‘The comrade who sets off In the fog every moming and walks Into the stiting atmosphere ofthe factory or the office only to ‘300 the same faces -the foreman, the timekeeper, the spy ofthe moment, the stakhanovite with seven children to support = feels the need for revolution, the struggle and the physical clash, even a mortal one. But he also wants to bring himself ‘some Joy now, right away. And he nurtures this joy In his fanta- ‘sles as he walks along head down In the fog, spends hours on trains of trams, suffocates In the polntiess goings on of the office or amidst the useless botts that serve to hold the useless ‘mechanisms of capltal together. ‘Remunerated Joy, weekends off or annual holidays pald by the boss Is tke paying to make love. seems the same but there is ‘something lacking. People are tired of meetings, the classics, pointless marches, ‘theoretical discussions that spilt has In our, Infinite delays, the monotony and poverty of certain political analyses. They prefer to make love, smoke, listen to muse, go for walks, sleep, laugh, play kill policemen, lame Journalists, blow up barracks. Hurry to attack capital, before a new Ideology makes It sacred to you. Hurry to refuse work before some new ‘sophist tells you yet agaln that "work makes you free.” Hurry to play. Hurry to arm yourself. Alfredo M. Bonanno NAVD JOY oon eSINTRODUCTION “This book was writen in 1977 in the momentum ofthe revolutionary struggles taking place in aly atthe tie, and that station, now profoundly diferent, shouldbe borne i iad when reading it today "The revoltionary movement incioding the anarchist one was in a devel: coping phase and anything semed posible, vena generalisation ofthe armed cash ‘Bot it was necessary to protect oneself fom the danger of specialisation nd mitasation hat a restcted minority of mitant intended to impose on ‘he tens of thousands of comrades who were struggling with every posible smesns aginst repression and agin the State's attempt ater wea t el the rath to re-organise the maagement of epital. ‘That was the station in Tay, bat something similar was taking place in ‘Germany, France, Great Britain and elsewhere Tscemed essential to prevent the many ations ctricd ou agains the men sand strctures of power by comrades each day from being drawn into the planed logic ofan armed party sich asthe Red Brigades i aly. "That the spirit ofthe book. To show how a practice of Uberaton and de. struction can come forth from joyful logie of struggle, not a mortal, she ‘matic igity witin the pre-established canons of a dieing prep. Some of these problems no longer exist. They have been solved by the hard lessons of history. The collapse f real socialism suddenly edimensioned the dreting ambitions of marssts of every tendency for good. On the other ‘han thas not extinguished, bat possibly inflamed, the desire for freedom and anarchist communism that is spreading everywhere expecially among the ‘Young generations, in many cases without having recourse tothe taditioal ‘Symbols of anarchism, ts slogans and theories sso considered with a under ‘Standable but ao sharable gu esa tobe affected with ideology. ‘This book has become topical agai, but ina diferent way. Not as a x- tique of a heavy monopolising structure that no longer exists, bat because it ‘can pint ou the potet capabilites ofthe individual on his othe read, with [py tothe destruction ofall hat which oppesses and regulates them, ‘Before ending I should mention that the book was ordered tobe destroyed in haly. The Talla Supeeme Court ordered i tobe bared. All the bares ‘who had a copy recived a circular from the Home Ministry ordrig it incin- ‘eration. More than oe Hari refused t bam the book, considering such Practice to be worthy of the Nazis or the Inquisition, but bylaw the volame ‘cannot be conse. For the sime teason the book cannot be distbuted l- ‘ally in Italy and many comrades had copes confiscated during avast wave of ‘Rds ced out for that popose. T was sentenced to eighteen mont prison for writing this book, “Afedo M. Bonanno Catania, 14 July 1993Ammed Joy Rmard everyone! ‘And with arm and hear, word and pen dagger and gun, from and curse, thf potonng and arson Let's male. War on 0. Déjeque x Le’ be done with wating, doubts, dreams of socal peace, litle compro mises and naivety. All metaphorical ubbish supplied to us inthe stores of ‘capitalism. Le's get rd ofthe great analyses that explain everything right ‘down othe most minute detail. Huge volumes filled with common sense and fear. Let's rid ourselves of democratic and bourgeois illusions abou dscus- ‘sion and dialogue, debate and assembly andthe enlightened capabilities of the mafiosi bosses. Le’s get rid of the common sense and wisdom thatthe ‘bourgeois work ethic hus dug into our hears. Lets get ti of centuries of| ‘Christianity that have educated us to sacrifice and obedience. Let's get rid of all priests, bosses, revolutionary leaders, les revolutionary ones and those Who aren’ revolutionary at all. Let's get rd of numbers, illusions, quantity, the market laws of supply and demand, Le us st for moment onthe ruin of hisory of the persecuted, and think, ‘The world doesnot belong tous. Ifit has a master whois stupid enough to want it the way it, let him have it Let him count the runs in place of ‘buildings, graveyards inthe place of cites, the mud in the place of ives and ‘the potrdshodge instead of seas. ‘The greatest illusionist spectacle inthe world no longer enchants us. We ‘are certain that communities of joy will emerge from our struggle, here and "And forthe fs time, lf wil tumph over death. Alfredo M. Bonanno Armed Joy Original title La gota armata ‘Translated by Jean Weir ‘Santa Cruz, CA USA