Over the years I’ve come to adopt a pretty extremist view on this, and I think I’m even prepared to accept the reductio ad Hitler case. Had it been feasible to coordinate the population of Poland, Denmark, Norway, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, etc. into a mass campaign of non-violent resistance to German occupation I think that would have brought even Hitler down.
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Matthew Yglesias » The Virtues of Nonviolence. Dear Matt, How? (via ayjay) You think the Germans would have stood for the coordinated slaughter of non-violent civilians in Poland, Denmark, Norway, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, etc? Killing people weighs on the conscience pretty quickly. (via squashedcomments) No, it wouldn’t work. The Nazis were masters at propaganda, and the Germans were a combination of complicit and deceived. But even if it would “work,” it’s so far beyond the scope of possibility that it’s not worth considering. Yglesias basically said this: “If the impossible were possible, then it would have worked.” To which I say: OK—great insight there buddy. Now go home. |
