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Randolph Bourne vs. the State | author = H. W. Morton | section = | previous = ../|Con..."

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{{header
| title = [[../|ANARCHY 31 (Vol 3 No 9) SEPTEMBER 1963]]<br>Randolph Bourne vs. the State
| author = H. W. Morton
| section =
| previous = [[../|Contents of No. 31]]
| next = [[../Anarchism and the cybernetics of self-organising systems|Anarchism and the cybernetics of self-organising systems]]
| notes = ''H. W. Morton is a New York anarchist who, with [[Author:Sam Weiner|Sam Weiner]], wrote {{qq|[[Anarchy 19/Were they way out way back?|Were they way out, way back?]]}} in'' [[Anarchy 19|{{sc|Anarchy}} 19]].
}}

<div style="max-width:500px; margin:auto;">{{p|265}}

<font size="5">'''Randolph Bourne vs. the State'''</font>

<font size="4">'''[[Author:H. W. Morton|H. W. MORTON]]'''</font>

{{p|s1}}<div style="text-align:justify;">{{qq|{{sc|War is the health of the State}}.}} Had {{w|Randolph Bourne|Randolph_Bourne}} never written another line he would have earned immortality from those words alone. {{qq|War is the health of the State,}} he announced, and went on to explain:

<blockquote>{{tab}}{{qq|It automatically sets in motion throughout society those irresistible forces for uniformity, for passionate co-<wbr>operation with the Government in coercing into obedience the minority groups and individuals which lack the larger herd sense. The machinery of Government sets and enforces the drastic penalties; the minorities are either intimidated into silence, or brought slowly around by a subtle process of persuasion which may seem to them really to be converting them. Of course the ideal of perfect loyalty, perfect uniformity is never really attained. The classes upon whom the amateur work of coercion falls are unwearied in their zeal, but often their agitation instead of converting, merely serves to stiffen their resistance. Minorities are rendered sullen, and some intellectual opinion bitter and satirical. But in general, the nation in war-time attains a uniformity of feeling, a hierarchy of values culminating at the undisputed apex of the State ideal, which could not possibly be produced through any other agency than war.}}</blockquote>

{{tab}}Randolph Bourne, a brilliant cripple, was born in {{w|New Jersey|New_Jersey}} in that singularly radical year 1886, and died in {{w|New York City|New_York_City}} in 1918. A graduate of {{w|Columbia University|Columbia_University}}, and a member of that nebulous clique of {{w|Greenwich Village|Greenwich_Village}} {{w|Bohemians|Bohemianism}}, he was a frequent contributor to ''{{w|The New Republic|The_New_Republic}}'', ''{{w|The Atlantic Monthly|The_Atlantic}}'', ''{{w|The Seven Arts|The_Seven_Arts}}'' and ''{{w|The Dial|The_Dial}}''. Most of his writing, however, would be of little interest to anarchists{{dash}}I found {{qq|{{l|The History of a Literary Radical & Other Papers|https://archive.org/details/historyofliterar00bouruoft}}}} (New York, Russell, 1956) so uniformly innocuous that I didn{{t}} even finish it. On the other hand, had this collection included {{qq|{{l|The State|http://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/randolph-bourne-the-state}}}} is the healthiest of Randolph Bourne.

{{tab}}{{qq|The State}}, an unfinished essay written at the time of {{w|World War I|World_War_I}}, had long been out of print. It has recently been reissued{{dash|in time for World War III}}by the Greater New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to the Human Animal, 150 Nassau Street, New York 38, N.Y. It is well worth the $1.00 price despite a rather bizarre format {{p|266}}({{popup|28 inches|71 cm}} wide, {{popup|8 inches|20 cm}} high when open).</div>
</div>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Randolph Bourne versus the State}}
[[Category:Literary criticism]]
[[Category:War and militarism]]
[[Category:Articles]]

