The exchange went something like this:Social activist, "we are practising Gandhian non-violence ..."
Me, "um, no you're NOT."
Social activist, "yes we are. We are practising Gandhian non-violence in our opposition to what is happening in the woods ..."
Me, "um, NO YOU'RE NOT. The first principle of Gandhian Non-violence is NO HARM, and you're causing harm all over the place ..."
Social Activist, "No we're not causing harm ..."
Me, "There are families divided - brothers not speaking to each other, fathers disowning their children ... the community is divided by anger and hatred ... that is not only HARM, it is the most visceral form of violence. YOU are NOT practising Gandhian non-violence ..."
Social Activist, "We have members of our team who have studied Gandhian Non-Violence with Dr. Graham McQueen at McMaster University ..."
Me, "So have I ..."
And there the exchange ended ... a community remained divided ... and when the meeting broke up I had a half dozen environmental activists descend on me like jackals on a carcass insisting that THEIR take on Gandhian Non-Violence was indeed consistent with the teachings of the Mahatma, and that I was wrong to dub the damage being done to the community, to families and to individuals as VIOLENCE ... they were insistent that they were not responsible for the anger that welled up in a community as they engaged in their acts of "non-violent civil disobedience". They likened thier actions to that of BOTH Gandhi and King ... I shook my head and suggested they need to go back and read the lessons offered by these great men, because when you are harming the very people you are claiming to help you are not embodying anything close to Ahimsa nor Satyagraha as envisioned by the Mahatma.
After that the activists tended to avoid me ... and the lawyers for the Forestry Company they were fighting called me to learn more about the McMaster programme and the writings of the both Gandhi and King ...
Today I thought of that exchange in Bella Coola almost a decade and a half ago as I read the coverage of the riots in Vancouver, CBC Coverage here: Anti-Olympic rioters smash Vancouver Store Windows and the foolish insistence that they were merely acts of "civil disobedience."
I don't think so.
I agree with those voices on all sides that are condemning the actions of these yahoos and hooligans who mask themselves with anonymity and engage in violence while purporting to champion the cause of the poor, the homeless and the otherwise marginalized.
Tossing a garbage can through the window of a faceless corporation is an act of violence ...
Breaking windows and looting are acts of violence ...
Rioting in the streets, even for the most just cause imaginable is an act of violence ...
I applaud the restraint of the Police who have met these demonstrations with surprising restraint ... and I applaud the BC Civil Liberties Union that has condemned the violence.
The cause of helping the marginalized and the homeless might well be just and right - but the facts being cited by those organizing these violent protests is unfortunately suspect at best ... and in the process they cross the line of "no harm" on many levels ...
They are causing harm to business owners ... they are causing harm to themselves and the peace officers charged with keeping order ... and in the long run they are causing harm to the very people they claim to be helping ... how many hearts are hardened to the poor and homeless by what has been seen in the media?? How many donations of time, money and resources have been truncated by the senseless violent actions of people who are not interested in real and lasting help to the marginalized, but only in grand standing for their own egos?
No harm means doing something meaningful and tangible to help those you claim to be speaking for ... breaking store windows hurts not only the cause you champion, it hurts those who need help to begin with ... and it makes us all look bad.
No harm means NO HARM any where ... the demonstrations in Vancouver like those in Bella Coola are harming everyone, and the well heeled children of privilege who have appointed themselves as spokes people for the marginalized are the last to realize this ...
In the meantime ... poverty continues ... the Games continue ... the majority of people are left angry about what they've seen.
There is a better way to address poverty and homelessness that remains consistent with Gandhian principles of non-violence ... but it means working tirelessly away from the spot light and the media glare ...
2 comments:
good wisdom here!
but amidst the seriousness of this post..i had to crack up hearing a name i have not heard for years..graham mcqueen! i would see him most days walking to and from work along sterling street when i was off to elementary and high school. somehow we had similar schedules. he seemed like a thoughful and humble man...but typically some of his followers are not..were not.
Big thumbs up to this thoroughly insightful commentary. Don't forget also that the Nuxalk dubbed the so-called environmentalist interlopers just another type of colonialists and eventually banned them from reserve lands. Unfortunately, far too late to undo the damage they caused from which we still suffer today.
John.
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