How Liberals Kill Revolutions
Snitching is how they kill revolutions. Thatâs not paranoia. Thatâs history. And the fact that you have to explain to supposed leftists that snitching is deadly to organizing shows just how gutted and pacified modern political culture has become. These people donât come from a place of struggle. They come from forums and campus politics and Reddit threads and think that because they read one book or went to one protest they understand power. But they donât. If they did they would know what happens when you open the door to state surveillance even a little. They would know what COINTELPRO was. They would know that Fred Hampton was murdered because someone close to him gave the FBI a layout of his apartment. They would know that the reason the Panthers were destroyed was not because the state was powerful but because the state had eyes and ears inside every chapter. They would know that in every revolution from the Paris Commune to the Chinese Civil War the turning points came when comrades were betrayed by people who smiled in meetings and whispered to the police later. And they would know that snitching online is no different from snitching in person because there is no boundary anymore between digital and physical surveillance.
But instead of learning that they laugh it off. They act confused. Why are you so dramatic? Whatâs the big deal? Why not cooperate with CSIS or the CIA if youâve got nothing to hide? Why are you paranoid? The same script every time. And when you point out what the state actually does with that information they accuse you of being foreign. They say you have an agenda. They say youâre dividing the movement. But the movement they speak of isnât even alive. Itâs a corpse propped up by NGOs and Instagram pages and activist clout. They donât want revolution. They want funding. They want jobs. They want to be respectable enough to get into the rooms of power. So when you tell them that protecting comrades is more important than currying favor with state institutions they look at you like youâre the problem. Like youâre the outsider. Like youâre the radical thatâs going to ruin their little career pathway through activism.
And they donât just ignore the past. They help erase it. They call it conspiracy when you name the ways CSIS and the CIA have murdered leftist movements all over the world. They donât want to hear about how Canadian intelligence helped break indigenous resistance through infiltration. They donât want to talk about how the CIA trained torturers across Latin America using files gathered from leftist organizations. They pretend like these are relics of the Cold War. But the Cold War never ended. The CIA still funds counterinsurgency in Colombia. It still runs destabilization ops in Cuba. It still gives Israel the backing to slaughter Palestinians. And in Canada and the US it still monitors dissent online and offline. They work with tech companies. They use backdoors. They watch who organizes where. And when they decide to shut it down they donât send a letter. They send riot cops. They send grand juries. They send indictments for conspiracy and domestic terrorism. You think youâre safe because youâre just a student or an artist or a poster? Youâre not. If you pose even a symbolic threat to empire theyâll come for you.
This is why the old left always had rules. No talking about operational details online. No talking to the media. No bringing phones into meetings. No working with cops even if youâre promised immunity. No cooperating with intelligence even under threat. Because they knew what happens when you let that in. One weak link and the whole chain snaps. And itâs always the loudest, most visible radicals who get buried first. The ones who said the most but took no precautions. The ones who wanted attention but not discipline. And theyâre the same ones who will turn you in the second they feel scared. The second the cops knock. The second theyâre offered a deal. And if you warn about that, suddenly youâre the one being divisive. Not the rat. Not the collaborator. You.
The liberalization of the left has turned survival instincts into paranoia and political discipline into drama. The people who would have broken under the first wave of state repression are now teaching workshops. The people who would have cracked under one night in jail are now acting like theyâre leaders. And when someone reminds them what actual state violence looks like they act like itâs aggression. But revolutionary spaces are not therapy groups. They are not safe spaces for ego. They are war rooms. And if you donât treat them that way you lose. Not metaphorically. Literally. You get people killed. You get movements collapsed. And when that happens there are no second chances. The state doesnât give you a do over. It just buries whatâs left and calls it history.
So yes. You do have to say things like donât be a snitch. Because the people around you are not ready. Because theyâve been taught that the enemy is only the obvious fascist not the liberal state that funds genocide. Because they think police and intelligence are just tools you can work with if youâre clever enough. Because they think snitching is just gossip. And because the last generation that actually lived through repression is either dead or discredited or ignored. You say it not because you want to but because no one else will. Because theyâve forgotten what the word comrade means. Because they think solidarity is aesthetic. Because they would rather hand over a list of names to CSIS than admit that sometimes silence is the only protection we have.
You donât owe anyone an explanation for why you protect your own. You owe it to the ones who came before you and the ones who might come after. You owe it to the ones who canât speak anymore because someone snitched. You owe it to the ones who died with their mouths closed and their fists raised. They knew what time it was. If others donât, thatâs on them. But never forget it. And never stop saying it. Even if youâre the last one left saying it.
