Aragorn Nihilism Anarchy and the 21st Century

7/27/2019 Aragorn Nihilism Anarchy and the 21st Century

1/31

Aragorn!

Nihilism, Anarchy,and the 21st century


2/31

2

Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Chapter 1: A History of Russian Nihilism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Foundational Nihilism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Revolutionary Nihilism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9e last act of the Russian nihilists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Chapter 2: What is Le? Nihilism vs. Socialism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

e family tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Russian Socialism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Nihilism meet Anarchism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Chapter 3: Nihilism as Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Chapter 4: What I wish I had said September 12, 2001 . . . . . . . . . . . 29


3/31

3

Introduction

is pamphlet about nihilism is intended for an anarchist audience. roughoutthe course of compiling this there was a certain temptation to preface sentence

aer sentence with From an anarchist perspective or As an anarchist becausemyevaluation of this subjectmaterialcomes from an anarchistorientation. Iresisted making such a pedantic statementoverand overagain withinthese pagesbut I would remind the reader that the assumption holds.

A few notes about the narrative arc that I intend here. My intention is toexpose anarchists (who might not be otherwise) to the breadth of the nihilistcontribution. Ihave gonefurtherafieldthanIgenerallywould. Normally Iwouldbe satisfied providing threads that an engaged reader could follow on their ownwithoutmakingthe connectionsthat seem obvious to me. Igenerallysee mywriting as living within the context that it does and therefore do not spend a lotof time explaining why I have arrived where I have.

Herein I have made different choices. I begin with a lengthy discussion aboutthe historyofnihilism. Iam nota particular fan of thefacts,names,and datesthat makes a useful history, but made an exception in this case because I believethat theinformation should be accessibleto more peoplethanjust those whoare willing to slog through the many books on the subject that I have. With thatsaid, I have made many errors of omission. If I ever do decide to write a book onhistory, itmay verywellbe on nihilism,becausethe amount that I leoutof thisbrief history still weighs on my mind.

I then provide some thoughts on the connection, or lack ofconnection, ofnihilism to the socialist tradition. I will say,even though I will regret saying it later,that part of my intention is to approach certain topics with a stronger languagethanthe current leornot-lediscourse. Imaketheissue aboutsocialism. Ihaveincluded a previouslypublished essay thatmakes afirstpass atdrawingout connections between nihilism and action in-this-world that may be useful tothose eager to develop conclusions along these lines in real-time. Finally I haveincluded arecent rant thatwillserve as an exclamation point tothis pamphletand a comma to our discussion about nihilism and anarchy.

Aragorn!


4/31

4

Chapter 1: A History of Russian

Nihilism

An understanding of the Russian nihilism of the 1860s begins with an aemptto understandthe conceptofnihilism. isis naturallydifficultbecauseif thereisa word that has even more loaded, and negative, connotations than anarchism itwould be nihilism. isis particularlybecausethe primary vehicle ofourmodernunderstanding ofnihilismis through the fiction of Turgenevand Dostoevsky.Neither of these authors were particularly sympathetic to nihilism and providednihilist characters primarily as a frame with which to drape their morality tales.eversion ofnihilism offered by these authorsisthen,primarily,a snapshotofthe popular culture in which nihilism dwelt as much as it is a recollection of thetrend. istimein Russian history is partof the storyofnihilism and willbe partof the story in bridgingthe gap betweenthe mythologicalBazarov, Verkhovensky,or Raskolnikov and figures like Nicholas Chernyshevsky, Dmitry Pisarev, and tosome extent Sergey Nechayev.

What then was nihilism? Nihilism was ayouth movement,a philosophicaltendency,and arevolutionary impulse. Nihilism wasthevalorization of the nat-uralsciences. Nihilism was a specificfashion style. Nihilism was a new approachto aesthetics, criticism and ethics. Nihilism was the contradiction between astudied materialism andthe desireto annihilatethe socialorder. Nihilism wasalso a particularlyRussianresponsetothe conditions of Tsarist reform andre-pression. Nihilism has become much morethanit originallywould have beencapable ofbecause of theviralnature of itsvalue-system,practice,and conclu-sions. Nihilisms effect istraceablethroughthe historyofAnarchism, through

theformation and modern practice of terrorism,andthrough philosophical trendsfrom deconstruction to existentialism.

Russiainthe mid nineteenth centurywas a place of increasingtension. erevolution of 1848that touched most of the European continent did not dras-ticallyaffectRussia. As aresultof the Russian campaignto subdue Napoleon(18121815)westernideas were brought to Russia. eseideas mostclearlyar-ticulatedthemselves as a desirefora constitution defendingvalueslike humanrights, a representative government, and democracy. When the Tsar (AlexanderI) died in 1825 a regiment of soldiers refused to pay allegiance to the new crown,wanting instead the establishment of a Russian constitution. ese westernizedRussians were particularly frustrated becausethe colonyofPoland was awarded a

constitution by the Tsar. e Decembrists, as they were called, were suppressedandremained a symbolof the possibilityofsocialchangethroughout the century.


5/31

5

Alexanders successor,his brotherNicholasI,was an autocrat. Heruled Russia(18251855) with a combination of secret police (the ird Section), censorship,nationalism,and colonialism. Aer thefailureinthe Crimean waragainst thecombined mightof theOoman Empire,Britain,and France,Russia wasinthe

dire situation of being forced to make major reforms or no longer be considereda playeronthe European continent. etiming of this military failure byRussiacoincided with the death of Nicholas I.

His son, Alexander II, assumed the throne (18551881). His reign began withthe negotiation ofa peace dealwiththe major powers ofEurope and a majordomestic reform. Alexander II, in the sixth year of his reign, freed the peasants.is meant that as a class the peasants became transformed into a class of inde-pendentcommunalproprietorswhich meant that theyhadrightsfarbeyond anyotherpeasantry in Europe. isreform was coupled with changestothe military,judiciary, and local self-governance. is spirit of change was dampened by thecomparison of thetransformations not tothe past,but to a mythologicalstate.

is sets the stage for nihilism.e New People, as they were called, existed before the publishing of thebookFathers and Sons(1862)by Turgenevbut found a herointhe characterofBazarov. It is worth notingtherole of literaturein Russian culture. Proseroseto prominenceinthe1840s asthe risein publications of literary journalsthatprinted novels in serial. is form affected Russian culture so dramatically thatAlexanders emancipation of the peasants is aributed, in part, to his reaction toIvanTurgenevs collection ofSportsmans Sketchesthatdepictedthelife of thepeasant. Literature was arespectedform ofsocialcommentary thatbroachedissuesfromthe generation gap(inFathers and Sons) tothe psychologyofmenand women undergreatduress(Dostoyevsky)and in daily life(Tolstoy). isstyle of literature became known as realism due to its unflinching portrayalofcontemporary life. e realistnovelportrayedthe experience ofwhatwashappening in Russian culture and in the 1860s that was nihilism.

Foundational Nihilism

Russian nihilism can be dissected, perhaps unnaturally, into two periods. efoundational period (18601869) where the counter-cultural aspects of nihilismscandalized Russia,where eventhe smallestof indiscretionsresultedin nihilistsbeing sent to Siberia or imprisonedfor lengthyperiods of time,and wherethephilosophy of nihilism was formed. e other period would be the revolutionary

period ofNihilism (18701881) when the pamphlet e Catechism of a Revolutionistinspiredthe movement-in-waitinginto a movement-with-teeth with dozens of


6/31

6

actions against the Russian state. erevolutionaryperiod ends,ofcourse,withthe assassination of theTsarAlexander II (March13th, 1881),bya series ofbombs,and the consequential crushing of the nihilist movement.

It is arguablethatMikhailBakunins(18141876) Reactionin Germany (1842)

with its famous dictum Let us therefore trust the eternal Spirit which destroysandannihilates only because it is the unfathomable and eternal source of all life. epassionfordestructionis a creative passion, too!both anticipated andinstigatedthe ideas of the nihilists. Bakunin was considered, in Russia, a Westernizerbecause ofhisinfluences by thethinkers of the day fromthe Continentproper.In Reaction Bakunin engaged with the Hegelian view by asserting that thenegative,and not the positive, isthe creative drivingforce ofdialectics. While heis inexorablylinked to both the foundational and revolutionary periodsofnihilism,Bakunin was a productof the earliergeneration whosevision,ultimately,was notthe same as the nihilist view. He stated this best as I am a free man only so farasI recognizethe humanityandlibertyofallmen around me. Inrespectingtheir

humanity, I respectmyown. is generalhumanitarianinstinct isin contrasttothe nihilistproclamations ofhaving a hate with a greatand holyhatredorcalling for the annihilation of aesthetics (Pisarev).

