Essential to imperialist domination is violence. Imperialism, the most brutal form of exploitation, oppression and subjugation, is the primary source of violence in the world. Many so-called “revolutionaries” and “progressives” see that a primary task is to have peaceful relations with the capitalist class and from such a relationship proceed to make fundamental changes in the world. We regard this idea as delusion and capitulation on the part of those promoting “social peace”. Certainly we are for peace; peace between people, people and their governments, between nations. But not peace based on violence, as a peace with imperialists would most certainly be.
We should not mystify this word violence. Violence is hunger, racism, exploitation, oppression, destruction of culture, enslavement and the slaughter of human life that will occur as long as the imperialist system exists. We must be prepared to combat the violence of the imperialists and their state apparatus. Quite obviously, our enemy will fight with every means at its disposal. They will use whatever they have to maintain their class position. Under extreme conditions, mass sentiment and action can make the government forego extreme measures. But we must take up the struggle against this terror, not in a spontaneous way, but in a way that is organized and planned; calculated in its every move of mass self-defense, offense and resistance. We will not fail into the errors of acts of desperation and adventurism (SLA-type violence; isolated terrorism that doesn’t rely on the masses), but we will take firm revolutionary action. This means that we will not ideologically disarm the people with the illusion of social peace with the imperialists.