This Policeman *Refused* Orders To Shoot At Demonstrators. He Knew His Kids Would Be In The Crowd.
She studied military science and the ways that blowing things up with violence makes way for change. And she used to think that real change (especially the kind you want to make over an oppressive, Hunger Games-y regime or evil dictator-type) *required* that sort of violence......that it was naive to think that non-violence would work. But she was *so* wrong. And she's telling everyone.
She's basically putting herself out of business by proving that nonviolence makes the most difference. But she's doing it anyway. Because she looked into it, and she's right.
I'm just gonna throw in some of the charts that showed up in this talk:OooooOoo, OK. That's a lot of failure from the violence stuff.
WHAT?Let's listen to the story of a dad who found himself in the middle.
SO.
Aside from reflecting on how great nonviolence is just alone in our little corner in our own little chair, what *do* we do?
Some ideas.
FIRST: Teach your kids (and yourself about nonviolence and nonviolent movements). She wants us to imagine a world where Gandhi and MLK are in the *FIRST* chapter of the history books and not just thrown in as an afterthought.
I never realized until now just how much my textbooks DID focus on battles and laws and not on the massive civil disobedience and people's movements that preceded them.
I'll get you started. Here's a song about a nonviolent, resistance movement called People Power movement. It happened in the Philippines, and it toppled the Marcos regime.
This song is from the musical "Here Lies Love," and David Byrne (of the Talking Heads) wrote it with Fatboy Slim.
NEXT: Get to pressuring those elected officials who fund violent revolutions around the world. It's *proven* that nonviolence works better for everyone AND that it increases the likelihood that there's a more democratic endpoint in the long run, so wouldn't it be nice — if our nation's money has to go toward revolutions and movements around the world — if it went toward nonviolent ones?
I would feel very naive and silly, almost "Kumbajah" ridiculous, saying all of this if it wasn't PROVEN that nonviolence just works better. If you're still a little skeptical, that's OK! Listen to the video above, then think about it.
And if you're as moved as I was, the best thing you can do is tell people about it, share the video, and speak up. There's strength and power in doing just that.
