The Power of Nonviolence: Writings by Advocates of Peace

by Howard Zinn

There is no easy way out of the spiraling morass of terror and brutality that confronts the world today. It is time now for the human race to hold still, to delve into its wells of collective wisdom, both ancient and modern.--Arundhati Roy

The Power of Nonviolence, the first anthology of alternatives to war with a historical perspective, with an introduction by Howard Zinn about September 11 and the U.S. response to the terrorist attacks, presents the most salient and persuasive arguments for peace in the last 2,500 years of human history. Arranged chronologically, covering the major conflagrations in the world, The Power of Nonviolence is a compelling step forward in the study of pacifism, a timely anthology that fills a void for people looking for responses to crisis that are not based on guns or bombs.

Included are some of the most original thinkers about peace and nonviolence-Buddha, Scott Nearing, Henry David Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience," Jane Addams, William Penn on "the end of war," Dorothy Day's position on "Pacifism," Erich Fromm, and Rajendra Prasad. Supplementing these classic voices are more recent advocates of Albert Camus' "Neither Victims Nor Executioners," A. J. Muste's impressive "Getting Rid of War," Martin Luther King's influential "Declaration of Independence from the War in Vietnam," and Arundhati Roy's "War Is Peace," plus many others.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Politics, Essays, Philosophy, Activism, Anthologies

216 pages, Paperback

First published September 12, 2002

About the author

Howard Zinn was an American historian, playwright, philosopher, socialist intellectual and World War II veteran. He was chair of the history and social sciences department at Spelman College, and a political science professor at Boston University. Zinn wrote more than 20 books, including his best-selling and influential A People's History of the United States in 1980. In 2007, he published a version of it for younger readers, A Young People's History of the United States.

Zinn described himself as "something of an anarchist, something of a socialist. Maybe a democratic socialist." He wrote extensively about the civil rights movement, the anti-war movement and labor history of the United States. His memoir, You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train (Beacon Press, 1994), was also the title of a 2004 documentary about Zinn's life and work. Zinn died of a heart attack in 2010, at the age of 87.

Reviews

[Raymonds009 · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you think that working for peace is somehow less useful and less formidable than arming for conflict you must read this book. Nonviolence is not for weaklings or cowards. It is a powerful force that is explained in this book. The piece by Dr. Martin Luther King is as pertinent today as it was when he wrote it back in the sixties.

Even after my years of commitment to nonviolence I was surprised by the many insights that this book offered.

[Arielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Things to make you remember you're not the only one and smile for it. (:

[Zack · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is hard not to love a book with so many classic essays. There are also a few lesser known (at least to me) gems. All in all, maybe a bit repetitive for those that have read similar collections before. However, one could to a lot worse than this collection for some thought-provoking reading!

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stand out essays for me were the ones by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Thomas Merton.

[Bremer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reflections on "The Power of Nonviolence: Writings by Advocates of Peace"

If we really saw war, what war does to young minds and bodies, it would be impossible to embrace the myth of war. If we had to stand over the mangled corpses of schoolchildren killed in Afghanistan and listen to the wails of their parents, we would not be able to repeat clichés we use to justify war. This is why war is carefully sanitized. This is why we are given war's perverse and dark thrill but are spared from seeing war's consequences. The mythic visions of war keep it heroic and entertaining…

The wounded, the crippled, and the dead are, in this great charade, swiftly carted offstage. They are war's refuse. We do not see them. We do not hear them. They are doomed, like wandering spirits, to float around the edges of our consciousness, ignored, even reviled. The message they tell is too painful for us to hear. We prefer to celebrate ourselves and our nation by imbibing the myths of glory, honor, patriotism, and heroism, words that in combat become empty and meaningless.

- Chris Hedges

War is the greatest evil (Hedges). Neighborhoods crumble under black clouds of smoke. Families are separated in chaos, forced to flee from their homes. Generations of innocent human beings - mothers, fathers, sons, daughters - are forever traumatized.

Peace does not come from guns and bombs. It does not come from an expansion of the military, bases in foreign countries, and lip service to ideals.

