Many people accept their 'fate'.
Even if they feel alienated or abused, people who feel disempowered obey, acquiesce, or conform. There is a need for people to sense their power to shape their own lives and to influence the course of events around them. The specific contribution of nonviolence is to do this in a way that does not exacerbate enmity but respects the rights and the person of all. Social empowerment is a goal itself, and a process. The process of social empowerment is not simply awakening people to sense their capacities, but of sustaining participation in the shaping of one's own life and society.