"When Marxists talk about terrorism, we mean violence conducted by a small group or individual on behalf of the masses. We are against terrorism of this sort for many reasons. As socialists, we think that the motor of history is class struggle, action by the masses on their own behalf. The central idea of Marxism is that "the emancipation of the working class has to be the act of the working class itself." We don't think indivuduals or small groups, no matter how well-meaning they are or how shocking their violent acts, can substitute for the working class fighting for itself. This kind of terrorism belittles the role the working class can and must play if capitalism is to be overthrown. It reduces them to being passive spectators, rather than active partipants, or, if you will, actors on the stage of world history. Not only that, but terrorist acts - assassination of government officials, for example - strengthen the repressive machinery of the state. Every act of terrorism serves as a pretext for new invasive laws, shortened court procedures, and a heavier hand in dealing with any opposition, terrorist or not. In this sense, terrorism is reactionary - it serves the enemies of the working class".
Quoted from this website.
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