Nihilism was never a singular, or even a particularly disciplined, body ofthought. is is aributable to the reality a) that the main nihilist philosophers(Chernyshevskyand Pisarev)neverheld academic positions,b) thatpublishingwas heavilycensored under theTsaror,as is most likely,c)of the nature ofni-hilismitself. Nihilism neverhad enough momentum,enoughtime,or therightconditionsto become a mature philosophy. isresultedinit being an approx-imationto a bodyof ideasrather than a bodyof ideas. While strong positionsweretaken along several theoretical lines,none were developedinthe genera-tionalmethod necessary for theseideasto hold historicalpurchase. While naturalscience was seen as the most potent intellectual tool, more nihilist commentarywas madeinthefield ofaesthetics, this beingrelatedtothe obscurityprinciple.e obscurityprinciple saysthat intimes of repressionthe mostcogentsocialcommentary happens in the vehicle of fiction, where your intention is obscuredbecauseyou appear to be talking aboutsomething entirelydifferent thanyouare. Inthe case of the nihilists,artwas anathema becauseitaggregated sentimen-talism,emotionalism, irrationalism,spiritualism,and was a waste of resources.is obscured the fact that nihilists were actually talking about the values of thecurrentorderembeddedinthevehicle ofartbut this connection couldntbe mademore clearly in a context of censorship.

As a positive philosophy Nihilism took positions within the framework of

established philosophy. Nihilist materialism boiled down to the view that onlywhat is perceptible exists. Man, then, was a complex chemical compound,


7/31

7

governed strictlyby thelaw ofcausality.Ethics,as argued byChernyshevskyandPisarev,can be described asthescientific justificationforhedonism. e nihilistposition on epistemology was realist and contrary to the phenomenalism of thetime. Artwas valuablein direct relationshiptoitssocialusefulness,however

that is defined(whichit was not). Asthese positionsreflect,Nihilism was notatits strongest as a positive philosophy and due to the transformation of Nihilismfrom a position to an action there was never a particularly focused developmentof these ideas.

As a maerofcourse,nihilism became a more coherentposition only in bannedtexts, smuggledinto Russiafrom migrs. e mostprolific of these migrswas AlexanderHerzen(18121870)who establishedthe Free Russian PressinLondon where he published untilhis death. e Press was wellknownfor itspublications of radical literaturethat rangedfrom Tothe YoungerGeneration(1861), thatarguedfor thereplacementof theTsarbyan employee of the state, tothe journalse Polar StarandVoices from Russia. His most well known journal

wase Bellwhich was smuggledinto Russia whereitwas quite popular throughthefoundationalnihilistperiod by those who desired social reform. In hindsighthisviews wereratherconservative,especially inlightofwhatnihilism wouldbecome. Frome Bellin 1865, Social progress is possible only under completerepublican freedom, under full democratic equality.

It is as a politicalpositionthatnihilism aracted aention and wastransformedfrom a discussion between learned men into a social movement. Nihilist politicsbegin as a branch of the Socialist tree. ey were most influenced by the FrenchSocialism of the time,Charles Fourier (17721837), Ludwig Feuerbach(18041872),Auguste Comte (17981857), John Stuart Mill (18061873), and obscure Germanmaterialists (Buchner, Molescho, and Vogt). e nihilist contribution to social-ismin generalwas the concept that the peasantwas an agentofsocialchange(Chernyshevsky, A Criticism of Philosophical Prejudices Against the Obshchina(1858)),and not just the bourgeoisreformers of therevolutions of 1848,or theproletariat of Marx (a concept that wouldnt reach Russia until later). Agitationfor this positionlanded Chernyshevsky in prison and exilein Siberiafor the next25 years(althoughthe specific accusations with which he was convicted werea concoction) in 1864. e first group, inspired by nihilist ideas, toform andwork towards social change, did so as a secret society and were called Land andFreedom. is groups name was alsotaken byanother,entirelyseparate group,duringthe RevolutionaryNihilistperiod. efirstLand and Freedomconspiredtosupport the Polishindependence movementandto agitatethe peasants who wereburdened with debtas aresultof the cripplingredemption paymentsrequired by

the emancipation of the serfs in 1861. Polish independence was not of particular


8/31

8

interest to the nihilists, and aer a plot to incite Kazan peasants to revolt failed,Land and Freedomfolded (1863).

us beginsthefirstperiod ofnihilistsecretsocieties. eOrganizationcreateda boys school in a Moscow slumin order totrainrevolutionaries. In addition

theyhad a secretsub-group calledHellwhose purpose was political terrorism,withthe assassination of theTsarasthe ultimate goal. isresultedinthefailedaemptbyDmitryKarakozovon the4th ofApril 1866. Dmitry fired a revolver,buthad his armjostled byan artisan(who died,beforethe potentialassassin,ofthe excesses of drink as a result of his change of social status) at the last minute.Dmitrywas tried and hanged atSmolensk Fieldin StPetersburg. eleaderofe Organization,NicholasIshutin,was alsotried and wasto be executed beforebeing exiledto Siberiafor life. us endedeOrganizationand beganthe WhiteTerror of the rest of the 1860s.

e WhiteTerrorbegan by theTsarpuing CountMichaelMuravyov (HangerMuravyovdueto histreatmentofPolishrebelsin prior years) in charge of the

suppression of the nihilists. etwoleadingradical journals(e Contemporaryand Russian Word) were banned, liberal reforms were minimized by reactionaryaerthoughts,andthe educationalsystem wasreformedto stifletherevolutionaryspirit that lived there. is action by the Russian state marks the end of thefoundational period of nihilism.

e lifestyle of the nihilist, or New People, is worth reviewing, if for no otherreason,because of its similarity toyouth movements of the modern era. Whileadvocatingfora callous hedonism andradicalsubjectivity, in practice nihilistsactually tended towards a utilitarian and ascetic lifestyle. e fashion is a case inpoint. Both sexesfavoured blue-tinted spectacles and high boots. Othercommonfeatures were a heavywalking-stick and arugflung over the shouldersin coldweather; they called it a plaid, but it was not necessarily a tartan. (Hingley) is,coupled with huge beardsformen and bobsforwomen,a voracious appetiteforcigarees,an unwashed dirtyappearance,andrude and outspoken behaviormadethe New People a sight to behold. e nihilists aempted to challenge the valuesof the day in a more meaningful way too. At the time, the question of womansemancipation was of great interest to reformers. For the nihilist the issues wereregarding work and sexual freedom. Because a womans passport (which wasusedforgeneral traveland not just travelabroad)waslegallycontrolled bymena father, or husband, had ultimate control of a womans life. e nihilists solvedthis problem by having fictitious marriages. is allowed for an emancipationofwomen dejureifnotde facto. isresultedin women havingthefreedomof mobility to pursue some academic pursuits (which were curtailed during the

WhiteTerror)and some enterprise. Finally, the nihilists adoptedthe credothat


9/31

9

adultery was a natural, and even desirable trait, in contrast to the spirit of theirtime, or their own cultural composition (i.e. they were prudes).

More influential for the New People than philosophy, or political texts, was lit-erature. e expression of thetension between generations byBazarov inFathers

and Sonsas the rejection of the romantic and idealistic postures, guaranteed hisposition as an icon of the nihilist movement. is was even though Turgenevsintention was to portray the New People in a less than flaering light. e pub-lication ofChernyshevskysWhat is to beDone? (1863), which was wrieninprison, became the guiding light to the movement. Within its pages was a visionof the socialist values of the nihilist,an exposition ofhow tolive withradicalvaluesintact,and howto practice nihilistnon-monogamy. e powerof literatureonthe movement isironic because,ofcourse,mostofourmodern understandingof the nihilistmovementcomesfromthe novels of Turgenevand Dostoyevsky.WhileTurgenevwas non-judgmental in his depiction of the New People (andrespected by the nihilists,Chernyshevskyhaving held correspondence with him),

Dostoyevsky was in violent reaction to them. While Dostoyevsky was involvedinradicalactivityagainst the Tsar inthe1840s, during his exilein Siberia hebecame a Orthodox Christian, upon his return he became quite upset at nihilismin generaland Chernyshevskyspecifically. elast five novels ofDostoyevskydealt with nihilism to some degree either centrally or as a major theme.

