The sun is shining in Seattle; the mountains are out and it's a gorgeous day, with the cold, clear weather a prelude to snow, I'm told. For once, that's fine with me; I don't have to drive anywhere this weekend, and could easily walk the 18 blocks to a yoga class at Bitter Lake tomorrow morning, if need be.
Bitter Lake, pictured here with my old bicycle, the original Schwinn, is one of Seattle's many little hidden idyllic spots; on a nice day a it's a tiny, tucked-away pocket of paradise.
Now, I've been avoiding any political writing lately, and anyway over time I've made an effort to relegate all things political to that "other" blog. However, I do want to mention in passing that I'm enjoying reading Bostonian Gene Sharp's "From Dictatorship to Democracy," a 93-page pamphlet subtitled "A Conceptual Framework for Liberation," and a how-to manual for revolutionaries.
Sharp, now 83, is a hands-on instructor. He didn't travel to Egypt during during the recent brouhaha there (his health is now frail), but has been to every other world hot spot over the years as they occurred, and his little book was widely consulted by the activists in Tahrir Square.
It's rather dry (it's an instruction manual, after all), but edifying. A paraphrased content sample would be "Non-violent confrontation works; violence doesn't, because it will rebound on you." The little book is available for free PDF download, or, if you want the Html version simply Google "Gene Sharp From Dictatorship to Democracy" and choose Html.
Etaoin Shrdlu
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1 comment:
Indeed, violent revolutions are poisoned from the outset, in general.
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