Zdaj lahko dihamo upanje [1]
John Holloway
“V imenu zapatističnih ženk, otrok, moških, starejših in seveda ostalih razglašam, da se bo ta dežela, ki jo njeni prebivalci in prebivalke trenutno imenujejo Evropa, od sedaj naprej imenovala SLUMIL K’AJXEMK’OP, kar pomeni ‘Uporna dežela’ oziroma ‘Dežela, ki se ne predaja’. Pod tem imenom jo bodo poznala njena ljudstva in vsi ostali vse dokler bo v njej živel vsaj še kdo, ki se ne predaja, proda ali odneha.” [2]
Po napovedi SupGaleana namerava Marijosé s temi besedami obeležiti pristanek na evropska tla po prečkanju Atlantskega oceana v čolnu Montaña, ki je iz Mehike odplul 3. maja in ki bo obalo Španije dosegel enkrat junija. Enota 421 je sedmerica zapatistov, ki se je s čolnom podala na Pot za življenje. Sestavljajo jo 4 ženske, 2 moška in 1 neopredeljena oseba – Marijosé. Pridružila se jim bo še ena skupina zapatistov, ki bo potovala z letalom, nato pa jih bo pot vodila v približno 30 evropskih držav. To bo prvo od popotovanj, s katerimi nameravjo zapatisti na vseh celinah sveta vzpostaviti vezi z drugimi boji za življenje.
Čudovito! Absurdno! Nadrealistično! Briljantno! Noro lepo!
Besede, ki jih ima izreči Marijosé, združujejo humor, preprostost in teoretsko globino. To so značilnosti, ki so od prve zapatistične vstaje 1. januarja 1994 postopoma postale prepoznavni del njihovega gibanja. V prizadevanju za življenje, ki je zdaj tako jasno ogroženo, zapatisti obračajo svet na glavo. Plujejo v obratni smeri kot Kolumb in konkvistadorji, da bi odkrili svet upornikov. Ne podajajo se na pot, da bi našli zavojevalce in od njih izprosili opravičilo, temveč da bi poiskali upornike in se jim pridružili. Med njimi ni govora o imperializmu ali kolonializmu, niti ni omenjana dolgo uveljavljena tradicija levice, ki socialnim antagonizmom vsiljuje teritorialne definicije. Gre za nekaj mnogo preprostejšega in neposrednejšega: uporniki enega področja stopajo naproti upornikom drugega. To je namreč edina pot za ustvarjanje prihodnosti.
Vabilo, torej, ne toliko k izkazovanju solidarnosti z junaškim staroselskim ljudstvom Chiapasa (saj že sam koncept solidarnosti nemudoma ustvari “njih” kot tretjeosebni pojem), temveč k priznavanju in soustvarjanju Slumil K’ajxemk’op, uporniške dežele, ponavadi poimenovane Evropa, ki je dom ljudem od vsepovsod. Dežela, kjer vlada denar in ki je del Imperija Denarja, iste zlobne sile, ki vlada vsem kontinentom in nas vleče v vse močnejši tajfun uničenja. Zlobna sila, ki vlada, a ne vlada v popolnosti, kajti celina Evrope je, kot vse ostale celine, Uporna dežela, kjer se ljudje ne vdajo, ne prodajo in ne podredijo.
Upor zavzema različne oblike, saj je denar večglava hidra z mnogimi groznimi obrazi. Bolečine, ki jih povzroča, so tako ali drugače naše. Namreč med stvarmi, ki nas združujejo preko vseh naših razlik, sta na prvem mestu dve. Najprej “da bolečine sveta vzamemo za svoje: nasilje nad ženskami; preganjanje in sovraženje tistih, ki jih njihova doživljajska, čustvena ali spolna identiteta delajo drugačne; izničenje otroštva; genocid nad domorodnimi ljudstvi; rasizem; militarizem; eksploatacija; razlastitev; uničenje narave”. In pa “razumevanje, da vse to trpljenje povzroča en sistem. Krvnik je eksploatacijski, patriarhalen, piramidalen, rasističen, tatinski, kriminalen sistem: kapitalizem”. Uporna dežela je dežela različnih prizadevanj proti mnogoterim obrazom te pošasti.