Revolutionary Nihilism

e entrance on the scene of one person symbolizes the transformation fromthefoundationalperiodtotherevolutionaryperiod.SergeiNechaev, the son ofaserf (which was unusualas mostnihilists camefrom a slightlyhighersocialclass,

what we would call lower middle class), desired an escalation of the discourse onsocial transformation. Nechaevarguedthat justasthe European monarchies usedthe ideas of Machiavelli, and the Catholic Jesuits practiced absolute immoralityto achievetheirends, there was no actionthatcould notbe also usedfor the sakeof the peoplesrevolution. His apparent immorality [more an amorality]derivedfromthe coldrealizationthatboth Church and State areruthlessly immoral intheirpursuitof totalcontrol. e struggle againstsuch powers must therefore becarried outbyanymeans necessary. (Cleaver)Nechaevs socialcache was greatlyincreased by his association with Bakunin in 1869 and extraction of funds fromthe Bakhmetiev Fund for Russian revolutionary propaganda.

e image ofNechaev is as much a resultofhis Catechism ofa Revolution-

ist(1869)as anyactions he actually tookinlife. eCatechismis animportantdocument as it establishes the clear break between the formation of nihilism as a


10/31

10

political philosophy and what it becomes as a practice of revolutionary action. Itdocumentsthe Revolutionaryas avery transformedfigurefromthe nihilistof thepast decade. Whereas the nihilist may have practiced asceticism, they argued foran uninhibited hedonism. Nechaevarguedthat the Revolutionary,bydefinition,

must live devotedto one aim and notallowfordistractions ofdesire,compassion,or feelings. Friendship was contingent on Revolutionary fervor, relationshipswith strangers was quantified in terms of what resources they offered revolution,and everyone had arole duringtherevolutionarymoment thatboiled downtohow soontheywould belined up against the wallorwhentheywould acceptthat theyhadto do the shooting. e uncompromisingtone and contentof theCatechism wasinfluential farbeyondthe characterofNechaev.Partof therea-sonfor thisis because of the way in whichitextended nihilistprinciplesinto arevolutionary program. e rest of the reason was that it gave the revolutionaryproject a macho weightiness that the men of the sixties did not.

In terms of what the Catechism offered nihilism, a quote:

By revolution,ourOrganization does notmean aregulated paernintheclassical,western sense,a movement thatalways stops and bows withrespectbefore private property rights and before traditions of public order and so-calledcivilization and morality one which until now has limited itself to overthrow-ing one political formtoreplaceit with another that triedto create a so-calledrevolutionary-state. e only revolutionthatcould be beneficial for the peoplewould be that revolution which destroyed at itsroots anyelements of the stateand which would exterminate all the state traditions, social order, and classes inRussia. (esis 23,Catechism of the Revolutionary)

Nechaevappearsto be aemptingto bridgethe gap between Machiavelliand anihilistic anarchisminthisthesis. Which,beyond anarchisthand-wringingtothecontrary, is a sobering take on what horrors may be necessary for the abolitionof the standing order.

Which is not to say that there is much to reclaim from the personality ofNechaev in general. e facts are clear. Nechaev imagined a secret revolutionaryorganizationthe Russian Revolutionary Commiee,with himselfas thefugitivemember from which he was takingrefugein Geneva, where he met Bakunin.Bakunin, an admirer of Nechaevs zeal and stories of his organizations success,provided contacts andresourcesto send Nechaevbackto Russia as hisrepresenta-tive(he gave himthe number2771)of theRussian Section of the World Revolution-aryAlliance(also animaginaryorganization). Upon hisreturnto Russia Nechaevformed the secret, cell based organization,PeoplesVengeance. One student mem-berof the organizationIvanIvanovichIvanovquestionedtheveryexistence of

theSecret Revolutionary CommieethatNechaevclaimedto betherepresentativeof. is honest appraisal of Nechaevs modus operanti required action. On the


11/31

11

evening of21November 1869thevictim was accordingly luredtothe premises ofthe Moscow SchoolofAgriculture,a hotbed of revolutionarysentiment,whereNechayev did him to death by shooting and strangulation, assisted without greatenthusiasm by three dupes . . . Nechayevs accomplices were arrested and tried.

(Hingley) Upon his return to Switzerland Nechaev was rejected by Bakunin (formostof the obviousreasons)and was eventuallyextradited backto Russia wherehe spent the remainderofhis life at the Peter and Paul Fortress. He did, dueto his charisma and force ofwill,continueto influence events, maintaining arelationshiptoPeoples Willand weaving even hisjailorsinto his plots andlies.He was found dead in his cell in 1882 under mysterious circumstances.

Among the revolutionary movement (nihilist or not) in the post-Nechaev periodthere w a s a clear division. is split was between the propagandists (who followedRussian migr Peter Lavrovwho published Forward! in Paris)and whatwascalled the Bakuninists who believed in pushing the peasants into immediatesocial revolution. efocus ofboth groups was onorganizing the peasants. is

included a Russianversion of Freedom Summer (which actuallystretchedtotwo years 1873 and 1874, the second of which was coined mad summer) whereyoung men and women, in groups of3 and4, traveledtotherural villagestolive,work and agitate amongthe peasants. is wasinspired, inlarge part,by thebelief that the Russianinstitution of thevillage commune wasthe shortestpathtoRussian socialism. e commune was a self-governing body that managed somevillage affairs and made decisions collectively.

eruraleffortwas a completefailure. e peasants oen handedthe nihilistsover to the police before even geing a sense of what they were around for. enihilists disguised themselves as peasants with the unsurprising result of beingentirely obvious from the moment they walked into a village. Furthermore, theconcept of rural revolt was a-historical at the least, as the peasants did not havethe ability to armthemselvesin a meaningfulwayand did notactuallyhave atradition ofsuccessfuluprising. e Russian,Ukranian,and Cossackrevoltsinthe17th and18th centuries were quicklysuppressed. e onlynearsuccess,whichbegan beforethe nihilists arrived onthe scene,was inthe Chigirin area ontheRiver Dnieper near Kiev. In 1877 three revolutionaries, Stefanovich, Deutsch andBokhanovsky, draed a charter purporting to come from the Tsar calling on thepeasantstotake up armswhichtheydid, intheform of (antiquated)pikes,otherfarming equipmentand a bodyofpeasants onethousand strong. Hundreds ofpeasants were arrested and sent to Siberia,andthethree nihilists wereimprisonedin the Kiev gaol in what became known as the Chigirin affair.

A preliminarynote ontherole ofwomeninthe nihilistorganizationisin order.

While, given their tenuous social gains under Alexander II, women were lesseasily convincible to join the project of dismantling society, once engaged were,


12/31

12

if anything, more commied to action, violence, and seeing the project through,then their male counterparts. is is best exemplified by the direct taking up ofarms during the revolutionary period beginning with the action of one woman,Vera Zasulich. Once the taking up of arms and the formation of secret societies

wasinfullswing,womentook no smallpart inthe proceedings. An accountinginthePeoples Will, the most famous of the nihilistsecretsocieties,statesthat 1/4 to1/3 of the organization were women. Nearlyhalfof theExecutive Commieewerewomen.Whilethe socialmores of the culturethat the nihilists camefrom werenotentirelyupset,which meant that there was still womens work namelyhousework andtypeseing,on the whole women had egalitarianrelationshipswith the men.

ere were many secret societies formed in the revolutionary period. Two ofthem,the TroglodytesandtheRevolutionary-PopulistGroup of the Northeventuallyseled into forming the second iteration ofLand and Freedomin 1876 (althoughthe name was notseled until 1878). is groupresolveditselfas firmly inthe

Bakuninist camp in reaction to the failures of the rural campaigns of years past.e notable events of the seventies originated in this reaction.In December of 1876 there was a political demonstration in the Square of

Our LadyofKazan in St. Petersburg. When the police broke up the meetingtheyarrested,and convictedto15 years ofprison,a latecomer tothe protest,aknownrevolutionarynamed Bogolyubov. Hethen, in an unexplainable actofintransigence, refusedtotake offhis capfor thevisiting General Trepovwho wasreviewingthe prison he shared withthe politicalprisoners of thetrialof 193.einfuriated Generalbeathim onthe spotand demanded he befloggedthe nextday, which was done with such vigor that Bogolyubov went mad. is resultedin a prison riot.

