Why would you do it?
I have a question for everyone. Why hunger strikes? To what purpose? I don't understand them. Let's explore a few scenarios, to try to solve this mystery, shall we?
Scenario A. The Emperor Vorgletwoop is persecuting the Zoglies. The End.
Scenario B. The Emperor Vorgletwoop is persecuting the Zoglies. Emily decides to go on a hunger strike. She will not eat until the injustice is stopped. The Emperor doesn't care about Emily, so she starves to death.
Scenario C. The Emperor Vorgletwoop is persecuting the Zoglies. Emily decides to go on a hunger strike. She will not eat until the injustice is stopped. She is stopped, put in a hospital and will not die. The situation with the Zoglies has not changed.
Scenario D. The Emperor Vorgletwoop is persecuting the Zoglies. Emily decides to go on a hunger strike. She will not eat until the injustice is stopped. The Emperor notices one of his many, many subjects starving herself. He immediately sees that what he has been doing is wrong, and procedes to give equal rights to all Zoglies. Emily eats again, and lives.
I'm sorry, I don't see this as very likely. Here's why.
Just for the record, I'm sure Emily is a good person. She truly cared about the Zoglies, and what she did was very noble. So, even if she was slightly misguided in holding a hunger strike (we'll see why later), she wanted to save the Zoglies. We need more Emilys in the world.
Now let's take a look at the Emperor. What will the Emperor think about this? If he is the kind of ruler who persecutes people (he is, that's what this is about) will he really care that one person decided to protest his actions? I don't think he will. In fact, the situation will end up being to his advantage. Emily declared herself against the Emperor, and then proceded to kill herself. Sure, she might have gotten some publicity for the cause, but in the end, she died.
Emily has just done a great service to the Emperor. One of the members of a group of people who disagree with his actions has killed herself. Surely the Emperor will be glad to hear this! What if we take it a step further?
What if ALL of the Emperor's opponents held hunger strikes? We know he will not stop them. Those people will die, and there will be no resistance, no opposition. In fact, those people will end up HELPING him, by killing themselves off.
How about something not so direct?
Scenario 1. The Emperor Vorgletwoop is persecuting the Zoglies. The Lopu are doing nothing about it. Emily is a Lopu, and decides to go on a hunger strike. She will not eat until the Lopu intervene, and stop the injustice. The Lopu know that stopping this will only bring the Emperor down on them, and so do nothing. Emily might die, she might live. Who cares?
Scenario 2. The Emperor Vorgletwoop is persecuting the Zoglies. The Lopu are doing nothing about it. Emily is a Lopu, and decides to go on a hunger strike. She will not eat until the Lopu intervene, and stop the injustice. The Lopu are so kind, they can't stand it if one of them is suffering. They confront the Emperor, and are all slaughtered. Instead of starving, Emily is murdered by Vorgletwoopian soldiers.
Scenario 3. The Emperor Vorgletwoop is persecuting the Zoglies. The Lopu are doing nothing about it. Emily is a Lopu, and decides to go on a hunger strike. She will not eat until the Lopu intervene, and stop the injustice. The Lopu are so kind, they can't stand it if one of them is suffering. They confront the Emperor, and he sees that what he has been doing is wrong, and procedes to give equal rights to all Zoglies. Emily eats again, and lives.
(Can we truly believe this will work? Maybe Emily wanted this, and in her dreams this is how it played out. But maybe this next scenario is more realistic)
Scenario 4. The Emperor Vorgletwoop is persecuting the Zoglies. The Lopu are doing nothing about it. Emily is a Lopu, and decides to go on a hunger strike. She will not eat until the Lopu intervene, and stop the injustice. The Lopu are so kind, they can't stand it if one of them is suffering. They put Emily in a hospital. But they are not onloy kind, they are smart. They know that to get involved in the conflict is suicide, and so do nothing. Emily lives, but the persecution continues.
Well, what if the Lopu are stronger than the Vorgletwoopians? Then, if they are as nice as they are in these Scenarios, they will have already intervened, and Emily will never have done a hunger strike. If they are stronger, but not as kind, why would they care about one starving Lopu, or alternately, about the Zoglies?
I cannot see any real situations in which a hunger strike will actually achieve what it sets out to achieve. I can agree that it will bring some publicity to the issues, but are there not other ways to get publicity, without hurting yourself, and therefore making your enemies stronger?
