Some thoughts to accompany this piece:

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I speak of resistance as someone who exists within, and often benefits from several power structures but is able to be highly critical of them without fear for my well being. I don’t live in an active war zone, nor am I being persecuted in a way that makes me currently fear for my life. As someone who is lucky enough to feel relative safety within massive power structures, I can only speak to my own experience and emotions.

For me, seeking benevolence when I’m pushed to be vengeful, expressing compassion when I’m pushed to be fearful, feeling empathy when I’m pushed to detest and abhor are all acts of resistance to the status quo of our individualistic and nationalistic societies that the institution in power is not equipped to suppress.

One of my first acts of resistance was as a conscientious objector when I was conscripted into military service at 17. It was by no means a difficult choice, nor one that put me in any grave danger, but it involved a great deal of introspection and understanding of myself, my citizenship and, most importantly, those who would be most affected by my service. It started me down a path of wondering why we didn’t spend more efforts in extending compassion toward others especially when living within power structures that had the capacity to do so. Benevolence, kindness, empathy, and even sacrificing just a small bit of one’s own comfort for the benefit of others have often been seen as weak or naive; the hawks always consume the doves. But what if that didn’t have to happen? What if enough of us practiced a resistance to the norms and values of corrupt systems by doing the opposite of what those ruling those systems expected of us? What if we did our best to resist the fear, the constant iteration of “the enemy”, the dogmatic principals of the loudest people in the room?

What if resistance, for us, began with a daily practice of love, compassion, benevolence, empathy and desire for others to live in this world with as much comfort as you and I would want for ourselves? What if…