Self-organize while they are fighting
Submitted by Редакция on 24 June, 2023 - 20:23
Now, as this statement is being published, we still cannot fully predict the development of events around the “Wagner rebellion” in a relatively long-term view. But we can definitely expect two seemingly opposite trends: first, increased repression against ordinary citizens, not only by state security forces, and second, simultaneously, an increase in chaos, when the opposing sides leave people facing the problems that they themselves created.
Of course, Prigozhin is no better than Putin: now some fascists are fighting against others. Any authoritarian power eventually gives rise to bloody conflicts.
In such a situation, the demand for self-organization, the creation and strengthening of grassroots social ties, and mutual assistance will spread. People will create new initiatives, new movements. The task of anarchists is to make every effort to help to create and participate in grassroots structures, creating new associations and strengthening the interaction between existing ones.
We have already written that there is no “our side” in the clash between the “Wagnerites” and the “official” state structures. In the ongoing squabble, all of them pursue only their own interests and will only defend themselves. It is better for all other people not to risk themselves in someone else’s struggle and, if possible, stay away from collision points.
But if we want to create an alternative to both of these monsters, then we must learn to unite to solve our problems, support the struggle to end the war and repression, defend ourselves against violence, and defend our interests and rights. Only in this way will we be able to take part in the construction of a new society to replace the bankrupt regime and the gangs of thugs that it has raised.
We stand in solidarity with our comrades from Irkutsk who write:
Putin is already talking on the television, saying that he fears the destruction of the state system and the onset of “anarchy”! As anarchists, we can say that the dictator is rightly afraid of anarchy: after all, it implies that his power and the idea of “the Russian world” will cease to exist, and that instead, society will begin to function according to the principles of self-government, decentralization, and federalism.
Where state control over society and repression will weaken, anarchists should use the opportunities that open up to spread anarchist ideas both in word and in deed. Now, news of riots in the prison colonies and pre-trial detention centers is coming. We need to push for the release of political prisoners and other victims of arbitrary power.
No matter how the rebellion that is unfolding right now ends, a new life must grow from below, from the demands of the broad sectors of society. To make this possible, we all need structures of self-government and self-organization. Unite.