ANS -- the Success of nonviolent civil resistance: Erica Chenoweth at TEDxBoulder

Here is a link to a TED talk.  I recommend viewing it.  It's about non-violent movements being more successful than violent movements.  I found it in a Facebook post, and this is what the person who posted it said:   

Clayton Ryan

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For the nth time, punching Nazis is literally what got us Nazis the first time around. Communists at the time engaged in street brawls with Nazis, which they turned around to win the upcoming elections on the platform of restoring law and order. They need you to engage in violence, because the terms of debate they desire is fisticuffs. They believe violence is a completely appropriate way to settle political disputes, and if you agree in your actions, they win. "Punch More Nazis" = violence. Period. Full stop.

Let me put it another way...

Do you believe in science? Like, there's science that says the world is warming and the climate is changing, 99% of scientists agree, it's a fact backed up by reams of data. I believe in science, so when a scientist investigates the last 100 years of conflicts on planet Earth and discovers that nonviolent conflicts are 3x more effective than violent conflicts, I listen. When she shows us data demonstrating that violent conflicts are becoming less common and less effective, and opposition movements that gain power through violence usually end up more violent against their own people once in power, I listen. When she shows that violence is effectively a barrier to entry for all but males between the ages of 18-45 who are willing to harm other people, it means a revolution grounded in violence will leave out (most) women, artists, intellectuals, civic servants, religious leaders, young people, etc (i.e. all the people who make a movement). When she says that every movement, violent or nonviolent, that achieved the active and sustained participation of 3.5% of the population has succeeded in the last 100 years, I am filled with great hope (btw, no violent campaign has achieved that percentage of active participation). So listen, the science of nonviolence is here, you can read it, analyze it, and you can even disagree, but your gut feeling that violence is still an effective tool for political conflict is the exact same thing as those people denying the scientific consensus surrounding the reality of global climate change.

The success of nonviolent civil resistance: Erica Chenoweth at TEDxBoulder

The success of nonviolent civil resistance: Erica Chenoweth at TEDxBoulder Between 1900-2006, campaigns of nonviolent civil resistance were twice as successful as violent campaigns. Erica...