The Rifle

By Ricardo Flores Magón (1911)

Entry 3351

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(1874 - 1922)

Revolutionary Leader of the Mexican, Anarchist Militias

: ...an important and influential anarchist whose writings and activities had a crucial impact on the Mexican revolution. The Mexican Liberal Party, headed by Flores Magon, was closely implicated in the industrial strikes at Cananea and Orizaba. (From: Brian Morris Bio.)
• "It was my own good fortune to live for years where we all habitually spake our minds, for we were economically free. It was my subsequent misfortune to be caged for years in business, as conducted in these United States, and to chafe unceasingly at restraints on free speech which apparently my associates took philosophically, as part of the day's work." (From: "Land and Liberty," by Ricardo Flores "Land and Li....)
• "The Revolution will be the most serious business we could take in hand. Let us master it as we master other business; eliminating slipshod methods and studying it painstakingly in all its details, that it may be made to yield the best results." (From: "Land and Liberty," by Ricardo Flores "Land and Li....)
• "What, then, is the use of Authority? It serves to inculcate respect for the law which, written by the rich and by educated men in the service of the rich, has for its object the guaranteeing them a tranquil possession of their riches and exploitation of human labor." (From: "Land and Liberty," by Ricardo Flores "Land and Li....)


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The Rifle

I serve two factions: The faction that oppresses and the faction that liberates. I do not have preferences. With the same fury, with the same crack, I fire the bullet that snatches life away from the soldier of liberty or the henchman of tyranny.

Workers made me, to kill workers. I am the rifle, the killer of freedom when I serve those on top; the weapon of emancipation when I serve those below.

Without me, there would not be men who say “I am more then you”, and, without me, there would not be slaves who cry “down with tyranny!”

The tyrant calls me “buttress of institutions.” The free man caresses me tenderly and calls me “instrument of redemption.” I am the same thing, and yet nevertheless, I serve to oppress as well as to liberate. I am, at the same time, assassin and vindicator, depending on the hands that wield me.

I can also tell in whose hands I am. Do these hands tremble? There can be no doubt: these are the hands of a military officer. Is it a firm pulse? I say without vacillating: “these are the hands of a liberator.”

I do not need to hear cries to know which faction is using me. It is enough for me to hear the chattering of teeth to know that I am in the hands of oppressors. Evil is cowardly; Good is valorous. When the officer supports my chamber in his bosom to make me vomit out the death nestled in my cartridge, I feel his heart leap with violence. It is because he is conscience of his crime. He does not know who he will kill. He has been ordered: “fire!”, and there goes the shot that will perhaps venture through the heart of his father, his brother, or his child, through someone who has been summoned by the honorable cry “Revolution!”

I will exist on this earth as long as there is a stupid humanity that insists on dividing itself into two classes: the rich and the poor, those who consume and those who suffer.

When the last capitalist disappears and the shadow of authority dissipates, I will disappear in my turn, consecrating my materials to the construction of plows and the thousand instruments which men transformed into brothers will wield with enthusiasm.

From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org

Chronology

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An icon of a book resting on its back.
1911
The Rifle — Publication.

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July 14, 2019; 6:04:21 PM (UTC)
Added to http://revoltlib.com.

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January 3, 2022; 11:23:00 AM (UTC)
Updated on http://revoltlib.com.

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