The People's Stick

The People's Stick is a political metaphor by 19th-century Russian anarchist Mikhail Bakunin, and used in his 1873 work Statism and Anarchy.

The full quote states: When the people are being beaten with a stick, they are not much happier if it is called "the People's Stick".

The phrase is widely cited by Noam Chomsky;^[1] other scholars have also noted the phrase as emblematic of the inherent oppressiveness of a state power, even in a nominally socialist government.^[2]

References

^ Noam Chomsky (13 December 2013). The Essential Chomsky. New Press. pp. 510–. ISBN 978-1-59558-566-0.
^ Lucien Van der Walt; Michael Schmidt (2009). Black Flame: The Revolutionary Class Politics of Anarchism and Syndicalism. AK Press. p. 54. ISBN 978-1-904859-16-1.

[Chomsky2013-1] Noam Chomsky (13 December 2013). The Essential Chomsky. New Press. pp. 510–. ISBN 978-1-59558-566-0.

[WaltSchmidt2009-2] Lucien Van der Walt; Michael Schmidt (2009). Black Flame: The Revolutionary Class Politics of Anarchism and Syndicalism. AK Press. p. 54. ISBN 978-1-904859-16-1.

[1]

[2]

See also

References