peaceful people power can't work?
DS, commenting on a previous post said:
Could peaceful people power work, or not?
When is war justified?
Are we pacifists wrong/deluded?
And yes, the Vietnamese were justified in using violence just as the Russians were against the Germans, the native Americans were against the first white settlers. I wish nonviolence worked, but it doesn't. You can't reason with bullies; you can't wait for them to change because they won't. The only thing they respect is greater force! Gandhi was murdered and India still has a caste system; MLK was murdered and American blacks still can't vote. Aborigines are still second class citizens living in poverty as are most native Americans. Three quarters of the world still lives and dies in poverty and we act as though it was their fault.So...
Could peaceful people power work, or not?
When is war justified?
Are we pacifists wrong/deluded?
posted by The Editor at
5:40 PM
3 Comments:
This discussion will probably interest you too, Gerry.
I think 'mass' people power can and will always work, the thing is getting the 'mass' (masses) to go along with you (inside your society and outside it too sometimes). Say, if in India, a much larger percentage of people had a vested interest in maintaining British rule, Gandhi's peaceful independence movement would have been less successful.
The dynamics of power in societies can be quite complex, but I'm sure peaceful people power will always works if organised and used properly.
I agree that 'mass' people power can work, but you hit on the crux of the problem - getting the masses involved in a common cause. I've been an observer of human behavior for 60 years and have become totally disillusioned. Each new generation has become more selfish, self absorbed than the last and I don't think it's particularly new, but it prevents people in America, UK, Australia, etc. from uniting for the common good. I wish I was wrong, but....
I'm halfway through "Collapse" by Jared Diamond and I highly recommend it for anyone interested in the dynamics of why some societies disappear. And no, I don't have any financial interest it it. But I would suggest that if you're holding any stocks or bonds in American companies or US dollars, you might want to unload them. It's interesting to see that Iran and North Korea have so far successfully thumbed their noses at continued US threats and the insurgency in Iraq hasn't abated even after the elections (I didn't expect it would). Yes we could nuke them, but then what? The rest of the world would surely turn on us and not even the mighty US could lick them all without wiping out the planet ("On The Beach" anyone?).
DS
And on that cheerful note, I bid you all pleasant dreams.
So the consensus seems to be that PPP could work, but what is needed is the arrival of an Iraqi Gandhi and a Palestinian Gandhi. So let's conjure up these Gandhis and their followers. Nothing wrong with a bit of white magic...
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