Popotovanje zapatistov je ponujena roka, ki ne želi voditi, ampak si deliti z drugimi. Prijeti drugega za roke, skleniti vzajemnen pretok energij, morda celo ustvariti iskrico. Izmenjati raznolike izkušnje skupnega boja proti hidri – učenje, ki je poučevanje, in poučevanje, ki je učenje. Ne le improvizirana izmenjava, temveč pogobitev dolgoletnih izmenjav, ki jo mnogo ljudi skrbno načrtuje že odkar so zapatisti oktobra lani naznanili svoj načrt.
Ponujeni roki bomo šli in moramo priti naproti vsi posamezniki in skupine, ki smo se v zapatiste čez leta njihovega obstoja zaljubili. Hkrati pa se bo zgodilo in se mora zgoditi še več kot to. Nadejamo se lahko, da bo ta čudovito nora pot daleč presegla kroge “običajnih osumljencev” in se dotaknila tudi ljudi izven sveta aktivizma.
Iz očitnih razlogov je bilo v preteklem letu le malo močnih sunkov političnih nemirov, tako v Evropi kot drugod. Navzoč pa je močan, dušeč občutek nakopičenega nezadovoljstva. Ne moremo dihati. Občutek, da se sistem ruši, da kapitalizem ne deluje, verjetno raste. Morda res še ni zrasel v jasen političen izraz, oziroma vsaj ne v takega, ki bi ga v kakšnem smislu vzeli za “svojega”. Ta trenutek je verjetno glavna skrb večine ljudi vračanje k nekakšni normalnosti, pa čeprav je ta toksična. In vendar obstaja zavedanje, da je kapitalizem pokvarjen sistem. Ta je z uničevanjem naravne biodiverzitete ustvaril pandemijo, ki je pobila na milijone ljudi in predrugačila življenjske pogoje skoraj celotnemu svetovnemu prebivalstvu, najverjetneje pa ji bodo sledile še druge. Neizprosna gonja za dobičkom proizvaja podnebne spremembe, ki imajo že ta trenutek posledice neznanskih razsežnosti tako za človeka kot za druge oblike življenja. Veliko ali celo večina staršev zdaj predvideva, da bodo njihovi otroci primorani živeti v slabših življenjskih pogojih, kot so jih izkusili sami, in res zaradi izjalovitve sistema najhuje trpijo prav mladi.
Razumevanje, da je kapitalizem polomija, je vsepovsod. Ljudje “izgubljajo vero v sistem”, vsepovsod je zadušljivo in vse več je frustracij. Je to vulkan, ki bo izbruhnil? Kdo ve. Če živiš pod vulkanom, je težko napovedati, kako in kdaj se bodo zgodili izbruhi. Toda v zadnjih nekaj dnevih nam je dogajanje v Kolumbiji nakazalo, kako neznansko silo lahko ustvarijo nakopičene napetosti.
V vsem tem je prisotna nujnost. Ko so se zapatisti v začetku leta 1994 uprli, so v Mehiki prejeli ogromno podpore. Odvile so se množične demonstracije, ki so vlado prisilile k zaustavitvi vojaškega napada na gibanje. Val podpore je bil velik, vendar ne dovolj velik, da bi zrušil državo in preoblikoval mehiško družbo. Človek si ne more pomagati, da ne bi pomislil, kaj bi se zgodilo, če bi bil odziv večji. Morda bi uspeli zaustaviti družbeni razkroj, ki smo mu priča od takrat – na stotisoče nasilno umorjenih (večinoma mladih) ljudi, več kot stotisoč “izginulih”, porast femicidov. V Evropi in povsod po svetu vedno več ljudi dojema, kako tenka je skorja civilizacije. “Stvari propadejo; center ne more zdržati,” pravi slavni verz iz Yeatsove pesmi Drugi prihod, ki se ga vse bolj pogosto citira. A civilizacije ni moč rešiti iz centra navzven. Edini način, kako lahko ustvarimo “civilizirano” in družbeno sprejemljivo družbo, je odprava kapitalizma in vzpostavitev drugačnih, celostno priznanih načinov življenja. Naloga je urgentna, okna resničnosti se zapirajo.
