The Burning of the Guillotine during the Paris Commune. Author Unknown. By Duncan Riley 6/18/2020 I was not there, but I know who burned down the Third Precinct. I was not part of the massive crowd that lapped up against the edges of that burning facade, but still, I can relate what occurred. Even … Continue reading On Arson and its Social Causes
Author: admindpr
Abolish the Police and the World that Created Them
By Duncan Riley 6/8/2020 Edited on 6/16/2020 to correct an error in the first paragraph. The date of the city council's declaration was given as the 7th of May, when it in fact occurred on the 7th of June. Ever since the uprising sparked by the murder of George Floyd on the 25th of … Continue reading Abolish the Police and the World that Created Them
The 26th of May
Or the 8th of Prairial By Duncan Riley 5/27/2020 Like a gathering tide the crowd flowed down the asphalt, Its edges lapping against the banks of that concrete jungle, Until suddenly it crashed up against that black rock, spurting flame, A great chain of humanity, like a line of sulfur, awaiting a spark, Until … Continue reading The 26th of May
The Façade of Greatness: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Napoleon at the Borodino Heights, by Vasili Vasilyevich Vereshchagin, 1897 By Duncan Riley 3/1/2020 Murder, generally speaking, is frowned upon in polite society. Consequently, if an individual were to detonate a bomb in a crowded street, killing and wounding dozens of people, they would no doubt meet with general reproach and condemnation from all … Continue reading The Façade of Greatness: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
The Logic of the Border
Photo by Guillermo Arias, AFP By Duncan Riley 2/16/2020 Perhaps the most absurd notion that afflicts contemporary discourse on global migration is the idea that borders exist to defend national security. To begin with, national security is itself a vague and ill-defined concept. Theoretically, it refers to the duty of the State to protect … Continue reading The Logic of the Border
Concrete and Weeds
Le Voreux, from Germinal by Émile Zola, illustration by Francesco Chiacchio By Duncan Riley 1/24/2020 We live in a society of concrete. That was the thought that sprung into my mind as I walked under the shadow of the county jail on the way to the bus stop. Concrete forms the basis of every structure … Continue reading Concrete and Weeds
Empathy and Solidarity
Quarto Stato, Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo By Duncan Riley 1/10/2020 For all those interested in the role education can play in provoking social transformation, the distinction between empathy and solidarity is of key importance. Empathy, arising in reaction to the suffering of others, is a passive sympathy for the suffering of others, a recognition … Continue reading Empathy and Solidarity
Letter to a Patriot
By Duncan Riley 1/4/2020 Because you love the flag, you think you believe in something. For you the flag is an ideal, a symbol of freedom baptized with the blood of patriots. The nation is your church, and the State your altar. But, in truth, the flag is nothing more than a piece of … Continue reading Letter to a Patriot
Humanity, Inhumanity, and Revolutionary Friendship
The destruction of the guillotine by the Communards By Duncan Riley 1/1/2020 Most of the essays which I have written over the past few months have grown out of conversations shared with a close friend over dinner. I find that ideas, though they may be interesting when contemplated in solitude, only acquire their true vitality … Continue reading Humanity, Inhumanity, and Revolutionary Friendship
Prisons and the Expropriation of the Body
Art by BlueBerryMouseYumi on Deviant Art By Duncan Riley 12/26/2019 To arrest someone is an act of violence. To handcuff them, to force them to undergo invasive searches, and to lock them in a jail is to fundamentally compromise their bodily autonomy and personal liberty, to rip from them their humanity in order to … Continue reading Prisons and the Expropriation of the Body
