the guillotine was first a tool of the State, designed to expedite and facilitate the murder of the innocent and the guilty alike, a weapon against the rebel and the criminal. the guillotine was used in France for this purpose until the death penalty was abolished in 1981. it is far more famous, however, for its use in the French Revolution, when it was turned against royalty, against landowners, against class traitors, against politicians and police.
we investigate the revolutionary spirit through the guillotine in the ways it inspires us to destroy the State in all its forms: the Real State, comprising politicians, professional police forces, bureaucratic governance, and jails and institutions; the Social State, created in myth, the illusion of civilization and human nature, the prison of society; and the Internal State, self-governance, the cop within, indoctrination that must be unlearned and destroyed.
so often are we met by violence in confrontation that we too dream fervently of turning the tools against their operators: the standard issue handgun, the taser, the baton, the tear gas canister, the pepper ball. we have all considered retribution in one way or another, for revenge or justice, to intimidate or inspire. we delight in the thought of dragging the oppressor to the scaffolding to release the blade, spilling the blood of the tyrant and the blood of the State all at once.
this construction is a symbolic representation of that desire. we are not afraid to bring the dual specter of revolution to bear in our own community–not only that of the French revolutionaries, but also that of the Soviets, whose yet unfinished battle against capitalism began 103 years ago today. we do not flinch to honor those who have come before us, regardless of the blood on their hands–we recognize the oppressor can only speak one language, and so must be spoken to in kind. as the French dragged the royals to the scaffold, as the Soviets put the kulaks to flame, so too do we carry the names of those whose necks we would joyfully place in the guillotine’s mouth! they pour from our lips in deadly, bitter anger: fascists and murderers, pigs and politicians, informants and jailers, landlords and capitalists! this guillotine is for you.
but the State’s monopoly on violence is so complete, omnipresent and omnipotent, that we resign ourselves to bend under its weight. the State is not only in the halls of injustice, in the courtrooms and the jails, in City Hall–the State is within our movement. these are the police in our communities: fearful, chiding, threatening, cajoling, begging. we shackle one another, insistent that to act outside the law is immoral, improper, impractical. we strive always to be presentable, professional, peaceful. because the pacifists, the police, and the politicians have ideologically infected our most private circles, telling us if we vote, if we peacefully protest, if we wait–justice will inexorably come, slow and plodding, the glacier carving the valley.
wait? wait for what! for another child to be killed by a deputy? for another imprisoned person to die under the sheriff’s uncaring, unflinching eye? wait for the eviction notice from the landlord who lines his pockets in our sweat and blood? still, the State asks us to wait.
enough! we have waited too long already! what good is chanting “all cops are bastards” when we allow ourselves to become the cops, the bastards–when we police each other and demand unity and patience? do not hesitate, do not wait: the State will never show you such remorse or mercy. the brick in the street is meant to be thrown! the paint in the can is meant to be sprayed! the cop in your head is meant to be killed!
to those who would institute order and control, who create hierarchies from nothing, who guide the hands of the would-be revolutionary away from the molotov and toward the ballot–you too are the State, the cops, the bastards. this guillotine is for you.
we would be remiss to exclude ourselves from this equation. even alone, sitting in the dark, we police ourselves. we question the validity of our actions, the righteousness of our cause, our justifications and motivations, the risks and consequences. do we throw the brick, do we light the fire, do we spray the camera? will we be arrested, will we be beaten, will we be shot? just as the State asks us to wait, so too do we ask ourselves to wait.
but in the wake of unrest and anger, we feel the shackles fall away! we rage against injustice and indifference, and in our heat we forget to wait! through this process we kill our selves and become something far greater: the collective, the mob, the riot. we wait no longer. we act!
to those who lay awake and dream of action, answering to the Internal State, self-policing, engrossed in the ego, obsessed with the self–let loose the blade and join the riot. this guillotine is for you.
