Yeah, those in power always preach peace to preserve the status quo.

Those in power are interested in provoking violence to delegitimize a cause. Violence is their playbook: they know to how to retaliate against violence with violence. Repressing nonviolent resistance, however, backfires: when the government’s illegitimate violence is harder to contest, more people condemn the government’s use of force and shift their support away from the regime. Nonviolence is harder to deal with, attracts people, and leads to “defections” within institutions sustaining authoritarian regimes.

Such movements are statistically more effective at combatting authoritarianism than violent resistance. Where violence fails, nonviolence has succeeded in overcoming oppression & authoritarian rule. This documentary covers multiple instances of that happening in the 20th century in India, USA, South Africa, Denmark, Poland, Chile.

Moreover, nonviolence isn’t passive: it can range from quiet acts of disruption to consumer boycotts to walkouts to large-scale protests. When large numbers of people engage in acts of defiance and non-cooperation, they can take power back from a repressive regime.

It takes greater courage to resist injustice nonviolently. Plus, you may have seen the post months ago on research that shows nonviolent protest is more successful than the alternative.

The message is that intuition is fallible, and we should follow the historical evidence & research.