Today’s topic is Political Violence.

Physical torture. Psychological terroristic actions. Forced abductions. Human trafficking. Racial torture. Mass rape. The depths of violence in politics are universally unfathomable. The quest for political power has led to some of the most atrocious crimes. A powerful group can use political violence to weaken opposing groups and opposing groups can use political violence to revolutionize change against a powerful group. Many electoral, enthno-religious, domestic and international warfares, have resulted in fatalities and casualties of thousands to millions of human lives. Political violence displaces families, depletes resources, destroys infrastructure, induces psychological turmoil and erodes unity, peace and progress.

The consequences of historical political violence continuously vibrate across the world till this very second. World wars, Wars for Independence, Civil Wars, The Arab Spring, The Biafran War, The Russian war that wiped out over 5 million people, the Chinese war that wiped out over 10 million people and world war 2 that wiped out upwards of 100 million people. Political violence is highly deadly. Aside major domestic and international war occurrences, political violence also occurs everyday around us. Intra-party violence, assassination attempts, armed escalations and snatching and destroying of ballot boxes. The cost of political violence is huge. No matter how small the event is, violence damages, regresses and extincts. Great leaders take actions daily to build progressive grassroot power and not slaves for war. We can all be revolutionary pacifists. We can win without war.

Olatorera’s Concluding Speech on Political Violence

As violence for political power rages around the world and as activists heighten their democratic work for liberation, may the world emerge into a neutral land of greater humanity, equal opportunities and widespread progress. There’s no hierarchical power after life and there are greater threats to life, such as global warming, that regards no hierarchical power. We can all win. We can all win without violence.