Chris Hedges, George Lakey on Nonviolent Resistance to the Corporate State
Truthdig columnist Hedges and author-activist Lakey discuss the practical implementations, particularly when dealing with fascists and the economic elites.
In this new episode of “On Contact,” host and Truthdig columnist Chris Hedges interviews author and activist George Lakey. The two discuss practical implementations of nonviolent resistance, particularly when dealing with fascists and the economic elites.
Lakey, whose latest book is “Viking Economics: How the Scandinavians Got It Right and How We Can Too,” describes how his research into Scandinavian history showed him that nonviolence is the most successful way to resist fascism and create a successful democracy.
He explains how fascists in the 1920s and ’30s would “bait the left” and “then the left would come and [they would] have street fights.” That, he says, “strengthens the state” because the state is then pressured to intervene and crack down on violence.
Lakey says progressives instead need to emulate nonviolent resistance from that period.
“We keep our eye on the prize. That is to say, we remember who is actually running things, and we keep our focus on them,” he tells Hedges. “There’s more than one way to go after the 1 percent. I think, these days, a very smart way to do [it] is to focus on the economic entities that are owned by the 1 percent.”
Watch the full interview, which also features a look at nonviolent resistance during the civil rights era, in the video above.
—Posted by Emma Niles.
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