Warning: Long-windedness ahead. I'll try to break it up into shorter posts.

I would suggest that pacifism is a broad and extremely nuanced concept, the exploration of which provides the individual and society a very difficult but rich opportunity to deal with the paradoxes and conflicts that are inherent in human interaction, whether one is talking about two individuals, the individual in relationship to the group, or the interactions between groups. To the extent a person has insight into themselves (i.e. to what extent has an individual is able to speak truth to their own power) then one can both arrive at one's own synthesis, and appreciate and accept as valid the different synthesis at which others might arrive. One can recognize the importance of ideals as well as the importance of pragmatism in shaping efforts geared toward either shaping or expressing the values, attitudes and actions of society. Whether an individual personally finds a synthesis toward the pragmatic end or toward the idealistic end of the continuum will depend an a number of interrelated variables that include but are certainly not limited to personality, life experience, values and the ranking of personal values, social learning (which includes all the elements involved with socialization within a cultural context, which includes the collective and historical experiences of the social group in which one is embedded,) and self-interest.

There are always both costs and benefits to choices we make.   There are always risks. While there may be intended consequences, there are always unintended consequences. Short term cost/benefit analyses tend to be more accurate. The further into the future one tries to project, the less reliable the cost/benefit analysis. Because values, goals, time-lines, and perceptions of self-interest vary, different individuals, and different groups will use different criteria when weighing costs and benefits, and within groups there will also be differences, some more nuanced than others.

Believe it or not, this line of thought has to do with racism, in particular, and social justice in general.