Spotlight: Dr. Gene Sharp, Celebrity Philosopher

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Dr. Gene Sharp passed away this week (January 28, 2018).  He was the founder of the Albert Einstein Institution, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the study of nonviolent action, and a retired professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.  He was as close to a celebrity philosopher as a philosopher can get. He is credited with inspiring people in oppressed countries to resist tyranny through non-violent means. Not as a moral argument but as a tactical approach. He argued that the power of rulers and governments only comes from the people and if everyone stopped and turned away from government then the government loses all power over the people (paraphrased).