@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 <blockquote>{{tab}}{{qq|It auto&shy;matic&shy;ally sets in motion through&shy;out society those irres&shy;ist&shy;ible forces for uni&shy;form&shy;ity, for pas&shy;sion&shy;ate co-opera&shy;tion with the Govern&shy;ment in coer&shy;cing into obedi&shy;ence the minor&shy;ity groups and indi&shy;vidu&shy;als which lack the larger herd sense. The ma&shy;chinery of Govern&shy;ment sets and en&shy;forces the drastic penal&shy;ties; the minor&shy;ities are either intim&shy;id&shy;ated into silence, or brought slowly around by a subtle process of per&shy;sua&shy;sion which may seem to them really to be con&shy;vert&shy;ing them. Of course the ideal of perfect loyalty, perfect uni&shy;form&shy;ity is never really at&shy;tained. The classes upon whom the amateur work of coer&shy;cion falls are un&shy;wearied in their zeal, but often their agita&shy;tion instead of con&shy;vert&shy;ing, merely serves to stiffen their resist&shy;ance. Minor&shy;ities are rendered sullen, and some intel&shy;lec&shy;tual opinion bitter and satir&shy;ical. But in general, the nation in war-time attains a uni&shy;form&shy;ity of feeling, a hier&shy;archy of values cul&shy;minat&shy;ing at the undis&shy;puted apex of the State ideal, which could not possibly be pro&shy;duced through any other agency than war.}}</blockquote>
-{{tab}}Randolph Bourne, a bril&shy;liant cripple, was born in {{w|New Jersey|New_Jersey}} in that singu&shy;larly radical year 1886, and died in {{w|New York City|New_York_City}} in 1918. A gradu&shy;ate of {{w|Columbia University|Columbia_Uni&shy;ver&shy;sity}}, and a member of that nebu&shy;lous clique of {{w|Green&shy;wich Village|Greenwich_Village}} {{w|Bohemi&shy;ans|Bohemianism|Bohemianism}}, he was a fre&shy;quent con&shy;trib&shy;utor to ''{{w|The New Repub&shy;lic|The_New_Republic}}'', ''{{w|The At&shy;lantic Monthly|The_Atlantic|The Atlantic}}'', ''{{w|The Seven Arts|The_Seven_Arts}}'' and ''{{w|The Dial|The_Dial}}''<!-- 'Dial' not in italics in original -->. Most of his writing, however, would be of little in&shy;terest to anar&shy;chists—I found {{qq|{{l|The History of a Liter&shy;ary Radical & Other Papers|https://archive.org/details/historyofliterar00bouruoft}}}} (New York, Russell, 1956) so uni&shy;formly innoc&shy;uous that I didn{{t}} even finish it. On the other hand, had this col&shy;lec&shy;tion in&shy;cluded {{qq|{{l|The State|http://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/randolph-bourne-the-state}}}}, I would have no com&shy;plaint, for {{qq|The State}} is the health&shy;iest of Randolph Bourne.
+{{tab}}Randolph Bourne, a bril&shy;liant cripple, was born in {{w|New Jersey|New_Jersey}} in that singu&shy;larly radical year 1886, and died in {{w|New York City|New_York_City}} in 1918. A gradu&shy;ate of {{w|Columbia University|Columbia_Uni&shy;ver&shy;sity}}, and a member of that nebu&shy;lous clique of {{w|Green&shy;wich Village|Greenwich_Village}} {{w|Bohemi&shy;ans|Bohemianism|Bohemianism}}, he was a fre&shy;quent con&shy;trib&shy;utor to ''{{w|The New Repub&shy;lic|The_New_Republic}}'', ''{{w|The At&shy;lantic Monthly|The_Atlantic|The Atlantic}}'', ''{{w|The Seven Arts|The_Seven_Arts}}'' and ''{{w|The Dial|The_Dial}}''<!-- 'Dial' not in italics in original -->. Most of his writing, however, would be of little in&shy;terest to anar&shy;chists—I found {{qq|{{l|The History of a Liter&shy;ary Radical & Other Papers|https://archive.org/details/historyofliterar00bouruoft|Full text at the Internet Archive}}}} (New York, Russell, 1956) so uni&shy;formly innoc&shy;uous that I didn{{t}} even finish it. On the other hand, had this col&shy;lec&shy;tion in&shy;cluded {{qq|{{l|The State|http://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/randolph-bourne-the-state|Full text at the Anarchist Library}}}}, I would have no com&shy;plaint, for {{qq|The State}} is the health&shy;iest of Randolph Bourne.
 {{tab}}{{qq|The State}}, an un&shy;fin&shy;ished essay written at the time of {{w|World War I|World_War_I}}, had long been out of print. It has re&shy;cently been re&shy;issued—in time for World War III—by the Greater New York Society for the Pre&shy;ven&shy;tion of Cruelty to the Human Animal, 150 Nassau Street, New York 38, N.Y. It is well worth the $1.00 price despite a rather bizarre format {{p|266}}({{popup|28 inches|71 cm}} wide, {{popup|8 inches|20 cm}} high when open).