Nadrealistično? Zagotovo. Nadrealizem zapatističnega potovanja ni nikakršen okrasek, temveč sega do same srčike njihove politike. Zapatisti nas vedno znova presenetijo s svojimi iniciativami, vendar je morda ravno ta najbolj čudovita do sedaj. Sredi pandemije (ki jo jemljejo resno – vestno se držijo preventivnih ukrepov, ki so jih uvedli že preden je večina državnih oblasti, vključno z mehiško, sploh kaj storila) in ne da bi podpisali kakšno pogodbo z Netflixom, so zapatisti uspeli ustvariti najbolj osupljivo gledališče. Atlantski ocean so spremenili v prizorišče, ki bo omogočilo širjenje vesti na okrog 30 območij novoimenovane (a zagotovo ne krščene) celine Slumil K’ajxemk’op. Vse to, da bi revolucionarno misel popeljali dlje, kot je prišla kadarkoli do sedaj. Prizadevajo si, da bi boj za življenje in proti kapitalizmu (kajti boj za življenje mora biti tudi boj proti kapitalizmu) povzdignili v novo nadrealistično dimenzijo. Nadrealizem je ključen, saj prekine logiko kapitala in njegovo stanje, ki se vleče in vleče (in zraven zvleče še vse naše sanje o boljšem svetu) v neskončno reprodukcijo istega sistema smrti.
Berite jih, berite jih, berite jih! Berite, kaj pravijo. Preberite tekst v šestih delih, s katerim so naznanili to noro popotovanje, v enakem vrstnem redu kot so deli izhajali (od šestega do prvega, seveda). Preberite, kaj imajo povedati o svoji poti, oglejte si njihove videe in fotografije, ki jih v različnih jezikih lahko najdete na spletni strani Enlace zapatista, poglejte pa tudi https://viajezapatista.eu/en/blog/ in https://karavanizapatista.espivblogs.net/), spremljajte razprave o poti na straneh kot so Communizar (http://comunizar.com.ar), poslušajte jih (https://radiozapatista.org/) in berite njihove komentarje (sam spremljam predvsem Jérôme Baschet [3] in Inés Durán [4]). Predvsem pa – pridružite se jim na tem absurdnem potovanju. Pridružite se jim in pustite, da se pridružijo vam. Delite z njimi svoje boje in svoje nadrealistične-a-še-kako-realne vulkane. Morda nam bo to pomagalo dihati: upanje.
John Holloway, 9. maj 2021
[1] Za komentarje k zgodnejši verziji gredo zahvale Edith González, Panagiotis Doulos, Néstor López, Marios Panierakis, Azize Aslan, Eloína Peláez in Lars Stubbe.
[2] “A nombre de las mujeres, niños, hombres, ancianos y, claro, otroas zapatistas, declaro que el nombre de esta tierra, a la que sus naturales llaman ahora “Europa”, de aquí en adelante se llamará: SLUMIL K´AJXEMK´OP, que quiere decir “Tierra Insumisa”, o “Tierra que no se resigna, que no desmaya”. Y así será conocida por propios y extraños mientras haya aquí alguien que no se rinda, que no se venda y que no claudique.”
