Opponents of socialism frequently say as an objection that there are different kinds of socialists and different kinds of socialism. They say there are as many different kinds of socialists as there are different socialists. Socialism rests on one fundamental principle, the common ownership and democratic administration of production and distribution of wealth. State ownership is not considered as collectively owned and they are certainly not democratically administered.
We are living in an age of crises. Social transformation is slow. It can take decades to change hearts and minds. But that is time we no longer have. It is time to do more than simply march in the streets with placards and sign petitions? Socialists constantly ask ourselves how long will it take to implement an alternative, post-capitalist society. We hold out hope from understanding that achieving socialism need not be for future generations but that a radical social revolution can move fast and quickly win widespread support.
As our situation becomes more dire, the old economic imperatives no longer hold water.
Recent research by Erica Chenoweth, a political scientist at Harvard, confirms that peaceful civil disobedience can not only be a moral choice but an effective one. She studied hundreds of grassroots resistance groups and concluded that non-violent campaigns were twice as likely to succeed as violent protests: 53 percent compared to 26 percent.
The outcome of any struggle between them and the government will be decided in large part by public opinion. A downside to civil disobedience is the tendency of governments to increase anti-protest legislation in response. If protesters can be blamed for starting violence, that will elevate the administration and its supporters. And worse yet, it might also help legitimise harsher methods by the security forces in response. The success of non-violent resistance is partly due to strength in numbers. Such civil disobedience campaigns are more likely to be successful because they can involve people from a wider base, from all walks of life, who are not seriously risking their livelihoods or indeed their lives to participate. They can be old, young, middle and working class. They can be fence sitters.
Yet we cannot forget that despite being twice as successful as violent resistance, peaceful protest still failed 47 percent of the time.
Disappointment cannot lead to despondency.
Adapted from here
https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/civil-disobedience-climate-revolution-200227125836559.html
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