It comes from taking care of each other. It comes from a clean environment. It comes from free healthcare and education, livable wages and affordable housing (Zinn ix). It comes from the preservation of freedom.

There is no justice in deception and inequality, only in truth and fairness. There is no end to the cycle of revenge. The consequences of bloodshed are ugly and unpredictable. Hatred does not stop with more hatred. Terror does not stop with more terror. Only love overcomes the violence of the world (Buddha 3).

Aggressors are motivated by greed and fear and hatred and ignorance. They believe in conquest and power and control. Orphans are made from their policies. They profit from the horror of war.

If peace is to be achieved in any respect, it has to come from moral consistency. Leaders talk about the ideals of freedom and democracy and peace, but do they make any significant changes to the system? Do they follow the same standards that they judge others by?

All too often, governments sell arms to brutal regimes and strangle countries with economic sanctions. They cut spending to social programs that help the most vulnerable while devoting ever larger portions of their budgets to the military. Past atrocities are hidden and rationalized and forgotten. Then the same destructive patterns happen again.

Without a conscious struggle for justice, promises of peace are empty and meaningless (Gandhi 46). One way to oppose evil is to stop participating in it. Actions matter more than professed intentions.

Citizens are propagandized to support the wars of their countries. They are told that their violence is justified because they are fighting for noble and patriotic causes. It is only the other countries that are immoral and inhumane. They are taught that they are defending themselves against monsters, not other human beings who are afraid to die.

Rather than dehumanizing others, rather than turning them into abstractions, it is important to empathize with them. Rather than seeing them as evil, it is even more courageous to confront those same evils within (Merton 98). Many countries minimize their own crimes while exaggerating the crimes of others (Merton 98). They do not want to hold themselves accountable for what they have done.

Dissenters are attacked for challenging the dominant narrative. Asking critical questions is forbidden. Peacemakers are met with scorn and ridicule. They are isolated and silenced. It is only acceptable to disagree within a narrow ideological framework (Chomsky 10). Moving outside that framework is like being from another planet.

Several nations have powerful weapons that can end all of modern civilization (Wallace 75). These weapons only make people more fearful of what may come. There are no victories if such a global war should occur. If a decision is made to strike, and then to retaliate, all of humanity will perish.

The requirements for defense have been exceeded by many countries but that still does not stop their greed for more power and resources (Wallace 77). Even though the race for deadlier weapons has increased the likelihood of mutual destruction, governments do not want to disarm themselves because they fear losing their strategic positions (Prasad 108, 109). Yet the end result of all their expansion will be extinction.

It is hypocritical to claim moral superiority while bringing suffering to the poor and helpless. It is madness to promote policies that will make the planet unlivable in the future just for the sake of short term profit. Peace cannot be talked about when dropping thousands of bombs on weaker nations (King 119). It cannot be achieved when children are murdered (Hedges).

Young people are seduced into signing up for wars they don't always understand. They may enlist in the military for status, brotherhood, patriotism, economic opportunity, college education, and so on, but they are often used as muscle for the political interests of the ruling class (Hedges).

After returning home, especially if they have been in combat before, many veterans feel alienated from the rest of society. They don't get the help they need for the traumas they have experienced.

While soldiers are sent off to fight in foreign wars, in their own countries, there is a history of structural violence (King 114, 115). Violence in classism and racism and sexism. Violence in homophobia and transphobia. Violence is deeply embedded in the institutions of their societies. How can peace be realized elsewhere when it cannot be realized at home?

There has to be a counterforce of nonviolence to meet the injustices of the present. Communities of resistance can spring up in many forms, devoting themselves to lessen the suffering of all people, offering places of refuge (Berrigan, Nhat Hanh 147, 148).

Churches, mosques, pagodas, and temples can work in solidarity as centers of active resistance. People from different backgrounds, both religious and secular, can unite for peaceful alternatives to war. It is not enough to pray and meditate. There has to be real engagement with those who are suffering.

It is important that these communities see each other as human beings first and not get caught up in dogmatic ideologies. Respect should be given to everyone who wants to learn and grow. A diversity of perspectives is crucial for deep understanding. Critical thinking should be open and encouraged.

