Pacifism as Pathology: Reflections on the Role of Armed Struggle in North America

Anarchist activist and author Peter Gelderloos first recommended this book to me years ago, and these days Ward Churchill's Pacifism As Pathology is one of the first books I would grab to explain my politics to just about anyone. Actually, it's a really good prequel to Gelderloos's book... Issuing a counterargument to a particular "liberal" brand of secular worship of pacifism, Churchill criticizes Gandhi, 1960s anti-war activists, and Martin Luther King, Jr's Civil Rights struggle as victories DESPITE rather than BECAUSE of their non-violent practices. Ultimately, this book is hella inspiring for its very real criticism of the candy-ass, apologetic, guilt-ridden liberal movement that tells us that non-violence (like voting, paying taxes, buying local, and just saying no to Starbux) is the key to social change. Churchill's idea of revolution is a little more... direct.