Debates on nonviolence are often couched in binary totalizing language wherein arguments are frequently made that nonviolence must for some reason be adhered to in all situations. Some proponents of nonviolence wish to apply its measures in situations where strict adherence is not the best course of action and they attempt to further their argument with an appeal to a higher ethical standard which through some unspecified chain of events will win out the day. On the other side, some opponents use the straw man argument that if nonviolence can be shown to be ineffective in one situation, then it is invalidated in all situations. While most likely only a few adhere to either extreme, in the brief, stochastic nature of internet comment sections our discourse can gravitate to the extreme.
Some proponents of nonviolence in all situations have attempted to argue for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Ukraine. While some reach this point on their own, Russian propaganda certainly attempts to stoke this rational in the left. We’ve seen many examples of “Tankies” using the language of nonviolence as a means to remove support from Ukraine.
As a long time student and adherent of nonviolence I object to this twisting of its principles to further violence by Russia, and I wish to defend the ideal of well-used nonviolence. Yes, this believer in nonviolence has written story after story in support of armed resistance by Ukraine against Russian aggression. And I don’t feel for one second that I have abandoned my principles. In the first place nonviolence is not (necessarily) a principle, rather it’s a tool to achieve just and compassionate community. It is precisely when nonviolence is placed above justice and compassion as being more important when it falls apart.
Rev. Dr. King was known to own a gun which he kept at home. This is not a hypocritical act. Rather he understood nonviolence as a tool to be used under specific circumstances. He further understood the realities of a racist, violent, society where individuals might attempt to seek out him or his family to harm them. Our racist police force could not be relied upon to keep his family safe. While some may subscribe to let themselves be physically assaulted or killed rather than defend themselves, nonviolence as a tool does not require self sacrifice of that level. It is for the greater good to protect others from violent depredations of twisted individuals (or countries). Which is why justice and compassion, when placed above nonviolence in importance, can lead those seeking justice to take up arms against oppressors.
Nonviolence is a tool to be used under the proper circumstances. And those circumstances are thankfully quite frequent. The easy application of nonviolence is how all of us live each and every day; that is we don’t resort to violence at the drop of a hat. It may sound as if I am trivializing it, but in many ways it really is that simple. In any interaction we have a choice of violence, or nonviolence. And outside of specific tragic situations such as domestic abuse or similar, nonviolence is the more common choice. My workplace is not filled with employees dueling each other or brawling in order to figure out whose turn it is to clean out the communal coffee pot. So in many situations, the choice of nonviolence is clear. But that is not really the test.
The test of nonviolence is in the face of injustice or oppression where many would consider using violence in an attempt to achieve justice. Why do communities riot? Because when people have been oppressed long enough there will come times when the anger and rage can no longer be contained. When structures which purport to be dedicated to justice fail to deliver time and time again there can be a point where people rise up to seek vengeance, thinking it is justice. The problem with using violence in many situations is that it can frequently cause more harm than the injustice the violence was meant to correct.
Violence, even should it achieve the immediate objective, is fraught with the difficulty of reprisal. “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind” (frequently attributed to Gandhi) captures this dynamic of revenge seeking having no end. In retaliation for my cousin being killed, I kill the person who did it. The brother of that person then kills me. In response, my father kills the brother, etc... Most people get this at least when it pertains to someone else's conflict. When we have skin in the game, it becomes more difficult to put down our axes.
People who experience violence in their lives frequently commit violence against an unrelated third party. We see this frequently with abuse, where someone who commits abuse has suffered abuse in their own past. And the person who is abused is at higher risk of later abusing others.
And the people who commit violence can also pay a price. Unless they are pathological, people who commit violence can have a version of their own guilt related trauma. There is a reason one of the steps of genocide is the dehumanizing of the other. Making the other group out to be nonhuman reduces the pain of guilt, making violence against that group easier. The pain of knowing what they have done can lead to a variety of unhealthy coping mechanisms often leading to further violence.
