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On Nov 16, 2011 AtoZ wrote on Pilgrimage to Nonviolence, by Martin Luther King, Jr.:
In popular terminology, non-violence refers to physical non-violence. Usage of non-violence protests means that you are using violence in the domain of "ideas" or "memes" and not "genes".
Non-violence can only work against certain kind of oppositions. Try using non-violence against animals who want to eat you or human beings in the grip of an ideology bent upon destroying you to suit their religious beliefs. An immature or unevolved bully can only understand force. Peace can come from a position of strength and when backed with force.
Although, strategically it may make sense when physically weaker to use violence in the domain of ideas (which is equivalent to using non-violence in the physical domain.)
On Nov 17, 2011 AtoZ wrote on Pilgrimage to Nonviolence, by Martin Luther King, Jr.:
@Somik Raha
You say "Gandhi's nonviolence was at the level of the mind - even a thought of negativity or hatred against another had to be watched carefully and not allowed to take hold."
I have re-thought the whole concept of violence many times after growing up in a family that wouldn't kill insects.
What is violence logically? It is elimination of competition (similar to survival of the fittest) in Darwinian terms. It can exist in physical domain (genes get eliminated) by outright killing or by subduing animals like man has done.
How is influence/love different from violence? It is still eliminating competing ideas or forces except the methodology is bit different. But it still is elimination. We can also kill physically while being in love with the target like how it is proclaimed by certain religious sects that they can kill animals but still be in love with them. Bottomline, both love/influence and outright attacks of the tongue seek to eliminate competing ideas.
In the modern world of media, memes get eliminated for eg. the meme "turn the other cheek" is trying to eliminate the meme "kill the enemy". However I think a more nuanced meme "use force when necessary" should win and IS superior.
I do believe that BOTH competition (where one loses and one wins) and co-operation (where similar/complementary memes or genes come together to gain strength) correspond to the moral laws of the universe.
The utopian/fantastical ideas that offer yourself to the wild beasts to verify if they eat you OR Gandhi's suggestions to the jews to offer themselves to Hitler are non-sensical at worst and naive at best and have nothing to do with reality OR the moral laws of the universe in my opinion.
P.S. Wanting to transcend the us vs them duality is like dropping acid. Do it if your aim is only to feel good. I don't think a man who has transcended duality can do much for his family or society as the reality exists today and as I see it.
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