“Power” is not a metaphor or a twee self-help concept. Use guns if necessary
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in reply to @amydentata's post:
I think Mao was wrong. Power flows from caring hands and words. It is negated by the barrel of a gun. But when there are guns threatening any power that does not submit, guns are also the negation of other guns, to certain limits. That is to say, "if necessary" is exactly the caveat here.
A weapon is a tool for making an enemy change their mind.
if power flows from caring hands then why are the people in charge callous and armed to the teeth
They are supported by millions of people whose caring is poured into creating their positions of power. The armed enforcers are supported in a roughly ten to one ratio by administrative and logistics and other non operational personnel, and that's not counting household labor. Not to mention all the labor that the wealth that commands the enforcers is built from, labor that is done for human purposes: food sold to be eaten, houses built to be lived in, games made to be played, etc. Focusing on the people on top is looking at the shiny blinding spot reflecting from the car windshield, and ignoring the gigantic nuclear furnace in the sky where the light originated. They don't create their power. They have it by the hands and actions of those who believe in the relationships which constitute it.
When people stop believing they should do the things that make the society that supports the callous and armed enforcers and the sociopathic authoritarians who command them, when the moral confusion of debt is finally cast off, the power that makes the guns meaningful will evaporate with remarkable speed. Armies march on their stomachs. Food is infinitely more powerful than guns. The authorities simply have convinced people through a series of interlocking historical accidents and opportunities and coincidences and a few grand plans that they have something to do with the good things people experience. Revolutions happen when common sense changes.
ok so you don't actually disagree with mao, because you're restating his beliefs as your own.
"power flows from the barrel of a gun" is a fragment of a sentence he said in a speech at the start of the second chinese-japanese war.
This was a situation where they already had nonviolent organization pretty well figured out. The important thing when he said it was that unless they picked up guns and shot at the Japanese army, they would not get to have power, because they would all be dead of bullets that said "made in japan" on them. That is the context in which he said it.
with that in mind, what are you trying to achieve with this "Hi, most annoying person you’ve ever encountered here! I noticed this post you wrote in 3 seconds doesn’t line up with every experience I’ve ever had." routine? Mao is dead and you aren't even arguing with his legacy, you're arguing with your own misunderstanding of him.
I'm not arguing with you anymore about this because you are committed to the idea that I don't know what I'm talking about. I hope your victory here brings you comfort, I cede the field to you.