When I was a student in Zimbabwe. Occasionally the other students would protest over fees and the general living conditions.

I never joined. I stood out like a sore thumb, being the only white guy among them. I put my head down and ran from the protests.

Perhaps I believed that they would accomplish nothing (they did accomplish nothing). Perhaps I feared. Perhaps I was not willing to put my life fully into the cause.

I am sure I was not the only one who ran, just the most obvious one.

Whatever the case, at some point, I think people wind up with nothing left to lose. The reality is the failure of the people with something to lose drives this. And because they have something to lose they will be silent in the face of other's trials.

Peaceful protest was and perhaps is not possible in Zimbabwe. It is always violent. A quick search will show you horrific images of police beating women, children and the elderly. I see echoes of that here in South Africa.

I pray America does not degenerate into this, but I fear it will. The root is different. But the result may be the same. I fear your "us vs them" mentality will drive you there. And you're right, it is "us vs them", because they have made it that way.

How can you resist those with all the power, all the advantages?

I post this thread not to offer solutions, nor to provoke sympathy. Perhaps just to lament for what was and what is.

I am a pacifist. I will not raise my hand against my fellow man. But I can understand the pain and hopelessness that causes another to do so. I can see the hate and greed that causes yet another to do so. I reserve my judgement for the oppressed, not the oppressor.