You know, using big words in lieu of actual arguments is a form of logical fallacy. But I understand that someone who uses the picture of a mass murderer as his profile pic doesn't exactly believe in nonviolence.
For the record nonviolence is not "pacifist". It's an advanced way to wage war, only without conventional weapons. It is especially useful when you face an enemy far better armed than you, because it would be stupid to fight your enemy in a way that they have an advantage
If you're fighting a chess grandmaster and you're a novice, it would be absolutely stupid to challenge them to a game of chess. If you're fighting a heavyweight boxer and you're an average dude, it would be stupid to challenge them to a boxing match.
But I understand if you basically have the unrestricted backing of the IRGC then you don't really have to worry about nonviolence because you can just use your guns to mow down nonviolent protesters such as in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, etc.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
I find that the most difficult part of spiritual growth is daring to look where your ego really, really does not want you to look. It's having the courage to access those parts of your psyche that you've trained yourself for years to lock away and throw out the key
Here's a list of questions I ask myself from time to time, normally right before doing a spiritual retreat or extended meditation
What are you refusing to admit to yourself?
What personal truths have you been trying to push away or not acknowledge?
What scares you the most?
What is your deepest fear? What is the worst thing that can happen to you?
What do your darkest thoughts reveal to you about yourself?
What within you are you trying to hide from yourself?
What are you ashamed to admit?
The word "kufr" does not describe lack of belief, it describes the psychology of wrestling with the truth, trying to cover it up, trying to distract ourselves from it etc *after* we have already realized, deep down, that it's true
The most dangerous kufr is when it concerns morality. When deep down we *know* that something is wrong, or that something is right, and yet we pull a thousand psychological tricks on ourselves to try to cover that up.
"Kufr" in other words isn't when the evidence is merely unconvincing to you. It's when you're *actively* manipulating the evidence (psychologically) in order to make it more tenable for you to deny the truth (or to continue to hold your false belief)
China's aging population (and looming population decline) is the reason why China's superpower ambitions over the next 20 years are basically kneecapped. For the record, "allowing" people to have three kids won't make them have three kids. This is a very hard problem to solve.
Even the most developed countries with the most generous welfare systems have *not* managed to put their birth rate back over 2.1 after decline. The best have managed to slow the decline (but not take it back to replacement rate), and that too involved babies of immigrants.
For all the talk about the US's declining birth rate, the US will be probably be fine, for two reasons. The first is that the US continues to attract immigrants. The second is that the US's birth rate is dropping later and at the much slower rate than other parts of the world.
The biggest misunderstanding about nonviolence is that it relies upon appealing to "the conscience" or "shame" of the oppressor. This is completely incorrect. Nonviolence is about changing the heart of the oppressed, not the oppressor.
Nonviolence is about awakening the oppressed to their own power so they can organize and act collectively in ways that are painful to the oppressor. It's not about changing the heart of the oppressor or making them feel shame.
For the record, any form of resistance that the oppressor is "okay" with is not resistance. It must be painful to the oppressor, and it must advance your strategic position. If it doesn't corner them, or if it corners you more than it does them, let's not call it resistance.
عام ٢٠١٤ كنت في زنزانة في سجن الصدر في أبوظبي، تقع في قاع أحد العنابر على جهة اليمين. كانت تسمى "زنزانة العرب"، إلا أن كل من كان فيها كان إما فلسطيني أو سوري. كنت قد استلمت "أمر بالإبعاد" صدر من "جهات سامية"، كنت ابلغ من العمر ٣٧ سنة قضيتها كلها في الإمارات
كان يمر على الزنزانة من وقت لآخر المصري والسوداني واليمني وغيره، إلا أنهم كانوا لا يلبثون في الزنزانة إلا لأيام معدودة ثم ينقلون أو يرحّلون أو يفرج عنهم، إلا نحن الفلسطينيين وإخواننا السوريين، كان لا مخرج لنا لأنه لا مجال لإرجاعنا إلى بلادنا أصلا، فنلبث في السجن حتى يبت في أمرنا
أذكر أنه كان في الزنزانة من الفلسطينيين من يتكلم باللهجة الفلسطينية، ومن يتكلم باللهجة المصرية، ومن يتكلم باللهجة السورية، ومن يتكلم باللهجة اللبنانية، ومن يتكلم باللهجة الخليجية. عرفت حينها معنى الشتات، أن يجزأ هذا الشعب ويرغم كل جزء منه على العيش قصة حياة موازية
There is no path to decolonization that does not involve a radically higher level of self awareness and self knowledge among the colonized. Anyone who seeks to suppress knowledge, spread lies, deflect facts, or disrupt self reflection is obstructing decolonization.
For this same reason, no dictatorship can ever be decolonial. Any power that subjugates natives, separates them, restricts their rights or suppresses their free expression cannot be decolonial. Decoloniality is above all about discovering and building our native selves.
But this extends to anyone who seeks to disrupt native conversations that they don't like, berate natives if they do not echo their narrative, or attack natives who disagree with them on some detail of a detail, or prioritize ideology over the wider cause.