Bars ofcellwindows weretorn offand beaten against the doors,and prison-ers were reputedlytiedupby warders, beaten, kicked and hauled unconscioustothe punishmentcells. Outsidethe prisonTrepovs actcreated widespreadindignation by no means confined to professed revolutionaries. A Russiangentlemans honourwas especiallysensitive where the striking ofblowswasinvolved,and so Bogolyubovs punishmentwas taken as a monstrousaffront to the whole revolutionary movement, staffed as it very largely wasby young people who retained certain social pretensions. (Hingley)

Vera Zasulich was notpersonallyacquainted withthe principle actors but tookit upon herself to take action. She sought an audience with theGeneral in a

receptionroom ofRussian officials where upon she drew arevolver from hermuffand fired, killing him. In an unexpected move the regime allowed for Zasulich to


13/31

13

betried byajury,assumingthatbecause she confessedtothe act, theyhadtheweapon,and there were witnesses, that theresultwas guaranteed. Insteadthejuryacquied herand uponleavingthe courthouse,wherethe police awaited herforadditionalarrest,a small riotoccurredresultingin herbeing whisked awayby

her comrades. is act, and the accompanying scandal, launched a several-yearwave ofactionfromthe nihilists againstagents of the state,and aempts,mostlyfailed, at repression by the state.

InJanuaryof 1878the Odessa policeraidedthe printing press of Ivan Kovalskywho defended himselfand his press withrevolverand dagger (therebycreating atradition ofnihilistsfightingitout till the end withthe police)while his comradesburnt incriminating documentsandaempted to incite the crowd gathered aroundfor the spectacle. Kovalskywas eventuallycaptured, tried,and put to death asthe first Russian political execution of the time.

OnthefirstofFebruary, 1878,a policeinfiltratorwas killed by revolutionaries,and a note informing the public of the execution was posted in Kiev, bearing the

seal of the Executive Commiee of the Russian Socialist Revolutionary Party (animaginary organization). On the 23rd ofFebruary, Valerian Osinsky a nihilistfrom the south, shot the public prosecutor of Kiev twice. e victim was unhurt(perhaps due to the thickness ofhis fur coat). On May 25th, Gregory Popkostabbedto death Captain Geyking of the Kievgendarmerie on a cornerof themainthoroughfare of the city,andthen escaped by fatallyshooting a doorkeeperwho tried to stop him and wounding a policeman. Michael Frolenko, a southernnihilist, became an employee of the impregnable Kievgaoland quickly rosetotherank ofchiefwarder.On May27th he walked Stefanovich,Deutsch andBokhanovsky (of the Chigirin affair) out of the prison walls where they spent aweek on the Dnieper River rowing to safety.

e northern nihilists began catching up to the exploits of the southerners inAugust.

At nine oclock in the morning on one of the main streets of St Petersburg,Sergey Kravchinsky walked towards General Mezentsov,ChiefofGendarmesand Head of theird Section,who was onthe way to his office. Kravchinskyheld a dagger lightlywrappedin newspaper;aerpassingthe General,hethrust it in his back and twisted it, then leapt into a carriage drawn byBarbarian, a famous troer, and escaped. (Hingley)

is was particularlynotable becauseithappenedtwo days aer the executionof Kovalsky by the state.

February9

th

of 1879 wasthe date of the shooting ofGovernorGeneralDmitryKropotkinin Kharkov,cousinto PeterKropotkin,byGregoryGoldenberg. Alsoin


14/31

14

February of that year was the death of another police infiltrator and another gunbale withthe policein Kiev.April2nd wasthe aempted assassination of theTsar by Alexander Solovyov who fired, and missed, five times, the Tsar sufferingnothing more than a hole in his outer coat. Solovyov was hanged on May 28.

e repression over the next 8 months was severe, with 16 Nihilists beinghangedthroughoutRussiaincluding14 intheregion ofKiev. Remarkably, theonly three nihilists (Popko, Kravchinskyand Goldenberg)who actuallykilledpeople escaped the scaffold. Popko escaped, Kravchinsky escaped to London (toberun overbya train)and Goldenberg hung himselfaerconfessing his crimesto afellowrevolutionary (actuallypolice agent)who was planted inthe cellwith him. Onthe 20th ofFebruary 1880a nihilistnamed Miodetsky took a shotatone of the two Governor Generals in charge of the repression, Governor GeneralLoris-Melikov.Once again he missed his shotand was executedtwo dayslater.Nihilists made up in enthusiasm what they lacked in marksmanship.

e repression of the state raised the question, in stark terms, as tohoweffective

the currentstrategyofLand and Freedomwas. InJune1879,a conference washeld to evaluate the methods of violence used by the group. is resulted in thedissolution ofLand and Freedomandthe creation ofBlack Repartition,which heldthatmilitantpropaganda wasthe appropriate methodformovingforward,andthePeoples Will, which condemned the Tsar to death. Black Repartitionexits thestage as they leave the arena of direct contestation with the state, but they are ofnote as thelocation ofGeorge Plekhanov, the mostnotable Marxistof thetimeand up to the period of 1905..

Before the exposition of the final act of the Russian nihilists play, it is worth-whiletotake pause. Beyondjustassassination plots andreadingliterature, thenihilists were engaged in what they believed was a deep challenge to all aspectsof Russian life. Along with atheism, non-monogamy, bank robbery (with severaltunneling episodes to their credit), and forgery (especially of the passport docu-mentationthatserved asthe Russians primary identification papers) the nihilistslivedin communalapartments with peopletheirown age,sharingresources,anddevotingtheir livestothe cause. e state made aemptstoinfiltratethe ni-hilists; inreturnthe nihilists alsoinfiltratedthe state. eirsubterfuge of theKievgaolhas alreadybeen mentioned,but farmore significantwasthe nihilistby the name of Nicholas Kletochnikov, who actually infiltrated the secret police(theird Section), feedingthe nihilists names of informers, locations ofplannedraids and copies ofofficialseals. e popularityof the secretsocietygavethenihilists a degree of seriousness that doesnt exist in the more counter-culturalparallelstotheir lifestyletoday,but the aempts at living both within and against

the current order continues to be popular in the same way.


15/31

15

Te last act of the Russian nihilists

Aer the dissolution ofLand and Freedom, thePeoples Willdevotedthemselvesto the assassination of the Tsar. ey did not see this death as linked to a larger

socialstruggle. eydid nothavetheinfrastructure,socialsolution,ordesireto assume power,and believedthat theinstitution of the Russian autocracywasfirmly in place. eir desire was not acoup, it was vengeance. e nihilists alsoheld ontothe belief that if theirpositive actionstowards socialchange(liketheirorganizing of the peasants)were so easily thwarted by the malevolence-of-neglectby the statethan negative action(like assassination)would morelikely resultin substantive change in the system. Finally there was a fatalist and deeply-held belief thatdestruction was worthwhilefor its own sake,and notbecause ofhumanitarian, political, or social reasons.

Aer assessing the failures of nihilist sharpshooters the decision was made toaack the Tsar with demolitions. In November of 1879 the nihilists aempted to

minethetrainroutethat theTsarwouldtakefromLivadia,onthe Crimean coastnear Yalta, to St. Petersburg at three differentpoints. efirstwas made nearOdessa,organized by Vira Figner,and involvedthe aempt toinserta nihilistintothe position of railwaywatchman,butwhentheTsar took a different routethis plan was abandoned. e second happenedjustoutside Aleksandrovsk andinvolved anintricate plan ofnihilistAndreiZhelyabov (18501881) to portray thelaunching ofa tannerybusiness bydayand to plantdynamite bynight. Whenthetrain carryingtheTsarcamethroughthe explosivesrefusedtoignite. efinalpointwas organized,byAlexanderMikhaylov,nearMoscow. It involvedtherenting ofan apartmenta mere50 yardsfromtherail line, the digging ofatunnel fromthe apartment totheline andthe seing of the charge at thetrainline.Naturally this plan sounds beeron paper thanin practice. e digginginvolvedseveralmore peoplethanthe neighbors believedlivedinthe apartment,whichpromptedtheresponsetothe queries about the householdsfood consumptionto be levied against a legendary cat and not a group of nihilists digging a tunnelto assassinate the Tsar. As with most tunnel digging, disposing of the dirt fromthetunnel involved a system ofdraggingthe dirtoutof thetunneland into aspare bedroom and then scaered through the yard at night. Naturally the landthrough whichthetunnel laywas sandyand easily floodedresultingin an entirelymiserable experience. Astheyapproachedthetracksthe deafening sound ofeachpassing train confirmed each diggers worst suspicion that they were about to becavedin upon. Naturally thetrain containingtheTsarwas not the one derailed bythefiring of the explosive; the onlycasualtywastheTsarsjamfrom his Crimean

estate.


