IN DEFENSE OF THEORY- Jersey Flight

My dear friend, though yesterday is what I would call a transformative day, I fancy the transformation was negative.

There is now a side of me that completely rejects activism... in a sense yesterday's experience turned me into an anti-activist. I believe (per Adorno) that what is needed is a greater unity of theory and praxis... I also fancy I know why Adorno was so quick to reject activism: because it contains the foundation seeds of fascism.

This is not to say I am against activism, but I am against a certain kind of activism (that which is mindless or impulsively moral). I am against activism as the default position; I am against the idea that activism in-and-of-itself is what it means to be moral... quite the contrary, I find that anti-activism is not only the default position, but also the moral position of any intelligent, self-respecting revolutionary--- in all reality the burden of proof is on the activist! "Action is what serious people do," strikes the chords of a false premise.

I reject and challenge the presuppositions of activism. I demand that the activist justify his activism.

Sometimes the work of theory is the greatest work of praxis.

respectfully yours,
Jersey Flight

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