Individuals can contribute their unique skills and knowledge. Priests, writers, artists, musicians, teachers, doctors, monks, journalists, activists, veterans, psychologists, scientists, farmers, and other members of society are all valuable, even from their presence alone (Berrigan, Nhat Hanh 154).

People can practice the principles of nonviolence in their daily lives. They can come together to help each other, not in the distant future, but right now.

Peace does not only come from boycotts and sit-ins and strikes. It does not only come from the mass demonstrations against unjust wars. Nor does it only come from the great figures of history, whether they be preachers or poets or presidents. It comes from the many small actions of nameless people, people who are courageous enough to live by their values.

Everyone has the power to water the seeds of love and compassion and truth rather than the seeds of hatred and fear and ignorance. While it is difficult to strive for peace alone, peace begins from within.

---

References:

Chomsky, Noam. Media Control: The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda. United States, Seven Stories Press, 2011.

Hedges, Chris. The Greatest Evil is War. United States, Seven Stories Press, 2023.

Berrigan, Daniel. Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha). Gandhi, Mahatma. Prasad, Rajendra. King, Martin Luther. Merton, Thomas. Nhat Hanh, Thich. Wallace, Henry. Zinn, Howard. The Power of Nonviolence: Writings by Advocates of Peace. United States, Beacon Press, 2002.

[Gulo · Rating 5 out of 5]

My one takeaway quote:

"For the world, in freeing itself from one burden, the peril of extinction, must inevitably shoulder another: it must assume full responsibility for settling human differences peacefully. Moreover, this recognition forces us to acknowledge that nuclear disarmament cannot occur if conventional arms are left in place, since as long as nations disarm themselves with arms of any kind they will be fully sovereign, and as long as they are fully sovereign they will be at liberty to build nuclear weapons if they so choose. And if we assume that wars do break out and some nations find themselves facing defeat in the conventional arena, then the reappearance of nuclear arms, which would prevent such defeat, becomes a strong likelihood."

- Schell

[Elijah Garrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Collection of essays by some of my favorite writers and activists. Does a nice job following the arc of resistance to violence as a means of consolidating and expanding power, even as societies and technologies evolved the basic message of humanity & community being more important than wealth and domination rings true.

Very different styles of writing and argumentation, be prepared, generally the concepts are cohesive, but not necessarily linear.

[Mikey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Power of Nonviolence is an anthology, compiled by Howard Zinn, of alternatives to war with a historical perspective; the aim is to present the most salient and persuasive arguments for peace in the last 2,500 years of human history.
Included are writings and speeches of original thinkers about peace and nonviolence: Buddha, Henry David Thoreau, Dorothy Day, Erich Fromm, Albert Camus, Martin Luther King Rajendra Prasad, Arundhati Roy and others.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an extremely valuable collection as a starting point for a discussion about peace. The balance of political pieces and religious/spiritual pieces is masterfully done. Even better, there is great representation from religious thinkers who aren't afraid to "leave the cloister" as it were to take a public stance in a positive and constructive way.

From addressing the concern that peace is somehow "unmanly" to debunking the absurd idea that total disarmament is somehow a naïve proposition and addressing the challenges of absolute pacifism, you really get a taste for the many different approaches to peace.

The book even features essays from that most elusive breed of thinker: staunch Catholics with whom I agree. Here's to Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton!

Of particular note: the hypocrisy of considering the United States of America a "peaceful country" is becoming increasingly easy to see- the essays from Arundhati Roy and Tim Wise do an excellent job of exploring the bald face lies of the American system and holding up a mirror that we citizens might wisely use to stock and organize against our corporate overlords' pro-war agenda.

File under: peace studies pre-requisite reading.

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this along with my short-lived activist book club WANT (we are not terrorists) and afterwards we all agreed that although we have conflicted feelings about violent activism, nonviolent advocation of peace is less exciting to read about than the weather underground and red army faction. There were a couple of essays advocating pacifism during the holocaust, however, which spurred on some interesting discussions.

[Erica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted it to be more powerful than it was. Didn't really satisfy the "what next?" question...

[Maggie]

Can't wait to read this.....my library doesn't have it.

[Thomas Sijpkens · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5