Response to Monica's blog about violence vs. nonviolence

I would agree that taking the high road and going the non-violent route is the better way to go. The idea that humans won't defend or fight back goes against our most basic instinct to survive. It is this oddity that allowed the success of movements such as the civil rights movement and leaders such as Gandhi to overcome oppression. The oppression was never seen and when it was finally exposed, the ugliness of what our society looked like could finally be seen by all. I believe that this is the effectiveness of non-violence as a form of social movement. This is completely different in comparison to violent protest. It becomes very hard with violent protest for people to actually see what injustices are occurring. Instead they see the retailiation and it becomes an internal war with one side that is stronger eventually winning the battle. Real social change might come out of this but in studying violent vs. nonviolent protest this quarter that kind of social changes never lasts long. Eventually another violent uprising will eventually occur and it leads to the same cycle over and over again.