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Full Idea
A spontaneous movement is fundamentally impotent when it comes to fighting against organised forces of repression.
Gist of Idea
Spontaneous movements are powerless against organised repression
Source
Simone Weil (Prospects: Proletarian Revolution? [1933], p.2)
Book Ref
Weil,Simone: 'Oppression and Liberty' [Routledge 1955], p.2
A Reaction
Her example is the Paris Commune of 1870. Hence revolution requires prior penetration of the corridors of power. Hence the phenomenon of 'entryism' of more radical people into reformist parties.
23857 | People in power always try to increase their power [Weil] |
23858 | War is perpetuated by its continual preparations [Weil] |
23859 | True democracy is the subordination of society to the individual [Weil] |
23856 | Spontaneous movements are powerless against organised repression [Weil] |
23860 | Even if a drowning man is doomed, he should keep swimming to the last [Weil] |