@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 <blockquote>{{tab}}{{qq|It auto&shy;matic&shy;ally sets in motion through&shy;out society those irres&shy;ist&shy;ible forces for uni&shy;form&shy;ity, for pas&shy;sion&shy;ate co-opera&shy;tion with the Govern&shy;ment in coer&shy;cing into obedi&shy;ence the minor&shy;ity groups and indi&shy;vidu&shy;als which lack the larger herd sense. The ma&shy;chinery of Govern&shy;ment sets and en&shy;forces the drastic penal&shy;ties; the minor&shy;ities are either intim&shy;id&shy;ated into silence, or brought slowly around by a subtle process of per&shy;sua&shy;sion which may seem to them really to be con&shy;vert&shy;ing them. Of course the ideal of perfect loyalty, perfect uni&shy;form&shy;ity is never really at&shy;tained. The classes upon whom the amateur work of coer&shy;cion falls are un&shy;wearied in their zeal, but often their agita&shy;tion instead of con&shy;vert&shy;ing, merely serves to stiffen their resist&shy;ance. Minor&shy;ities are rendered sullen, and some intel&shy;lec&shy;tual opinion bitter and satir&shy;ical. But in general, the nation in war-time attains a uni&shy;form&shy;ity of feeling, a hier&shy;archy of values cul&shy;minat&shy;ing at the undis&shy;puted apex of the State ideal, which could not possibly be pro&shy;duced through any other agency than war.}}</blockquote>
-{{tab}}Randolph Bourne, a bril&shy;liant cripple, was born in {{w|New Jersey|New_Jersey}} in that singu&shy;larly radical year 1886, and died in {{w|New York City|New_York_City}} in 1918. A gradu&shy;ate of {{w|Columbia University|Columbia_Uni&shy;ver&shy;sity}}, and a member of that nebu&shy;lous clique of {{w|Green&shy;wich Village|Greenwich_Village}} {{w|Bohemi&shy;ans|Bohemianism}}, he was a fre&shy;quent con&shy;trib&shy;utor to ''{{w|The New Repub&shy;lic|The_New_Republic}}'', ''{{w|The At&shy;lantic Monthly|The_Atlantic}}'', ''{{w|The Seven Arts|The_Seven_Arts}}'' and ''{{w|The Dial|The_Dial}}''<!-- 'Dial' not in italics in original -->. Most of his writing, however, would be of little in&shy;terest to anar&shy;chists—I found {{qq|{{l|The History of a Liter&shy;ary Radical & Other Papers|https://archive.org/details/historyofliterar00bouruoft}}}} (New York, Russell, 1956) so uni&shy;formly innoc&shy;uous that I didn{{t}} even finish it. On the other hand, had this col&shy;lec&shy;tion in&shy;cluded {{qq|{{l|The State|http://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/randolph-bourne-the-state}}}}, I would have no com&shy;plaint, for {{qq|The State}} is the health&shy;iest of Randolph Bourne.
+{{tab}}Randolph Bourne, a bril&shy;liant cripple, was born in {{w|New Jersey|New_Jersey}} in that singu&shy;larly radical year 1886, and died in {{w|New York City|New_York_City}} in 1918. A gradu&shy;ate of {{w|Columbia University|Columbia_Uni&shy;ver&shy;sity}}, and a member of that nebu&shy;lous clique of {{w|Green&shy;wich Village|Greenwich_Village}} {{w|Bohemi&shy;ans|Bohemianism|Bohemianism}}, he was a fre&shy;quent con&shy;trib&shy;utor to ''{{w|The New Repub&shy;lic|The_New_Republic}}'', ''{{w|The At&shy;lantic Monthly|The_Atlantic|The Atlantic}}'', ''{{w|The Seven Arts|The_Seven_Arts}}'' and ''{{w|The Dial|The_Dial}}''<!-- 'Dial' not in italics in original -->. Most of his writing, however, would be of little in&shy;terest to anar&shy;chists—I found {{qq|{{l|The History of a Liter&shy;ary Radical & Other Papers|https://archive.org/details/historyofliterar00bouruoft}}}} (New York, Russell, 1956) so uni&shy;formly innoc&shy;uous that I didn{{t}} even finish it. On the other hand, had this col&shy;lec&shy;tion in&shy;cluded {{qq|{{l|The State|http://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/randolph-bourne-the-state}}}}, I would have no com&shy;plaint, for {{qq|The State}} is the health&shy;iest of Randolph Bourne.
 {{tab}}{{qq|The State}}, an un&shy;fin&shy;ished essay written at the time of {{w|World War I|World_War_I}}, had long been out of print. It has re&shy;cently been re&shy;issued—in time for World War III—by the Greater New York Society for the Pre&shy;ven&shy;tion of Cruelty to the Human Animal, 150 Nassau Street, New York 38, N.Y. It is well worth the $1.00 price despite a rather bizarre format {{p|266}}({{popup|28 inches|71 cm}} wide, {{popup|8 inches|20 cm}} high when open).
@@ Line 30: / Line 30: @@
 <blockquote>{{tab}}{{qq|Govern&shy;ment is syn&shy;onym&shy;ous with neither State nor Nation. It is the ma&shy;chinery by which the nation, organ&shy;ized by a State, carries out its State func&shy;tions. Govern&shy;ment is a frame&shy;work of the ad&shy;minis&shy;tra&shy;tion of laws, and the carry&shy;ing out of the public force. Govern&shy;ment is the idea of the State put into prac&shy;tical opera&shy;tion in the hands of def&shy;inite, con&shy;crete, fal&shy;lible men. It is the visible sign of the in&shy;visible grace. It is the word made flesh.}}</blockquote>
-Then after this beauti&shy;fully anarch&shy;istic begin&shy;ning, Bourne im&shy;medi&shy;ately dis&shy;appoints us: {{qq|And it has neces&shy;sarily the lim&shy;ita&shy;tions inher&shy;ent in all prac&shy;tical&shy;ity.}} Imagine attack&shy;ing Govern&shy;ment on the basis of prac&shy;tical lim&shy;ita&shy;tions! I can no more con&shy;ceive of an anarch&shy;ist writing that, than of a paci&shy;fist com&shy;plain&shy;ing that {{w|Hydro&shy;gen Bombs|Thermonuclear_weapon}} are no good because they don{{t}} work.
+Then after this beauti&shy;fully anarch&shy;istic begin&shy;ning, Bourne im&shy;medi&shy;ately dis&shy;appoints us: {{qq|And it has neces&shy;sarily the lim&shy;ita&shy;tions inher&shy;ent in all prac&shy;tical&shy;ity.}} Imagine attack&shy;ing Govern&shy;ment on the basis of prac&shy;tical lim&shy;ita&shy;tions! I can no more con&shy;ceive of an anarch&shy;ist writing that, than of a paci&shy;fist com&shy;plain&shy;ing that {{w|Hydro&shy;gen Bombs|Thermonuclear_weapon|Thermonuclear weapon}} are no good because they don{{t}} work.
 {{tab}}However, Bourne im&shy;medi&shy;ately redeems himself by point&shy;ing out that Govern&shy;ment {{qq|is by no means ident&shy;ical with}} the State. He empha&shy;sizes the fact that the State is an ab&shy;scrac&shy;tion where&shy;as Govern&shy;ment is tan&shy;gible. {{qq|That the State is a mys&shy;tical concep&shy;tion is some&shy;thing that must never be for&shy;gotten. Its glamour and its signi&shy;fic&shy;ance linger behind the frame&shy;work of Govern&shy;ment and direct its activ&shy;ities.}} Here Bourne has put his finger on a crit&shy;ical dis&shy;tinc&shy;tion—one which few people other than anarch&shy;ists seem to grasp.
@@ Line 42: / Line 42: @@
