Nonviolence: Thinking Outside the Box
Question: I think one big problem, or one issue that we're seeing right now in the streets is there's a number of people who are getting more and more militant, or at least more and more defensive. And they're getting shields, and all of these things that are supposed to try and increase their safety, but they're still committed to protesting nonviolently. And I think that's part of why we're seeing so many casualties, right? The military is coming up against a group of people who looked like they could potentially become violent. But psychologically, on their side, they're still committed to the nonviolence. So how do we get people to commit to a path, and not do these sorts of things that kind of go into their life or escalate things unnecessarily?
Answer: Those people who have opted not to think through what they're doing, but are reacting in an emotional capacity, are your distractions. If they simply cannot contain their emotions, to the point of logically planning out some things so that there is safety involved, some margin of escape in what they're doing, there's going to be a reaction to it.
When you start watching groups build shields, there's going to be a conflict, right? You know there's going to be an engagement from the end of that event, and it's going to come from the military side, basically where the battle lines are drawn. If you have a mass of people moving forward, and you have a set of troops holding ground, at some point, there's going to be a battle line, where damage is going to start occurring.
So if those if you are seeing this happen, don't be part of the cannon fodder! If people are going to be that foolish, that they're going to run into automatic weapons fire and still not target the person that shooting at them, then they have made the commitment to be just what they are, and that is a target. And that is a distraction. And you utilize that tactically to your advantage. You sacrifice that pawn to get to the objective, you just understand that they're going to be an actor.
They're going to be tying up the military's operational airspace, their command, they're going to be tying up their resources, you're going to be exhausting troops. And so then that's the opportunity for another group to say ‘Okay, we're not going to be a part of this, standing in the street with 10 shields that can be shot through from with any weapon. We're going to actually do something useful.’
And people have the ability to make their own choices. Everyone has a choice in this, forcing somebody to do something against their will, that's not part of the game plan. It's a waste of time.
Now, encouraging people to think through what they're doing is a matter of planting seeds. Maybe instead of ‘Hey, buddy, instead of running out into the street with that little piece of tin in front of you, how about you think about putting those energy in with us. Let's think about this, let's have a plan. So you survive the day.’
And it's a matter convincing people that there are other means for somebody who doesn't want to commit an act of violence, but wants to have their voice heard, that is a great thing!
So that person then is more useful as a lookout, as a spy, potentially, as an asset inside, an operational area that can manipulate whatever they're tasked with. If they're a medical person, they can spike certain tablets or change out something so that you can make people sick. They take it, knocks some soldiers out. It upsets their stomach for three days, well, that person then is useless on the street for three days because they're somewhere else. Or there's just a lot of things that people can do that don't involve necessarily killing somebody. Food preparation, hiding things, people who are good at scrounging or sourcing materials.
And you will have people in your societal groups, in your little niches that can get things, whatever this person is really good at stealing, at knowing where the next water supplies going to be dropped off or when the next supply trucks coming in whatever it is. That's the type of thing that that you try and task people with who are adamantly against actively hurting somebody.
Try and route that nonviolent passion into their skill set, and say, ‘What are you really good at? What do you do? Well, you’re a taxi driver. So you know the streets everywhere, right? You know, the back roads, you know, how to get around things. So, draw me some maps help me lay these things out, so that I have a planning board to use, whatever it is that you can engage them at where it engages their mind so that they can live another day.’
Instead of walking into the street with a white t-shirt on and holding a piece of corrugated iron in front of you, and yelling and screaming and throwing rocks so that you get shot next, or the next night you get your home raided and arrested that is foolishness.
