June 29, 2009
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THE POWER (OR LACK) OF NONVIOLENCE
We English are good at forgiving our enemies; it releases us from the obligation of liking our friends. (P. D. James)
Date: 6/22/09
To:
Re: The Power of Nonviolence and Iran’s Demonstrations
I wish I could be more optimistic on the positive effects of nonviolence. But I lost my positive attitude back in the Bush administration. We witnessed the largest demonstration ever assembled (five million people here in the US and another 3 million outside the US) and the only response we got was the President’s social finger. The powers that be have realized that the best way to counter these demonstrations is to do nothing and to ignore them. If they fight the demonstrators, they lose ground. But if they ignore the demonstrators, nothing changes.
Just because there are large demonstrations, does not mean that there will be any changes in the actions of the administration. The US proved that with Bush.
At first, the change-agents in Iran were looking for change within the current Iranian system. Then, as the administration beat back the demonstrators, the demonstrators realized that they needed to require a change OF the system, not just IN the system. They are not prepared to implement a change OF the system right now as a change at this level is recent and has not had a chance to gel. I don’t expect to see any change IN the system or OF the system as a result of all of this.
The United States is a leader in many things – including setting a bad example of Democracy. And I’m sure that Iran will prove to be an apt student of the Bush tactics.
David
