#pacifism

[describe-things]

[ID: Two black and white photos of Kwame Ture/Stokely Carmichael, a young Black man, saying into a microphone with a sardonic expression, "In order for non-violence to work, your opponent must have a conscience. The United States has none, has none." End ID.]

[anarchistfrogposting]

In your post about democratic socialism, you said you are no longer a pacifist, but that you'd be happy to explain why if someone asked. I would love your thoughts on this please ☺️

I have been anti-war my whole life. I will be anti war my whole life. But I am no longer a pacifist. It was one of the hardest pills to swallow when I was reading anarchist literature and learning anarchist theory; after all, I’m an anarchist first and foremost because I want an end to domination and war.

My biggest revelation came from hearing Gramsci’s thoughts on pacifism.

Gramsci said that that our current system is inherently violent, relies on violence, and hence requires violence to overturn it. Gramsci redefined the bounds of violence, arguing that people starving to death because they can’t pay for food, the homeless freezing to death on cold streets, the poor being kicked out of their tenancies because they can’t afford rent, and effectively the entire purpose of the police in capitalist society is violence. That the law itself is a system of violence and domination. That capitalist government is inherently violent, being built on and maintained by violence.

in an ideal world, the populace would rise up and overturn the system without a single drop of blood shed, but the inherently violent nature of capitalist systems demands violent overturn of capitalism and capitalists. Pacifism, then, is effectively useless, and at its worst, actually harms us. The government can and will never be pacifist, so taking a futile moralistic stance that we should be non-violent just gets us and our movements hurt. If they are going to use violence against us, it means we must respond with violence.

That is why I stopped being a pacifist.

[ohsalome]

[weirdlookindog]

William Mortensen - A Family Xmas, 1914

[theinwardlight]

The primitive Christians not only refused to be enlisted in the army, but when any embraced Christianity while already enlisted, they abandoned the profession at whatever cost. Marcellus was a centurion in a legion. While holding this commission, he became a Christian. And believing, in common with his fellow Christians, that war was no longer permitted to him, he threw down his belt at the head of the legion, declaring that he had become a Christian, and that he would serve no longer. He was committed to prison. But he was still faithful to Christianity. ‘It is not lawful’, said he, ‘for a Christian to bear arms for any earthly consideration’. In consequence, he was put to death. Almost immediately afterward, Cassian, a notary to the same legion, gave up his office. He steadfastly maintained the sentiments of Marcellus, and like him was consigned to the executioner. The reason Martin of Tours gave for his abandonment of arms was nothing more than, ‘I am a Christian, and therefore I cannot fight’.

Example and Testimony of the Early Christians on the Subject of War, by Jonathan Dymond, 1821 

[yourfaveisleftist]

The Beholder from Dungeons and Dragons is an anarcho-pacifist!

[artistsonthelam]

Im Westen nichts Neues / All Quiet on the Western Front (2022) // (my tweets)

[ukdamo]

Conscientious Objector

Edna St. Vincent Millay

I shall die, but that is all that I shall do for Death. I hear him leading his horse out of the stall; I hear the clatter on the barn-floor. He is in haste; he has business in Cuba, business in the Balkans, many calls to make this morning. But I will not hold the bridle while he cinches the girth. And he may mount by himself: I will not give him a leg up.

Though he flick my shoulders with his whip, I will not tell him which way the fox ran. With his hoof on my breast, I will not tell him where the black boy hides in the swamp. I shall die, but that is all that I shall do for Death; I am not on his pay-roll.

I will not tell him the whereabout of my friends nor of my enemies either. Though he promise me much, I will not map him the route to anyone's door. Am I a spy in the land of the living, that I should deliver men to Death? Brother, the password and the plans of our city are safe with me; never through me Shall you be overcome.

[r0gerr0ger]

More thoughts about Satine’s pacifism…

So I read this post the other day that suggested Satine’s period of rule was just a blip in Mandalore’s history, that she only maintained power because she’d won it in battle, and that Mandalorians were glad to return to their traditionalist ways and… it just really irked me.

Because that’s not true at all??

When we meet Satine in TCW, it’s super clear that she was very popular, and a good ruler. In only 15-20 years, she’s restored Sundari to prosperity, and is a city that appears very wealthy with a satisfied population. She herself is very invested in her people, helps directly with social and political matters. She’s managed to rebuild worlds and cities devastated by war and environmental issues.

There’s never any kind of explanation exactly as to her style of rule. Certainly she’s not a constitutional monarch but there is a prime minister and council, and regional governors, so she’s no autocrat. This suggests democracy, and her people thus voting for continued pacifist policies/leaders.

(We also only see issues/events occur that in any society would involve leaders, regardless of how much a role they play in politics)

I mean sure, it’s the capital city and we don’t really see anywhere else. And there’s also corruption, hunger, terrorism, etc.- but a lot of the latter issues are because of outside forces (galactic war and the sith) that she does remarkably well, in my opinion, to combat for several years.

So already that’s a lot of evidence to suggest pacifism/modernism was widely popular amongst Mandalorians and not just a blip.

