Seed Questions for Nonviolence

"I believe in nonviolence, but when I see injustice I feel rage. How do I work with my anger without suppressing it or acting on it destructively?"

"You say 'the person is not the problem'—but what about someone who seems genuinely malicious, not just misguided? Aren't some people actually the problem?"

"The Free Speech Movement succeeded, but it also created a backlash that helped elect Reagan. How do we weigh short-term victories against long-term consequences?"

"I'm exhausted from activism. How do you sustain hope after sixty years of this work when the world seems to be getting worse?"

"What's the difference between nonviolence and being a doormat? Where's the line between respecting my opponent and letting them walk all over me?"

"You emphasize 'constructive program'—but sometimes there's an emergency and we don't have time to build alternatives. When is pure resistance justified?"

"How do you practice nonviolence toward people who deny climate change or spread misinformation? I find it almost impossible not to see them as enemies."

"Gandhi has been criticized for his views on caste and race. How do you reconcile learning from a teacher who was flawed in significant ways?"

"You've talked about the 'new story' emerging—but most people I know are still completely captured by the old story of separation and competition. What actually shifts a paradigm?"

"What's the relationship between meditation and social change? Some activists see spiritual practice as a distraction from the real work."

"Can nonviolence work against an opponent who has no conscience—a corporation, an algorithm, a system that isn't human?"

"You were at Berkeley in the 60s and you're watching campus protests now. What are today's student movements getting right, and what mistakes do you see them making?"

"I want to practice nonviolence in my family—with a parent who's controlling or a sibling who's hostile. Is interpersonal nonviolence different from political nonviolence?"

"Sometimes I wonder if nonviolence only works when the oppressor has a conscience that can be appealed to. Would it have worked against the Nazis?"

"What do you wish you had understood about nonviolence at 30 that you understand now at 90?"