In our desire to change the world to a better place for all, is non-violence ineffective and statist? Is self-defence violence? This question of violence is expanded in detail in Peter Gelderloos's book, "How Non-Violence Protects The State".
The following is a short extract:
Non-violence is Statist
Put quite plainly, nonviolence ensures a state monopoly on violence. States — the centralized bureaucracies that protect capitalism; preserve a white supremacist, patriarchal order; and implement imperialist expansion — survive by assuming the role of the sole legitimate purveyor of violent force within their territory. Any struggle against oppression necessitates a conflict with the state. Pacifists do the state’s work by pacifying the opposition in advance.[88] States, for their part, discourage militancy within the opposition, and encourage passivity.
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