Non-Violence but

Non-violence is a concept of living in a non-violent world that would be good, where the whole population cooperated and flourished together. But how can non-violence work with four groups of people; criminals, police, terrorists including foreign invaders and the military? How can the population get rid of criminals and terrorists. Until we can determine a way, force is the only way to deal with the modern criminal and terrorists. So could non-violence work in the peaceful population?  It is essentially what we have between the crimes.

Much of the criminal element here in Canada does not think it is doing anything wrong. They are selling product and services the there customers want, or providing the need, so that others may sell the services. Drugs, sex, and the like are the first part, and those whose actions and insurance is the second part. And what about Quzi criminals, not quite criminal, but depending on the criminal element for support, aka, theft insurance, and the criminal legal system defendants. Oh well.

Non violence worked in India for a number of reasons. Nobody had much, most lived hand to mouth. The English in control were not total savages, and would not kill without reason. India was a money pit to England, and the people had a death denying  religion, reincarnation or rebirth. What have I ever lost in dying? They had no fear of death. Death was all about them and had been for there entire lives, nothing new there. There were also many ascetics, up to one third of the population by some accounts, and a cast system that most of the population were lower than cattle. Gandhi came along and offered hope, as a dream merchant, and delivered some of that dream, a free India, but with a tremendous loss of life by the time it was over, with two Pakistan's and India separated. 

To clean up this country, we cannot beat the criminals. We need to remove the profits from crime; legalize and tax all the big criminal sources of revenue. Drugs, sex are straight forward. Pawn shops and resale of stolen items must have high penalties, equal to the crime, for without them, there would be no reason to steal much, only for your own use. Things like reverse engineering would need to end, the combined lot should be treated as one, and all convicted equally, and with vigor.

So ultimately, the virtue of non-violence must be allowed to slide down the virtue priority list for now, and self-preservation, and our own peace of mind must rise above this one. In-fact, our own peace of mind may need to be on the very top always, to be part of a flourishing life.