Violent Peacekeeping- the oxymoron of the century

Which is a more effective strategy in terms of social action - non-violent peacekeeping and activism (MLK, Gandhi) or aggressive peacemaking (Malcom X)? Consider both sides in your answer.

History has been witness to both peace and war. It has also been witness to their beginnings and resolution. From what it has seen, people respond most readily to action and a forth coming approach. Personally, I tend to side with history and agree that people need to be shaken up to see any change or any response. I am not saying that we need to go forth and kill everyone who society deems "bad" or whomever may be the oppressor but please consider this scenario before you judge what I am about to put forth. Try and go back to when you were a child, let's say for arguments sake you are 6 years old. Now, it is almost Christmas time and you really want a brand-new shiny red bicycle. Assuming you still believed in Santa or were just experiencing his non-existence you felt the threat that if you were bad you wouldn't be getting that new bicycle! Consequently, as you got older you were still threatened with other potentially life altering demands. One example being when you were a teen: If you do not clean your room you will NOT be allowed to go to Jimmy's party on Saturday. At that age, if you didn't go to Jimmy's party your life would actually be over. So if now-a-days you threaten people with some sort of consequence (and assuming you follow through if they do not do what your asking) they will listen and all will be good.

The world is full of suffering, it is also full of overcoming it. --Helen Keller


We can teach the blind to see, the deaf to hear and make the immovable move but we can't seem to remove the pain that many of our own suffer. We want to make the grass more green, the skies more blue, make the animal kingdom stronger yet we enjoy the suffering of our own. I have recently read something I never knew existed before, FGM- Female Genitalia Mutilation and for some reason I am growing attached to this issue, as though I can help find a way to stop it. I would go into the details of what FGM is, but just thinking about it makes me sick to my stomach. Basically, in certain cultures they find it okay to remove the outer portions of female genitalia including but not limited to the labia and clitoris. The ways they do it make the process even more gruesome; all of it an attempt to stop young women from having sexual intercourse before marriage. In my opinion, there are much better ways!