I shared a post yesterday from Films for Action about non-violent resistance and its history of success, and I received all the predictable pushback from people who cannot imagine a world where "peace" is possible without the presence of a dominant violent power.

I want to point out that these people theorizing about the role of violence in establishing or maintaining or restoring order, whichever they think they're doing, are in fact theorizing about empire, entirely within the logic of empire. They are theorizing that only a dominant power can save them and how to become that power.

But the survival instinct is innate, we don't need to theorize how that works. If this government makes the fatal mistake of coming against the people, they will quickly find they are outnumbered, and that people will defend their lives by whatever means necessary. Spontaneous community defense is different than organized militarism.

In the same way that we don't need capitalism to have commerce, we don't need empire to have community defense. And something important to understand about a breakdown of non-violent relations is that a lot of people will die if that happens. Let me be clear about this point: lots of people dying is bad, actually.

I think it's a mistake to attach moral value to the survival instinct, whether good or evil. It's there for a reason, and that reason transcends rational constructs. When the nazis come to get you, the narrative of non-violence has nothing to say about the survival choices you make when the option of everyday resistance is no longer available.

There's nothing wrong with surviving. But constructing a systemic justification for organized violence - which is to say an ethos of empire - on top of survival is something else. And that is where ideas about non-violence and pacifism come in. We don't need to construct those systems, they already exist.

If you just want garden variety might makes right, you don't need to resist. You've already got what you want. And I know that's a tough pill to swallow, but it's real. The logic of organized violence is already established, if you want to jump in bed with it, go join ICE and collect your bonus if you can.

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Organized violence isn't a revolutionary future concept - it's the current, bureaucratic reality of empire.

I don't want lots of people to die, so I cultivate self-restraint in how I use the power of my voice. I don't begrudge anyone the actions of survival. But I also know they need no encouragement from me. When I'm using my voice publicly, I'm doing something inherently rooted in organizing. And I refuse to organize violence.

I love my neighbor more than I hate empire. That's why I want empire gone. And that's why I refuse to let it use my voice for its wicked logic of organized violence.

The master's tools will never dismantle the master's house. Choose Love.