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#Post#: 8555--------------------------------------------------
Historic left-wing ahimsa
By: Zea_mays Date: September 2, 2021, 12:56 pm
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We have the thread about present-day leftists re-embracing
ahimsa:
HTML https://trueleft.createaforum.com/true-left-vs-false-left/true-left-breakthrough-ahimsa/
Now let's look at the many examples throughout history of
leftists applying ahimsa. The False Left has whitewashed history
with the narrative of "peaceful protest" to make us forget the
militancy and ahimsa historic anti-traditionalist movements had
to use in order to achieve anything.
[quote]Suffrajitsu is a term used to describe the application of
martial arts or self-defence techniques by members of the
Women's Social and Political Union during 1913/14. The term
derives from a portmanteau of Suffragette and Ju-jitsu and was
first coined by an anonymous English journalist during March of
1914.
During the Edwardian Period, jujutsu was promoted as a way to
foster women's self defence, autonomy and health, initially in
the United Kingdom and then elsewhere in the Western World.
In contemporary usage, "suffrajitsu" describes the suffragettes'
techniques of visible 'self-defence, sabotage and subterfuge'
against the police and other aggressors, whilst promoting the
benefits of jujitsu as a 'free activity' and a form of
self-defense for dealing with both domestic violence in the
home, and public attacks to women.[1][2]
[...]
Women in particular were seen as ideal to engage in Jujitsu, as
their smaller on average builds allowed them an advantage in
allowing their opponent to underestimate them based on their
being the 'fairer/weaker' sex and then using their jujitsu to
topple larger opponents.
Outside of the training suffragettes received related to
ju-jitsu, weapons were also frequently taken into account by
their practicality, to prevent attack on their persons, both
domestically and by the police. Members of the WSPU Bodyguard
(see below) were issued with Indian clubs for use as weapons.
Women learned to defend themselves with everyday items of
clothing such as the Hatpin, used by Edwardian women to hold
their oversized hats in place which could at times reach up to
16 inches in length, either to disarm or maim. Flora Drummond,
known as 'The General' for wearing a military style uniform,
Helen Ogston, Teresa Billington-Greig and Maud Arncliffe Sennett
were each known to carry around whips, to intimidate
opponents.[4] At the Battle of Glasgow (1914), suffragettes
engaged with police by deploying hidden barbed wire as a
stalling tactic.[5]
[...]
In 1908, Edith Garrud took over women's classes at the Golden
Square School when Uyenishi left England. Garrud also founded
the 'Suffragettes Self-Defence Club' in 1909, a
suffragettes-only Jujutsu club
[...]
The requirement for suffragette self-defence was reinforced by
events such as the Black Friday Raid, wherein plain clothes
police officers had allegedly physically and sexually assaulted
unarmed women attempting to force entry to the House of Commons
during a "Raid on Parliament" protest action. [12]
Even after the dissolution of the more violent tactics used by
the WSPU in 1914, in 1918 when Christabel Pankhurst was running
for office for the Smethwick seat at the General Election, her
supporters used jujutsu to deter protestors rallying against her
running for the seat.[13]
[...]
Jujitsu was promoted as a way not only to help defend women but
to for their mental and physical health and well-being. The
suffragette movement (like the feminist movement to other
contact and non-violent sport later on[15]) promoted its
recreational usage;[16]
[...]
in 1913 Edith Garrud's dojo was used as a base for militant
suffragettes fleeing from pursuing policemen; hiding their
protest implements and changing into Jujitsu uniforms gave them
the veneer of respectable sportswomen.[20]
[...]
Jujitsu was initially demonstrated and promoted as a style of
self-defense, but after the death of women like Mary Jane Clarke
and the Conciliation Bills fiasco, the WSPU began to employ more
militant forms of protest such as midnight raids on
parliamentarians homes as well as nationwide arson and bombing
campaigns, albeit the latter two categories of action were only
carried out against unoccupied properties. [23]
[...]
In response to the Cat and Mouse Act of 1913, the WSPU formed
what was termed variously the 'Bodyguard',
'Jiujitsusuffragettes' or 'Amazons'; a group of about 30
suffragettes
[...]
The Bodyguards' most well known hand-to-hand combats engagements
with police officers were the "Battle of Glasgow" on 9 March
1914, during which about 30 Bodyguards battled a much larger
contingent of police constables and detectives on the stage of
St. Andrew's Hall before a shocked audience of some 4500 people,
and during their "Raid on Buckingham Palace" on 24 May 1914,
when club-wielding suffragette Bodyguards fought police in the
streets while attempting to access Buckingham Palace and present
a suffrage petition to King George.
