Let me say a few words of context to my somewhat snarky comment about “who won”.
That was admittedly written also from a certain position of rage and I will add that you are indeed the winner in that conflict in a number of respects.
However - and I will not discuss your moral imperatives because if people decide for principled non-violenc…
Let me say a few words of context to my somewhat snarky comment about “who won”.
That was admittedly written also from a certain position of rage and I will add that you are indeed the winner in that conflict in a number of respects.
However - and I will not discuss your moral imperatives because if people decide for principled non-violence that is their prerogative and there are reasons for that and I respect that - let me say a word about the practical considerations. (Not about Putin’s Russia and may all your friends rest in power)
The question whether broken windows or burning Waymos are a gift for Trump’s agenda is sort of a moot point as authoritarians WILL escalate and they were already in the process of doing so - again and again and again. I am from Germany and the pseudo resistance that the Germans put up back in the day enabled the regime.
There is a reason to stay as nonviolent as possible but what escalated the tensions was that ICE came into those neighborhoods and kidnapped people. With more than one person now basically having been disappeared without due process the question at hand was basically whether or not these people let their friends potentially get murdered. Sure - for most it wouldnt end quite as bad but this put people in situations that were effectively ending or at least threatening their existences as they knew it.
To tell people that non-violence is “the right way” to demonstrate unjustly abstracts from this reality.
It is A way. And it is A way that also often forgets that - and I have been there more than once - the non-violence of soon is only made possible by the fact that others militantly protect it.
I am not telling you to not advocate for peacefulness. Everybody wants it as peaceful as possible. What I am asking is: stop the ambivalence towards the protesters that CANNOT watch how their friends are taken. Don’t act as if it’s a “present for Trump”. It’s not. Lack of resistance could also be interpreted as a win. They will spin everything to mean that they are winning. This is why it is up to us to unequivocally stand with the protestors.
Let me say a few words of context to my somewhat snarky comment about “who won”.
That was admittedly written also from a certain position of rage and I will add that you are indeed the winner in that conflict in a number of respects.
However - and I will not discuss your moral imperatives because if people decide for principled non-violence that is their prerogative and there are reasons for that and I respect that - let me say a word about the practical considerations. (Not about Putin’s Russia and may all your friends rest in power)
The question whether broken windows or burning Waymos are a gift for Trump’s agenda is sort of a moot point as authoritarians WILL escalate and they were already in the process of doing so - again and again and again. I am from Germany and the pseudo resistance that the Germans put up back in the day enabled the regime.
There is a reason to stay as nonviolent as possible but what escalated the tensions was that ICE came into those neighborhoods and kidnapped people. With more than one person now basically having been disappeared without due process the question at hand was basically whether or not these people let their friends potentially get murdered. Sure - for most it wouldnt end quite as bad but this put people in situations that were effectively ending or at least threatening their existences as they knew it.
To tell people that non-violence is “the right way” to demonstrate unjustly abstracts from this reality.
It is A way. And it is A way that also often forgets that - and I have been there more than once - the non-violence of soon is only made possible by the fact that others militantly protect it.
I am not telling you to not advocate for peacefulness. Everybody wants it as peaceful as possible. What I am asking is: stop the ambivalence towards the protesters that CANNOT watch how their friends are taken. Don’t act as if it’s a “present for Trump”. It’s not. Lack of resistance could also be interpreted as a win. They will spin everything to mean that they are winning. This is why it is up to us to unequivocally stand with the protestors.
This being said: many ways. One goal. Still.
Venceremos.