 <blockquote>{{tab}}{{qq|What is the State essen&shy;tially? The more closely we examine it, the more mys&shy;tical and per&shy;sonal it becomes. On the Nation we can put our hand as a defin&shy;ite social group, with atti&shy;tudes and quan&shy;ti&shy;ties exact enough to mean some&shy;thing. On the Govern&shy;ment we can put our hand as a certain organ&shy;isa&shy;tion of ruling func&shy;tions, the ma&shy;chinery of law-making and law-enforcing. The Ad&shy;minis&shy;tra&shy;tion is a recog&shy;niz&shy;able group of polit&shy;ical func&shy;tion&shy;aries, tempor&shy;arily in charge of the Govern&shy;ment. But the State stands as an idea behind them all, eternal, sanct&shy;ified, and from it Govern&shy;ment and Ad&shy;minis&shy;tra&shy;tion con&shy;ceive them&shy;selves to have the breath of life. Even the nation, espe&shy;cially in times of war—or at least, its signi&shy;fic&shy;ant classes—con&shy;siders that it derives its author&shy;ity and its purpose from the idea of the State. Nation and State are scarcely dif&shy;fer&shy;enti&shy;ated, and the con&shy;crete, prac&shy;tical, ap&shy;parent facts are sunk in the symbol. We rever&shy;ence not our country but the flag. We may criti&shy;cize ever so severely our country, but we are dis&shy;respect&shy;ful to the flag at our peril.}}</blockquote>
-{{tab}}On the other hand some of Bourne{{s}} termin&shy;ology is dis&shy;turb&shy;ing: he per&shy;sist&shy;ently uses {{qq|herd}}, al&shy;though he con&shy;tends that {{qq|there is nothing invidi&shy;ous in the use of the term.}} He also refers occa&shy;sion&shy;ally to the {{qq|signi&shy;fic&shy;ant classes}}. Yet he is not neces&shy;sarily &eacute;litist, for it is en&shy;tirely pos&shy;sible that he is viewing people with sym&shy;pathy rather than scorn. Thus, al&shy;though he speaks of the State being {{qq|the organ&shy;isa&shy;tion of the herd to act offens&shy;ively or defens&shy;ively against another herd simil&shy;arly organ&shy;ized}} and points out how it {{qq|becomes an instru&shy;ment by which the power of the whole herd is wielded for the benefit of a class,}} he may be writing more in com&shy;pas&shy;sion than con&shy;tempt. I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt in view of his opinion that the working classes {{qq|live habitu&shy;ally in an indus&shy;trial serfdom, by which though nomin&shy;ally free, they are in prac&shy;tice as a class bound to a system of a machine-produc&shy;tion the imple&shy;ments of which they do not own, and in the dis&shy;tribu&shy;tion of whose product they have not the slight&shy;est voice &hellip; From such serfdom, milit&shy;ary {{w|con&shy;scrip&shy;tion|Conscription}} is not so great a change.}}
+{{tab}}On the other hand some of Bourne{{s}} termin&shy;ology is dis&shy;turb&shy;ing: he per&shy;sist&shy;ently uses {{qq|herd}}, al&shy;though he con&shy;tends that {{qq|there is nothing invidi&shy;ous in the use of the term.}} He also refers occa&shy;sion&shy;ally to the {{qq|signi&shy;fic&shy;ant classes}}. Yet he is not neces&shy;sarily &eacute;litist, for it is en&shy;tirely pos&shy;sible that he is viewing people with sym&shy;pathy rather than scorn. Thus, al&shy;though he speaks of the State being {{qq|the organ&shy;isa&shy;tion of the herd to act offens&shy;ively or defens&shy;ively against another herd simil&shy;arly organ&shy;ized}} and points out how it {{qq|becomes an instru&shy;ment by which the power of the whole herd is wielded for the benefit of a class,}} he may be writing more in com&shy;pas&shy;sion than con&shy;tempt. I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt in view of his opinion that the working classes {{qq|live habitu&shy;ally in an indus&shy;trial serfdom, by which though nomin&shy;ally free, they are in prac&shy;tice as a class bound to a system of a machine-produc&shy;tion the imple&shy;ments of which they do not own, and in the dis&shy;tribu&shy;tion of whose product they have not the slight&shy;est voice &hellip; From such serfdom, milit&shy;ary {{w|con&shy;scrip&shy;tion|Conscription|Conscription}} is not so great a change.}}
 {{tab}}Anarch&shy;ists might also be irked by the treat&shy;ment Bourne accords man{{s}} gregari&shy;ous in&shy;stinct. Here too, however, he might not be derid&shy;ing mutual aid so much as com&shy;plain&shy;ing of how the State brutal&shy;izes us<!-- 'is' in original -->: {{qq|In this great herd-ma&shy;chinery, dissent is like sand in the bear&shy;ings. The State ideal is primar&shy;ily a sort of blind animal push towards milit&shy;ary unity.}} I wish I could decide whether his anger is direc&shy;ted solely at the State or if it in&shy;cludes human&shy;ity as well, ''e.g.'':
@@ Line 50: / Line 50: @@
 <blockquote>{{tab}}{{qq|In your re&shy;action to an ima&shy;gined attack on your country or an insult to its Govern&shy;ment, you draw closer to the herd for pro&shy;tec&shy;tion, you conform in word and deed, and you insist vehem&shy;ently that every&shy;body else shall think, speak and act to&shy;gether.}}</blockquote>
-{{tab}}Even if Bourne was closer to {{w|Nietzsche|Friedrich_Nietzsche}} than to {{w|Bakunin|Mikhail_Bakunin}}, his criti&shy;cisms are devast&shy;ating:
+{{tab}}Even if Bourne was closer to {{w|Nietzsche|Friedrich_Nietzsche|Friedrich Nietzsche}} than to {{w|Bakunin|Mikhail_Bakunin|Mikhail Bakunin}}, his criti&shy;cisms are devast&shy;ating:
 <blockquote>{{tab}}{{qq|The State is a jealous god and will brook no rivals. Its sover&shy;eignty<!-- 'severeignty' in original --> must pervade every&shy;one and all feeling must be run into the stereo&shy;typed forms of ro&shy;mantic patri&shy;otic milit&shy;arism which is the tradi&shy;tional ex&shy;pres&shy;sion of the State herd feeling.}} &hellip;</blockquote>
-<blockquote>{{tab}}{{qq|The State moves inevitably along the line from {{w|milit&shy;ary dic&shy;tator&shy;ship|Military_dictatorship}} to the {{w|divine right of Kings|Divine_right_of_kings}}. What had to be at first rawly imposed becomes through social habit to seem the neces&shy;sary, the inevit&shy;able.}} &hellip;</blockquote>
+<blockquote>{{tab}}{{qq|The State moves inevitably along the line from {{w|milit&shy;ary dic&shy;tator&shy;ship|Military_dictatorship|Military dictatorship}} to the {{w|divine right of Kings|Divine_right_of_kings|Divine right of kings}}. What had to be at first rawly imposed becomes through social habit to seem the neces&shy;sary, the inevit&shy;able.}} &hellip;</blockquote>
 <blockquote>{{tab}}{{qq|Govern&shy;ment [by the time of {{w|George III|George_III_of_the_United_Kingdom}}] had been for long what it has never ceased to be—a series of berths and emolu&shy;ments in Army, Navy, and the differ&shy;ent depart&shy;ments of State, for the repres&shy;entat&shy;ives of the priv&shy;ileged classes.}}</blockquote>