[...]
Most American suffragists tried to avoid any association with
the militant tactics of the British suffragettes. There was no
formal organization like the Bodyguard among suffragists in the
United States. However, according to historian Wendy Rouse who
has studied the origins of the women's self-defense movement in
the United States, some American suffragists did advocate
self-defense training for women and some groups of suffragists
organized small groups to train in secret. Especially after
their direct experiences with violence in the 1913 women's
suffrage parade, American suffragists recognized that the police
would offer them little protection.[/quote]
HTML https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suffrajitsu
HTML https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Edith_Garrud_and_a_Policeman.jpg
Why wouldn't False Left historians and activists be filling
history books and blogs with references to cool things like
Suffrajitsu? Oh yeah, to keep leftists passive and ensure their
protests never amount to anything.
Hmm, you mean the suffragettes didn't just hold cardboard signs
and "raise awareness" until the public just spontaneously had a
change of heart? The suffragettes had to do what to get their
message across?
HTML https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suffragette_bombing_and_arson_campaign
HTML https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_suffragette_bombings
[quote]Included in the many militant acts performed were the
night-time arson of unoccupied houses (including that of
Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lloyd George) and churches.
Suffragettes smashed windows of upscale shops and government
offices. They cut telephone lines, spat at police and
politicians, cut or burned pro-suffrage slogans into stadium
turf,[21] sent letter bombs, destroyed greenhouses at Kew
gardens, chained themselves to railings and blew up houses. A
doctor was attacked with a rhino whip, and in one case
suffragettes rushed the House of Commons. On 18 July 1912 Mary
Leigh threw a hatchet at Prime Minister H. H. Asquith.
On 19 February 1913, as part of a wider suffragette bombing and
arson campaign, a bomb was set off in the country home of the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lloyd George, which brought down
ceilings and cracked walls. On the evening of the incident
Emmeline Pankhurst claimed responsibility, announcing at a
public meeting in Cardiff, we have “blown up the Chancellor of
the Exchequer’s house”. Pankhurst was willing to be arrested for
the incident saying “I have advised, I have incited, I have
conspired”; and that if she was arrested for the incident she
would prove that the “punishment unjustly imposed upon women who
have no voice in making the laws cannot be carried out”.[22][23]
[...]
In response to the bomb Lloyd George wrote an article in Nash's
Magazine, entitled “Votes for Women and Organised Lunacy” where
he argued that the “main obstacle to women getting the vote is
militancy”. It had alienated those who would have supported
them. The only way for women to get the vote is a new movement
“absolutely divorced from stones and bombs and torches”.[22]
[...]
On the evening of 9 March 1914 in Glasgow, about 40 militant
suffragettes, including members of the Bodyguard team, brawled
with several squads of police constables who were attempting to
re-arrest Emmeline Pankhurst during a pro-suffrage rally at St.
Andrew's Hall. The following day, suffragette Mary Richardson
(known as one of the most militant activists, also called
"Slasher" Richardson) walked into the National Gallery and
attacked Diego Velázquez's painting, Rokeby Venus with a meat
cleaver. [/quote]
HTML https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_Social_and_Political_Union#Hunger_strikes,_direct_action
#Post#: 13514--------------------------------------------------
Re: Historic left-wing ahimsa
By: christianbethel Date: May 21, 2022, 6:37 pm
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I have also come to understand that the founder of Aikido,
Morihei Ueshiba, was directly inspired by the (presumably
Buddhist) principle of Ahimsa.