(Also, she may have come to power through battle, but this suggests there was an incredibly strong military and public force behind her ascendancy to the throne in order to win a civil war that had been waging essentially for decades- therefore illustrating mandalorians wanted pacifism, and she didn’t just usurp her position)

Then to the suggestion they were glad to return to their military ways…

People often use the state of Mandalore in Rebels/The Mandalorian to argue that the warrior culture was a more natural and preferred one among Mandalorians.

But this isn’t what we see at all.

We return to Mandalore in Rebels like 17/18 years after we last saw it in TCW. In this time, an extremist clan and the empire have been ruling the system.

We’ve seen the scale and ability of the empire’s propaganda missions already- erasing or changing history, destroying entire races- particularly with the jedi.

Alongside a ruler encouraging/forcing his people to re-embrace their martial past, of course it’s going to appear as if Mandalorian society has returned to its ‘original’ state of violence and warfare.

And yet, even though it’s gone back to clan warfare and endless, unnecessary fighting, that’s not what the people want at all.

Even though the Mandalorians we meet in Rebels are characterised as especially traditional (clan wren allied with death watch; fenn rau fought alongside the republic and later the empire, going against satine’s political status) they are never actually fighting for a return to their martial past.

Instead, the whole storyline is about uniting Mandalorians, pushing out the oppressive empire, ending the civil wars, etc.

Sure, they want to retain more of their martial culture than Satine did, but perhaps here is where we can argue that Sundari was a bit of an exception by being so especially modernist, whereas other planets and communities still retained many elements of their warrior culture- such as wearing the armour- even if not engaging in warfare.

Again, there is a similar storyline in The Mandalorian season 3- despite the fact that this is about the most extreme group of Mandalorians. It’s still about uniting together, rebuilding their world, ending war and violence among each other, protecting each other.

Therefore, I think it’s clear that actually, even if not to quite the same degree (but then, it’s likely this would come later once the last 2 decades of military propaganda had been overcome) Mandalorians didn’t want to retain their military past, but wanted to move in a more pacifist direction.

The only thing I have some issue arguing against is what we see in TCW when Satine is overthrown, where the masses really quickly switch to supporting death watch/Vizsla.

I’ve talked here about why this may be the case but even many of my arguments on that post don’t properly explain why a city that in previous seasons we saw offering mass support for satine and prospering under pacifism, suddenly turned so against her.

Really, I put this down to TCW being, in the end, a show aimed at younger audiences, and needing to get the point across clearly and dramatically that death watch and maul had manipulated people, and that’s why it seems so out of place.

(Does anyone have more to say on this than me? I’d find other’s perspective on this, whatever that perspective is, really interesting)

Either way, it’s made continually clear that Satine’s rule was far from a blip in Mandalorian history, or that Mandalorians only ever barely tolerated her.

Their martial society was a thing of the past. People were sick of it. Satine won the clan wars for a reason, and was a very effective ruler for many years until events outside her control (that frankly would have negatively impacted even the most golden ruler) meant she fell from power.

Had there not been the clone war or the sith, she would undoubtedly have continued to rule, and mandalore continued to stay pacifist.

(I also think it’s a shame we never saw more of mandalorian society during Satine’s rule. We only focus on her and other political rulers at that time, and when we later return to mandalore it’s all from the perspective of either extremists like din djarin and his sect, or again more political leaders/rulers that have an especially militaristic past.)

[clitemnestrasworld]

The doctor is always uncomfortable when being called sir. One might assume it’s because the term „sir“ is associated with the military. But the doctor is never offended when called madam. So the discomfort must actually stem from gender rather than pacifism.

[fiercerthanyou]

Banksy, "Happy Choppers," 2006,

The famously secretive Banksy painted it in early 2006 on the wall of a building in London's Shoreditch area and it was documented by his so-called 'partner-in-crime' Steve Lazarides in the first volume of the Banksy Captured book. But then it was painted over by the building's owner who feared it would create a security problem.

The building was later sold and it was only when the current owner was leafing through a book featuring Banksy art locations - a Christmas  gift for his son - that he recognised one of the areas shown and realised a Banksy must be on his building. He raced there to investigate but the section of wall had since been painted black.

Courtesy: Anderson & Garland

[bea-lele-carmen]

1968 Draft Dodgers Hitching to Canada

[awesome-casuallyfamouscollector]

Lyubov, who worked as an accountant, lived under Russian occupation for nearly a year and “in January of this year, they came for me,” she said.

Speaking via a translator, she said that Russian soldiers forced their way into her house, claiming they were looking for weapons, and confiscated “a map of Ukraine, the flag of Ukraine, souvenir magnets with Ukraine images, and a token with blue and yellow ribbon symbolizing victims of World War II.”

“Those were their evidence against me,” she said.

She was taken to what she called a “torture chamber” and held for five days, where she said she was beaten, forced to undress, cut with a knife and threatened with rape and murder(..)

P.S. The so-called "pacifists" and all other Russophiles who hinder the strengthening of Ukraine's self-defense capabilities are actually complicit in Russian war crimes...

[ohsalome]

[socialist-microwave-laser]

it's been 100 days since the hostages were first taken. families of the hostages have been begging for medinas israel to prioritize getting the hostages back home to their loved ones since day one

so many lives are wrapped up in what happens in eretz yisrael, the levant. we're all in pain

may the one who creates peace up above bring peace to all of us very, very soon

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Pacifism

Artist: Robert Bliss TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link