@@ Line 66: / Line 66: @@
 {{tab}}War for Bourne is not a con&shy;tinua&shy;tion of dip&shy;lomacy{{dash}}rather, {{qq|dip&shy;lomacy is a dis&shy;guised war.}}
-<blockquote>{{tab}}{{qq|&hellip; for the last strong&shy;hold of State power is foreign policy. It is in foreign policy that the State acts most con&shy;cen&shy;tratedly as the organ&shy;ized herd, acts with fullest sense of ag&shy;gres&shy;sive power, acts with freest arbit&shy;rari&shy;ness. In foreign policy, the State is most itself. {{p|269}}States, with refer&shy;ence to each other, may be said to be in a con&shy;tinual state of latent war. The {{q|armed truce}}, a phrase so famil&shy;iar before 1914, was an accur&shy;ate descrip&shy;tion of the normal rela&shy;tion of States when they are not at war. Indeed, it is not too much to say that the normal rela&shy;tions of States is war. Dip&shy;lomacy is a dis&shy;guised war, in which States seek to gain by barter and in&shy;trigue, by the clever&shy;ness of wit, the object&shy;ives which they would have to gain more clumsily by means of war. Dip&shy;lomacy is used while the States are recuper&shy;ating from con&shy;flicts in which they have ex&shy;hausted them&shy;selves. It is the wheed&shy;ling and the bargain&shy;ing of the worn-<wbr>out bullies as they rise from the ground and slowly restore their strength to begin fight&shy;ing again. If dip&shy;lomacy had been the moral equi&shy;valent for war, a higher stage in human progress, an in&shy;estim&shy;able means of making words prevail instead of blows, milit&shy;arism would have broken down and given place to it. But since it is a mere tempor&shy;ary sub&shy;sti&shy;tute., a mere appear&shy;ance of war{{s}} energy under another form, a sur&shy;rog&shy;ate effect is almost exactly pro&shy;por&shy;tioned to the armed force behind it. When it fails, the re&shy;course is im&shy;medi&shy;ate to the milit&shy;ary tech&shy;nique whose thinly veiled arm it has been. A dip&shy;lomacy that was the agency of popular demo&shy;cratic forces in their non-State mani&shy;festa&shy;tions would be no dip&shy;lomacy at all. It would be no better than the Railway or Educa&shy;tion Com&shy;mis&shy;sions that are sent from one country to another with rational con&shy;struct&shy;ive purpose. The State, acting as a dip&shy;lomatic-<wbr>milit&shy;ary ideal, is etern&shy;ally at war. &hellip;}}</blockquote>
+<blockquote>{{tab}}{{qq|&hellip; for the last strong&shy;hold of State power is foreign policy. It is in foreign policy that the State acts most con&shy;cen&shy;tratedly as the organ&shy;ized herd, acts with fullest sense of ag&shy;gres&shy;sive power, acts with freest arbit&shy;rari&shy;ness. In foreign policy, the State is most itself. {{p|269}}States, with refer&shy;ence to each other, may be said to be in a con&shy;tinual state of latent war. The {{q|armed truce}}, a phrase so famil&shy;iar before 1914, was an accur&shy;ate descrip&shy;tion of the normal rela&shy;tion of States when they are not at war. Indeed, it is not too much to say that the normal rela&shy;tions of States is war. Dip&shy;lomacy is a dis&shy;guised war, in which States seek to gain by barter and in&shy;trigue, by the clever&shy;ness of wit, the object&shy;ives which they would have to gain more clumsily by means of war. Dip&shy;lomacy is used while the States are recuper&shy;ating from con&shy;flicts in which they have ex&shy;hausted them&shy;selves. It is the wheed&shy;ling and the bargain&shy;ing of the worn-<wbr>out bullies as they rise from the ground and slowly restore their strength to begin fight&shy;ing again. If dip&shy;lomacy had been the moral equi&shy;valent for war, a higher stage in human progress, an in&shy;estim&shy;able means of making words prevail instead of blows, milit&shy;arism would have broken down and given place to it. But since it is a mere tempor&shy;ary sub&shy;sti&shy;tute, a mere appear&shy;ance of war{{s}} energy under another form, a sur&shy;rog&shy;ate effect is almost exactly pro&shy;por&shy;tioned to the armed force behind it. When it fails, the re&shy;course is im&shy;medi&shy;ate to the milit&shy;ary tech&shy;nique whose thinly veiled arm it has been. A dip&shy;lomacy that was the agency of popular demo&shy;cratic forces in their non-State mani&shy;festa&shy;tions would be no dip&shy;lomacy at all. It would be no better than the Railway or Educa&shy;tion Com&shy;mis&shy;sions that are sent from one country to another with rational con&shy;struct&shy;ive purpose. The State, acting as a dip&shy;lomatic-<wbr>milit&shy;ary ideal, is etern&shy;ally at war. &hellip;}}</blockquote>
-<blockquote>{{tab}}{{qq|It cannot be too firmly real&shy;ized that war is a func&shy;tion of States an not of nations, indeed that is the chief func&shy;tion of States. War is a very arti&shy;ficial thing. It is not the naive spon&shy;tan&shy;eous outburst of herd pug&shy;nacity; it is no more primary than is formal religion. War cannot exist without a milit&shy;ary estab&shy;lish&shy;ment, and a milit&shy;ary estab&shy;lish&shy;ment cannot exist without a State organ&shy;iza&shy;tion. War has an imme&shy;morial tradi&shy;tion and hered&shy;ity only because the State has a long tradi&shy;tion and hered&shy;ity. But they are in&shy;separ&shy;ably and func&shy;tion&shy;ally joined. ''We cannot crusade against war without crusad&shy;ing impli&shy;citly against the State.'' (My emphasis{{dash}}H.W.M.). And we cannot expect or take meas&shy;ures to insure, that this war is a war to end war, unless at the same time we take meas&shy;ures to end that State in its tradi&shy;tional form. The State is not the nation, and the State can be modi&shy;fied and even abo&shy;lished in its present form, without harming the nation. On the con&shy;trary, with the passing of the domin&shy;ance of the State, the genuine life-<wbr>en&shy;hancing forces of the nation will be liberated &hellip; For the very exist&shy;ence of a State in a system of States means that the nation lies always under a risk of war and inva&shy;sion, and the calling away of energy into milit&shy;ary pur&shy;suits means a crip&shy;pling of the pro&shy;duct&shy;ive and life-<wbr>en&shy;hancing pro&shy;cesses of the na&shy;tional life.}}</blockquote>
+<blockquote>{{tab}}{{qq|It cannot be too firmly real&shy;ized that war is a func&shy;tion of States and not of nations, indeed that is the chief func&shy;tion of States. War is a very arti&shy;ficial thing. It is not the naive spon&shy;tan&shy;eous outburst of herd pug&shy;nacity; it is no more primary than is formal religion. War cannot exist without a milit&shy;ary estab&shy;lish&shy;ment, and a milit&shy;ary estab&shy;lish&shy;ment cannot exist without a State organ&shy;iza&shy;tion. War has an imme&shy;morial tradi&shy;tion and hered&shy;ity only because the State has a long tradi&shy;tion and hered&shy;ity. But they are in&shy;separ&shy;ably and func&shy;tion&shy;ally joined. ''We cannot crusade against war without crusad&shy;ing impli&shy;citly against the State.'' (My emphasis{{dash}}H.W.M.). And we cannot expect or take meas&shy;ures to insure, that this war is a war to end war, unless at the same time we take meas&shy;ures to end that State in its tradi&shy;tional form. The State is not the nation, and the State can be modi&shy;fied and even abo&shy;lished in its present form, without harming the nation. On the con&shy;trary, with the passing of the domin&shy;ance of the State, the genuine life-<wbr>en&shy;hancing forces of the nation will be liberated &hellip; For the very exist&shy;ence of a State in a system of States means that the nation lies always under a risk of war and inva&shy;sion, and the calling away of energy into milit&shy;ary pur&shy;suits means a crip&shy;pling of the pro&shy;duct&shy;ive and life-<wbr>en&shy;hancing pro&shy;cesses of the na&shy;tional life.}}</blockquote>
 {{tab}}In view of all the above senti&shy;ments should we con&shy;sider Bourne an anarch&shy;ist, a paci&shy;fist, both, or neither? Obvi&shy;ously he had a genuine hatred both of the State and of war, but somehow I get the impres&shy;sion that he was not ready to replace either the former with freedom, or the latter with love.