#Post#: 13517--------------------------------------------------
Re: Historic left-wing ahimsa
By: 90sRetroFan Date: May 21, 2022, 8:21 pm
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Ueshiba did not understand Ahimsa:
HTML https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aikido#Religious_influences
[quote]After Ueshiba left Hokkaidō in 1919, he met and was
profoundly influenced by Onisaburo Deguchi, the spiritual leader
of the Ōmoto-kyō religion (a neo-Shinto movement) in
Ayabe.[18] One of the primary features of Ōmoto-kyō is
its emphasis on the attainment of utopia during one's life. This
idea was a great influence on Ueshiba's martial arts philosophy
of extending love and compassion especially to those who seek to
harm others. Aikido demonstrates this philosophy in its emphasis
on mastering martial arts so that one may receive an attack and
harmlessly redirect it. In an ideal resolution, not only is the
receiver unharmed, but so is the attacker.[19][/quote]
Fortunately the Wikipedia page accurately does not attribute his
foolishness to Buddhism. Correct understanding of Ahimsa
according to Buddhism should lead to ideals such as:
HTML https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikken_hissatsu
[quote]Ikken Hissatsu (一拳必殺[1]) is a
term used in traditional karate, meaning "to annihilate at one
blow".[2][/quote]
In fact, this has been covered before:
HTML http://aryanism.net/blog/aryan-sanctuary/illridewithyou-in-action/comment-page-1/#comment-173973
HTML http://aryanism.net/blog/aryan-sanctuary/illridewithyou-in-action/comment-page-1/#comment-173977
HTML http://aryanism.net/blog/aryan-sanctuary/illridewithyou-in-action/comment-page-1/#comment-173983
#Post#: 14093--------------------------------------------------
Re: Historic left-wing ahimsa
By: 90sRetroFan Date: June 15, 2022, 12:37 am
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Good effort:
HTML https://www.yahoo.com/news/80-years-unprecedented-attack-australia-221520103.html
[quote]In December 1941, the Japanese dealt the British a
devastating defeat by sinking the battleship HMS Prince of Wales
and the battlecruiser HMS Repulse in the South China Sea.
In January 1942, Rabaul, in what is now Papua New Guinea, was
captured by the Japanese, who turned it into a major base.
February saw the Japanese capture Singapore and bomb the port
city of Darwin in northern Australia. In early March, the
Japanese captured the Dutch East Indies, which is now Indonesia.
...
The Japanese Navy was keen to strike Sydney's target-filled
harbor and decided to use mini-submarines rather than fleet
submarines because their size increased their chances of getting
in and out undetected. The cigar-shaped Type As were 78 feet
long and 5 feet wide, had a crew of two, and were
battery-powered. They were armed with two 770-pound torpedoes
and carried scuttling charges.
...
M-24 fired its torpedoes at Chicago, but both missed. One ran
aground but the other hit a seawall and detonated under the
ferry HMAS Kuttabul. The explosion sank the ferry, killed 19
Australian and two British sailors, and slightly damaged a
nearby Dutch submarine.
...
The five Japanese fleet submarines spent two nights waiting for
the Type As to return. On June 3, they left to hunt merchant
ships in the area, attacking seven, sinking three, and killing
50 sailors.
On June 8, I-24 and I-21 returned and surfaced near Sydney. They
bombarded the city and nearby Newcastle for 20 minutes with
their deck guns, firing some 44 rounds before disengaging when
coastal artillery returned fire.[/quote]
[img]
HTML https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Naval_ensign_of_the_Empire_of_Japan.svg[/img]
#Post#: 14138--------------------------------------------------
Re: Historic left-wing ahimsa
By: Zea_mays Date: June 16, 2022, 10:36 pm
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Is that necessarily leftist though?
When starting this thread I was thinking more along the lines of
historic left-wing activists/organizations who did not conform
to the "hold up a cardboard sign" style of protest.
#Post#: 14142--------------------------------------------------
Re: Historic left-wing ahimsa
By: 90sRetroFan Date: June 17, 2022, 12:15 am
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At least to the extent that Japan was trying to remove Western
influences on the territories under its control. (Weren't you
the one praising the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere a
few years ago?)
HTML https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_occupation_of_the_Dutch_East_Indies
[quote]The occupation was the first serious challenge to the
Dutch in their colony and ended the Dutch colonial rule. By its
end, changes were so numerous and extraordinary that the
subsequent Indonesian National Revolution became possible.[4]
Unlike the Dutch, the Japanese facilitated the politicisation of
Indonesians down to the village level. The Japanese educated,
trained and armed many young Indonesians and gave their
nationalist leaders a political voice. Thus, through both the
destruction of the Dutch colonial regime and the facilitation of
Indonesian nationalism, the Japanese occupation created the
conditions for the proclamation of Indonesian independence
within days of the Japanese surrender in the Pacific.
...
Expecting that Dutch administrators would be kept by the
Japanese to run the colony, most Dutch had refused to leave.
Instead, they were sent to detention camps and Japanese or
Indonesian replacements were installed in senior and technical
positions.[21][/quote]
HTML https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Kampuchea_(1945)
[quote]The new government did away with the romanisation of the
Khmer language that the French colonial administration was
beginning to enforce and officially reinstated the Khmer script.
