Peaceful Revolution: The Strength of Non-Violent Resistance
By Gavi Chavez 8/10/2025

What is the most powerful weapon for change? Is it violence or peaceful yet loud voices? Throughout history a revolution has been associated with violence, but it doesn't need always to be this way. A worker rebellion doesn't have to be violent; instead, workers can rebel peacefully. Strikes, unionization, and mutual aid can lead to a non-violent revolution.  

The idea of violence brings destruction, loss and doesn't fully resolve conflicts in fact they often make conflicts worse.  When a worker rebellion is the first to start aggression upon others when there is no violence to begin with, it not only makes a movement look bad, but it can bring unnecessary casualties to workers that could have been prevented. 

Let's take The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) for an example. They often participated in direct action and civil disobedience in their protests. Workers of the movement used direct action to play a role in fighting against the wage system and other unethical exploitation of the working class. The workers mainly spoke loudly on street corners trying to convince people that the wage system should be abolished in favor of workers getting what they were owed based on labor conditions and the time they spent on the work. They often got arrested for free speech activism, but their strategy was to fill up the prison and jail systems with members to where they became unmanageable. The IWW played a role in peacefully protesting their working conditions, and they did not use violence to push an agenda.  

Is violence ever ethically acceptable? This question has sparked debate within collectives trying to fight for freedom of the working class. The answer lies under Offense vs defense. While violence isn't always acceptable in most cases, the idea of a worker's life being in danger is what matters. In self-defense it is acceptable to use force do defend yourself. An example of this would be if a worker is protesting their working conditions and a private or public enforcer threatens their life using a weapon. The worker has the justification to use equal amount of force to defend themselves or have a collective member defend the worker's life. 

 The initiation of force is what makes the state. When protesters act forcefully on the Offense rather than the defense of violence then who are we to say we are any better than the state?