more from Michael Walzer

Single Idea 23591

[catalogued under 25. Social Practice / E. Policies / 1. War / d. Non-combatants]

Full Idea

When one cannot count on the moral code of the oppressor, nonviolence is either a disguised form of surrender or a minimalist way of upholding communal values after a military defeat.

Gist of Idea

If the oppressor is cruel, nonviolence is either surrender, or a mere gesture

Source

Michael Walzer (Just and Unjust Wars [1977], Afterword)

Book Reference

Walzer,Michael: 'Just and Unjust Wars' [Penguin 1984], p.333


A Reaction

The point is that ruthless conquerors may just kill the nonviolent, so it would achieve nothing. Nonviolence is only a plausible strategy in a fairly civilised world. Hard to disagree.