...The Occupy movement is an international protest movement against social and economic inequality, its primary goal being to make the economic and political relations in all societies less vertically hierarchical and more flatly distributed. Local groups often have different foci, but among the movement's prime concerns is the belief that large corporations and the global financial system control the world in a way that disproportionately benefits a minority, undermines democracy and is unstable.[8][9][10][11] The first Occupy protest to receive wide coverage was Occupy Wall Street in New York City's Zuccotti Park, which began on 17 September 2011. By 9 October, Occupy protests had taken place or were ongoing in over 95 cities across 82 countries, and over 600 communities in the United States.[12][13][14][15][16] Although most active in the United States, by October 2012 there had been Occupy protests and occupations in dozens of other countries across every continent except Antarctica. For its first two months, authorities largely adopted a tolerant approach toward the movement,[citation needed] but this began to change in mid-November 2011 when they began forcibly removing protest camps. By the end of 2011 authorities had cleared most of the major camps, with the last remaining high profile sites – in Washington DC and London – evicted by February 2012.[17][18][19][20] The Occupy movement is partly inspired by the Arab Spring,[21][22] and the Portuguese[23] and Spanish Indignants...
Words: 4277 - Pages: 18
...Johnson Dec. 9, 2013 Nonviolent Movements, Effective Results Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail” is a response to criticism from American clergymen about demonstrations in Birmingham. It is among the world’s canon of the most influential writings. He successfully informs his fellow clergymen of the importance of African Americans gaining rights through nonviolent methods. He also speaks eloquently of the difference between just and unjust laws, which lies in the equality of rights. The 1960s were trying times for African Americans due to intense segregation. Despite these difficulties, Dr. King was able to respond with nonviolent methods. These methods are considered very praiseworthy as such a nonviolent response, particularly with such profound effects, is very rare in human society. Dr. King’s nonviolent approach for achieving equal rights, not only helps society make considerable progress on achieving equality, but also enlightens future societies to go for equality in a peaceful manner. According to Dr. King, the difference between just and unjust laws is whether or not everybody has equal rights; similarly, whether or not the law in question uplifts the human spirit. As Dr. King claims: “Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust” (King 3). African Americans were forced to face intense segregation and had to witness their friends and family members be subjected to abuse and humiliation...
Words: 1619 - Pages: 7
...On the tenth anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, a piece by Cesar Chavez was published in the magazine of a religious organization. Chavez writes this article promoting nonviolence in order to convince those who were protesting at the time to turn away from violence. He uses rhetorical strategies like diction and appeals to authority to create different tones throughout the text. Chavez first creates a negative tone as he talks about violence using strong diction. He describes the impact of violence as having only results of “many injuries and perhaps deaths” or “total demoralization of the workers”. The wording Chavez uses gives his readers feelings of hopelessness as he discusses how violence leads to only poor endings....
Words: 332 - Pages: 2
...Martin Luther King Jr. once said “Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him.” (Web) Nonviolence resistance is an act of non-violent disobedience towards any authority or institution. Usually, nonviolence resistance is part of a well-organized protest created by a leader in the interest of a mass group or population. An example would be Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who was an intelligent political campaigner who fought for Indian independence from British rule and for the rights of the Indian Poor. Although changes through history were forced through violent protests and revolution, nonviolent protests seem to be more effective...
Words: 1140 - Pages: 5
...During the 1960’s, African Americans were trying to win their freedom in any state because they were attacked, discriminated, and killed for no reason at all. There were two ways that African Americans tried to win their freedom, violence and nonviolence. I think that the strategy of nonviolence worked the best. The reason I thought it was nonviolence is because the blacks who weren't involved in violence were involved in protests and they fought for their freedom with nonviolence. “The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) was founded in Chicago in 1942 to promote better race relations and end racial discrimination in the United States. One of their first nonviolent actions was a protest against segregation at a Chicago coffee shop in 1943, one of the earliest known sit-ins of that era,”(PBS.org). This may have not been the fastest way to win their freedom, but it was the way that didn’t attack any whites. In Document 8, it tells about the protests that happen in the South and the real meaning behind them. “The deeper meaning of these demonstration seems to show that segregation cannot be maintained in the South,” (Document 8)....
