thread: 2005-05-16 : Violence
On 2005-05-17, xenopulse wrote:
I'm hesitant to jump in and broaden the issue further, but here goes. Hopefully it might help to clarify things in the end. I used to teach this stuff in Political Science college classes.
What's at the core of the violence debate is power. Power is defined as the ability to realize a goal. It comes in three categories:
1. Force
2. Coercion
3. Influence
Now, when people promote violence, that's category 1. It's strong, but very limited in scope. Force can kill someone, but if they don't care, it can't make them change their mind, work for you, or love you.
Coercion works when you have a handle on something the other person cares about. You threaten them, they do your bidding. Coercion is not as direct, but much more efficient and versatile than Force. Often the two work in tandem, with Force creating believable Coercion (see bullies, dictatorships, etc.).
Influence, finally, is non-violent. It can be positive (inspiration, enlightenment, passive resistance) or negative (lies, deception, manipulation). Influence has the broadest scope and can achieve virtually anything (socially); however, if directly in a struggle with Force, it stands little chance in the short run. Though, as Tool and Rage can tell you, you can kill the revolutionary, but you can't kill the Revolution (opinions might differ on this point :).
Now. Violence is Force. Threat of violence is Coercion. Nonviolence is Influence.
We don't need Force to achieve our goals, most of the time. I would even go so far as saying that Force tends to be dysfunctional power for most goals. Nonviolent protests work because they influence people. When workers strike, they are empowered. It's Influence among them, Coercion against the factory owner. Can the factory owner hire thugs to beat them up? Yes. But if their will is strong enough, that doesn't get his factory running again. It only gets his workers more fired up.
So. We need to be empowered, but we don't need to be violent. If you don't claim any power at all, you're giving it to other people, who might use it against you. But my point is agreeing with those people who promote nonviolent resistance. It can be much more powerful than violence.
This ties into RPGs at some level as well, but this is already way too long.
- Christian
