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You need to take a lesson from Ghandi and adjust accordingly: In my opinion: most people incorrectly read an axiomatic nature to the "non-violence" (revolution
by eternalban 13y ago
You need to take a lesson from Ghandi and adjust accordingly:
In my opinion: most people incorrectly read an axiomatic nature to the "non-violence" (revolutionary) approach of Ghandi. Ghandi was not a pacifist in the lay sense. He was a pacifist in the terms of Vedic consciousness and was a daily student of Bhagavad Gita;
And that would prompt the question of why did he opt for non-violence as the 'correct' approach;
And per my analysis, he did so because he recognized that the British Empire motivated its political balast -- from aristocracy down to plebe; whatever held it together -- by the declared shared justification that "we are civilizing the world.";
And Ghandi basically put all of his forces towards attacking that notion;
And by demonstrating (beyond argument) to balast of the British Empire that Ghandi and the Indian Nationalists were in fact more civilized than the Empire, he basically demoralized the affective corps of that Empire. That is why he won.
In the current situation, the fraction of 1% that truly wield global power in our world view us nearly in sub-human terms. And the corporate mirror to the world -- under their control -- pretty much paints their opinion of "us".
To take your example, the motivation for the policy decisions that are accepted by the current regime's 'political balast' -- these are the bright young things furnished by the scientific, academic, cultural, and economic mills -- is their (pretty accurate) assessment that without the police force, without the governing order, the un-washed brethren would eat them up like so much cake. So here, the internalized justification is that "at least this violence is policy driven and under control".
If the layer under the elite balast -- that's the middle class -- demonstrates that they are thoughtful & capable of self determination and self ordering, then this order of things will collapse, just like the British Empire.
So, it is entirely appropriate to remember that "a people get the government that they deserve".
- sivers 13y agoeternalban, that "more civilized than the Empire" line is the most interesting thing I've heard in a long time. Please email me.
- cinquemb 13y agoIf you don't mind, and if you two actually have a discussion upon the topic, could you make a gist of it on github or something like that? I'm very much curious about conversation such as this, and maybe others will feel the same.
- jasomill 13y agos/Ghandi/Gandhi/g
- orbifold 13y agoThe success of the Indian Independence Movement was probably also facilitated by the fact that by the end of WWII the UK had lost almost all of its political power and economic power to the US and was in no position to control unrest in such a large colony. In particular since the US was unwilling to help the British with any of its colonies or puppet states, as they intended to become the new empire.
- mtrimpe 13y agoTruly love your comment. As for the current situation; I'd like to argue that it's not about violence at all though. It's about the belief that capitalism is the true(est) reflection of personal worth and that monetary wealth itself determines personal value. In the future I predict that technology will let us return to the original notion for which money is but an imperfect proxy: credit, or deservingness. It's not until the wealth of the rich actually becomes dependent on their goodwill that they will behave as though it is.
- mjcohen 13y agoI read a science fiction story many years ago that argued that if Germany had won WW II, India would never have become independent because the Germans would simply have executed Gandhi and any others who advocated Indian independence.
- A_COMPUTER 13y agoI don't see how this interpretation is compatible at all with Gandhi's suggestion to the British to lay down arms rather than fight the Nazis, or for the Jews to have let Hitler eradicate every single one of them because it would be "heroic." These suggestions seem straightforwardly nonviolent rather than strategic in some fashion, considering the motivations of German imperialism. Appealing to a concentration camp guard's civility and humanity probably wouldn't get you far.
- harshreality 13y agoBut what of the layers of society—education, entertainment, media (most of which has become entertainment)—where the elites are poisoning the well, actively undermining the ability of the lower classes to function respectably?