16/31

16

As no nihilist was captured and the explosion was a close call there was ageneralconsensusthat this wastherightapproach. e nextaemptwas made atthe Tsars Winter Palace on the 5 th of February 1880. It involved a nihilist takingajob withinthe palace,smuggling amounts ofdynamiteintothe cellar,and at

the appropriatetimeignitingthis explosive, taking out the guards quartersinbetween. Once againthetiming of the action was off. e scheduled arrivalof theTsar was delayed which meant that the explosives went off prior to Alexandersarrival. Eleven people were killed andfiy injured. e nextaempt involvedthesubmersion of a hundredweight of explosive under the Kamenny Bridge on theCatherine Canal, which the Tsar had to pass to travel to the train station, whichwasthwarted by thetardiness ofone of the conspirators. Anotheraemptbeganasthe ambitious mining ofaroadthat theTsarwould passfromthe harbor tothetrain in Odessa. When the Tsars travel plans changed the effort was abandoned.

e rest of 1880 found the nihilists concerned with tracking the travelingarrangements of the Tsar. ey found that Sunday was the best day to strike, as

the Tsarusually followed a singular routeto andfrom the military reviewinggrounds. Itwas onthe cornerof the NevskyProspektand Malaya Sadovaya Streetwherethe nihilists would strike. isinvolvedrenting an apartment,digging atunnel and aempting to act like proper citizens. eir failure to convince theirneighborsresultedin a raid ontheirpremises byaninspecting partywho did nothappento noticethe piles ofwetearth covered bystraw and coke. Onthe 27th ofFebruary,Zhelyabov, the organizerof the operation,was arrestedwhich almostbrought down the operation.

Aer the Tsar reviewed the troops, on March1st, he visited his cousin theGrand Duchess Catherine. is meant thathe would not likely travel theinter-section wherethe nihilistplotwas focused andinsteadrequiredthe use of thesmall (five pound)homemade hand grenades thatwere preparedforsuch a possi-bility. Four nihilists put themselves into position; two were able to launch theirbombs, the second catching boththeTsarandIgnateiGrinevitski,whothrewthebomb, both of whom died. Five members of the plot to assassinate the Tsar wereceremoniouslyhung on April the 3rd,wearing a placard statingTsaricide. osehungincluded AndreiZhelyabov,Nicholas Rysakov,Sophia Perovsky,NikolaiKibalchich andTimothyMikhaylov. eirhanging was notby the dropping ofthefloor,or the breaking of theirneck,butby the slow suffocation of those hung.e deathstook such alongtime,and were so public, that theresultwas aloss offace for the regime.

us ends the period ofRussian nihilism. e heir tothe throne ofRussia,Alexander III (18841894)was an autocrat inthe old style,brutallysuppressed

any remaining nihilists who dared show themselves aer the fall of the Tsar. Hebelieved in ruling the empire by nationalism, Eastern Orthodoxy and autocracy


17/31

17

with which he was successful until his death. At which time his son Nicholas IItook the throne to be toppled by the Russian Revolution of 1917.

atnihilism has continuedto be an overlooked branch of the socialist treeis surprising giventhe innovations of the movement. Beyondjust the nihilist

approach to social change, which has clearlybeen influential far beyond thesocialist tradition, isthe systematic way in which nihilists aemptedto extendtheir ideas beyond just their politics. Given the repressive environment in whichtheir ideasflourished, the breadth and scope of the Russian nihilists continueto bear the fruit of commied individuals bridging the gap between theory andpractice.

Bibliography

Nihilists; Russian radicals and revolutionaries in the reign of Alexander II,

185581Hingley, Ronald. New York : Delacorte Press, [1969, c1967] Russian Philosophy, Vol. II,Edited by James M.Edie and Mary-Barbara Zeldin,

University of Tennessee Press [March 1994] Brianica 2003 Peter Marshall, in his bookA History of Anarchism Eldridge Cleaver,Soul on Ice Broido, Vera. (1977). Apostles Into Terrorist: Women and the Revolutionary

Movement in the Russia of Alexander II. New York: e Viking Press.


18/31

18

Chapter 2: What is Le? Nihilism vs.

Socialism

e historyofsocialismis a nobletradition. Ithas been an epithetused bytyrants to curse their enemies and a flag by which working people transformedtheir workplace and the societies that they lived in. Almost every story we hearthat involves someone standing upto authority involves socialism. It isthevaliantstoryof individuals and groups who aemptedtotransformthe status quo of theirtime againstoverwhelming odds. Socialism has changed peoplesexpectations ofrights, fairness, work, and the kind of leadership they should expect.

On the one hand, socialism has completely transformed society over the past200 years. More than just the revolutions that have had some success in variousparts of the world under a socialist flag, socialism can be directly credited for theexistence of unions that defend workers rights, a universal education system in

mostparts of the world,a generalhealth care system(especially in manyWesterncountries), and a system that hybridized elements ofState protectionism andlaissez fair capitalism.

Onthe otherhand,socialism has been an abject failure. Socialism has neverusurped Capitalism, in a meaningful or long lasting way, as an economic system.Mostsocialized systems ofcare balancethe crueltyofbenign neglectwiththeindifference of the queue. Even Libratory Socialism concerns itselfprimarilywith navelgazing, the cacophonyof the mob or the selfishness of theindividual.Socialism has served beeras a correctiveto a world-systemthanit has asthetransformation of one system for another.

Te family tree

Socialism comes out ofa historical lineage of ideas that stretches from theAncientGreeks, the Polish Socinians, the Enlightenmentand classicliberalism.Whileit is primarily understood as a political philosophy in resistance tothestatus quo of the19th and 20th centuriesitactuallyagreed withthe majorityofthe choices that those in power made. It agreed that aboriginal people, whereverthey were found, should be integrated into the life of the society, it agreed withthe rise of industrialization (with very few exceptions), and it agreed with basiceconomic principles (wealth, price, exchange).

etendenciesin socialismthatcameto be known asMarxistor Communist

exemplify this position. e rhetoric was always that the goal was the direct andcommunal control of society for the common benefit of all members. e reality


19/31

19

wastwo-fold. e conception ofhistory thatcame outof the Marxist tradition(dialecticalmaterialism)dictatedthat thetransformation ofsocietywould passthrough capitalism, as it had through feudalism, to transform into socialism andeventuallycommunism. is meant thatprogressivism was embedded withinthis

(the dominant)branch ofsocialism. is meant (especiallyprior tothe RussianRevolution) that the pathtorevolution hadto passthroughtheindustrialization ofsociety, and that the places where industrialization was most advanced were theplaces where socialist revolution was most likely to occur. Imaginethe surprisewhenthe backward(industriallyspeaking)countryofRussia becamethelocationof thefirstsocialist revolution. is surprise musthavetransformedto horrorwhenLenins policyofWarCommunism andthe New Economic Policy,whichmimickedthe worstaspects ofcapitalistextraction of value and allowed alimitedreturntofreetrade,becamethe baseline on whichthe Sovieteconomywas based.

To whatextent didthe libertariantradition in socialism also represent thisposition? Whilethe basic position of libertarian socialism seemsinnocuous(who

could be against freedomor liberty?) the actualpositionstaken by libertariansocialists mirror thelargersocialistmovement. Instead ofarguingfor the creationofan administrative body to manage the transformation to a socialist society,libertarian socialists argue for self-management in free federations to dealwiththe question ofpower. Outside of the question ofhow practical (oroen)theseideas arein a momentofcontestation withthe status quoisthe question ofwhat this practice means for libertarian socialists and whether this practice hasinformed socialism as a corrective to the worst excesses of the Capitalist systemor as the correct vehicle for the transformation of society.

e primarymechanism bywhichlibertarian socialists have practicedtheirsocialismis byaemptingtobuildthe new worldinthe shellof the old. ispractice extendsfromtheideathat the socialistsocietymustbe exemplified byourbehavior today. In order to create a self-managed society libertarian socialistswould begin byself-managingtheircurrentstruggles and organizations. In ad-dition they would connect these self-management schemes through federalismthatwould givethemthe ability to engagein self-defense and shareresources.Over time,and especially inthe past few decadestheseideas have becomein-creasingly popular in the capitalist space. Many work places no longer organizethemselvesinthe classicpyramidstructure with a boss at thetop and a clearorganizationalstructure builtontop of theline worker. Insteadthese work placeshave integrated the innovation of self-management and allow for teams toassumeresponsibility for the amountand form of theirproduction. Arguablytheseinnovations have been superficial, as the pyramid structure hasntbeen

entirelydestroyed but the experience of theline workerhas qualitativelychanged.Consumercooperatives have benefitedfromlibertarian principles. Bycuing


20/31

20

out the profit motive, they provide low cost services and goods to their members.Byoperating underprinciples of representationaldemocracy thereis a degreeofcontroland participationfarbeyondthetypicalcorporation. e secondarymechanism of libertarian socialistpractice has beeninrevolutionarymoments.

