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The Power of Nonviolence

7/10

Writings by Advocates of Peace

The Power of Nonviolence This book is a great idea - for who can describe nonviolence better than its most famous, dynamic practicioners - Gandhi, Dr. King, Penn, Thoreau, Emerson, even Buddha? So all in all, very good. The selections are arranged chonologically, making almost a cohesive story.

By far the best work was King's empassioned plea to end the Vietnam War. If you only ever read one thing about Vietnam, read this. He sums up the history of the country, from French colonialism to the atrocities committed by America. It actually made me respect John Kerry more for his speaking up against the war (A shame he is now seemingly ashamed of it, emphasizing his militarism instead.)

This book could have been even better with some different choices in selection:

  1. Too much written about nuclear weapons. Analyses of the Cold War seem hopelessly outdated now, and this book is heavy with them. What about other WMD, and the power of individuals, which drastically revises traditional state-based conflicts?
  2. The selection picked of Gandhi's was woefully short, especially since all twentieth-century work with nonviolence is solely indebted to him. This was partially ameliorated by the frequency with which subsequent authors referred to Gandhi.
  3. Jonathon Schell has written better work on nonviolence since The Fate of the Earth.
  4. Would have liked to see a selection of Einstein's.
  5. There is a conversation about "communities of resistance" that seems way too long compared with better selections.
  6. We include Buddha but not Christ's Sermon on the Mount?

 

Read September 2004

 

 

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