From On the Concept of History (1940), by Walter Benjamin.
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world seems pretty bleak rn man ngl
thats completely understandable given everything going on but please remember that all of the things happening rn are the result of world imperialism succumbing to its own contradictions. a cornered beast will lash out and it will lash out violently, but it’s crucial to remember that the huge increase in counterinsurgency efforts, reactionary violence, etc all reflect the desperate attempts of a dying system to keep itself afloat.
and while yes, the grief we have to endure as a result of that violence is immense, never forget that there was a time in history where there was no organized anti-colonial resistance to speak of, where workers hadnt seized the means of production in one country, let alone several, when colonial hegemony went almost entirely unchallenged except in the form of scattered revolts and rebellions.
we are not in that period anymore, we are living in the aftermath of the october revolution, of the chinese revolution, of organized international solidarity in the periphery, of the US empire spreading itself thinner and thinner and losing on more and more fronts, of recurrent and pronounced crises of the capitalist system,
an era where colonized peoples have become/are becoming the subjects of their own history, rather than merely the objects. all of this is reason to stay optimistic, to stay vigilant, and to channel that grief and anger and agitation into drive to fight, drive to resist
and perhaps most pertinently for this current struggle of palestinian liberation, please remember that the fight is ongoing and far from lost, on the contrary, there are many reasons to believe the tide is turning, that the palestinian people will rid themselves once and for all of the occupation and strike a massive blow to world imperialism in the process
“Social Democracy thought fit to assign to the working class the role of the redeemer of future generations, in this way cutting the sinews of its greatest strength. This training made the working class forget both its hatred and its spirit of sacrifice, for both are nourished by the image of enslaved ancestors rather than that of liberated grandchildren.”
From On the Concept of History (1940), by Walter Benjamin.
and, continuing:
The tradition of the oppressed teaches us that the ‘state of emergency’ in which we live is not the exception but the rule. We must attain to a conception of history that is in keeping with this insight. Then we shall clearly realize that it is our task to bring about a real state of emergency, and this will improve our position in the struggle against Fascism. One reason why Fascism has a chance is that in the name of progress its opponents treat it as a historical norm.