malcolm x for romania, the bullet or the ballot

there’s no way you can write about this and not stir a shit storm, so here goes nothing.

for almost ten days now, romania is in a turmoil. uprising of the many, some call it revolution, re-revolution, protests, even trash. much has been said about these recent events — less has been done — and i am certain much more will be written in the days to come. meanwhile, there is some three-sixty-people-bashing-people-trashing going on. as i watched these events unfold i had a strange feeling of relief, because i knew exactly what i had to do.

i think people in the streets is good. i think people fucking up shit and burning stuff is also good. i think violence is good, it gets the blood flowing. it makes you angry. it makes things clear on both sides of the tear gas. i like violence just as i like my antibiotics. and our community is definitely in need for some treatment. fiat justitia, ruat caelum. that means do justice and let the skies fall. and it’s in latin so that means it’s always true.

i think fake violence and disinformation is good. i think a government that tries to cheat it’s own people is good. this is how they will fucking grow up and learn what’s authentic and what is not. this is how they learn to respect their own vote. this is why they will filter bullshit for speech later on. this is how they learn to judge character and to hold people to their promises. this is how they learn that freedom of press includes the freedom to sell out and that cowards should also get health insurance.

i think law enforcement is good. they should beat the crap out of the protesters. that’s what gives them thrust later. i think statements are good, each and every one should shout out their problems. i also believe that democracy is good. mobs are good, the stupider the better. the bigger the cattle the better. i believe freedom is good, and that you have the right to remain silent and not give a fuck.

i believe that all of the above are good because i believe in an organic society where everybody does its part. every action, gesture, act has its proper time and place. i believe in a society where we have hooligans that get a fix from wracking havoc for money. i believe in families that take their children out in the cold to make a statement. i believe in solidarity but i also believe in bohemians. i believe in the land of the stupid and home of the brave, but that courage is not in itself a primary virtue but the quality that makes the exercise of all the virtues possible.

for far too long, romania has been a society of too few distinctions. until now you where either with us or against us. you where either a cocalar or not. a socialist or not. a thief or not. a worker or not. afraid or not. rich or not. our political age and vision was that of young france just before zola wrote j’accuse. he exposed the sadomasochistic relationship that existed between insecure mobs and their adulation of strong men. alas, after dreyfus the people of france learned to riot. actually, the term intellectual was originally coined by those in france who believed that captain alfred dreyfus was guilty. and zola also uncovered that most of those agitators were actually young people. hitchens, explains this best:

in every epoch, there have been those to argue that greater goods, such as tribal solidarity or social cohesion, take precedence over the demands of justice. it is supposed to be an axiom of western civilization that the individual, or the truth, may not be sacrificed to hypothetical benefits such as order. but in point of fact, such immolations have been very common. to the extent that the ideal is at least paid lip service, this is the outcome of individual struggles against the collective instinct for a quiet life.

so, this is what i think. everyone should do their part. journalists should write. the mob should fill the streets. police should protect the streets. the poor should want to be rich. the rich should go on making money so that we will also have social security after the revolution. everyone should do their part, so stop bitching on facebook about how you are the only true heroes of this revolution because you are in the streets. i’m not there but i do fight your war. i work so we will have small businesses once you choose new leadership. i work everyday on changing old mentalities. i shout until exhaustion that artists should be paid and that copyright should be protected but internet should be free. and stop bitching that we don’t have unaffiliated press and you can’t know the truth about the protests. if you want to know what’s happening read john stuart mill. same thing.

i believe that we should not reinvent the wheel, and that many have been where we are now. i also firmly believe that we can cross this bridge forward towards a better community and civil society.

so here’s what we did to show our allegiance: we employed one of the best translators in romanian publishing to make malcolm x’s the bullet or the ballot available in romanian. here at a page we believe it is a fundamental reading at a fundamental time. here and now. download for free the entire speech. also, we will be spreading hard copies around piata universitatii later tonight.

also, don’t forget to riot in style, like washington crossing the delaware,

peace of mind,
barna

DOWNLOAD LINK ——-> Malcolm X, Votul sau Glontul