What happens after the election?
August 15, 2020
Dear Colleagues and Friends,
President Trump has been hinting that, even if Joe Biden clearly wins in November, he may refuse to accept that result. That would, or will, result in massive protest, probably sustained at least until the inauguration. The potential for violence would become quite high. I am including links below this line to two of the most articulate articles I have seen thus far.
The first article was published on August 4, by Mel Duncan, who is co-founder of Nonviolent Peaceforce (and who interviewed me in some depth last year).
The second was published August 11 by George Lakey, who is widely regarded as one of the most effective trainers of nonviolence around the world (I first encountered his name in the jungles of Thailand).
The third was written in early July by Ken Butigan, who, together with Fr Louie Vitale, taught me a summer course in the theology of nonviolence at the Franciscan school in Berkeley.
Please also read my thoughts below these links.
Yesterday and today I have attended two long zoom trainings, organized by Nonviolent Peaceforce and by DC Peace Team, including numerous role-plays and breakout discussions, on bystander intervention and de-escalation. This is where those of us committed to nonviolence could and can be useful after the election. These skills would or will limit the escalation of violence, and may save lives.
But in order to be effective, we will need to be organized into networks, to plan in some detail how to respond to various possible scenarios, and to train and rehearse the needed skills.
So I invite you to read the articles, and to keep your eyes open for future articles by the above writers (Mel, George and Ken), and also articles by Erica Chenoweth, Maria Stephan, and/or Candace Rondeaux. If you see an invitation to train or plan or organize with a local peace team (sometimes called 'shanti sena'), I hope you will do what you can to support our efforts. (Al Gore may have won the 2000 election, but we were not organized or prepared to protest when the courts stopped the vote-counting in Florida.)
Pace e bene con affetto
Lorin