportsmen”, who use the worst forms of destructive violence, have become the “idols” of the young. Sport destroys interpersonal relations based on solidarity, as well as visionary consciousness, drawing the young into the world of capitalist values. It is no accident that sport is the dearest child of capitalism.

The “war on terrorism” is just an ideological mask used by American imperialism and resembles the Nazi “struggle against Judeo-bolshevism”, which was used as a cover for annihilating the Jews and the Slavs and conquering a “living space” (Lebensraum) for German capital. It is an excuse for establishing a “new world order” based on American imperialism. Those who terrorize the world, under the pretext of a “war on terrorism”, seek to do away with anyone who can stop their endeavors to turn the world into a concentration camp. The “fight against terrorism” is, actually, the fight by the West to acquire a monopoly on violence, which means that terror would become the exclusive means by which the West will rule the world. The “protection against terrorism” that they offer is a sort of mafia racket: those who do not accept the steel embrace of the “world police” shall be subjected to horrendous terror. “Global terrorism” is becoming the “main threat to humankind” – this slogan is repeated over and over again by the proponents of American policies all over the world, who try to ingratiate themselves to their masters. The relation towards terrorism reveals the true ambitions and reach of American politics: the “fight against terrorism” does not have anything to do with forming a new block or with any ideology, it has a global and anti-existential character.

At the same time, capitalists in the most developed Western countries use controlled media to spread existential panic so that citizens will unquestioningly accept their “protection against the terrorist threat”, which means being deprived of their basic civil and human rights. This is a totalitarian “integration of society” dominated by the most reactionary political forces. Tens of millions of cameras, wiretaps, micro-chips implanted in citizens, similarly to dog chipping and cattle branding, unwarranted intrusions, kidnapping, torture, “silent” liquidations, total control over the media, deployment of special military units in cities, erection of concentration camps…. The “fight against terrorism” is, actually, the form in which capitalists carry out an open dictatorship.

Ecocide is the most detrimental form of capitalist terror. This type of violence has an annihilating character. “Consumer society” is the highest stage in the development of capitalism as an ecocidal order. In the “consumer” stage of development, destructive potential of capitalism has reached the metastasis and capitalism has turned into a totalitarian destructive order. Each segment of social life and each segment of nature are subjected to the destructive process of capitalist reproduction. Actually, life itself, conditioned by capitalism, has become terror over people. When life itself became a terror, then any attempt to define terror at the normative level and to regulate it legally becomes meaningless.

Capitalism as a destructive totalitarian order and, consequently, as destructive of the emancipatory legacy of bourgeois society and man as a humane and biological being, must be the starting point in a critique of capitalism and the political struggle against capitalism. Criticism of capitalism cannot start from a political analysis of possible social developments. Such an approach is unacceptable not only for reasons of truth, but, above all, for existential reasons. Notwithstanding a possible action at a particular political moment, a critique of capitalism must start from the nature of capitalism. The “storming of the barricades” is not a product of the “voluntarism of a radical political consciousness” (Negt); it is rather the result of the increasingly dramatic capitalist destruction of life, and is a legitimate form of political struggle against capitalism. Without the willingness of the working class to stand at the barricades, all other political options are nothing but a political clamor, which cannot produce any essential changes. The militarization of the working class and the young that results from the struggle for survival and is based on the humanist visionary consciousness is of utmost existential significance. Instead of a pacifistic upbringing, the young people should develop the will to fight against capitalism and to create a humane world. Considering the fact that the economic crisis of capitalism is affecting an increasing number of people, leading to the biological demise of peoples living in the most advanced capitalist states, the “postponement” of a radical political option can result in a “political climate” that can give rise to a new fascism. At the same time, without political organization and the political engagement of workers on a daily basis, storming the barricades cannot have a true revolutionary, which means a visionary character, but just a rebellious and destructive one. A revolutionary fight is not only a fight against the ruling order, but also a fight for a humane world.

The notion of revolutionary violence should be determined by the principle that concrete humanity can be reached relative to concrete inhumanity. In other words, the nature of capitalism as a totalitarian destructive order conditions the nature of the struggle against capitalism. If we ignore that, advocating “humanism” becomes an empty “humanistic” rhetoric. In the contemporary world, the concept of violence exceeds the framework of morality and politics and appears in the existential sphere. The humanistic ideals of modern society, which were affirmed in the French Revolution, can no longer be the starting point in the fight against capitalism. Also, a contemporary criticism of capitalist violence cannot be limited to class and human relations, but must consider the survival of humankind. Capitalist inhumanity has an anti-existential character. Hence, contemporary humanism cannot only have a libertarian, but, above all, must have an existential nature. As a destructive totalitarian order, capitalism has given a new quality to the development of society: the possibility of man’s concrete freedom no longer appears in relation to slavery, but in relation to the ever more realistic possibility of global annihilation. The fight for man’s freedom has become the fight for the survival of humankind.

Capitalism brought humankind to the edge of the abyss and thus abolished the space for political games intended to buy time for capitalism. The increasingly ruthless destruction of life compels man to make his best efforts to prevent global destruction. That man is the victim of capitalism can also be seen from the fact that capitalism forces him to use, in his struggle for survival, the means which are alien to his humanity, as well as to the vision of a humane society. The increasingly dramatic destruction of the world means that revolutionary violence is becoming less and less an ethical issue and more and more an existential issue of primary importance.

On the last historical battlefield there remain only two mortal combatants: capitalism and humankind. Capitalism has long been waging an all-out war of annihilation against humanity. It is about time to start a total war against capitalism, which involves the use of all forms of struggle that can contribute to its final destruction.

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Translated from Serbian by Vesna Todorović (Petrović)

English translation supervisor, Mick Collins

E-mail: cirqueminime@club-internet.fr