forgive me.
i've just dug out an old pamphlet
"the anarchist basis of pacifism" by ronald sampson, 1960's.
it's lengthy and i doubt it's been transcribed online.
mine is covered in dust and the spine held together with yellowing sellotape and it ends thus...
"finally, anarchists seek fellowship,
not class war,
nor any other war;
but they will not yield to class domination either.
nor will they acquiesce any longer in the fraudulent shibboleths of parliamentary democracy,
which are fig leaves to conceal the realities of class rule based on violence.
the pacifist perceives correctly that the barriers against violence in men are so precarious
that nothing less than an absolute veto against the resort to violence and killing will serve as an adequate protection.
the weakness of pacifism is that it is hypothetical only,
until war actually breaks out,
when it has to grapple with inordinately powerful xenophobia and chauvinistic emotions,
if not hysteria.
the choice has never before been so starkly defined for humanity.
it is for us -
for all of us without distinction of person -
to choose.
the outcome will depend entirely on the efforts which every one of us makes.
we must have peace.
we shall have peace.
but a truly gargantuan struggle lies before us."
60 years later and fuck all has changed