Words: 603 - Pages: 3
...that you want. Is nonviolence the best way to protest or is violence more effective? During the Indian Resistance Movement, Gandhi choose to use nonviolence as the protest method to convince the British to free India. For Gandhi using nonviolence was the key to gaining India’s independence from Britain. Gandhi was a staple of the Indian Resistance Movement using nonviolence as his primary tool to persuade the British of the need for an independent India. Gandhi refused to use any for of violence to achieve his goals. He believed that one should exhibit integrity and discipline to show the British they were willing to die for their cause. The...
Words: 798 - Pages: 4
...efficiency in terms of trade and commerce) , then again the movie’s producers were biased. I also feel like the movie showed people what they wanted to see rather than what happened. This movie me curious to research what had happened in Seattle . On November 30, 1999 protesters lined up all over the main streets of Seattle to block the World Trade Organization from having a meeting at the Washington State Convention. They had planned a nonviolent protest against the WTO. They sought nonviolent training “which was a three hour course that combined the history and philosophy of non violence with real life practice through role plays in staying calm in tense situations, using nonviolent tactics, responding to brutality, and making decisions together” (How We Really Shut Down the WTO, Starhawk.). According to the article the police weren’t prepared for nonviolence. They were completely foreign to the thought of a nonviolent protest. I understand as to why they were not prepared for a nonviolent protest. There have been a lot of protests that have turned into riots or have turned violent. It is human nature to prepare and even expect the worst. It is natural to prepare for the unexpected in any big event, and I believe that is what the police were doing, however, by preparing so much for the worst they didn’t have an open mind to what was really happening. They were...
Words: 484 - Pages: 2
...mortgage crisis and the impact of the Arab Spring Combination of October 2011 global protests.jpg Worldwide Occupy movement protests on 15 October 2011 Location Worldwide (List of locations) Methods Occupation Non violent protest Civil disobedience Picketing Demonstrations Internet activism General strikes Direct action Arrests/Injuries/Deaths Arrests: 7,700+,[1] Injuries: 400+,[2] Deaths: 32[3][4][5][6][7] The Occupy movement is an international protest movement against social and economic inequality, its primary goal being to make the economic and political relations in all societies less vertically hierarchical and more flatly distributed. Local groups often have different foci, but among the movement's prime concerns is the belief that large corporations and the global financial system control the world in a way that disproportionately benefits a minority, undermines democracy and is unstable.[8][9][10][11] The first Occupy protest to receive wide coverage was Occupy Wall Street in New York City's Zuccotti Park, which began on 17 September 2011. By 9 October, Occupy protests had taken place or were ongoing in over 95 cities across 82 countries, and over 600 communities in the United States.[12][13][14][15][16] Although most active in the United States, by October 2012 there had been Occupy protests and occupations in dozens of other countries across every continent except...
Words: 21588 - Pages: 87
...opponent. A practitioner of satyagraha also would never take advantage of an opponent's problems. The goal was not for there to be a winner and loser of the battle, but rather, that all would eventually see and understand the "truth" and agree to rescind the unjust law. “My religion is based on truth and non-violence. Truth is my God. Non-violence is the means of realising Him.” Mahatma Gandhi. While in India, Gandhi's obvious virtue, simplistic lifestyle, and minimal dress endeared him to the people. He spent his remaining years working diligently to both remove British rule from India as well as to better the lives of India's poorest classes. Many civil rights leaders, including Martin Luther King Jr., used Gandhi's concept of non-violent protest as a model for their own struggles. “I understand democracy as something that gives the weak the same chance as the strong.” Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi...
Words: 1673 - Pages: 7
...Gene Sharp Martin Luther King Jr. once said "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." From where King stood during the Civil Rights Movement show that he was a great man who preached nonviolence and made the ultimate sacrifice for it. By being persistent in his nonviolence discipline, he was able to show the world the violence of their opponents' repression for what it really was. Gene Sharp's book, Power and Struggle Part One examines the nature and control of political power. Sharp believes that social sources of political power include socially recognized authority, human cooperation and obedience, and the skills and knowledge of the population. All these sources rely on the support, cooperation, and obedience of the population. Therefore by withdrawing support, the population holds an effective means of resistance to political power. Nonviolent action works to control political power by affecting the sources of that political power. Sharp mentions that the three major categories of nonviolent action are: protest, noncooperation, and nonviolent intervention. These actions work to change the opponents' behavior either by conversion, accommodation, or coercion. Conversion involves a change of heart in the opponent to the point where the goals of the protestors are now their own. With accommodation, the opponent resolves to agree to a compromise...
