Again we’re being mobilized, called on to take sides. And again the right side happens to be the side of the state we’re living under. What a coincidence – are we still calling it the media, press, etc. instead of a propaganda machine? This time bombs are falling on houses. The murderous reality of war in Europe has reappeared in front of everyone’s eyes. For decades, Europe pretended it was living a peaceful life while unspeakable massacres happened in the Balkans, while wars were waged in its name all over the world, while revolutions were smothered with blood on its borders, while people were beaten and drowned trying to cross its borders. The illusion of peace is what our leaders wanted us to hold on to and many did so out of convenience.
This war has given some the opportunity to rehash the worn-out geopolitical analyses, rearranging the pieces, updating the list of imperialist bullies and their proxies. That might be inevitable but it also seems a bit beside the point. To only discuss the interests and might of the big powers is to construct narratives that don’t give space to us, those that want to live now. They don’t provide us tools when we are looking for ways to act (although they can point us to the pitfalls to avoid.)
The interests of those that fight to keep or seize power are irreconcilable with those that fight to destroy it. This seemingly straight-forward statement points towards more complex questions revolving around the autonomy of action. Once again we shouldn’t be swept away by the circumstances but hold on to ourselves with our limits but also with our anti-authoritarian sensitivities and bonds.
After all, to refuse the directives from the centres of power and to act from our own in the margins is where we can encounter the unforeseen. Once again we shouldn’t be looking for quick fixes under the pressure of an emergency (many more will follow) but open up spaces that are outside the predetermined paths of power. An ethical stance may not be ‘effective’ but maintains and nourishes the potential for the eruption of something radically different.
Summer 2022