Article 34. A Non-Violent World

Is the fantastic dream of a no-weapon world, where we trust our neighbour, all just pie in the sky? Certainly, we don’t really know how to get there. We can’t get to first base. It’s as if we’re nowhere near figuring out how non-violence can get us to where we want to go. We’re into beliefs where evidence of truth gives over to the trusting of instincts. Most of us aren’t impressed by the immorality of science, so we’ve dumped it and are dabbling with intuition. And that mightn’t be such a bad thing for a while - to take much more on faith, if only to stop us hurrying things along too much as we’ve been guilty of doing in the past.
It could be suggested that we need less security than we think. The sooner we seek less protection the sooner we’ll realise there’s nothing to be protected from. If we trust life to be safe there’s no need to ensure (or insure) anything. It’s all rather down to trust. Unless we tread the virgin ground of dynamic non-violence, we’ll never see how impressive it is. It is a very different way of looking at things. Non-violence is never ambiguous. There are no get-out clauses and it serves as a perfect shopping guide. As we spend time looking for ethical goods (sometimes needing to spend a bit more money on them because of the smaller market - shame about that) we hopefully try to make it second nature to buy cruelty-free and environmentally-friendly products. Only when it becomes a habit do we realise just how non-violently we can shop. Thereby we send a powerful message of encouragement to the c.f. & e.f people.
As we draw such things as non-violence into daily life, we have to be prepared to be scrutinised by others who would love nothing better than to put us down. We have to be squeaky clean. And that standard, once set, must be kept up, because as we improve our game so our inconsistencies will show up all the more vividly. Even worse, if we begin to evangelise about doing the right thing, soon enough we will hoist ourself with our own self righteous petard, letting our adversaries have a field day with us.
A good comedian always knows how to keep the audience sweet and on side, whilst balancing everything with a heap of self deprecation. Similarly, when we do the talking, when we start to go on about animals, what we say about animal rights has got to be gauged carefully. Subjects like veganism or non-violent action are sensitive enough to require great imagination to keep them as "light" as possible. At all costs, whatever we say must be kept strictly non-personal. We must never be accused of aggression or of using our subject as an excuse to make a speech. A good comedian educates by way of entertainment. Preachers on the other hand, miss out the entertainment bit.
Non-violence is no new kid on the block. It’s as old as the hills and the very bedrock of all wise philosophy. But it always steps back and allows violence to pass by - remembering that we exist in a world where violence still rules. As activists, we won’t get our views across by gate crashing – we may only suggest that there’s another way - no more. How careful is that? Perhaps it’s careful enough to prevent any routine pushiness. By checking that impulse, we let non-violence grow in friendlier soil. It lets us harvest a bumper crop when it’s fine and ripe, when it can be most effective. It doesn’t need a supporting act to make it more valid. It doesn’t need selling. It can stand on its own feet, as a symbol for the future.