ThirstyFish

This year's Dumbo Arts Festival featured an exhibition of Original Artwork by Little Lamas. Little lamas (young monks) that contributed to this exhibition were from the north-west region of Nepal along the Himalayan Mountains and the border of Tibet. At the exhibition, it was noted that all of the proceeds from the sales of the artwork would be used to support the continued education and care of Little Lama's.

Although all religions and ethical systems encapsulate principles and tenets of nonviolence, these are highly emphasized in Buddhist traditions. Nonviolence is a somewhat ambiguous term that could either be interpreted as a moral principle to live by, a way of life, or, as a technique for dealing with conflict, especially political conflict.

Nonviolence is often incorrectly equated to pacifism. Generally speaking, pacifism implies non action when faced with conflict, whereas, nonviolence is a method to bring forth change by gaining popular support through education and persuasion. The Occupy Movement wisely chose nonviolence as a principle. The movement also wisely selected to be a leaderless resistance.

Why is the Occupy Movement protesting? The answer to this question can be summarized in a quote from Thomas Jefferson: "if we can but prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people, under the pretense of taking care of them, they must become happy". Wasting the labors of the people? Warmongering, plutocracy and economic tyranny. Some statistics!

The period before the American Revolution is somewhat representative of the situation today. While the British Empire ignored its colonial citizens and imposed financial burdens on them, a nonviolent ideological movement known as the American Enlightenment emerged. The Founding Fathers eventually managed to educate and persuade enough people and were forced to declare independence from the British. Hopefully, those in government will be inspired by their own history and reverse the current trends before...