@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 <blockquote>{{tab}}{{qq|It auto&shy;matic&shy;ally sets in motion through&shy;out society those irres&shy;ist&shy;ible forces for uni&shy;form&shy;ity, for pas&shy;sion&shy;ate co-<wbr>opera&shy;tion with the Govern&shy;ment in coer&shy;cing into obedi&shy;ence the minor&shy;ity groups and indi&shy;vidu&shy;als which lack the larger herd sense. The ma&shy;chinery of Govern&shy;ment sets and en&shy;forces the drastic penal&shy;ties; the minor&shy;ities are either intim&shy;id&shy;ated into silence, or brought slowly around by a subtle process of per&shy;sua&shy;sion which may seem to them really to be con&shy;vert&shy;ing them. Of course the ideal of perfect loyalty, perfect uni&shy;form&shy;ity is never really at&shy;tained. The classes upon whom the amateur work of coer&shy;cion falls are un&shy;wearied in their zeal, but often their agita&shy;tion instead of con&shy;vert&shy;ing, merely serves to stiffen their resist&shy;ance. Minor&shy;ities are rendered sullen, and some intel&shy;lec&shy;tual opinion bitter and satir&shy;ical. But in general, the nation in war-time attains a uni&shy;form&shy;ity of feeling, a hier&shy;archy of values cul&shy;minat&shy;ing at the undis&shy;puted apex of the State ideal, which could not possibly be pro&shy;duced through any other agency than war.}}</blockquote>
-{{tab}}Randolph Bourne, a bril&shy;liant cripple, was born in {{w|New Jersey|New_Jersey}} in that singu&shy;larly radical year 1886, and died in {{w|New York City|New_York_City}} in 1918. A gradu&shy;ate of {{w|Columbia University|Columbia_Uni&shy;ver&shy;sity}}, and a member of that nebu&shy;lous clique of {{w|Green&shy;wich Village|Greenwich_Village}} {{w|Bohemi&shy;ans|Bohemianism}}, he was a fre&shy;quent con&shy;trib&shy;utor to ''{{w|The New Repub&shy;lic|The_New_Republic}}'', ''{{w|The At&shy;lantic Monthly|The_Atlantic}}'', ''{{w|The Seven Arts|The_Seven_Arts}}'' and ''{{w|The Dial|The_Dial}}''<!-- 'Dial' not in italics in original -->. Most of his writing, however, would be of little in&shy;terest to anar&shy;chists{{dash}}I found {{qq|{{l|The History of a Liter&shy;ary Radical & Other Papers|https://archive.org/details/historyofliterar00bouruoft}}}} (New York, Russell, 1956) so uni&shy;formly innoc&shy;uous that I didn{{t}} even finish it. On the other hand, had this col&shy;lec&shy;tion in&shy;cluded {{qq|{{l|The State|http://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/randolph-bourne-the-state}}}} is the health&shy;iest of Randolph Bourne.
+{{tab}}Randolph Bourne, a bril&shy;liant cripple, was born in {{w|New Jersey|New_Jersey}} in that singu&shy;larly radical year 1886, and died in {{w|New York City|New_York_City}} in 1918. A gradu&shy;ate of {{w|Columbia University|Columbia_Uni&shy;ver&shy;sity}}, and a member of that nebu&shy;lous clique of {{w|Green&shy;wich Village|Greenwich_Village}} {{w|Bohemi&shy;ans|Bohemianism}}, he was a fre&shy;quent con&shy;trib&shy;utor to ''{{w|The New Repub&shy;lic|The_New_Republic}}'', ''{{w|The At&shy;lantic Monthly|The_Atlantic}}'', ''{{w|The Seven Arts|The_Seven_Arts}}'' and ''{{w|The Dial|The_Dial}}''<!-- 'Dial' not in italics in original -->. Most of his writing, however, would be of little in&shy;terest to anar&shy;chists{{dash}}I found {{qq|{{l|The History of a Liter&shy;ary Radical & Other Papers|https://archive.org/details/historyofliterar00bouruoft}}}} (New York, Russell, 1956) so uni&shy;formly innoc&shy;uous that I didn{{t}} even finish it. On the other hand, had this col&shy;lec&shy;tion in&shy;cluded {{qq|{{l|The State|http://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/randolph-bourne-the-state}}}}, I would have no com&shy;plaint, for {{qq|The State}} is the health&shy;iest of Randolph Bourne.
 {{tab}}{{qq|The State}}, an un&shy;fin&shy;ished essay written at the time of {{w|World War I|World_War_I}}, had long been out of print. It has re&shy;cently been re&shy;issued{{dash|in time for World War III}}by the Greater New York Society for the Pre&shy;ven&shy;tion of Cruelty to the Human Animal, 150 Nassau Street, New York 38, N.Y. It is well worth the $1.00 price despite a rather bizarre format {{p|266}}({{popup|28 inches|71 cm}} wide, {{popup|8 inches|20 cm}} high when open).
-{{tab}}In its incom&shy;plete form the essay defines the State, de&shy;scribes its activ&shy;ities, and dis&shy;cusses its historic evolu&shy;tion. Since it was never com&shy;pleted, we cannot know what further treat&shy;ment Bourne had planned. He might or might not have in&shy;tended to pro&shy;pose methods of abolish&shy;ingthe State and discuss the pos&shy;sibil&shy;ities of a State&shy;less society. From the content of the work itself, I would infer not.
+{{tab}}In its incom&shy;plete form the essay defines the State, de&shy;scribes its activ&shy;ities, and dis&shy;cusses its historic evolu&shy;tion. Since it was never com&shy;pleted, we cannot know what further treat&shy;ment Bourne had planned. He might or might not have in&shy;tended to pro&shy;pose methods of abolish&shy;ing the State and discuss the pos&shy;sibil&shy;ities of a State&shy;less society. From the content of the work itself, I would infer not.
 {{tab}}He begins with vigour and bril&shy;liance:

