Why Non-Violence Doesn't Work
In her excellent 1995 book, Bridge of Courage, Jennifer Harbury quotes a Guatemalan freedom fighter named Gabriel, responding to a plea to embrace non-violent resistance: "In my country child malnutrition is close to 85 percent,” he explains. “Ten percent of all children will be dead before the age of five, and this is only the number actually reported to government agencies. Close to 70 percent of our people are functionally illiterate. There is almost no industry in our country—you need land to survive. Less than 3 percent of our landowners own over 65 percent of our lands. In the last fifteen years or so, there have been over 150,000 political murders and disappearances... Don't talk to me about Gandhi; he wouldn't have survived a week here. There was a peaceful movement for progress here, once. They were crushed. We were crushed. For Gandhi's method to work, there must be a government capable of shame. We lack that here."
source: http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=2009mickeyz-activism
source: http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=2009mickeyz-activism
Add a Comment
-
Comment by AwesomeUniverse!!! on September 2, 2009 at 10:07pm -
yes that is so true. There need to be incentives to treat people humanel. There is somuch money in the world and so few ethics. If a despot can follow certain humane standards with his workers he should be paid twice what he would normally get from an internatonal aid organizaton.
There are also (mostly) black people being enslaved in Florida farms. who can someone call to take care of this situation. If its commn knowledge why doesn't Obama go down there and kick some ass??
There needs to be a review of all emploers- a vote by the employees and if hey get too many bad marks the govt comes in and retrains the management and requires an objective employee to be on the premises until hey turn things around.
-
Comment by alex anthony on September 2, 2009 at 9:20pm -
in that specific instance, violence, internal violence and the threat of assured destruction from external (international) violence seems the only measure capable of deposing the powers that be.
anyone who'se ever been a kid knows how effective the idea of non-violence is.
human beings are violent - we're addicted to violence and it manifests itself in a lot of what we do. Sports are a metaphor for war. people fight and kill over allegiance to sports teams. ultimate fighting is taking off in the US and the world (I admit to being a fan - brutal!). look at forum posts here and even the tone of words is belligerent and antagonistic sometmes - like that anti-raw dude.
i hate to say it - but look at history and see how effective war has been as a tool - for expanding the reach of disparate cultures - for uniting groups of people (conquering often) which created bigger populations which creates genetic biodiversity (and thus a stronger population going forward) and also creates a bigger economy which allows the new society to invest more in science and the arts - allowing for more discoveries and advancements.
speaking of advancements, science is propelled forward by war - the speed and the development of the atom age was propelled by world war II - and the US was on the moon in a decade when under threat from the USSR.
here is the big problem going forward - the idea of a country is starting to crumble. it faces a far superior foe - the CORPORATION. multinational, FOR PROFIT (unlike governments which purport not to be), vertically integrated, strategically situated out of necessity.
in most places like Guatamala - the governments are destabilized by companies raping the country's resources.
China is currently destablizing @ least a dozen African governments for this very purpose. China has a population that it doesn't have enough resources to support - and these African despots are corrupt and money hungry enough to sell out their own people.
-
Comment by AwesomeUniverse!!! on September 2, 2009 at 9:01pm
-
I think the root of violence is desperation and poor planning. For instance the Soviet Union went from having no freedom to all freedoms. All kinds of underworld mafia activity resulted making it a lot more dangerous to live there. There was no respect for law there. The gov't should have planned for this freedom and created incentives to do on the level business, where the companies take pride in transparency. There could be special favors for that like use of gov't planes or use of nice gov't buildings etc.
In countries like Guatamala there needs to be industry where anyone can work. Like the way Ford ran his company paying above average wage so pople could pay for adequate housing and buy HIS cars. He may have even provided housing. Guatamala also has great natural resources. They could have much more tourism if there was a secure area protected by enough police. There environment is going to hell too no country should have raw sewage going directly into their water supply- but they do...
