The Persuasion of Passion

The Persuasion of Passion

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"The time is always right to do what is right."
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. ...
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

Martin Luther King

Passion is persuasive.

Disruption is the fulcrum for change; interfering with the status quo demands a return to normality. It is this factor alone that drives success; no one wants their routine messed with, they don’t want to sit in traffic jams or be late for work because some passionate individuals want to block the highway to get their message across.

Of course, this is the point.

What will people do to ensure that they are not inconvenienced?

Perhaps they’ll lobby for the cause.
Perhaps they’ll donate.
Perhaps they’ll join the protest.
Perhaps they’ll spread the word on social media and the protest will take on a force of its own.

Obviously, the level of disruption is a definitive factor. Most people disrespect hooliganism, they abhor violence. Therefore the opportunity to gain popular support rests on a balance of creating measured disruption that is considered by the majority as justifiable.

But what is justifiable?

Naturally, it depends on personal priorities and passion. Reaction is often dependent on the perceived results of inaction; the driving force that will ignite the height of the flame. The ends that justify the means.

If a man takes up a hammer and wants to destroy my house, steal my food and kill my family if they want to stand in his way. Have I got the right to defend them and myself by any means at my disposal?

Your answer is the reason why some protests turn violent. It depends on perspective:

Abusing the planet, which will (not might) kill us all.
Abusing people. Consider the Black Lives Matter movement, the bus strikes of the fifties and sixties, the woman’s suffrage movement, the right to life movement.
Abusing animals. Google PETA

People’s investment in a cause might be different, but when the status quo is worthless, “justifiable” takes on an entirely different meaning.

Unfortunately, the dynamics of protest usually involve a crowd and the joint IQ of a crowd diminishes in direct correlation to size. Violence towards humans defames a cause in the eyes of all but the criminally radical.

This factor is not controllable and many recognise and would prefer to deflect its unruly outcome.

“The intelligence of that creature known as a crowd is the square root of the number of people in it.”

― Terry Pratchett, Jingo
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Prevention is the best cure.

So, take away the man’s hammer and I’ll be able to live in peace.

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