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I think the problem with nonviolence comes down to how the state has coopted and redefined the term "violence"
Private property has no rights. Smashing a storefront or torching a cop car isn't "violent" because it doesn't actually harm anyone
If you define nonviolence as "not causing direct harm to any individuals except in self-defense against a direct attack" then I think a huge number of radicals would agree with that. But when most people say "nonviolent" what they mean is "nonthreatening," and yeah, that's gonna be ineffective, almost tautologically
So, you're, say, a small or a family business. And then some non-violent radical non-violently smashes your storefront. Now you have to close your business for unknown time for repairs, spend money, which you might or might not have, go surrender into a bank slavery etc.
Nobody's harmed, okay.
I am still to hear an explanation for this kind of behaviour. Why do they feel the need to demolish everything they pass by, even if the owners did nothing to them.
@SeventhMagpie @Stoori You're making *a lot* of assumptions here in order to make us look as bad as possible, so I can't imagine that you're arguing in good faith. That anarchists indiscriminately attack family businesses, that we don't care whether or not the businesses are unjust and just attack them without thought, that family businesses can't have done anything wrong, that the owners are just scraping by, etc. It's an unrealistic narrative constructed to slander anarchists
There's also the casual statement that we "demolish everything we pass by," as if that's just a fact. As if all anarchists carry a hammer to break windows as they walk through town. Have you ever actually met an anarchist, or are you just judging based on the media spin? Because I can tell you from experience that like 3/4 of what anarchists do is give free stuff to people - that's kind of our thing, which you'd know if you actually talked to any of us
@SeventhMagpie @Stoori If there's any group that the wealthy and powerful would want to misrepresent and demonize (and if you don't think they ever do that then you probably can't even hear me from the fantasy world you've constructed), wouldn't it be the group that opposes wealth and power wholesale? Wouldn't it be a safe assumption that the ideas you've been fed about anarchists aren't accurate, since those ideas were disseminated by the very people most threatened by anarchist thought?
If you want to know what anarchists actually do and believe, I suggest looking at http://anarchy.works/
And if you don't believe me about the "free stuff" thing, check out http://foodnotbombs.net (probably the largest anarchist organization, gives free food to the hungry), http://www.abcf.net/ (among the oldest, gives free books + more to political prisoners), and https://www.instagram.com/bhamfreestore/ (only major anarchist presence in my town, gives free everything to everyone)