[3] Lundimatin no. 285, el 26 de abril de 2021, “L’invasion zapatiste” commence! (https://lundi.am/L-invasion-zapatiste-commence)
[4] “Ein Kampf für das Leben, für alle”, Maldekstra, Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, Berlin, März 2021 (https://www.rosalux.de/fileadmin/rls_uploads/pdfs/maldekstra/Maldekstra-10.pdf)
Now we can Breathe Hope [1]
John Holloway
“In the name of the zapatista women, children, men, old people and, of course, others, I declare that the name of this land, which its natives now call “Europe”, will from here on be called SLUMIL K´AJXEMK´OP, which means “Insurgent Land” or “Land that does not give up, that does not faint”. And that is how it will be known by its own and other people as long as there is someone here who does not surrender, does not sell out and does not submit.”[2]
These are the words that, according to SupGaleano, will be spoken by Marijosé when s/he steps on to European soil after crossing the Atlantic Ocean in the Montaña, the boat that set off from Mexico on 3 May and which will reach the Spanish coast some time in June. Marijosé is the 1 of the 421 Squadron of 7 zapatistas that are sailing on the boat – 4 women, 2 men, 1 other, to begin the Journey for Life, a trip on which they will be joined by another group of Zapatistas who will travel by plane and which will take them to about thirty countries in Europe. This is to be first of the trips in which the Zapatistas plan to connect with other struggles for life in all the continents of this planet.
Wonderful! Ridiculous! Surreal! Brilliant! Insanely beautiful!
Marijosé’s words are the combination of humour, simplicity and theoretical depth that we have to come to associate with the Zapatistas since they first rose in rebellion on 1 January 1994. In order to struggle for the life that is now so clearly endangered, they turn the world upside down. They sail in the opposite direction from Columbus and the conquistadores in order to discover a world of rebels. They do not go to find conquerors and ask them to apologise, they go to find insurgents and join them in struggle. No talk here of imperialism or colonialism, nothing of the long-established Left tradition of imposing territorial definitions on social antagonisms, but something much more simple, much more direct: the insurgents of one geography go to join hands with the insurgents of another. Because that is the only way that we can create a future.
An invitation, then, not so much to show solidarity with the heroic indigenous people of Chiapas (for the notion of solidarity immediately creates a third-person “them”) but to recognise-and-create Slumil K´ajxemk’op, the insurgent land often known as Europe, a land populated by people born in many different geographies. A land ruled by money, a land that is part of the Empire of Money, the same evil force that rules in all the continents and drags us into an accelerating typhoon of destruction. An evil force that rules but does not rule completely because the continent of Europe, like all the continents, is an Insurgent Land where people do not surrender, do not sell out, do not submit.
The insurgency takes many forms, for Money is a hydra with many heads, each one with a face of terror. These produce many pains, all of them ours in one way or another, for of the various things that unite us in our differences the first two are: “that we make ours the pains of the world: the violence against women; the persecution and contempt for those who are different in their affective, emotional, sexual identity; the annihilation of childhood; the genocide against indigenous peoples; racism; militarism; exploitation; dispossession; the destruction of nature”. And “the understanding that it is one system that is responsible for these pains. The executioner is an exploitative, patriarchal, pyramidal, racist, thieving, criminal system: capitalism.” The Insurgent Land is a land of many struggles against the multiple faces of the monster.
The Zapatistas’ trip is a reaching out to hold hands, not to guide, but to share. A holding of hands, a reciprocal flow of energies, a spark perhaps. An interchange of distinct experiences of the common struggle to kill the hydra, a learning that is a teaching, a teaching that is a learning. Not just an improvised interchange but a deepening of the interchanges that have existed for many years and that is being very carefully prepared by many people since the Zapatistas first announced their plan in October last.
There will be, must be, a reaching of hands to hold theirs. From all the individuals and groups who, like me, have fallen in love with them over the years since they first appeared. But it will be, must be more than that. It is to be hoped that the insane journey will touch people far beyond the “usual suspects”, far beyond the activist world.
For obvious reasons there have been few great surges of political protest in the last year, in Europe or anywhere else. But there is a huge feeling of suffocation, of pent-up frustration. We cannot breathe. Probably there is a growing feeling that the system is breaking down, that capitalism does not work. It may not receive any clear political expression, or any expression that we recognise as being “ours” in any sense, and probably for most people the main concern at the moment is to return to some sort of normality, however noxious that normality may be. And yet there is an awareness that capitalism is a failed system. Through its destruction of natural biodiversity, it has created a pandemic that has killed millions and transformed living conditions for nearly all the world’s population. A pandemic that is likely to be followed by others. Its relentless pursuit of profit is producing a climate change that is already having enormous consequences for human life and the life of so many other species. Many or most parents now assume that their children will experience worse living conditions than they have done, and indeed it is the young who are suffering the worst consequences of the failure of the system.
