Entry 10

I’ve been told time and again that our nonviolent revolution could not, would not have succeeded under other circumstances. I remain convinced that it is the only form of revolution with any chance of permanent success.

Yes, some regimes are so brutal that passive resistance would take years to succeed, in places where to resist means to risk one’s life. Sadly, we learned that even in comparatively civilized places nonviolent civil disobedience can get you killed.

Everyone agreed that life was not the way it ought to be under our old governor.

The fruits of our labor were seized and much of them were sent back to Earth or mined for other colonies in other solar systems.

Rules that had been developed to ensure survival in a primitive environment were never relaxed after the environment had been civilized and we knew we were going to live.

Regulations were piled upon regulations until we had no right to make any use of our own property without the approval of some representative of Earth government.

The taxes we paid to the governor’s office amounted to more than the measure of our compensation left over for our own needs and wants.

Yes, we all agreed that we were in a state of slavery to a government far, far away. Where we disagreed was in how to throw off the shackles.

Once I had had a taste of blood, I never went back. That’s my whole story. If I had never been exposed to the thinking of Mohandas Gandhi, Henry David Thoreau, Jesus, Martin Luther King Jr. or Ramsey Sardonicus, I would have spent the rest of my life developing my own philosophy of solving challenges without forcing other people to do my will.

Insisting that coercion not be part of the equation is not easy. Insisting that in a kill-or-be-killed situation there must be a third alternative is downright dangerous. Insisting that your mortal enemy must live is very hard. But the alternative is the endless cycle of death and destruction that has plagued humanity from its earliest days.

The good news is that I was indeed exposed to the thinking of those masters of nonviolence and passive resistance, so I didn’t have to make up the idea from scratch. Who is Ray Kaliber, after all? If I could quote wisdom from 200, 400 or 2,500 years ago, my suggestions would have more weight.

Entry 11. Preface