John Lennon: Musician & Activist for Non-Violence

 I don't believe in violent revolution. Yoko stated it very well which is: 'Violent revolutionaries are playing the same establishment game.' - John Lennon

John Lennon would've most likely turned 80 today if not for an assassin's bullet 40 years ago on December 8, 1980 and that is a tragic loss both for the world and his family. Listening to some of his music today and seeing a photo of the statue of him in Cuba led to the following train of thought.

In the 1960s and 1970s the Cuban dictatorship engaged in what amounted to cultural genocide banning musicians, musical groups and genres that were viewed as decadent or counter-revolutionary. Many great Cuban musicians were marginalized and their music censored, but it was not limited to Cubans. The Beatles and later on John Lennon's solo music were also officially banned for years.

In 2000 John Lennon was "politically rehabilitated" on the 20th anniversary of his death by no less than Fidel Castro who unveiled a statue and by regime spokesmen who would try to claim him as an ideological fellow traveler.

Not for the first time, the Castro regime lied.

John Lennon rejected the ideological basis of Castroism: a small band of armed guerrillas smashing everything down so that they can take over and hang on to power. Wonder what Lennon would say about old men hanging on to power and making life intolerable for rising generations in Cuba today?

Below are some statements made by the great musician and activist.

"The militant revolutionaries, ask them to show you one revolution that turned out to be what it promised militantly. Lets take Russia, France anywhere that had it. What they do is smash the place down and they build it up again. The people who build it up hang on to it then they become the establishment. Now you guys are going to be the establishment in a few years. Its not worth knocking it down cause its convenient to have the rooms and the machinery." - John Lennon 

"The thing is to protest but protest non-violently because violence begets violence. You know if you run around wild you get smacked that's it. Its the law of the universe. they've got all the weapons and got all the money and they know how to fight violence because they've been doing it for thousands of years suppressing us. The only thing they don't know about is nonviolence and humor." - John Lennon
 

"There’s nothing new under the sun. All the roads lead to Rome. And people cannot provide it for you. I can’t wake you up. You can wake you up. I can’t cure you. You can cure you." - John Lennon

John Lennon has more in common with the San Isidro Movement than the dictatorship and mobs attacking these artists.