@@ Line 40: / Line 40: @@
 {{tab}}For the most part Bourne goes along with us. The fol&shy;low&shy;ing, for ex&shy;ample, is fine anarch&shy;istic ana&shy;lysis:
-<blockquote>{{tab}}{{qq|What is the State essen&shy;tially? The more closely we examine it, the more mys&shy;tical and per&shy;sonal it becomes. On the Nation we can put our hand as a defin&shy;ite social group, with atti&shy;tudes and quan&shy;ti&shy;ties exact enough to mean some&shy;thing. On the Govern&shy;ment we can put our hand as a certain organ&shy;isa&shy;tion of ruling func&shy;tions, the ma&shy;chinery of law-<wbr>making and law-<wbr>enforcing. The Ad&shy;minis&shy;tra&shy;tion is a recog&shy;niz&shy;able group of polit&shy;ical func&shy;tion&shy;aries, tempor&shy;arily in charge of the Govern&shy;ment. But the State stands as an idea behind them all, eternal, sanct&shy;ified, and from it Govern&shy;ment and Ad&shy;minis&shy;tra&shy;tion con&shy;ceive them&shy;selves to have the breath of life. Even the nation, espe&shy;cially in times of war{{dash|or at least, its signi&shy;fic&shy;ant classes}}con&shy;siders that it derives its author&shy;ity and its purpose from the idea of the State. Nation and State are scarcely dif&shy;fer&shy;enti&shy;ated, and the con&shy;crete, prac&shy;tical, ap&shy;parent facts are sunk in the symbol. We rever&shy;ence not our country but the flag. We may criti&shy;cize ever so severely our country, but we are dis&shy;respect&shy;ful to the flag at our peril.}}
+<blockquote>{{tab}}{{qq|What is the State essen&shy;tially? The more closely we examine it, the more mys&shy;tical and per&shy;sonal it becomes. On the Nation we can put our hand as a defin&shy;ite social group, with atti&shy;tudes and quan&shy;ti&shy;ties exact enough to mean some&shy;thing. On the Govern&shy;ment we can put our hand as a certain organ&shy;isa&shy;tion of ruling func&shy;tions, the ma&shy;chinery of law-<wbr>making and law-<wbr>enforcing. The Ad&shy;minis&shy;tra&shy;tion is a recog&shy;niz&shy;able group of polit&shy;ical func&shy;tion&shy;aries, tempor&shy;arily in charge of the Govern&shy;ment. But the State stands as an idea behind them all, eternal, sanct&shy;ified, and from it Govern&shy;ment and Ad&shy;minis&shy;tra&shy;tion con&shy;ceive them&shy;selves to have the breath of life. Even the nation, espe&shy;cially in times of war{{dash|or at least, its signi&shy;fic&shy;ant classes}}con&shy;siders that it derives its author&shy;ity and its purpose from the idea of the State. Nation and State are scarcely dif&shy;fer&shy;enti&shy;ated, and the con&shy;crete, prac&shy;tical, ap&shy;parent facts are sunk in the symbol. We rever&shy;ence not our country but the flag. We may criti&shy;cize ever so severely our country, but we are dis&shy;respect&shy;ful to the flag at our peril.}}</blockquote>
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Randolph Bourne versus the State}}

