"It is possible, of course, to object to any kind of lawlessness and violence, to say that every bomb and bullet carries an unbearable moral hazard, no matter the conditions of the world. But almost nobody is so totalizing in their pacifism. What is particularly obnoxious about the moral case against the Weather Underground is the implication that their limited recourse to violence constituted some unique and inconceivable evil, that Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers crossed lines unimaginable to Henry Kissinger. After an Underground bomb went off in the bathroom of the US Capitol, hurting nobody but briefly lifting the building’s arches off the ground, President Nixon declared it “a shocking act of violence,” an “outrage” to all Americans. The Republican Senate minority leader, Hugh Scott, denounced the failure of the radicals to “persuade by reason or by logic,” resorting to “terror” instead. The next month, the first massacre would occur in Bangladesh. It is impossible to be lectured about reason by such people. It is impossible to be warned about the “devouring” dangers of political violence by the same people who believe it is legal and justifiable, if a bit regrettable, when children die in war. Rationalization of the New Left is often taken to be “unserious,” but it is unserious to object to it on purely moral grounds with one hand while waving away the unfathomable scale of American violence with the other. One may of course oppose oneself to bloodshed in all cases. But it is not serious to swim in a sea of blood and faint at the addition of another drop.
If you are reading this, sweaty with the worry that I am “normalizing” or “justifying” political violence, consider that I am only asking why you find so many forms of political violence so normal, so justifiable, so adequately met with well, it’s a shame, of course, while the specter of old radicals looms like a nightmare. Sometimes you must stand athwart history, yelling Are you fucking serious? Is it only that you get used to that stench of American life after a while? Is it worth it?"
Great read, honestly. Hopefully the people who need it read the article with open hearts and minds.
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/dangerous-dirty-violent-young-ayers-dohrn-weather-underground/
