No one gives up power voluntarily. Isn't violence inevitable?

Although we who live in privileged enclaves may not be aware of it, the world is already awash in violence. It ranges from the highly organized state sponsored violence of the U.S. occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan to the loosely organized violence of global terrorist networks and local street gangs. It includes as well domestic violence, street crime, and police brutality. All these many forms of violence are born of the fear, helplessness and alientation of a world in which a growing population competes to survive on a shrinking base of real resources in the face of extreme inequality. If we humans continue on the path of Empire our collective future will play out as a last man standing competition for the last fish, tree, and drop of drinkable water. Fortunately, there is a nonviolent option. Violence only begets violence. Creating a nonviolent world requires disciplined commitment to nonviolence and a vision of the Earth Community that can be.

The the liberation of India from the British, the civil rights and women's movements in the United States, and the popular overthrow of the Marcos regime in the Phiippines were all stunning demonstrations of the power of nonviolence. This power was also demonstrated by the historic 1999 protest action against the World Trade Organization in Seattle, which proved to be one of history's most successful single acts of popular protest. Using tactics of disciplined, nonviolent civil disobedience, protestors shut down the official meeting. This demonstration of the success of a united people against the seemingly invincible forces of Empire inspired further actions that halted the use multilateral trade agreements to subvert democracy and consolidate imperial corporate power beyond the reach of public accountability, 

Corporate media still speak of the Seattle "riots," failing to mention that it was the police who rioted, charging, beating, tear gassing, and pepper spraying protestors engaging in a disciplined nonviolent lockdown in the face of massive police brutality. The experience gave new meaning to the term riot police. For the millions who watched on television, the contrast between the violence of the police and the nonviolence of the protestors was a convincing demonstration that the exercise of police power is more about protecting the rights of corporations and property than the rights and physical security of people. Among the millions who watched the drama on television, the protestors won a stunning moral victory. 

The violent revolutions of the 20th century were generally defined by a contest for state power. Victory for the revolution meant one set of rulers was replaced with another, the latter quickly making it their priority to secure the institutions of power and coercion on which they depended to maintain their own power and influence. In any event, the institutions of domination remained and Empire won. Violence and domination are instruments of Empire. Those who use them, even against Empire, serve Empire and assure Empire's victory.

Empire can be defeated only through nonviolent resistance as people exercise their inherent right and power to walk away from the institutions of Empire and unite in the work of bringing forth the culture and institutions of a new Era of Earth Community. As Ghandi counseled we must become the change we seek. The goal is not to oppose the culture and institutions of Empire, but rather to displace them through social learning processes that live the new into being from the bottom up.