This measure taken by the short-lived governmental authority
would be popular and long-lasting, for since then no government
in Cambodia has tried to romanise the Khmer language again.[3]
Other changes included the reinstating of the Buddhist lunar
calendar.[3][/quote]
HTML https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_occupation_of_Singapore
[quote][b]To discourage Western influence, which Japan sought to
eliminate from the very start of their invasion[/b], the
Japanese set up schools and education institutions and pressured
the local people to learn their language (Japanese). Textbooks
and language guidebooks were printed in Japanese and radios and
movies were broadcast and screened in Japanese.[/quote]
HTML https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_occupation_of_Hong_Kong
[quote]English shop signs and advertisements were banned and, in
April 1942, streets and buildings in Central were renamed in
Japanese. For example, Queen's Road became Meiji-dori and Des
Voeux Road became Shōwa-dori.[5][32] Similarly, the
Gloucester Hotel became the Matsubara.[33] The Peninsula Hotel,
the Matsumoto;[34] Lane Crawford, Matsuzakaya.[35] The Queen's
was renamed first the Nakajima Theatre, then the Meiji
Theatre.[35] Their propaganda also pointed to the pre-eminence
of the Japanese way of life, of Japanese spiritual values and
the ills of western materialism.[citation needed]
Government House, the residence of British governors prior to
occupation, was the seat of power for the Japanese military
governors. During the occupation, the buildings were largely
reconstructed in 1944 following designs by Japanese engineer
Siechi Fujimura, including the addition of a Japanese-style
tower which remains to this day.[36] Many Georgian architectural
features were removed during this period.[37] The roofs also
continue to reflect a Japanese influence.[38][/quote]
Contrast this with the earlier (pre-Axis) rightist Japan:
HTML https://trueleft.createaforum.com/colonial-era/shimabara-rebellion-the-christian-revolt-that-isolated-medieval-japan/msg13827/#msg13827
#Post#: 14144--------------------------------------------------
Re: Historic left-wing ahimsa
By: Zhang Caizhi Date: June 17, 2022, 7:44 am
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Was Hirohito a leftist who supported the Japanese military
actions or just a figurehead for military generals?
#Post#: 14773--------------------------------------------------
Re: Historic left-wing ahimsa
By: Zea_mays Date: July 19, 2022, 8:37 am
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[quote]At least to the extent that Japan was trying to remove
Western influences on the territories under its control.
(Weren't you the one praising the Greater East Asia
Co-Prosperity Sphere a few years ago?)[/quote]
I agree that we should promote the narrative that Japanese
actions against Western colonies were commendable (since they
had the practical effect of leading to the end of Western
colonialism in the region), but surely rightist traditionalists
within Japan would also have supported dismantling Western
colonies and removing Western influences from them?
Since Japan lost, we never truly got to see whether the Greater
East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere would have been a
nationalist-socialist anti-Western alliance, or merely Western
colonial hegemony replaced with Japanese hegemony.
The quoted approach towards Indonesia and Cambodia does seem to
be in line with a leftist approach to decolonization, but
Japan's actions towards Hong Kong and China could be framed as a
non-Western rightist approach.
#Post#: 14779--------------------------------------------------
Re: Historic left-wing ahimsa
By: 90sRetroFan Date: July 19, 2022, 7:56 pm
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"Japan's actions towards Hong Kong and China could be framed as
a non-Western rightist approach."
"Rightist" implies pro-Western by definition. Recall:
[quote]Rightists believe that non-Western societies should feel
fortunate and grateful for all that Western civilization brought
them
...
Leftists, on the other hand, believe that non-Western societies
justifiably feel wronged and resentful for the ideas that
Western civilization forced them to adopt[/quote]
So I suggest the accurate terminology would be "Japanese
cultural supremacist", which would not be a form of rightism so
long as "Japanese" refers to Japan in contrast to the West. Only
if Japan were presenting itself as more Western than Britain
(and hence more beneficial to Hong Kong than Britain, but hence
taking the position that Britain was beneficial also) could it
be described as rightist. But the text appears to suggest the
former narrative rather than the latter:
[quote]Their propaganda also pointed to the pre-eminence of the
Japanese way of life, of Japanese spiritual values and the ills
of western materialism.[/quote]
"surely rightist traditionalists within Japan would also have
supported dismantling Western colonies and removing Western
influences from them?"