Finally, violence by the oppressed can be twisted against them by the oppressor. Oppressors frequently justify continued or increased oppression of those who violently strike out against the oppressors power. When a community riots out of anger over injustice, there are many ready to use that riot as proof of the oppressed group either being not worthy of justice, as being the party causing all the trouble, or even just to bothsider the situation.
Nonviolence used as a means to achieve justice is simply meant to break the cycles of violence. If justice can be achieved without creating blood feuds, trauma, or abuse we gain compassionate justice while reducing violence. Nonviolence used properly is effective because institutions which strive to preserve the perception of legitimacy eventually must fold in the face of legitimate, continual, nonviolent protest. To strike down the nonviolent protestors with violence calls into question the legitimacy of the authority. But two things need to be in operation here for the nonviolence to work. One, at some point in the power structure there needs to be at least a pretense of morality and ethics. As twisted as that morality may be, nonviolent direct action can lay bare the immorality of the oppressive authority. Two, the actions must be visible to a critical mass of people. In a society where protest is not visible, great atrocities can happen. While the nonviolent protestors actions may affect a few of the soldiers or police mowing them down, many will simple see the protestors as nonhuman and unworthy of sympathy. Without a greater affect on the populous, change is difficult.
So nonviolence struggles in the face of authoritarianism with genocidal intent. In the face of an aggressor such as Russia who has stated the genocidal intent of erasing the Ukrainian culture from the world and has been actively taking steps towards that, a nonviolent stance is akin to doing nothing to stop violence. Letting myself die doesn’t stop the attacker from killing the next person. But should I at least attempt to defend myself, and enough other do as well, we may be able to stop the attacker.
There are simply times when we must actively, physically, violently fight for what is right. The abolitionists who fought to end slavery in the Unite States did exactly the right thing. The South was going to keep people in generations of slavery until they were stopped. It was right to violently stop the oppressor.
In Ukraine, the contrast between the two sides could not be greater. We have videos of Ukrainians dancing, singing, and supporting each other as a people. We also have videos of Russian media threatening nuclear attacks, further violence, and promoting oppressive subservience to Putin.
There has been a theme of Tolkien at times in this conflict. The Ukrainians themselves frequently call the Russians orcs. Russia can be seen as Mordor, as Ukraine plays the role of Gondor defending the West against the hordes of darkness. But I think the part that resonates for many of us is not so much the good vs evil, but the kind vs cruel. Russia is clearly cruel in so many ways, from abducting children, bombing civilians, to “filtration” camps and more. Whereas Ukraine is fighting for freedom, democracy, and simple kindness to each other.
The quote at the start from Gandalf is a powerful one. We get lost in the battles and turmoil and can lose perspective at times. But we fight for the small acts of kindness and goodness. We also fight WITH the small acts of kindness and goodness. A strong theme throughout Tolkien’s Middle Earth is the tension between those who wish to live happy lives, share knowledge, and provide for their families, with those who wish to control or cruelly oppress others. Even after being defeated on the large scale, Saruman goes on to the Shire to ruin what he can of it. Petty cruelty for no other reason than malice.
We have in Putin a man, like Trump, who is petty, cruel, and seeks to control. Against him is Zelenskyy, a comic. The Ukrainians are led by a man whose previous occupation was to make people happy through laughter.
The nonviolent act in Ukraine is to hug your grandma when she is set free. It’s to weep for the brave fallen. It’s to laugh or or enjoy adorable photos of soldiers with their pets. It’s to feed the hungry. But the nonviolence must be secondary and supportive to justice and compassion. Because the good in this world needs to be defended. It needs to be fought for. The opportunity for a nonviolent resolution to this crisis ended in 2014 and really should have been worked on in the 1990s. The nonviolent resolution was working with the states of the former Soviet Union in building societies where the small acts of kindness and love flourish and men like Putin are prevented from taking over. There is always a nonviolent solution to every crisis, unfortunately the solution was only available before the problem got to a certain point.
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