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on non-violent revolutions
Jun. 18th, 2009 12:03 amA sequence of similar yet different thoughts.
I've been watching the Iranian Revolution from the seclusion of my bedroom in an upper-middle class neighbourhood of the United States. I loathe the idea of human to human communication being boiled down to a mere 140-character limit, but I even signed up for Twitter, just to read about what's going on firsthand.
A lot of people scoff at non-violence. They say it's an idealistic notion. It's true; it is. Perhaps unrealistically so. I hold no illusions that one day there will be world peace and it'll all be unicorns and rainbows from there out on. However, what I've learned in the past year as a violence prevention advocate is that ideals are necessary. They are the golden standard we never cease to strive for, because--being humans--there is always room for improvement. Without that standard, without someone, somewhere, saying, "HEY. This is what we can achieve if we try hard enough!" there is no motivation to reach that point. And without the motivation to reach that point, we lack the motivation to reach the more realistic milestones in between.
Non-violence is not made of soft stuff. It is the work of hundreds of thousands, of millions. It is patience, and it is learning when to keep your mouth shut and when to scream and keep on screaming.
Non-violence is currently reclaiming an entire country. Ghandi would be hella proud.
A lot of people are crying out for the US to step in and intervene. And do what, I want to know. Storm in and take over, exactly the same way we've overrun the rest of the Middle East? I have faith in the Obama administration, but what America doesn't understand is moderation. We want to be seen as the rescuers. The heroes. To be perfectly clear, Iran doesn't need a fucking knight in shining red-white-and-blue. It's got its heroes. Thousands of them.
US citizens are helping the ways that they can, by creating secure proxys, forums, and spreading the word. The last thing we need is our military to step in and steamroll any progress the revolutionaries have made. It's their country; they are in the process of shaping it to be what they want it to be. Give them support, but don't take away their autonomy.
Finally, I'd like to note that regardless of Iran's leadership, the US will still be facing the same diplomatic issues. A new leader may be the result of a "reform," but on a Western scale that "reform" will be mild at best. There will still be quite a few contentions between the US and Iran, socially if not economically and diplomatically (being a social psych geek I focus on the social aspect more). A revolution may aid in promoting kinship, but it will not change the immediate relationship between the US and Iran.
I've been watching the Iranian Revolution from the seclusion of my bedroom in an upper-middle class neighbourhood of the United States. I loathe the idea of human to human communication being boiled down to a mere 140-character limit, but I even signed up for Twitter, just to read about what's going on firsthand.
A lot of people scoff at non-violence. They say it's an idealistic notion. It's true; it is. Perhaps unrealistically so. I hold no illusions that one day there will be world peace and it'll all be unicorns and rainbows from there out on. However, what I've learned in the past year as a violence prevention advocate is that ideals are necessary. They are the golden standard we never cease to strive for, because--being humans--there is always room for improvement. Without that standard, without someone, somewhere, saying, "HEY. This is what we can achieve if we try hard enough!" there is no motivation to reach that point. And without the motivation to reach that point, we lack the motivation to reach the more realistic milestones in between.
Non-violence is not made of soft stuff. It is the work of hundreds of thousands, of millions. It is patience, and it is learning when to keep your mouth shut and when to scream and keep on screaming.
Non-violence is currently reclaiming an entire country. Ghandi would be hella proud.
A lot of people are crying out for the US to step in and intervene. And do what, I want to know. Storm in and take over, exactly the same way we've overrun the rest of the Middle East? I have faith in the Obama administration, but what America doesn't understand is moderation. We want to be seen as the rescuers. The heroes. To be perfectly clear, Iran doesn't need a fucking knight in shining red-white-and-blue. It's got its heroes. Thousands of them.
US citizens are helping the ways that they can, by creating secure proxys, forums, and spreading the word. The last thing we need is our military to step in and steamroll any progress the revolutionaries have made. It's their country; they are in the process of shaping it to be what they want it to be. Give them support, but don't take away their autonomy.
Finally, I'd like to note that regardless of Iran's leadership, the US will still be facing the same diplomatic issues. A new leader may be the result of a "reform," but on a Western scale that "reform" will be mild at best. There will still be quite a few contentions between the US and Iran, socially if not economically and diplomatically (being a social psych geek I focus on the social aspect more). A revolution may aid in promoting kinship, but it will not change the immediate relationship between the US and Iran.
