• vin@lemmynsfw.com
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    edit-2
    2 days ago

    Gandhi had trouble convincing the British to even consider independence until widespread communal violence swept the nation in the aftermath of WWII.

    What are you talking about?

      • vin@lemmynsfw.com
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        2 days ago

        Where do you get that from? All the violent resistance like Subhash Chandra Bose and revolutionary movement were not big enough to be a major concern. Civil disobedience was more concerning given how widespread it was.

        • Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          2 days ago

          Civil Disobedience was the peaceful alternative; it is a show of force that only works if it carries the implication of a more violent alternative. Nobody ever won their freedom by appealing to the morality of the oppressor.

          • vin@lemmynsfw.com
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            arrow-down
            2
            ·
            edit-2
            2 days ago

            Nope, nope, nope. It is not a show of force, it’s making the society ungovernable, like not paying taxes, growing/making/selling anything to anyone etc. There was no implication of anything more violent. It is not appealing to the morality of the oppressor.

            • Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              3
              ·
              edit-2
              2 days ago

              If that was true, the British would have had their puppets shoot and starve them until they were governable.

              • vin@lemmynsfw.com
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                10 hours ago

                And they tried. Look at the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, the salt raids, the mass imprisonments. But the point wasn’t to wait for mercy, it was to make the cost of control so high, through sheer non-cooperation, that ruling became practically impossible. The system depends on participation. Remove that, and power collapses under its own weight. It’s not about violence, nor about moral appeals. It’s about leverage. When millions stop obeying, even bullets can’t fix the math.