Graham R (Ed.) - Anarchism - A Documentary History of Libertarian Ideas Volume One - From Anarchy to Anarchism (300 CE to 1939)

The [nteIWar Years /415
[n which case, fo r the working class and for all those who have embraced its
cause, fo r all who see the proletariat's liberation from wage slavery as a pre-requisite
to greater justice, greater well-being and greater freedom fo r all, the only option is to
kill off fa scism, to make its eradication a target, without retreating into some Moslem-like
patience, without trusting fa talistically to fa te, to natural evolution, the process
of decomposition, the laws of economics and other kindred expressions
through wh ich men disguise their laziness and their reluctance to make the requisite
effort of will.
Killing off fa scism, of course, is not an excuse fo r slaughtering fascist personnel.
Often the violence deployed against the latter merely fe eds it rather than killing it
off. That those attacked by the fa scists at specific times and in specific places should
defend themselves however they can and may is only natural and unavoidable ... However,
embarking upon a material struggle against fa scism as an organism in itself,
seeing no other enemy but this, would be a dismal affair: it would be like stripping
the branches from a poisonous tree while leaving the trunk intact; like striking off
some tentacles instead of striking at the octopus's head. It may be possible to inflict a
few partial defeats on fa scism this way and to claim fascist lives; but it will only serve
to make the fight all the more bitter and might well bolster fascism and help to make
it an even sturdier organism.
The fight against fa scism can only be waged effectively ifit is struck through the
political and economic institutions of which it is an outgrowth and from which it
draws sustenance. Moreover, revolutionaries aiming to bring down capitalism and
the state, if they were to allow themselves to be drawn out by fascism like a lightning
bolt diverted by the lightning rod, and to devote all of their efforts and exhaust themselves
in the fight against fa scism a[one, would be playing into the hands of the very
institutions that they would like to see demolished. Using the fa scists as a bogeyman,
the capitalistic state would not only succeed in protecting itself and living a easier
life, but would also succeed in persuading a segment of the proletariat to work in cooperation
with it and to take its side. Even today, while on the one hand capitalism
uses fa scism to blackmail the state, the state itself uses fa scism to blackmail the proletariat,
sending out the message: "Give up on your dreams of politica[ and economic
expropriation and order your leaders to cooperate with me in strengthening the institutions
of state, or [ will stand by as you are beaten and killed by the fa scists and, if
they are not up to the task, [ will lend them a helping hand myselfl"
As long as the proletariat is accustomed to viewing fa scism as its special enemy,
against whom it has a special fight, the government's blackmail ploy can always succeed;