Once people understand the true power of information technology when it comes to helping social justice activists depose tyrannical regimes, and/or corporatist/business oligarchies, the global revolution that's now in its infancy, will spread like wildfire, IMHO.
People need to understand that in the battle against the greedy sociopathic moneyed elite that is pulling the strings in the U.S., and Brazil, and Turkey, and much of Western Europe, information technology is truly a double-edged sword, and that thus far it is the corporatist scumbags using their side of the edge, by setting up the total-information-surveillance police state.
During the last 20-plus years, I've been studying the art and science of peaceful uprising against oppressive regimes (as a layman). I've attended more protest marches and rallies than I can count. And I have been taking notes.
Herein, I humbly share my findings (and suggestions) with social justice peaceful revolutionaries the world over...
Clear Objective
The issue is not necessarily about whether socialism, or the free market, or capitalism, or a hybrid welfare state is better than the other. The issue is that once you realize that the levers of power in a country have been taken over by a despotic and criminal corporatist/business class oligarchy motivated by sociopathic tendencies and, predation, and rapacious greed, it is your duty as a citizen to remove their deadly grip on society.
So don't make the fight about abstract socioeconomic systems or ideologies. Keep it simple: You want to remove the criminal oligarchy from the seat of power, and restore the rule of law, and the constitution, and democracy.
Everybody can understand that. They can understand it in Turkey, and Brazil, and Italy, and Greece, and the U.S., and the UK.
So be ready to answer these questions: Why are you taking the streets in protest? To oppose and resist the looting of the national treasure, and the oppression of the citizenry by a small group of wealthy individuals who have taken over the levers of power. Then, be ready to explain what that means. Who are those individuals? How are they imposing tyranny and oppression? Exactly how have they taken over the government institutions?
Also, after you depose the corporatist scumbags, what do you want to see happening? The restoration of the rule of law, justice and equality under the law, the punishment of wrongdoers, and the full restoration of constitutional protections.
Counter-Propaganda
One of the main reasons such a small number of people are able to take over entire countries and subjugate the citizenry is because, number one, they are highly organized and strategic, and number two, because the take over the mainstream media turning it into a mind-numbing propaganda machine. For the most part, this works.
That is why any attempt at peaceful uprising needs to include a very clear counter-propaganda campaign. One great example of this is the following video. Please take a few minutes to watch it:
Update (Peaceful) Asymmetric Resistance Tactics & Exploit Technology (To The Max)
When it comes to street-level peaceful uprising, the security forces take on the role of corporate goons, protecting the moneyed criminal class.
They've set up a huge total-information-awareness surveillance police state which is ultimately designed for that purpose (BTW, NSA, and FBI, "Hello moth^#$#@ckers!")
They also have all kinds of weapons at their disposal. So, the first thing to understand is that you can't go against them head on at this point. You have to do everything you can to avoid direct confrontation for as long as possible, while at the same time achieving your goals when it comes to the reasons you are engaging in the uprising.
Stopping the wheels: Let's be honest; when a corrupt and brutal system is in operation, the wheels that move it forward need to be stopped (see Mario Savio). Business cannot continue as usual.
Another reason this must be the objective is because we've seen that after many, many massive protests, sometimes with hundreds of thousands of people, the system has been totally indifferent to the clamor for justice.
Flash strategic mobilization: First, if you get strategic, you don't really need big numbers to get going... In the city where you're taking action, identify certain nerve-centers. To get the action started, agree on a deployment day (including places, time). Then congregate at the carefully-selected urban "nerve center" and do your thing (but remember not to neglect the counter-propaganda activities, including press releases to media, banners, posters, flyers, social media).
Here's when information technology plays a big role... Once the authorities (i.e., corporate goons) show up and asks people to disperse, you do so (taking your time, in a passive-aggressive manner). Take it to the edge, but avoid the moment when the corporate goons start using their batons, or shooting rubber bullets, or tear gas.
Then you get into this pattern: Location-Congregate-Disperse, Location-Congregate-Disperse, Location-Congregate-Disperse, Location-Congregate-Disperse.
The location? A city nerve center. The "congregate?" Flash coordination with the use of technology (facebook, twitter, CB radios, cell phones, etc.). The disperse? Once the corporate goons show up asking people to disperse, in order to avoid direct confrontation.
Confidence, unity, and solidarity: Psychologically, here's what's going to happen... As people engage in this tactic, there is going to be a huge confidence boost in the fact that they were able to coordinate at this level. Also, by trying to avoid or delay as much as possible a direct confrontation with the corporate goons, you are lowering the incidences of these thugs grabbing people, smacking them against pavement, shooting rubber bullets and tear gas (chemical weapons), using water cannons.
If this is done correctly, there could be a window, and interim moment in time (in history), where all of the sudden there is a mass and rapid buildup of confidence, unity, and solidarity, which could eventually bring down the thuggish criminal corporaist state.
Yes, even by using these tactics the corporatist goons enabled by the massive surveillance police state (fusion centers, illegal and massive collection of all information about every citizen, etc.), will find ways to use violence, but that in itself will show how really debased, immoral, and ultimately impotent they are against a massive uprising.
They will be forced to take their masks off (as in, the illusion we live in a democracy), but by then, the seeds of revolution would have spread like wildfire.
For the goodie-two-shoes, apologists, the fearful, complicit, or willfully ignorant, don't worry too much. This doesn't mean that McDonald's or Macy's, or Target, are going to cease to exist. It just means that the people would have removed the deadly grip by a very tiny group of greedy sociopaths on our democracy. It just means that our constitutional rights, and the rule of law would have been restored. Then you can go back to watching "The Voice," "American Idol," "Game of Thrones," or the new "The Hero," or whatever you like.
Finally, a message to NSA corporate goons: Do you really want to protect the country? Remove profiteering and privatization of our national security infrastructure, and respect the United State Constitution.