As per what was explained above, rightists would not have
supported removing Western influences from colonized lands. They
would have wanted Japan to take over the colonies, but to then
apply the Meiji Restoration approach to those colonies:
HTML https://trueleft.createaforum.com/colonial-era/shimabara-rebellion-the-christian-revolt-that-isolated-medieval-japan/msg13827/#msg13827
which would mean adding Western influences. A good example is
what was built in Taiwan under rightist Japanese rule:
HTML https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architecture_of_Taiwan#Period_of_Japanese_rule_(1896%E2%80%931945)
HTML https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ed/Taipei_Guest_House_Front_Near_View.jpg/800px-Taipei_Guest_House_Front_Near_View.jpg
HTML https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/66/%E8%87%AA%E4%BE%86%E6%B0%B4%E5%8D%9A%E7%89%A9%E9%A4%A8_Museum_of_Drinking_Water_-_panoramio_%282%29.jpg/800px-%E8%87%AA%E4%BE%86%E6%B0%B4%E5%8D%9A%E7%89%A9%E9%A4%A8_Museum_of_Drinking_Water_-_panoramio_%282%29.jpg
HTML https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/07/%E5%9C%8B%E5%AE%9A%E5%8F%A4%E8%B9%9F%E8%87%BA%E5%8D%97%E5%9C%B0%E6%96%B9%E6%B3%95%E9%99%A2.jpg/800px-%E5%9C%8B%E5%AE%9A%E5%8F%A4%E8%B9%9F%E8%87%BA%E5%8D%97%E5%9C%B0%E6%96%B9%E6%B3%95%E9%99%A2.jpg
HTML https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5c/%E5%8F%B0%E4%B8%AD%E5%B7%9E%E5%BB%B3%EF%BC%88%E8%88%8A%E5%8F%B0%E4%B8%AD%E5%B8%82%E6%94%BF%E5%BA%9C%EF%BC%89.jpg/800px-%E5%8F%B0%E4%B8%AD%E5%B7%9E%E5%BB%B3%EF%BC%88%E8%88%8A%E5%8F%B0%E4%B8%AD%E5%B8%82%E6%94%BF%E5%BA%9C%EF%BC%89.jpg
HTML https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/66/Immaculate_Conception_Cathedral_of_Taipei_001_in_1889.jpg/800px-Immaculate_Conception_Cathedral_of_Taipei_001_in_1889.jpg
HTML https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/df/%E5%8E%9F%E5%8F%B0%E5%8D%97%E5%B7%9E%E5%BB%B3%28%E5%8F%B0%E7%81%A3%E6%96%87%E5%AD%B8%E9%A4%A8%29-2.jpg/800px-%E5%8E%9F%E5%8F%B0%E5%8D%97%E5%B7%9E%E5%BB%B3%28%E5%8F%B0%E7%81%A3%E6%96%87%E5%AD%B8%E9%A4%A8%29-2.jpg
HTML https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/94/Taipei_Taiwan_Presidential-Office-Building-01.jpg/800px-Taipei_Taiwan_Presidential-Office-Building-01.jpg
HTML https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6b/%E5%B0%88%E8%B3%A3%E5%B1%80.jpg/797px-%E5%B0%88%E8%B3%A3%E5%B1%80.jpg
HTML https://smallimg.pngkey.com/png/small/129-1297667_clip-free-stock-collection-of-free-failing-clipart.png
"Since Japan lost, we never truly got to see whether the Greater
East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere would have been a
nationalist-socialist anti-Western alliance, or merely Western
colonial hegemony replaced with Japanese hegemony."
I would divide it into three possibilities rather than two to
make things clearer. If Japan had won, we could have had:
1) Japan promoting each former Western colony's local culture in
each respective former Western colony (now independent
countries)
OR
2) Japan promoting Yamato culture in all former Western colonies
(now Japanese territories)
OR
3) Japan promoting Meiji culture in all former Western colonies
(now Japanese territories)
While 1) would seem to correspond to what you call "anti-Western
alliance", both 2) and 3) would probably fall under what you
call "Japanese hegemony". However, only 3) can be accurately
called rightist.
As for whether 1) or 2) is better, this depends on how we
qualitatively judge the content of the cultures in question on a
case-by-case basis. There is no requirement that we always
support the more indigenous culture purely because it is more
indigenous. We support whichever culture is qualitatively
superior by our standards. This is also why we frequently defend
folkish imperialism:
HTML https://trueleft.createaforum.com/true-left-vs-false-left/true-left-breakthrough-folkish-imperialism/
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