Words: 1350 - Pages: 6
...born in Porbandar, Gujarat, in North West India, on 2nd October 1869, into a Hindu Modh family. His father was the Chief Minister of Porbandar, and his mother’s religious devotion meant that his upbringing was infused with the Jain pacifist teachings of mutual tolerance, non-injury to living beings and vegetarianism. He began his activism as an Indian immigrant in South Africa in the early 1900s, and in the years following World War I became the leading figure in India’s struggle to gain independence from Great Britain. Known for his ascetic lifestyle–he often dressed only in a loincloth and shawl–and devout Hindu faith, Gandhi was imprisoned several times during his pursuit of non-cooperation, and undertook a number of hunger strikes to protest the oppression of India’s poorest classes, among other injustices. In 1883, all of 13 and still in high school, Gandhi was married to Kasturbai as per the prevailing Hindu customs. For a person of such extraordinary visionary zeal and resilience, Mahatma Gandhi was by and large an average student in school and was of a shy disposition. After completing his college education, at his family's insistence Gandhi left for England on September 4, 1888 to study law at University College, London. During his tenure in London, Mohandas Gandhi strictly observed abstinence from meat and alcohol as per his mother's wishes. 2) Philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi The evolution of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi into the 'Mahatma ' of our times very much hinges...
Words: 1570 - Pages: 7
...when he stated, “those who espouse violence exploit people.” This directly leads the audience to recall the struggles of the United Farm Workers in their nonviolent protests and marches against the often violent police. By forcing readers to draw upon such vivid emotions, they are guided to agree with Chavez’s call for nonviolence, since they do not want to suffer from the less effective, violent...
Words: 613 - Pages: 3
...be for the gentle Gandhi to bring about change, let alone independence?” This is a question asked by many historians. Mohandas Gandhi is greatly known for his nonviolence civil disobedience that helped to get India its independence. Gandhi wanted to be able to gain independence from Britain without the use of violence. His nonviolence movement inspired many since he was only one person who created such a large effect. Western countries found his nonviolent actions were very strange and that is most likely why Gandhi gained so much popularity in the first place. His unconventional tactics were what made his nonviolent plan work so well. Gandhi’s overall use of communication, unresisting tactics during protests, and self-sacrifice are what made Gandhi’s nonviolent movement work so well....
Words: 438 - Pages: 2
...What Made Nonviolence Work? Nonviolence should be tolerated and has 3 leaders to back it up. What paths did it take for Gandhi, King, and Mandela to achive thier goals? Three main ideas in this essay included Breaking laws, Maintaining disipline, and Accepting jail time. Breaking laws included nonviolent protests. This form of disobedience took place when Gandhi fought for his freedom. This shows how motivational Gandhi was and how he created change through Civil disobedience. In document one written by Gandhi, it explains the Salt March, and how laws were broken during that time. Nonviolence has more of a necessity than an option for these people. Nonviolence is handled in methods of principles vs tactics. This second bit of information comes from document 3, where Nelson Mandela wrote his thoughts about nonviolence. Mandela called this form of nonviolence Saryagraha a tactic, that seeks tkok conquer through conversion. Nonviolence is expressed through many thoughts and ideas. Basically, if you didn't abey, you were beaten. If you refused to be beaten, then you were beaten worse. They maintained their disipline throughout. In May of 1930 Webb Miller expressed how crule, and brutal beating were. It says that the western mind finds it difficult to grasp nonresistance (Doc 4). The definence of unjust laws was dangerous. This point was expressed from Mandela (Doc 6). In document 4 the basic idea is to show the truth of things. It was harder in india than it was here. ...
Words: 405 - Pages: 2
...Negative nonviolence includes non-cooperation, civil disobedience, breaking unjust laws, declaring and practising autonomy. And positive nonviolence includes clearing the past through conciliation, the present through mediation of dangerous conflicts, and building a future through equitable participation in positive projects. They are not mutually exclusive. Gandhi and Martin Luther King used both. Obviously, both forms refrain from direct physical violence. But negative nonviolence may include symbolic violence like “rude gestures, taunting, haunting officials” (from Gene Sharp’s “The Politics of Nonviolent Action”. Sharp deserves credit for his outstanding work to make such techniques well known -but is it nonviolence?). By contrast, positive nonviolence insists on nonviolent speech and thought, something beyond the psychological capacity of many. How can I be against them and for them at the same time?Yet there is a fifth form of nonviolence, developed by...
Words: 526 - Pages: 3