There is a whole world of awareness that capitalism is a failure, a world of people who are “losing faith in the system”, a world of suffocation and frustration. A volcano waiting to erupt? Who knows? Living under a volcano, I know that it is hard to predict the how or the when of eruptions. But Colombia in the last few days suggests the enormous force that pent-up tensions can have.
There is an urgency in all this. When the Zapatistas rose up in the New Year of 1994, there was a huge response of support for them in Mexico, enormous demonstrations that forced the government to halt the military attack on their movement. A huge wave of sympathy, but it was not enough to bring down the state and transform society in Mexico. One cannot help thinking that, if the response had been greater, it could have halted the social disintegration that has been taking place since then, with hundreds of thousands of mainly young people killed violently, more than a hundred thousand “disappeared”, more and more women killed each day for being women. In Europe and in all the world, there is a growing perception of the thinness of the crust of civilisation. “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold”, Yeats’ famous line from his poem “The Second Coming”, is quoted more and more. But civilisation cannot be saved from the centre. The only way to create a “civilised”, socially acceptable society is by abolishing capitalism and creating other, mutually recognitive ways of living. The task is urgent, the windows of reality are closing.
Surreal? Certainly. The surrealism of the Zapatista journey is no ornament, it goes to the heart of their politics. Time and time again the Zapatistas have surprised us with their initiatives, but this is perhaps the most wondrous of all. In the middle of the pandemic (and the Zapatistas have been rigorous in their observance of precautionary measures, introducing them even before either the Mexican state or most other states did anything at all), and without signing any contract with Netflix, they have created the most astonishing piece of theatre, making the Atlantic Ocean their stage and then spreading to thirty or so different geographies in the newly named (certainly not baptised) continent of Slumil K´ajxemk’op. This is to push revolutionary thought to a place it has never gone before. It is to take the struggle for life and against capitalism (for the struggle for life must be a struggle against capitalism) to a newly surreal dimension. The surrealism is crucial because it breaks the logic of capital and its state that drags and drags and drags our dreams of something better into a reproduction of the same system of death.
Read them, read them, read them! Read what they are saying. Read the six parts of the text that announced this mad journey, in the order that they were issued, from the sixth to the first (but of course). Read what they are saying about their voyage, look at their videos and photos, most of which can be found on Enlace zapatista in different languages and see also https://viajezapatista.eu/en/blog/ and https://karavanizapatista.espivblogs.net/, follow the debates around the journey on pages like Communizar (http://comunizar.com.ar), listen to them (https://radiozapatista.org/) read the commentaries (in my case I have been reading Jérôme Baschet[3] and Inés Durán[4]). And above all, join them on their ridiculous journey. Join them and let them join you. Share your struggles and your surreal-too-real volcanos. And perhaps that will help us all to breathe: hope.
John Holloway, 9 May 2021
[1] Many thanks for their comments on an earlier version to Edith González, Panagiotis Doulos, Néstor López, Marios Panierakis, Azize Aslan, Eloína Peláez and Lars Stubbe.
[2] “A nombre de las mujeres, niños, hombres, ancianos y, claro, otroas zapatistas, declaro que el nombre de esta tierra, a la que sus naturales llaman ahora “Europa”, de aquí en adelante se llamará: SLUMIL K´AJXEMK´OP, que quiere decir “Tierra Insumisa”, o “Tierra que no se resigna, que no desmaya”. Y así será conocida por propios y extraños mientras haya aquí alguien que no se rinda, que no se venda y que no claudique.”
[3] lundimatin no. 285, el 26 de abril de 2021, “L’invasion zapatiste” commence! (https://lundi.am/L-invasion-zapatiste-commence)
[4] “Ein Kampf für das Leben, für alle”, Maldekstra, Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, Berlin, März 2021 (https://www.rosalux.de/fileadmin/rls_uploads/pdfs/maldekstra/Maldekstra-10.pdf)