Against Sad Militancy

Spinoza on what will actually help now

When I need to shake myself out of despondency I often think of Spinoza. Spinoza’s simple but brilliant psychology cuts through the murk like a flashlight.

Spinoza argued that everyone inherently wants power, by which he did not mean “power-over” but “power-within” and “power-together.” All of us want more power to live in harmony with our deepest aspirations, to meet our needs and band together with the likeminded to build communities of mutual care and empowerment.

Spinoza’s brilliance lies in pointing out that what he called “sad passions”— anger, sadness, envy, and others— disempower us. It may feel otherwise- we may feel that anger or sadness will get our needs met, but they don’t. According to Spinoza, these “affects” (emotions) weaken both our body and mind as they shift is into a lower mode of functioning in every way, both vitally and intellectually.

Spinoza said “joy is a passage to a greater state of perfection.” What he meant is, joy is empowering, strengthening us vitally and intellectually. There is passive joy, which depends on other people and events, and there is active joy, which we generate ourselves through our own thoughts and actions. Active joy is better than passive joy, but passive joy is better than the sad passions.

Foucault said the same, warning against what he called “sad militancy.” The politics of depression, fear, anger, and sadness weaken and disempower us, whether these emotions are justifiable or not.

What strengthens us? When we strengthen ourselves and band together with others who also want to live governed by wisdom, not the sad passions. Of course we greet others struggling with sad passions with love, but we don’t join them in their sad passions.

The more we focus on what we can do that is positive- bringing us and others joy- the stronger we all get together, and this strength carries within it not only positive value in and of itself, but power. Power to change the world.

Joy, Spinoza said, is revolutionary. It should be the feast of revolutionaries.

For more on this topic, I highly recomend checking out the Spinozist text Joyful Militancy: Building Thriving Resistance in Toxic Times.

**************

Photo by Alexander Grey: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-kid-with-multicolored-hand-paint-1148998/