Hereithas always experiencedthetension of its,ultimately,humanistperspectivewith the exigency of the revolutionary moment. is is best exemplified by theeventsin Spain wherethe CNT joined withthe Catalan government in a commonfrontagainstFrancosfascism. is decision was based onthefearof isolation bythe CNTandthe belief that itwas a higherpriority to defeat fascismthantofinishtherevolution. Placingthe warbeforerevolution meant,ultimately,collaborationwith the state against the revolution.

If socialism has been, at best, a corrective to the worst excesses of Capitalismthen where else can we draw our inspirationfrom? If the mainstream ofsocialism(so called state socialism,communism,orsocialdemocracy) is solidly interestedinthe same progressive,economic assimilation asthe dominantworldthen we could

looktoitsrivals. If theserivals(libertarian and utopian socialists)have shownthat they are co-optable or worse, that they are not capable of being effective inthetime ofcrisisthen where do weturn? Ifpeople couldnteffectivelycombatthe system of the19th centurywhenit was justbecoming a worldwide systemrationalizing everything, including its opposition, what hope do we have todaylong aer the fact?

Russian Socialism

100 yearslatersocialism wastransformed by travelingtotherestof the world.African and Arab Socialism wereinnovationsthat reflected experiencesthatwere

authenticallydifferent thanthe socialism of the European Continent. e problemwasthat theywere also directly reactionary tothe SovietExperience and werethuslimitedintheirscope. eyassumed colonialism,Marx,and a certain degreeof nationalism. While these assumptions were relevant given the circumstancesin whichtheyoccurred, they transformedthese socialismsinto purelypoliticalpractice instead of more general political philosophy.

Duringthe 19th century there was a strain ofwhat is called socialism that,arguably,did originate outside of the mainstream ofEuropean thought. isRussian socialism prefigures Arab and African socialism in that it aempted,although byno meansintheseterms, to externalizethe Russian experienceinthe vehicle of socialism. What Russian socialism had in common with European

socialism was a belief in science asthe means bywhich Christian parochialismcould be challenged and bywhichthe world could betrulyunderstood. Italso


21/31

21

shared connection, through Russian migrs like M. Bakunin and A. Herzen, tothe greater Socialist movement happening in Europe. is iswhere the similaritiesend.

Philosophically the trajectory that Socialism was part of, the Liberal Tradition,

advocated freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of thought. Evenif the mainstreamofSocialism eventuallyto o ka different tack fromthis origin, thebasis of the Socialistprojectwasinthesevalues. esevalues were notpartof theRussian experience. Instead Russian socialism startedfrom arejection ofmorality,truth, beauty, love, and social convention. As a political philosophy Russiansocialism begins byquestioningthevalidityofall forms ofauthorityand ends bypracticing the adage e passion for destruction is a creative passion, too! eRussian Socialists did notseethe pathto social revolution as progressive. Insteadofseeing anindustrialproletariatas therevolutionaryagent the Russians sawtheir own rural peasantry. In 1861, when the peasants were freed from servitudebutchainedto debt, the Russian Socialists believed an uprising wasinevitable.

When it did not occur, nor could be inspired to occur, the Russian Socialists tookaction. Instead of lockingthemselves upintheLibraryofEnglandfor 10 yearsthe Russian socialists moved into group houses with their comrades, took daringand ridiculous actions (like handing a socialist pamphlet to the siing Tsar), andeventuallycommiedTsaricide. Ofcourse,we know the Russian Socialists byanother name, Nihilists.

Nihilism meet Anarchism

Notuntil the movementstarted byProudhon hadreached Russia didthepropaganda of action come into it. In Russia the government, controlling

the military,was ableto checkinstantlyanymovementwhich mightappearin any of the few big cities. In the country no movement could have effect.

Marshall Evere

Libertarian Socialists also had anothernamethatmaybe useful to differentiatefromit fromits Socialistbrethren,anarchism. If Libertarian Socialismis overlyconcerned with self-management, federations,and workingmens associationsthen anarchism may verywellhave been concerned with howtointegratetheRussianinnovations ofnihilism. Bakuninisthe casein point. Revisionists,of theLibertarian Socialist stripe, would focus entirely on Bakunins positive agenda ofarguingforcollective actionto achieve anarchy; freedom ofpress,speech and

assembly;andthe eventual voluntaryassociationsthatwouldfederateto organizesociety, includingthe economy. eydo not aendto his negative agenda of


22/31

22

demolishing political institutions,politicalpower,government in general,andtheState. As Bakunin provided the Nihilists with a formative gi in his essay Reac-tion in Germany (1842), he also received a gi from the practice of the NihilistDmitry Karakozov and his failed assassination aempt of the Tsar Alexandar II.

Ten years later this nihilist practice (that was is full swing by this time) becamethe policyof thelargestanarchist federation onthe European Continent. isso calledpropaganda by the deed isthe primaryhistorical vehicle bywhichwe know anarchism (and which Libertarian Socialists spend much of their timeapologizing for and distancing themselves from).

Terrorism arose because of the necessity of taking the great governmentalorganizationintheflank beforeitcould discover thatan aack was planned.Nurtured in hatred, it grew up in an electric atmosphere filled by the enthu-siasmthat is awakened bya noble deed. egreatsubterranean streamofnihilismthus haditsrise. From nihilism andits necessarysudden outbreaksanarchism borrowed terrorism, the propaganda of action.

Sergius Stepniak

e difference between propaganda by the deed and the nihilist practice ofassassination isintention. e anarchists continued, duetotheir relationshipto Socialism, to believein a positive,progressiveroutetowardtheirsocialendsand to be engaged in violence against heads of states and their lackeys with the(utopian) belief that the population bearing witness to these acts would both seethefallibilityofpowerAND wouldrise uptofill thisvoid. e nihilists had nopositiveintentions. Inthe parlance ofmodern anarchismtheyonlydesiredtotake direct action against great offense.

Anarchism and nihilism aretwo wordsfamiliar totheyoung and now arac-tive to them. ey do not believe in building a new society within the shellof the old. eybelievethat the old mustbe destroyedfirst. at is nihilism.In a way it is the denial of the here and now.

Dorothy Day

Let us state it clearly. e Socialist conception ofhistory is a progressivetradition. e Marxists call it historical materialism and it is well stated, in theirown language, by this quote from the Preface to Marxs Contribution to thePolitical Economy

No socialordereverperishes before all the productiveforcesforwhichthereis room in it have developed; and new, higher relations of production never


23/31

23

appearbeforethe materialconditions of theirexistence have maturedinthewomb of the old society itself. erefore mankind always setsitselfonlysuchtasks asit can solve;since, looking at the maermore closely, itwillalways befoundthat thetasksitselfarises onlywhenthe materialconditions

of its solution already exist or are at least in the process of formation.

e Nihilist concept of history was not progressive. e Nihilists oppositiontothe stateisjusta specialcase ofhis orheroppositionto almosteverything:the family, traditionalart, bourgeois culture, comfortable middle-aged people,the British monarchy,etc. andis notoriented aroundtheir formulation ofhowto achieve a beer world. In practice there were plentyofNihilists who mayhave desired an anti-statistcommunalsocietybutdid notparticularlyseetheirresistance to the regime as linked to this desire.

Socialism will continue to have its adherents, who are aracted to its perspec-tive of history, its democratic perspective of inclusion and participation, and itsapparentdominanceinthefield ofsocialcontestation. Its criticism ofNihilismbegins withthe position ofdeeprevulsion at its a-humanistperspective and prac-tice. If we were to review the history of Socialism, we would see that a rejectionof humanism is not necessary to inflict involuntary horrors upon real living peo-ple. If thereis alessontotakefromthe SovietUnion, e Peoples Republic ofChina,or the KhmerRougeit isthatgoodintentions,andthe practice ofhistoricalmaterialism, can stack up the bodies as well as the systems they would oppose.

