Fear and Power Over Others

Throughout history it can be seen that nonviolent movements have overcome powerful dictators and rulers by using so much less force and aggression. A lot of this is due to the balance of power and fear. Although one might have total control over a group of people military and strength wise, they cannot totally take over if the ones being repressed have nothing to fear or have taken away from them. One example of this is one we talked in class about the other day where a teacher presides over her students because she is the one who gives out the grades and says whether the student passes or fails her class, you can use this example in many other situations as well, however as in the example of the teacher and student, if the student does not care about his grades or the class the technically the teacher does not hold any power over them and cannot control them. If all nonviolent groups find something that can be taken away from them and it doesn't affect them, then the ones who govern over them will lose their power and ability to repress. When this happens, the ones who were being repressed are now in control and the tyrant will fall. You can compare this to David VS Goliath, the smaller weaker group finds the weaknesses in the larger more controlling group and rises up to conquer.