-
Comment by Jasmine.green on May 26, 2009 at 5:23pm -
Hey Charles!
How's that book?
I have been bothered by this for a long time too but i think it's something else that bothers me.
I think our brains get confused by the unfortunate homonym of pacifist and passivist.
compassion and activism seem to go together. taking nonviolence out of the armchair and putting it into practice. just about any ideology can be used to control.
-
Comment by Johnny on May 26, 2009 at 3:14pm -
Non-Violence is the culmination of the other divine/human values - Truth, Peace, Love, etc. Its the highest expression of Love. It is not merely the absence of hurting or killing your fellow humans or other living beings. It springs from a heart full of love.
Where does violence work? Violence destroys all it touches - the perpetrator and the victim and all those connected to either one. Many countries in Africa are now gripped in violent uprisings. How is that working for them? Millions have been killed. It is heart-wrenching to see what is happening there in the supposed fight for a better gov't. or whatever reason they give.
He who lives by the sword shall die by the sword. (Its the immutable law of Karma)
What does it profit a man to gain the world and loose his soul?
I wouldn't dismiss Ghandhi so easily. Great Britain had a history of utter brutality towards all people it ruled, be it Ireland, India or whatever. Great Britain was not easily shamed when Ghandi started his non-violent crusade. The remarkable thing about Ghandi was that he really did love those that persecuted him. (I'm not trying to single out Great Britain here, my own USA shamelessly and purposefully nearly exterminated an entire race of people - native american tribes - and still treats them terribly.)
Love is an extremely powerful agent of change. Pure, divine love has more power to change the world than anything. Love is an energy that pervades the universe. Humans have been given the divine ability to realize this and utilize it. If more and more of us rise up to this great purpose at this crucial time, the world will change, wars will cease, and Non-violence will deliver us from our eons long mess.
-
Comment by Charles on May 26, 2009 at 3:04pm - What are these other methods of non-violence which deal more thoroughly with the root of violence? Let's talk specifics.
Latest Activity
yes people seems to have this tendency, I do too...
since I find no reason to believe in 'allergies' against 'natural' appropriate stuff, I would think it's more likely just the fact that pineapple if bought in store is pretty much always unripe. Not that it matters to the situation perhaps.
...but...
I write poems (mostly in Seussian rhyme), articles on health, and am working on a couple of books on health...
Nicolas have you ever had a pineapple that does not give symptoms. In my experience around these hoods where we are there are practically no ripe pineapples..or perhaps a few dunno
Yes ma'am. Resting as completely as possible with eyes closed; getting enough water; avoiding too much sun; avoiding toxic substances (personal care products, cleaning products, etc.)
I enjoy writing about the deepest darkest secrets of my heart, about things I dont want to share with anyone..or lack the guts to share. Love letters mostly, but not always. If I have a dream I want to remember Ill write it down.
I'm assuming "fasting properly" means RESTING while fasting?
Come on woman! No time like the present! We may now have one more spot for our March 20 to May 22 internship session; this is truly a life-changing program and an amazing bargain...
Thanks Priyam! You are very kind and generous with your appreciation, and I appreciate the specificity. I agree with you completely that fasting is generally very poorly understood, mostly feared, and almost always avoided.
Though someone once su...
GASP! I would never accuse you of such. Take that back right now.
Hey Michele! We fast 8-10 people per year for 6 weeks and most of them have amazing experiences. Incidentally, though some people imagine there's a need to "work up" to a long fast like this, many are fasting this long for the first time; in fact,...
NOVELS
we guys should all have a short story day
For People who love to write.
I think I am addicted to this board. I stopped making sense, ALL I know is I have to post
We dont want organic pasteurized, that is the same as conventional to us. Its been treated with something to kill it because that it what people do kill beautiful things it seems. Dead people.
Community by WLIR:
© 2009 Created by Dhrumil
You need to be a member of Give it to me Raw to add comments!
Join this social network