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
   | previous   = [[../|Contents of No. 31]]
   | next       = [[../Anarchism and the cybernetics of self-organising systems|Anarchism and the cybernetics of self-organising systems]]
-  | notes      = ''H. W. Morton is a New York anarchist who, with [[Author:Sam Weiner|Sam Weiner]], wrote {{qq|[[Anarchy 19/Were they way out way back?|Were they way out, way back?]]}} in'' [[Anarchy 19|{{sc|Anarchy}} 19]].
+  | notes      = ''H. W. MORTON is a New York anarchist who, with [[Author:Sam Weiner|Sam Weiner]], wrote {{qq|[[Anarchy 19/Were they way out way back?|Were they way out, way back?]]}} in'' [[Anarchy 19|{{sc|Anarchy}} 19]].
 }}

@@ Line 22: / Line 22: @@
 {{tab}}Randolph Bourne, a bril&shy;liant cripple, was born in {{w|New Jersey|New_Jersey}} in that singu&shy;larly radical year 1886, and died in {{w|New York City|New_York_City}} in 1918. A gradu&shy;ate of {{w|Columbia University|Columbia_Uni&shy;ver&shy;sity}}, and a member of that nebu&shy;lous clique of {{w|Green&shy;wich Village|Greenwich_Village}} {{w|Bohemi&shy;ans|Bohemianism}}, he was a fre&shy;quent con&shy;trib&shy;utor to ''{{w|The New Repub&shy;lic|The_New_Republic}}'', ''{{w|The At&shy;lantic Monthly|The_Atlantic}}'', ''{{w|The Seven Arts|The_Seven_Arts}}'' and ''{{w|The Dial|The_Dial}}''<!-- 'Dial' not in italics in original -->. Most of his writing, however, would be of little in&shy;terest to anar&shy;chists{{dash}}I found {{qq|{{l|The History of a Liter&shy;ary Radical & Other Papers|https://archive.org/details/historyofliterar00bouruoft}}}} (New York, Russell, 1956) so uni&shy;formly innoc&shy;uous that I didn{{t}} even finish it. On the other hand, had this col&shy;lec&shy;tion in&shy;cluded {{qq|{{l|The State|http://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/randolph-bourne-the-state}}}} is the health&shy;iest of Randolph Bourne.
-{{tab}}{{qq|The State}}, an un&shy;fin&shy;ished essay written at the time of {{w|World War I|World_War_I}}, had long been out of print. It has re&shy;cently been re&shy;issued{{dash|in time for World War III}}by the Greater New York Society for the Pre&shy;ven&shy;tion of Cruelty to the Human Animal, 150 Nassau Street, New York 38, N.Y. It is well worth the $1.00 price despite a rather bizarre format {{p|266}}({{popup|28 inches|71 cm}} wide, {{popup|8 inches|20 cm}} high when open).</div>
+{{tab}}{{qq|The State}}, an un&shy;fin&shy;ished essay written at the time of {{w|World War I|World_War_I}}, had long been out of print. It has re&shy;cently been re&shy;issued{{dash|in time for World War III}}by the Greater New York Society for the Pre&shy;ven&shy;tion of Cruelty to the Human Animal, 150 Nassau Street, New York 38, N.Y. It is well worth the $1.00 price despite a rather bizarre format {{p|266}}({{popup|28 inches|71 cm}} wide, {{popup|8 inches|20 cm}} high when open).
-</div>
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Randolph Bourne versus the State}}
 [[Category:Literary criticism]]
 [[Category:War and militarism]]
 [[Category:Articles]]