• grue@lemmy.world
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    4 days ago

    Peaceful progress has never happened without the credible threat of a violent alternative backing it up. A radical fringe is required in order to make the moderates look moderate; otherwise, the Overton window shifts away from their cause.

    • Phoenicianpirate@lemm.ee
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      2 days ago

      India’s independence was more reliant on Gandhi’s radical cousins who were ready to bring down machine guns on the British than his non-violence. Especially after ww2.

      • grue@lemmy.world
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        23 hours ago

        Similarly, the Powers That Be only capitulated to MLK et al. because of the threat of folks like Malcolm X and Huey Newton as the alternative.