My heartfelt companions,
Privet Vsem!
Below I have posted en excerpt from Nechaev's 1869 "Catechism of a Revolutionary."
Please understand the approach I plan to take:
1. The revolutionist is a person doomed [obrechennyi, in older usage signifying also "consecrated"]. He has no personal interests, no business affairs, no emotions, no attachments, no property, and no name. Everything in him is wholly absorbed in the single thought and the single passion for revolution.
2. The revolutionist knows that in the very depths of his being, not only in words but also in deeds, he has broken all the bonds which tie him to the civil order [grazhdanskim poriadkom] and the civilized world with all its laws, moralities, and customs, and with all its generally accepted conventions. He is their implacable enemy, and if he continues to live with them it is only in order to destroy them more speedily.
5. The revolutionist is a person obrechennyi [see first line]. He is merciless toward the state and toward the whole formal social structure of educated society [soslovno-obrazovannogo obshchestva]; and he can expect no mercy from them. Between him and them there exists, declared or concealed, a relentless and irreconcilable war to the death. He must accustom himself to torture.
8. The revolutionist can have no friendship or attachment, except for those who have proved by their actions that they, like him, are dedicated to revolution. The degree of friendship, devotion and obligation toward such a comrade is determined solely by the degree of his usefulness to the cause of total revolutionary destruction.
Although dated to the mid 19th century, we shall follow many of these mandates as they apply to our cause.
I find your blog postings informative. Nechaev's "Catechism of a Revolutionary" is indeed interesting. I am trying to figure out for myself what a revolutionary really entails and what steps person must take. I see a very negative approach from Nechaev, however, and there is so much negative already in my world. Still, I try to learn from every and all perspectives. I must say that a revolution may be stirring under my feet. I have not been able to describe it yet, but maybe that is in my future?... Amigo, you have helped me learn something about my current situation. Gracias.
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