It is organized violence on top which creates individual violence at the bottom. It is the accumulated indignation against organized wrong, organized crime, organized injustice, which drives the political offender to act.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Individual violence stems from systemic oppression and accumulated injustice enforced by those in power.
- In plain terms
- People act violently because they are pushed by organized unfairness from above.
- What can you take from it?
- Address root causes of injustice to reduce individual violence.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What drives political offenders?
- How does state violence create individual violence?
Another view
It generalizes all individual violence as a reaction to state oppression, overlooking personal motives.
More from Emma Goldman
It is essential that we realize once and for all that man is much more of a sex creature than a moral creature. The former is inherent, the other is grafted on.
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