Canadians Are Running Out of Time to Oppose the Dangerous C-22 Surveillance Bill

Re:Canadians Are Running Out of Time to Oppose the Dangerous... by AngryData on Saturday October 24, 2026 @11:49AM (#50222446)

All the years of anti-violence rhetoric is probably harmful to democracy and human rights, because the entire point of a protest is to put up a large sign that says "Fix this problem or we will make it your problem."

Its the old MLK Jr vs Malcolm X bit. Everyone praises MLK Jr for his anti-violent approach, but that only worked because Malcolm X represented what would happen if people don't accept the non-violent solution. Gandhi preached non-violence to the extreme, and yet the government wasn't afraid of Gandhi killing himself, they were afraid of the masses of angry people that would fuck shit up if Gandhi successfully starved himself to death.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Canadians Are Running Out of Time to Oppose the Dangerous... by OkayPhysicist on Monday October 26, 2026 @02:21PM (#50248466)

Specifically, non-violent protest works by demonstrating your ability to organize large groups of people in defiance of obstacles put in your way, very much including the law. It carries with it the implied threat that some non-trivial subset of that group would take up arms if asked.

Legal, peaceful protests really only demonstrate that your opinion has some level of popularity. Which can be useful for winning over the merely apathetic, but it does nothing against the outright opposed.

[ Parent | on HN ]