“Find yourself a revolver!” – Efraín Plaza Olmedo
It seems the text was originally published in 1921 in the Santiago Bakers’ Union newspaper El Comunista, under the pen name of Juan Levadura. Inter Arma publishes this text for historical purposes.
Find yourself a revolver!
Find yourself a revolver! Understand?
Find yourself a revolver. The sooner the better. Buy, borrow, or steal one. The point is that you should be armed. Perhaps you think the social revolution is going to be made with streamers, like during carnival? Do you think the capitalists are going to hand over the fields and factories, like they hand over their daughters to millionaires? Are you so foolish that you believe in the possibility of harmony between bosses and workers? Don’t you see how—every day, all over the world—when workers demand some improvement, tin soldiers carrying rifles and bayonets appear? Didn’t you see how, during the strike by our comrade tramway drivers, the entire army moved in to protect the traitors? Well, if that happens when a complaint is made or some improvement is requested, what’s going to happen when we demand the right to land, life, and liberty? Think about it.
Find yourself a revolver and learn how to use it. Make a target to shoot at. Draw Astorquiza’s, Zañartu’s, or Gonzalo Bulnes’ head on it, or your own if you like. Shoot and shoot some more. Prepare yourself for the coming Revolution. Advise your other comrades to do the same. The ones who talk about “peaceful evolution” and “harmonious solutions” alongside the capitalist class are woefully deceiving you. Don’t you see how the workers in Russia had to arm themselves in order to overthrow all the tyrants? Don’t you see how they now live as they please, enjoying every kind of comfort? For over 100 years, you have peacefully endured all sorts of humiliation, and what benefits have you gained from your masters? The miserable shack you live in and pay a fortune for, the diseases that bring premature death to you and your children, the wars that spread hunger and pain to your doorstep, and the scraps you get when you demand a little food and justice for your family and children. This, all this, is the reward for your efforts and sacrifices. Believe it.
Find yourself a revolver. The sooner the better. Buy, borrow, or steal one. The point is that you should be armed. When the conscious, armed working class demands its right to life and liberty, then you will see how the rulers and tyrants fall. While you keep shouting on the streets like an idiot, begging for bread and justice, you will see how the bullets rain down on your head.
That’s all. By finding yourself a revolver and advising others to prepare for the Revolution, you will see the rebirth of a new dawn for the world.
Find yourself a revolver!
Biography:
https://thisisourjob.wordpress.com/2009/11/14/biographical-sketch-of-efr...