What Nihilism provides then is an alternative to the alternative that does notembed anidealist image of the new worldit would create. It is notan Idealistproject. Nihilism states that it is not useful to talk about the society you hold inyourstomach, thethingsyou would doifonly you gotpower,or thevisionthatyou believethatwe allshare. What is useful isthe negation of the existing world.

Nihilismisthe politicalphilosophy thatbegins withthe negation of this world.What exists beyond those gates has yet to be wrien.


24/31

24

Chapter 3: Nihilism as Strategy

(Nihilism) stands like an extreme that cannot be goen beyond, and yet it is

the only true path of going beyond; it is the principle of a new beginning.

Maurice Blanchot,Te Limits of Experience: Nihilism

If we desire another world, what is necessary for us to do to achieve this end?Specifically what changes must we enact personally,socially,and as a movement?1

Beyond a coming-to-power,what isthetask of resolvingthe contradictions ofnotonly the currentmethodologicalsystem ofsocialorganization,but the partialsolutions offered by others who would also pursue social power? To what extentmust these changes happen now orcantheybe partof the action-as-consequence?

Here is where nihilism can provide some new perspective. A definition ofnihilism2 could be the realization that conditions in the social organization are

so bad as to make destruction desirable for its own sake independent ofanyconstructive program orpossibility. is exposes one of the greatest idealisticflaws ofmodern activism: e articulation of the specific world-to-be as aresultof your actions does not guarantee that worlds creation.

It isthetradition of the materialistconception ofhistory thatallowsfor thefallacy of causality to pollute the spirit of today. If production and exchange arethe basis ofeverysocialstructurethroughouthistory then we canlimitourselvesto studying them to understand how any transition to another world may occur.erefore an understanding ofeconomic systems should sufficeto understandthe strategic opportunitiesfor transition. Sincethevastmajorityofeconomicsis understanding the relationship of institutions (which are only accountable to

the current power structure) to each other, such an analysis seems like trying tounderstand an internal combustion engine from the motion of a car.Materialism haslargelybeen seen as anincomplete conception ofhistory. is

is partiallyduetothe powerstructures embeddedintheformation ofmost insti-tutions butalso duetothe moral forcesthatchallenge materialismsfunctionalistunderpinnings. Inthe simple case,a benevolentGod createdthe universe andhas somevestedinterest in howthings happen here. erefore moralsystems

1 e term movement is used to provide perspective here. It is a maer of scale in Western Culture tobegin withthe selfand end withthe society.While wereject thistautology,we embracethe clarityof its apparent simplicity.

2 ere are about as many definitions of nihilism as there are of Anarchism. e difference is thatto the extent that there is a social phenomenon of nihilism it is largely regressive and insular.Anarchism has puppet shows, nihilism only has black coffee and cigarees.


25/31

25

exist inthe name ofGodsinterests,as statedin holy texts and by fallibleinter-preters. Sincethe dispersion of the Reformation andthe secularization of theriseof Science, morality is usually defined in relation to politics. is has led to themoral component to Marxs analysis and of the Le in general.

e Communists, therefore, are onthe one hand practically, the mostad-vanced andresolute section of the working-class parties ofeverycountry,thatsection which pushesforward allothers; on the otherhand, theoreti-cally, theyhave over the greatmass of the proletariat the advantage ofclearlyunderstanding the lines of march, the conditions, and the ultimate generalresults of the proletarian movement. [e Communist Manifesto, Marx andEngels]

Moral value, or good, is defined by the specific cultural values of Europe, ofa developed Christian worldview, andthe developing beliefs in individualism,meritocracy,and mercantilism. ese are still the hurdlesthat eventhe most

starry-eyed of protesters trip over, sometime spectacularly.3

Historicalevidence, if it isto believed,would actuallydemonstratethat thevisions of successful social revolutionaries have shockingly lile to do with theform of the new society they create. Take the French Revolution where the form ofclass society was to be changed. It did, from the three estates of church, nobility,and commoners to a powerful state, centralized bureaucracy, and burgeoningcapitalist infrastructure. All it took wasthe Commiee ofPublic Safety,a Reignof Terror,and a15-year TotalWareffort thatwouldtransform warfareforever.For the Russian Revolution manydifferingtendencies aspiredtorevolutionaryvictory. Its eventual leaders calledfor Allpower tothe Sovietsand ended up

3 Whenthatexplosive detonatedyesterday it broke all the windowsinthefamilys house. Iwas inthe process ofbeing servedtea and playing withthetwo smallbabies. Im having a hardtimerightnow. Just feel sick to my stomach a lot from being doted on all the time, very sweetly, by people whoare facing doom. I know that from the United States, it all sounds like hyperbole. Honestly, a lotof the time the sheer kindness of the people here, coupled with the overwhelming evidence of thewillful destruction of their lives, makes it seem unreal to me. I really cant believe that something

like this can happen in the world without a bigger outcry about it. It really hurts me, again, like ithas hurt me in the past, to witness how awful we can allow the world to be. I felt aer talking toyou that maybe you didnt completely believe me. I think its actually good if you dont, because Ido believe prey much above all else in the importance of independent critical thinking. And I alsorealise that with you Im much less careful than usual about trying to source every assertion that Imake.Alotof thereasonfor that isIknowthat you actuallydo go and doyourownresearch.But itmakes me worry about the job Im doing. All of the situation that I tried to enumerate above andalotofother thingsconstitutes a somewhatgradual oen hidden,butnevertheless massiveremovaland destruction of the abilityofa particulargroup ofpeopleto survive. RachelCorrie(toher mother)


26/31

26

selingforcrushingtheiropposition and enactingthe New Economic Policy.4

etwentieth centuryhas ended with a steep declinein notonlysuccessfulsocialchange but also a poverty of visionaries who are pursuing change at all.

Anarchism and nihilism share a common antecedent.Bakunins dictumLet

us put our trust in the eternal spirit which destroys and annihilates only becauseit is the unsearchable and eternallycreative source ofall life. e desire fordestructionis also a creative desire. in1842 sparked both movements. Nihilismsculturalpeak was inthe 1860s,althoughits activism continued almost totheearly twentieth century. It is arguable that anarchists inherited propaganda bythe deed fromthe Russian nihilists. Nihilismstheorists5 continuedto be cited asprecursorstotherevolutionaryactivity in Russia until theyweredisappearedwell into the Bolshevik regime.

What does nihilism have to offer beyond a mere avocation ofdestruction?e nihilistposition does notallowfor the comforts of this world. Notonly isGod deadto a nihilist,butalso everythingthathas takenGods place; idealism,

consciousness, reason,progress, the masses,culture,etc. Without the comfortsof this metaphysical placea strategic nihilist isfreeto driunfeered by theconsequences ofheractions. A nihilist is a person who does notbow downtoanyauthority,who does notacceptanyprinciple onfaith,howevermuchthatprinciple maybe revered6 Philosophicallymuch hasresultedfromthe nihilistideas on value, aesthetics and practice. Most notably in Adornos conception ofNegative Dialectics, a principle whichrefuses anykind ofaffirmation orposi-tivity, a principle of thorough-going negativity. e nihilist traditionincludesAdorno, Nietzsche, Bakunin, much of classic Russian literature, Dada, punk rock,Heidegger, existentialist, post-structuralist and post-modern thinkers, and muchof anarchism.

Whatdoesthisreallymean onthe modern stage? Strategic nihilism allowsforthe possibility that thereis nofuture. e possibilityof radicalsocial transfor-mationthen becomes unhingedfromthe utopian aspirations of its proponents.eir hopecan clearlybe shownto be disconnectedfromthe socialand materialreality of both the society as-it-is and the potential society that-could-be. If the

4 is policy was initiated in 1921 to replace the policy of War Communism, which had prevailedduring the Russian civil war and led to declines in agricultural and (non-military) industrialproduction . . . a policy of substituting a tax instead of requisitions; of allowing the peasantryto dispose of their surplus within the limits of local trade; of allowing the development of capi-talist concessions to a delimited extent, and of state capitalism. is state capitalism, in industryand agriculture,was allowed a considerablefield ofpossibilitiesin whichto develop,whiletheproletarian government retained controlof the key industries,state banking; thatnationalizationof the land remained and that the state held a monopoly of foreign trade. Encyclopedia of Marxism

5 Chernyshevsky, Pisarev, and Herzen6 Ivan Turgenevs 1861 novelFathers And Sons


27/31

27

destruction of the currentordermustbe achieved, forourown potential to berealized, for its own sake, for the children, itmaybe beer to doit with openeyesthan purposelyblinded ones. A strategic nihilistunderstandsthatan ethicalrevolution does not create an ethical society. An ethical anarchist is not one con-

cerned with non-utopian social transformation,onlyanidealized one. A strategicnihilist understands that the infrastructure of the modern world embeds its ownlogic and inhabitants and the nihilist is willing to toss it asunder anyway.

