Ordinary people’s refusal can topple even entrenched systems of power
Evidence
The Berlin Wall fell for many reasons, but above all it was because the people of East Berlin said, “No more!” We too can be the authors of many “great and beautiful” new facts that reclaim the digital future as humanity’s home. No more! Let this be our declaration. — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1661
Categorization
- CANDY: The Berlin Wall fell because East Berliners said ‘No more!’ is a compact elevator-conversation fact.
- XREF: connects to: Political apathy can be sanctioned as the system’s healthy basis — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2341; Modern resistance to power centers on refusing identities imposed on us. — Wael Hallaq, Restating Orientalism: A Critique of…, 994; People usually refuse direct cruelty to humanized others even under authority — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 631 (+9 more)
Broader Connections
- People usually refuse direct cruelty to humanized others even under authority
#corroborates(0.78) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 631 - Modern resistance to power centers on refusing identities imposed on us.
#expands(0.75) — Wael Hallaq, Restating Orientalism, 994 - Reform-minded dissent within a system strengthens rather than threatens it
#contradicts(0.72) - A system tolerates and rewards dissent that stays within its boundaries
#contradicts(0.72) — Wael Hallaq, Restating Orientalism, 340 - Institutionalized legitimate power outweighs brutality in social significance
#contradicts(0.70) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 612