Kind of, it shows that there are a few ways to try to achieve change. So if you keep trying one of those methods and don’t see the change you want, it might be time to change tactics.

The political axes of moderate–militant and liberal–radical may seem equivalent, but they are not. It’s true that liberals are often moderates, and radicals are often militants. But that’s not inevitable and it’s not universal. I’ve worked with plenty of radicals who were also moderates, who sought to make fundamental changes in the power dynamics of their communities using low-risk action to make gradual changes. And I’ve worked with liberal militants, who were willing to fight to make changes within established power structures. In any case, all of these approaches can have a time and place in resistance struggles.