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Much that my naive self wants believe that nonviolence works and violence doesn't. Often its the potential for violence that the powerful even starts a token co
by srean 7y ago
Much that my naive self wants believe that nonviolence works and violence doesn't. Often its the potential for violence that the powerful even starts a token conversation with the ignored and the powerless. Its then they start preaching that non-violent means needs to be adopted and there needs to be a negotiation.
- sokoloff 7y agoYes, I think the peaceful civil rights leaders we think of today were benefited by the threat/spectre of violence combined with overt actions and communication on their part to declare the violence not part of their plan.
- perfunctory 7y agoI believe (hope) you guys are mistaken. For example, what kind of "potential for violence" from a starving student was King’s College afraid of when they agreed to divest fossil fuels? [0] [0] https://londonstudent.coop/kings-college-agree-fossil-fuel-divestment-following-student-hunger-strike/ https://londonstudent.coop/kings-college-agree-fossil-fuel-d...
- srean 7y agoOh I did not mean to intend that the threat of violence is present or is necessary for success in every case. I myself know first hand of a limited success where there was nonesuch
- sokoloff 7y agoWhen I said "peaceful civil rights leaders we think of today", I meant "ones we readily recall today based on their actions in the 1950s and 60s", not that the threat of violence is a required element in the system. I can see how that could very easily be read as "peaceful civil rights leaders of today", so the error is on me as the author, but that was not my intended usage.
- fivethr33 7y agoNon-violence only works with violence waiting in the wings. Talking with MLK is way more palatable when the other option is saying, "we are willing to pay the price of freedom and that price is death (for both of us)."