Tag Archives: activism

The barrel of a revolver tied in a knot to symbolize nonviolence

10 Essential Things to Know about Nonviolent Resistance

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  1. Two traditions of thinking about nonviolence hold sway.

    • Principled nonviolence: Adherents decide to use nonviolent means on ethical grounds. In the Gandhian approach, nonviolence is a way of living a moral life.
    • Pragmatic nonviolence: Activists, seeking to win rights, freedom, or justice, choose to use nonviolent techniques because they are more effective than violent means in achieving these goals. Gene Sharp is a major proponent of this approach.

However, in practice, principled proponents, such as Gandhi and Martin Luther King, proved to be adept at pragmatically using nonviolent methods, Equally, some pragmatists, in their hearts, are pacifists as well as hard-headed realists. Continue reading →

How to Live with a Progressive Conscience

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Many progressives reading this post are, like me, privileged members of highly unequal societies. Although precarious employment with limited benefits afflicts many others, we are in secure jobs with secure futures. We can look forward to retirement. We do not need to worry that one bad illness will drive us into bankruptcy. The economies from which we benefit and our daily activities and pleasures also spew out prodigious volumes of carbon dioxide. Yet we are fairly well insulated from global warming, whereas the poorest and most carbon-frugal people, at home and abroad, are not. Most of us would welcome a drastic leap to a more egalitarian, secure, just and sustainable world, but that leap isn’t likely to happen soon. Continue reading →

Choosing Activism

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“Philosophers have only interpreted the world [but] the point is to change it.” Those of us in the peace, justice and environmental movements embrace this Marxian aphorism. If we want to live by the dictum, what does that entail? Continue reading →

Socialism: A Journey, Not a Pre-determined Destination

An article by #MichaelWalzer (Dissent, Summer 2010) offers a clear and practical understanding “of the only #socialism we will ever know.” Striking off in a new direction, he purposely elides the distinction between “socialism” and “social democracy” while adopting a critical stance toward both. He rightly emphasizes the progressive nature of the goals of the latter – participatory democracy, regulated markets, and a universalistic welfare state – even though we need to be very critical of the actual practice of current social democratic parties in the West. Although many readers will feel that there must be more to it than that, Walzer advances the view that movements aimed at extending the three goals and defending existing achievements is actually what a practicable socialism is all about. I agree. Continue reading →