Vaneigem states inRevolution of Everyday Life, that Juvenile delinquents arethe legitimate heirs ofDada. is speaks to a positive nihilismthatmaybe acomforting way in which we can approachthetroubling consequencesimbeddedwithin nihilisms logic. Anarchists have generally accepted property destructionintheirhumanist vision ofa ethicalsocialchange. ings maer lessthan people.Nihilism informs us that this dichotomy ties us to the world we must supercede,before we are capable ofactuallyhaving social relationships with people and notthings. Strategic nihilism provides us a solution to existentialism and liberalism.

It argues for an active pose in this world and for the inviability of reformistsolutions. When confronted with the horror of your existence, race towards thebleak consequences,notaway.Dealwiththemoralismexplicit inyourstatedirrelevance by identitypolitics,communism,and postmodernism with a swordinhand. Moralists should be spared no patience.

What if you are strugglinginthe movement? Nihilism can provideyou asuite of tools. e first is deep skepticism. Every action, every meeting, is filledwith politicians-in-waiting who are easy to discern, with their plastic smiles andfluencywiththe process.A strategic nihilism allowsits practitioner to seethesetypesforwhat theyare;andthe ability to do withthem what is necessaryby youranalysis, and not theirs.

e secondis a new eyetowards history. Whereas beforeit mayhave beeneasy to get caught up in the details of the whos, whens and whys of the ParisCommune,nowit is easy to seethefailureinthe partialitywithoutgeing boggeddowninthe specific halfmeasures. Time devotedto arguing how manyangelsdance on the head of a pin is time away from the pursuit of anything else.

Finally, a strategic nihilist position allowsfora range ofmotion heretoforenot available. e ethical limitations of doing the right thing have transformedmovements for social change. From pacifists and ethicists who sanctimoniouslywait for the club to fall or the strength of their convictions to shaer capitalism,to adherents of the Vietnam-era form of social protest, it is clear that the terrainallowed bymorality is bleak andfilled with quagmire. Armed struggle groups,wholed non-existentmassestowardtheirbeerworld have shown similar failure.

If these are not the models that frame your conception of change, you are free tomake moves on a chessboardthatno one elseis playing on. You beginto write


28/31

28

the rules that those in power are not prepared for. You can take angles, you canpaceyourself, you can startdreaming big again, instead of justdreaming aslargeas the next demo, action, or war.


29/31

29

Chapter 4: What I wish I had said

September 12, 2001

Today,March11, 2004, there was anothermajorbombingin Madrid, Spain.e facts in the case are stillcoming out (12 hours later)but it appears thatthe eye ofaccusation is envisioningthe eventas an Al Qaeda plot. efirst24hours ofmainstream news coverage aer the September 11aacks was aninteresting glance behind the curtain. Not only were there reports (that I neverheard followed up on) of there being additional aacks on government buildingsin DC,but the blamefor the aacks was allover the map: kind ofa whos who ofAmericas shit list.

e coverage then from the anarchist and le press was typically one-dimen-sional, as the initial responseto the new Spain aack appears to be also. Anexampleisin order. ereportbegins with around or two ofhumanisthand-wringing,allabout the children, theterrorand howtargetinginnocentpeopleisno way to change the world. en come the limp accusations about state terror.How come we are forced to write this lament against the civilian population bya group withouta state whenthe State doesreallybad thingstoo. e Stateiseven worsethanthetopic ofmymoralistic diatribe! enthereis a pointor twoaboutbad policies and how, if there were anarchy,or justice,orwhatever-in-the-fuck, this would never have happened. e report is wrapped up with the soberanalysis abouthow we should changethe world bychangingthefundamentalproblem and not play the same gameas those with missiletechnologyand astanding army.7

It is asif there were a centralcommiee writingthesethings,pressrelease

style, making sure that no one is off script. ere is no possible way that anyonecould believethat there are peoplefighting a waragainst the system,people whoI may not wish to win, but who am I to judge. Until the day that I take up armsagainst the state, resisting the enemy on the only field that it understands, I amgoingto keep mymouthfucking shutabout the corrector incorrectwaystofightthe totality . . .

I am not going to tell you about how my eyes are running with tears becauseofall the children who willnotbe coming home to parentstonight. Myeyesare dry. eyare notdrybecause of the greatercrimes of the United States,orSpanish governments. Sure, theircrimes arelegend,but if Iwereto cry todayabout this one crime, what possible chance could I have to ever stop crying. is

7 ese thoughts courtesy of the anarchist writer anarcho at anarchism.ws
http://anarchism.ws/writers/anarcho.htmlhttp://anarchism.ws/writers/anarcho.html


30/31

30

is the world I live in. If I am not going to burn myself to ash I have to deal withyetanotherheadline aboutconsequences as exactlywhat it is-people diedinthecourse ofa totalwarwhere one side hasvery few options at its disposalwithwhich to aack domination.

Myquestion is, to what extent will there everbe resolution tothe Wars ofTerror? Justas we knowthe paern ofbehaviorof the nonparticipantanalystsof thislatestaction,we also knowthe behaviorof the systemitself. Ofcoursethere willbe increasedrepression. Ofcourse the ETA(the Basque separatistswho wereinitiallyaccused of the crime butmayend up being off the hookforthis action)willbe crushed. More allies will join ontothe American-lead Waragainst Terror.More moneywillbe spent thatwill result in a higherdegree ofexamination into our personal lives and greater amount of militarization of oursociety. is cycle will repeatuntileither the entire socialapparatus collapsesunder the weight of its own repressive infrastructure orthere is total conformityunder our compassionate overlords. I am being on the former.

To defend acts of terrorwould beto chooseto spend an endless period oftime debating points of history, philosophy, and values to what end? I am notconvincedthat lashing outagainst the Statein media savvy public displays ofviolence has much connection atall to dismantlingit. If Iknewthat itdid, Iwoulduse this opportunity to beg your action along this line, or at the very least to askyoutotape me upformy run at the prize. Moreover I am suspiciousthatwhat isbeing presented to me as reality isnt the half of it.

I may not be a believer, and will not be a beneficiary either way, but I also donot thinkthat the conclusiontothistotalwar is goingto be anythinglike wesuspect it is going to be. Revolutionaries, of every stripe, have been remarkably,consistently, wrong about the consequences of their behavior. What I do believeisthat theradicalactiontaken byavery fewindividualstodaystrike more aweinme than terror. e cognitive, spiritual, and a-humanist leap taken on a train inMadrid, much like the one taken by 15 hijackers in 2001, has more value to addto an understanding about what a revolutionary practice is going to look like inthe 21st century than a 1000 black blocs or a million demonstrations against thestate and for the cameras.


31/31

eAnarchist LibraryAnti-CopyrightSeptember 14,2013

Aragorn!Nihilism, Anarchy, and the 21st century

Retrieved on March 2nd, 2009 frompistolsdrawn.org
http://pistolsdrawn.org/index.php/21st_Centuryhttp://pistolsdrawn.org/index.php/21st_Centuryhttp://pistolsdrawn.org/index.php/21st_Centuryhttp://pistolsdrawn.org/index.php/21st_Centuryhttp://pistolsdrawn.org/index.php/21st_Centuryhttp://pistolsdrawn.org/index.php/21st_Centuryhttp://pistolsdrawn.org/index.php/21st_Centuryhttp://pistolsdrawn.org/index.php/21st_Centuryhttp://pistolsdrawn.org/index.php/21st_Centuryhttp://pistolsdrawn.org/index.php/21st_Centuryhttp://pistolsdrawn.org/index.php/21st_Centuryhttp://pistolsdrawn.org/index.php/21st_Centuryhttp://pistolsdrawn.org/index.php/21st_Centuryhttp://pistolsdrawn.org/index.php/21st_Century

Documents

Aragorn Nihilism Anarchy and the 21st Century