Forum Post: WE MUST REMAIN NON-VIOLENT no matter what - despite what you may feel when you see the shocking video below (1% orders tear gas on protesters including man in wheelchair)
Posted 12 years ago on Oct. 26, 2011, 12:55 p.m. EST by therising
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This content is user submitted and not an official statement
Video of protester in wheel chair trying to escape tear gas. http://occupywallst.org/forum/must-see-this-video-on-protests-around-the-country/
Our power lies in non-violence. America has our back as long as we remain mon-violent.
If provocateurs attempt to create violence, we should sit down and say "We are non-violent. This person is not part of our group. Then the story in nightly news is lone provocateur looking silly and we get even more support.
We must remain active ad forceful but NON-VIOLENT.
Agreed! "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind." ~Gandhi Many great protests we now remind ourselves of today were non-violent and accomplished more than they set out to accomplish.
Cheers to that :)
our government/politicions encourage violence in other countries to promote democracy, and here at home they use violence to curb our demonstrations for DEMOCRACY. The top one percent has to buy politicions to make money instead of earning it the old fashioned way.
our government/politicions encourage violence in other countries to promote democracy, and here at home they use violence to curb our demonstrations for DEMOCRACY. The top one percent has to buy politicions to make money instead of earning it the old fashioned way.
Great point
I agree right now that is important but you also have to leave parks when they close otherwise you are giving them a GOOD reason to arrest you.
Power responds to power. The parks are being occupied on purpose overnight to begin reclaiming space.
What does that mean?
It means that most of America is becoming privatized. Even the parks, by virtue of police working for the 1%, have become very nearly private. Occupying parks is essential on a practical basis because a protest needs base of operations. More importantly, there is a symbolic aspect to occupying parks. The symbol is drawing a line and saying this far and no further. The 1% have pushed the 99% further and further. Dirty water. Dirty air. Destruction of environment. Pollution of the commons with advertising. Increased income inequality. The list goes on and on. What we're talking about here are the commons. People are focused understandably on the physical commons but there is also the commons of humanity. This far and no further. Staking a claim to humanity. Staking a claim instead of skattering like leaves.
Getting arrested is NOT in itself dangerous. Martin Luther King and his followers got arrested constantly and it did not hurt the Movement at all, in fact it was AN INTEGRAL PART of the strategy. "Let us FILL THE JAILS to overflowing", some preached, adding : "They can't arrest us all!!!"
THANK YOU for this, "therising". I HEARTILY CONCUR. Let us not hear the siren song of violence. Some on this site which I shall not name but which you will all recognize, have begun to very slyly and subtly romanticize the idea of a violent revolution.... I have become CONVINCED that they are actually AGENTS PROVOCATEURS.
And many of us believe that the very cleverly-written, emotionally-loaded "Solidarity Statement from Cairo" purporting to come from "Comrades from Cairo", but never once stating what specific organization they belong to... ACTUALLY CAME FROM the CIA!!! Let me repeat that slowly : C I A .... C I A .... C I A .... C I A .... C I A .... C I A .... C I A .... C I A ....
Note how cleverly the author (or authors) wait until the VERY LAST PARAGRAPH to slip in what "mayavirupa" brilliantly dubs "the subtle and seductive venom"... the call to VIOLENCE. This is an obvious ploy. Please DON'T fall for it, OWS or anyone else!!! Violence on our part would be suicidal. We have no other choice but to remain calm, peaceful, centered and disciplined at all times. Otherwise we are doomed to fail!
I wrote back to the purported "Comrades from Cairo", challenging some of their statements, but have yet to hear from them. This is the full text of my email response:
"Comrades from Cairo",
Thank you for your message of solidarity but, with respect, WHO exactly are you? Are you part of an official movement? Are you in fact the true leaders of the Movement that ousted Hosni Mubarak?
Also, are you aware of the particular conditions that exist in the United States? Are you aware of our "trigger-happy" culture? Are you aware that there are 90 guns for 100 Americans kept in people's homes?
Nonviolence is not a "fetish" for us, it is a matter of SURVIVAL. We are sitting at present on a powder keg and the least bit of violence on the part of OWS would give our enemies the perfect excuse to destroy us, including in the court of public opinion, and to impose MARTIAL LAW.
We admire the success of the Arab Spring, but you must understandthat there are many important differences between the United States and Egypt. As someone said last spring, "there are more guns in American homes than there are stones in Tahrir Square or perhaps in the whole of Cairo".
In closing, Comrades from Cairo, let me just make clear that I am NOT speaking on behalf of OWS but only in my own name. I can only hope and pray that, having espoused gandhian and kingian nonviolence, OWS will NOT choose to take up arms, as that would only play in the hands of those elements already in place - the 1% - who would LOVE to have martial law and establish a fascist dictatorship in order to CRUSH this righteous uprising of the American people. For us, it is better to have martyrs than to fall into that trap and completely sabotage our Movement. The police cannot kill us all. And they cannot break our will as a people.
As Martin Luther King said, "We Shall Overcome".
Great points. I wasn't paying close attention to that Cairo letter. Didn't realize it called for violence. Will need to go back and reread it. Thanks for bringing that up and also for echoing the call for non-violence. It is the most powerful form of revolution there is. Opponents have no idea how to deal with it. It befuddles them. They only know how to respond to violence. They're experts on that.
Yes, "therising", please do reread it, as well as the increasingly numerous comments that are critical of it. Last night I sent an urgent email to OWS warning them that this smells C I A P L O Y , but never got a response. I hope they are not being naive...