For best results, you need a trifacta.

A popularist movement is core. This should be non-violent and as welcoming to new members as possible.

A political group then acts as a focus for the group. It translates the mob grievances into politically actionable demands.

A radical group acts as the teeth. It forces the government to take proper notice of the other 2 groups.

The Irish troubles would be a good example. The popular movement was ignored by the UK government. It bubbles over into riots etc at times, which actually hurt their message in many ways. The Sinn Féin party focused the discontent and gave the UK government someone to negotiate with. Finally the IRA provided the force on the UK government.

Take away any leg and the whole movement stutters. If the popularist wing gets violent, then it bleeds members fast. Without a political wing, the movement is unfocused and will achieve nothing. The violent wing can be dropped IF there is sufficient threat of its existence/creation to keep governments motivated. Unfortunately, most governments that let things escalate that far will just dig in their heels, rather than do the sensible thing.

Public Education in the US LOVES Martin Luther King Jr.

Barely ever any mention of Malcom X.

I hold that nobody would've listened to MLK if the alternative wasn't Malcom's approach.

Workshop: arguments for keeping the fourth panel? I feel like ending on #3 is a lot stronger.

The real reason MLK Jr is posthumously a hero.

Nonviolent India Independence Movement

Looks inside

A shit ton of violence

Prisoners dilemma. Turn the other cheek all but guarantees oppression. Cooperation, and tit-for-tat (swift rebuke + forgiveness) wins

The ruling class didn't get to be the ruling class by being convivial. If you want a peaceful, classless society you need to treat it like a bonsai tree: occasionally you must nip things in the bud.

Peace is only an option when the social contract is maintained.

When power structures violate it or make sure you're excluded from it, it's time for bricks

History be like:

You want your rights?

You have to be willing to throw bricks.

FYI, there is a difference between nonviolence and pacifism. Pacifism opposes violence altogether and is predicated on the idea that there is a peaceful way to settle all disputes. That is to say, it's a philosophical or ethical position. Nonviolence is a strategy to achieve your goals without employing violence. Nonviolent protesters do not take violence off the table altogether. Rather, they believe that violent actions are not as likely to achieve their goals as nonviolent action would be.

In general, nonviolent action is taken by groups who are opposing an oppressor that has a significant power advantage over them. By resorting to violence immediately, they play into a game that they are destined to lose. Instead, they strive to use nonviolent means to make their struggle impossible to ignore. It relies on the oppressive system being vulnerable to a change in public opinion. In general, it also involves an implication that they may someday resort to violence if things do not change. That is, it differs from pacifism in that it does not deny that violence may be necessary.

It doesn't have to by killing people violence though. But just going on a parade isn't doing anything on it's own.

It could work to show how much support a movement has, but you need something to follow up if demands are not met and you actually want something to change.

A strike or blockade isn't violent. Non violent also doesn't mean legal. See how many non violent terrorist pensioners the UK is locking up.

Repeat after me: Carrot or stick. If a group has been wronged, they are only responsible to offer one of the two, you can decide which you will take when it becomes time to talk about solving the problem

The beginning rage baited me

"The people in charge insist that rising up physically against the people in charge is always wrong, and so they've made rules against doing that, or suggesting it online, or making any sort of plans to do it. As always, the folk with all the money and power have all of our best interests in mind."

It depends at what stage of oppression we are in. There's a point for both a soft touch and for violence, wisdom is knowing what to do and when to do it.

To be fair, we're perhaps at the most viable moment for nonviolent "passive" revolutions. Our economical system is giant and needs constant growth not to crash, while having a too high inertia to adapt. We only need to make a general strike or a general stop on overconsumption (everyone only buying the very essential, like food and medication) to create enough chaos to take down the ones with power.

Don't believe me? Just look at how desperate corporations and governments get when some sector shrinks a few percent points, or when people reduce consumption of something. Also look at the obsession of monitoring and understanding our consumption habits, especially from younger people, in order to prepare in advance and never go down a single bit.

Why not both?? Brought to you by a radical flank theorist.

Imagine a group of people that is perceived as violent agitators. Lets assume they have demonstrated that they will escalate their violence if their demands aren't met. However, the people in power do not want to negotiate with terrorists, do not want to legitimize violence and their only answer to it is oppression. Now imagine a second group of people that has adjacent demands but obeys to non-violence principles and to methods generally regarded as civil disobedience. This second group will point at the violent radicals and position themselves as a reasonable alternative. The people in power will see them as a way out of the violence and will be willing to negotiate with them.

Overall, the first group might not get all it wanted, but there will be compromise and change towards their demands.

This can only work with people in power who eventually, bottom down, have a conscience and semblance of ethics. Dictators don't care about repressing their own people and will avoid the false dichotomy by lumping both groups together and send them to prison camps.

In practice it is also really hard to navigate as the opposition to the people in power is de facto divided, creating double opportunities to tank each group with various techniques like media manipulation, attacking leadership with lawsuits, blocking funding etc.

Pinochet.

That's the best example, he was defeated by people basically singing and dancing and telling him NO In the polls.

As horrible the dictatorship was, I love deeply and profoundly the wholesomeness of how that monster was brought down, I always like to listen at the NO's campaign when I feel sad or depressed because it just gives me so much hope and joy.

I swear half of lemmings are yellow guy

I don't want to say about the frequency or which way is more effective, but there have been nonviolent revolutions. Wikipedia even has a page about it. It took me only a few seconds of searching to find it.

So, the comic author is mocking people who make conclusions without actually looking at the data, and meanwhile, they seem to have written the comic making the opposite conclusion ironically without actually looking at the data, either.

It would be so nice if things were always one way or always another way, and people love to assume that their common sense and existing knowledge will be enough to make conclusions, but the comic is right in that regard. If you tell other people your conclusions but you haven't done the research, you really do open yourself up to looking foolish.... Not that it seems like most people care about that these days.

So, you guys going to take out your child rapist leader now?

No, because Americans are actual pussies.

Yes, we were trained how to protest wrong on purpose. Ask any product of the public school system about protest and they'll either look at you confused or start babbling on about the most PG version of MLK and/or Gandhi imaginable. Nonviolence only works when it is understood by all parties to be the alternative. Many forms of effective protest have been outlawed and the owners, in a masterstroke, turned much of society's valid anger (along with a great deal of less-than-valid anger) into self oppression with the MAGA movement and similar movements in other countries.

tldr; we're too stupid to save

Requisite link directly talking about this:

The success of nonviolent civil resistance: Erica Chenoweth at TEDxBoulder https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJSehRlU34w

Erica's original hypothesis was that violence was more successful, but was convinced to do research on the topic and found that while it does work, nonviolence on a mass scale is more effective.

The two papers:

Original. https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Why-Civil-Resistance-Works..The-Strategic-Logic-of-Nonviolent-Conflict.pdf

Updated. https://www.hks.harvard.edu/centers/carr/publications/questions-answers-and-some-cautionary-updates-regarding-35-rule