Gene Sharp: A dictator's worst nightmare
edition.cnn.com
Gene Sharp: A dictator's worst nightmare
1–10 of 88 posts
Re: Gene Sharp: A dictator's worst nightmare
#2All that an no link to his seminal work itself, "From Dictatorship to Democracy". Free download. Or drop a dime on him.
Re: Gene Sharp: A dictator's worst nightmare
#3This reminds me of a story I read as a kid, not exactly a fight against brutal regimes though (don't know if it is a true story either):
When shoe factory workers went on strike in Japan, they used a very interesting method - no shouting, or blocking roads etc. They simply made just one half of a pair (just the left side, I think). Thousands of shoes produced every day, but just the left shoe. Didn't take long for the management to sit down at the table to talk.
There are many many peaceful ways to protest, I guess.
Re: Gene Sharp: A dictator's worst nightmare
#4Not to take anything away from Gene Sharp, but per CNN:
He's been called the father of nonviolent struggle.
Should Gandhi be the father of nonviolent struggle, or someone before him.
Re: Gene Sharp: A dictator's worst nightmare
#5Not to take anything away from Gene Sharp, but per CNN: He's been called the father of nonviolent struggle. Should Gandhi be the father of nonviolent struggle, or someone before him.
Well Gandhi never wrote it in book form that could be read by others and implemented.
Gandhi could be the father and Gene could be the "Engineer" of non violent struggle ... :)
Re: Gene Sharp: A dictator's worst nightmare
#6Not to take anything away from Gene Sharp, but per CNN: He's been called the father of nonviolent struggle. Should Gandhi be the father of nonviolent struggle, or someone before him.
Well, Gandhi's techniques aren't really generalizable to anything else - any other imperial power than the British Empire would simply have shot him and massacred his followers. You couldn't do it in China for example (remind me what happened to the guy in the photo in Tianenmen Sq, standing in front of the tank). By the time Gandhi started his movement, the British had learnt the secret that had eluded everyone else: empires are actually more trouble than they're worth, how do we get out of here?
Re: Gene Sharp: A dictator's worst nightmare
#7All that an no link to his seminal work itself, "From Dictatorship to Democracy". Free download. Or drop a dime on him. http://www.aeinstein.org/organizations98ce.html
Re: Gene Sharp: A dictator's worst nightmare
#8This reminds me of a story I read as a kid, not exactly a fight against brutal regimes though (don't know if it is a true story either): When shoe factory workers went on strike in Japan, they used a very interesting method - no shouting, or blocking roads etc. They simply made just one half of a pair (just the left side, I think). Thousands of shoes produced every day, but just the left shoe. Didn't take long for th…
I was told a story of a body of students who wanted to protest something in W. Germany in the '60s (I am recalling this from a night spent drinking so I might have every detail wrong!). As I recall it, instead of taking to the streets, they put on suits and amassed themselves at the relevant government office. A group of representatives then asked for a meeting, which was granted, and they put forward their case. They got what they wanted. I think the point was that the government officials thought they were respectable and reasonable and so their requests seemed so too.
Re: Gene Sharp: A dictator's worst nightmare
#9This reminds me of a story I read as a kid, not exactly a fight against brutal regimes though (don't know if it is a true story either): When shoe factory workers went on strike in Japan, they used a very interesting method - no shouting, or blocking roads etc. They simply made just one half of a pair (just the left side, I think). Thousands of shoes produced every day, but just the left shoe. Didn't take long for th…
That would normally result in mass firings or a lockout, both legitimate in a case like that.
Re: Gene Sharp: A dictator's worst nightmare
#10Not to take anything away from Gene Sharp, but per CNN: He's been called the father of nonviolent struggle. Should Gandhi be the father of nonviolent struggle, or someone before him.
Well, Gandhi's techniques aren't really generalizable to anything else - any other imperial power than the British Empire would simply have shot him and massacred his followers. You couldn't do it in China for example (remind me what happened to the guy in the photo in Tianenmen Sq, standing in front of the tank). By the time Gandhi started his movement, the British had learnt the secret that had eluded everyone else…
That wasn't my point. My point was simply regarding calling someone the father of something, when clearly there were others who had been-there-done-that.
Technique has nothing to do with it. In other words, there is clear and documented prior art.
Regarding the rest of your comment Britishers would have left India for sure, its just that things would have been a lot more bloody without Gandhi's non-violence movement.