Rick James once said “Pussy’s pussy.” I include this maxim, not because it has any relevance this essay, but rather because it illustrates the fatalistically induced nihilism that so often befalls my concluding sentiments when I consider the way of the world.

Gandhi and Martin Luther King demonstrated the power of non-violence in combating imperialistic exploitation. They showed how empathy from the ruling political class of people could lead to change in an unjust policy. The tactic is still powerful, and, in fact, it may be the most powerful means of radical change left in the world.

However, as loudly as Gandhi and King’s success has rung for those who support equality, it has been heard even more keenly by those dastardly purveyors of exploitation. To the particularly craven observer (and I admit that I fall reluctantly into this category), it becomes evident that non-violent resistance was successful only because the goodly people that unknowingly supported the far away tyranny of their government, woke up from their ignorance and took pity on the wrongfully treated. It seems a fairly simple intellectual leap for any sharp Machiavellian to consider that their machinations would be better protected if more time was given to branding the exploited as less morally righteous.

India, when it was under the tyranny of British Rule, was demoralized away from violence by their lack of military resources, which, thanks to the leadership of Gandhi, actually worked in their favor. But remove that sense of militaristic futility–give fuel to the violent intuitions that afflict the human condition after being dehumanized, and person will neglect the moral high ground of pacifism for the satisfaction of their rage.

Add a little media manipulation and you’ve got a cocktail for a real fuckjob.

I give you IRAQ.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/05/23/sprj.nitop.army.dissolve/

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/10/26/explosives_were_looted_after_iraq_invasion/