“Violence always leads to more violence. And violent revolutions kill the revolutionaries and destroy their ideals. The only survivors are those who are the most skillful adepts at surviving.
What a revolution from the Left would with certainty produce is the loss of freedom to criticize, to furnish opposition. Whether the resulting dictatorship is of the Left or Right depends partly on chance and is chiefly a difference in nomenclature. I maintain that only in a democracy, in an open society, do we have the possibility to redress grievances. If we destroy this social order through a violent revolution we will not only be responsible for the heavy sacrifices of the revolution but will create a state of affairs that will make the abolition of social evils, injustice, and repression impossible. I am for individual freedom and I hate the coercion of the state and the arrogance of government officials as much as anyone. But unfortunately the state is a necessary evil; without a state things won't work. And unfortunately the saying is true: the more people, the more state. Through violence mankind can easily be exterminated. What is necessary is to work for a more reasonable society in which conflicts are settled rationally, more and more. I say “more reasonable”! Strictly speaking, there is no reasonable society, but there is always one that is more reasonable than the existing one and toward which we should therefore strive. That is a realistic demand and no utopia!”
What a revolution from the Left would with certainty produce is the loss of freedom to criticize, to furnish opposition. Whether the resulting dictatorship is of the Left or Right depends partly on chance and is chiefly a difference in nomenclature. I maintain that only in a democracy, in an open society, do we have the possibility to redress grievances. If we destroy this social order through a violent revolution we will not only be responsible for the heavy sacrifices of the revolution but will create a state of affairs that will make the abolition of social evils, injustice, and repression impossible. I am for individual freedom and I hate the coercion of the state and the arrogance of government officials as much as anyone. But unfortunately the state is a necessary evil; without a state things won't work. And unfortunately the saying is true: the more people, the more state. Through violence mankind can easily be exterminated. What is necessary is to work for a more reasonable society in which conflicts are settled rationally, more and more. I say “more reasonable”! Strictly speaking, there is no reasonable society, but there is always one that is more reasonable than the existing one and toward which we should therefore strive. That is a realistic demand and no utopia!”
Karl Popper in 'Revolution or Reform? – A confrontation' – Herbert Marcuse and Karl Popper – ed. A.T. Ferguson. Original title: 'Revolution oder Reform?'.
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire
Psychanalystes, dehors ! Et, pour vivre heureux, vivons cachés.
Les années 2020 seront celles de l'avènement d'une nouvelle forme de totalitarisme : le totalitarisme sophistiqué dont l'un des traits les plus marquants est cette lutte, cette haine tout à fait scandaleuse et révoltante contre la liberté d'expression, via un combat acharné contre ce qui est nommé le "conspirationnisme" ou le "complotisme".
Les années 2020 seront sans doute identifiées dans l'Histoire comme une "période charnière" entre la fin d'un "ancien monde" et la naissance d'un "nouveau" dont les prémices se révèlent de plus en plus menaçants pour les libertés individuelles.
Nous estimons qu'il est pertinent, plus que jamais, de citer Antonio Gramsci :
"Le vieux monde se meurt, le nouveau est lent à apparaître. Et c'est dans ce clair-obscur que surgissent les monstres".
Mais citons Karl Popper : "L'optimisme est toujours de rigueur".
Et nous-mêmes : "Restons citoyens, restons vigilants, mais, renonçons à la violence et à l'intolérance. Travaillons à sauvegarder la citoyenneté, à en améliorer le contenu et les pouvoirs, les libertés autant que les responsabilités".