NVC = Nonviolent communication, not to be confused with nonviolence/pacifism.
I am starting to question whether the strategy of violence (doxxing, attacks) against nazis to change their behavior is actually making us safer in the long run, and bringing us towards our goal. I’m an anarchist and it honestly feels uncomfortable to question this as I’ve just pushed away the thoughts earlier.
A couple forewords:
With nazi here I mean nazis who are on the same “power level” as us, not police/politicans/state of any kind.
The anarchist goal as I see it is a society of liberation without hierarchy, systems of capitalism and such. A world where peoples needs are met.
To my dilemma:
I am thinking about how nazis target immigrants for example. Maybe they do so because they believe a narrative of that immigrants are ruining society and will threaten their safety. So they are trying to meet their need for safety when they attack immigrants in different ways.
Now say antifa groups have doxxed this nazi and physically attacked them in the street, with the goal of changing their behavior. (This does NOT include “protective use of force”, such as self defence in the sense of “a nazi just punched me, I am in physical danger, I punch back”) The nazis need for safety is now probably even more unmet, which could cause them to hold stronger to their belief that grants them safety to act on.
Also, sometimes antifa groups, of obvious reasons, consist of members of these groups that nazis believe are causing danger to them or others, such as immigrants or trans people. They have now experienced violence from these groups, which sounds likely to strengthen their belief that immigrants are dangerous, and causing their need for safety to be unmet.
Let’s say the nazi does stop with the behavior of hurting immigrants. They’re doing so due to fear or because of the immense punishment that came from being doxxed, losing friends, work etc. Now they also have many other unmet needs such as love, connection, financial stability. I also believe that people who change their behavior due to fear will somehow compensate for this, perhaps with new strategies to meet their needs that still somehow harms other people. I also think it is highly unlikely, after being attacked by antifa groups, that they will be prone to develop class consciousness and participate in a cooperative society.
Maybe goes without saying, but I don’t really believe in that some people “deserve punishment”, that really goes against my whole anarchist values and also the NVC lense. Also don’t think that nazis are “born evil”, that’s very surface level understanding of politics.
That brings the question of, how is this taking us towards our goal of a society where peoples needs are met? To me, it sounds completely counterproductive.
My idea for an alternative practice:
We are trying to meet our needs for maybe safety aswell, when we attack nazis. They try to meet their need for safety and in the long run they could be thinking of needs like financial stability which a level down equates to basic human needs. If we show in practice that we will meet their needs of safety, food etc., by for example food not bombs, practically inviting them into mutual aid, the problem is damn near solved?! They experience themselves that the immigrants, trans people etc. are helping them meet their needs. This could cause them to stop believing that these groups of people are a danger to them. Which in turn! Could mean they question, why did I believe this narrative? And bam class consciousness too.
Some problems with this alternative though, is that it could be dangerous for the immigrants to interact with the nazis if they are looking to harm them.
My request to you:
What do you think of the dilemma I have with our practice of violence to change nazis behaviors, and my idea of an alternative?
If you think that the current practice is self defence or the best harm reduction we got in the situation, could you argue against what I brought up about how this might actually be making us unsafer, please?
Especially if you are familiar with NVC (not to be confused with nonviolence), please chime in! 🩷🦒