Thanks for listening (reading), maybe someone can help me understand why someone would do this to themselves.
Scenario A. The Emperor Vorgletwoop is persecuting the Zoglies. The End.
Scenario B. The Emperor Vorgletwoop is persecuting the Zoglies. Emily decides to go on a hunger strike. She will not eat until the injustice is stopped. The Emperor doesn't care about Emily, so she starves to death.
Scenario C. The Emperor Vorgletwoop is persecuting the Zoglies. Emily decides to go on a hunger strike. She will not eat until the injustice is stopped. She is stopped, put in a hospital and will not die. The situation with the Zoglies has not changed.
Scenario D. The Emperor Vorgletwoop is persecuting the Zoglies. Emily decides to go on a hunger strike. She will not eat until the injustice is stopped. The Emperor notices one of his many, many subjects starving herself. He immediately sees that what he has been doing is wrong, and procedes to give equal rights to all Zoglies. Emily eats again, and lives.
I'm sorry, I don't see this as very likely. Here's why.
Just for the record, I'm sure Emily is a good person. She truly cared about the Zoglies, and what she did was very noble. So, even if she was slightly misguided in holding a hunger strike (we'll see why later), she wanted to save the Zoglies. We need more Emilys in the world.
Now let's take a look at the Emperor. What will the Emperor think about this? If he is the kind of ruler who persecutes people (he is, that's what this is about) will he really care that one person decided to protest his actions? I don't think he will. In fact, the situation will end up being to his advantage. Emily declared herself against the Emperor, and then proceded to kill herself. Sure, she might have gotten some publicity for the cause, but in the end, she died.
Emily has just done a great service to the Emperor. One of the members of a group of people who disagree with his actions has killed herself. Surely the Emperor will be glad to hear this! What if we take it a step further?
What if ALL of the Emperor's opponents held hunger strikes? We know he will not stop them. Those people will die, and there will be no resistance, no opposition. In fact, those people will end up HELPING him, by killing themselves off.
How about something not so direct?
Scenario 1. The Emperor Vorgletwoop is persecuting the Zoglies. The Lopu are doing nothing about it. Emily is a Lopu, and decides to go on a hunger strike. She will not eat until the Lopu intervene, and stop the injustice. The Lopu know that stopping this will only bring the Emperor down on them, and so do nothing. Emily might die, she might live. Who cares?
Scenario 2. The Emperor Vorgletwoop is persecuting the Zoglies. The Lopu are doing nothing about it. Emily is a Lopu, and decides to go on a hunger strike. She will not eat until the Lopu intervene, and stop the injustice. The Lopu are so kind, they can't stand it if one of them is suffering. They confront the Emperor, and are all slaughtered. Instead of starving, Emily is murdered by Vorgletwoopian soldiers.
Scenario 3. The Emperor Vorgletwoop is persecuting the Zoglies. The Lopu are doing nothing about it. Emily is a Lopu, and decides to go on a hunger strike. She will not eat until the Lopu intervene, and stop the injustice. The Lopu are so kind, they can't stand it if one of them is suffering. They confront the Emperor, and he sees that what he has been doing is wrong, and procedes to give equal rights to all Zoglies. Emily eats again, and lives.
(Can we truly believe this will work? Maybe Emily wanted this, and in her dreams this is how it played out. But maybe this next scenario is more realistic)
Scenario 4. The Emperor Vorgletwoop is persecuting the Zoglies. The Lopu are doing nothing about it. Emily is a Lopu, and decides to go on a hunger strike. She will not eat until the Lopu intervene, and stop the injustice. The Lopu are so kind, they can't stand it if one of them is suffering. They put Emily in a hospital. But they are not onloy kind, they are smart. They know that to get involved in the conflict is suicide, and so do nothing. Emily lives, but the persecution continues.
Well, what if the Lopu are stronger than the Vorgletwoopians? Then, if they are as nice as they are in these Scenarios, they will have already intervened, and Emily will never have done a hunger strike. If they are stronger, but not as kind, why would they care about one starving Lopu, or alternately, about the Zoglies?
I cannot see any real situations in which a hunger strike will actually achieve what it sets out to achieve. I can agree that it will bring some publicity to the issues, but are there not other ways to get publicity, without hurting yourself, and therefore making your enemies stronger?
Thanks for listening (reading), maybe someone can help me understand why someone would do this to themselves.