Armed joy or violent despair?

"From Riot to Insurrection" seems to be the most widely distributed pamphlet by Alfredo M. Bonanno, the Italian insurrectionary anarchist and (surprise) convicted bank robber. He is also the author of a much more notorious tract, apparently stilled banned in Italy, titled "The Armed Joy".

Bonanno argues that society is no longer divided between the traditional bourgeoisie and working class. Rather, capitalism has entered a post-industrial phase characterized by a conflict between two very different categories of people, whom the author refers to as "the included" and "the excluded". I originally assumed that these groups are similar to the middle class and the underclass, but it seems that not even the "excluded" are materially impoverished. Indeed, Bonanno seems to believe that capitalism can overcome its economic crises, even creating an ecological world, and give everyone a relatively high standard of living. This makes you wonder why the "excluded" should oppose the system and bite the hand that feeds them?

It seems that Bonanno cannot answer this question himself, since he explicitly writes that the riots of the future will become more and more irrational. If they are caused by anything, it seems to be a vague feeling of boredom and hyper-commercial asphyxiation. Bonanno also claims that the "excluded" will speak a very different language than the "included". He seems to mean this literally. The "excluded" will be dumbed down, unable to communicate their demands to the "included" and perhaps not even having meaningful demands in the first place. At one point, he proposes that anarchists should communicate their message in the form of comic books, music and pictures in order to reach the "excluded"!

Bonanno also writes that a section of the "included" will join the revolutionary struggle. He calls them "homecomers". The homecomers will react against the oppression of the "excluded" on purely moral grounds, or perhaps feel stifled by the system. I think it's obvious that the homecomers are really the anarchists themselves. Thus, Bonanno's message is an appeal to the déclassé children of the middle class. Is anyone surprised?

Bonanno never really explains how a riot could be turned into an insurrection, but he does say that the riots and the violence will get progressively worse in the future. The anarchists must intervene in this process, but their organizations should remain on the level of informal networks, since all real organizations are dead (or pro-system). Since the riots are wholly irrational, no real political demands are discussed by the author. While Bonanno isn't a nihilist in the strict sense (he does want an anarchist utopia, after all), his "insurrectionary anarchism" is really a form of violent despair. At best, his musings could perhaps be turned into an interesting fantasy novel or computer game. At worst, it will lead to nihilist terrorism. Or perhaps bank robberies.