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CURRENT AFFAIRS / ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES $20.95 US / Higher in Canada / £12.99 UK “Derrick Jensen is a gifted and lyrical writer on a wide range of critical issues. He is unre- lenting in his commitment to the environment and justice.” —WINONA LADUKE “Jensen has proven himself a formidable thinker unafraid of showing us, with unsettling jensen precision, the countless ways we are allowing ourselves and our planet to be killed.” —San Francisco Chronicle endgame “‘At the risk of sounding ridiculous,’ Che Guevara once and rather famously declaimed, ‘let me say that the true revolutionary is guided by feelings of great love.’ To my mind, he might well have been describing Derrick Jensen. ... That Endgame embodies Jensen’s finest work to date says all that needs saying about why it simply MUST be read.” —WARD CHURCHILL, author of Since Predator Came and Struggle for the Land “[Endgame is] remarkable in its consideration of the present system of exploitation, destruc- tion of the natural world, and indeed, self-destruction. ... Jensen raises vital questions that must be asked, and, moreover, must be answered. In this mad venture, we are all com- plicit, if only in our silence. Jensen shatters this silence.” —MUMIA ABU-JAMAL Whereas the first volume of Endgame presents the problem of civilization, the sec- ond volume of this pivotal work raises the possibility of resistance. Incensed and hopeful, impassioned and lucid, Endgame, Volume II helps us recognize and join the impending ecological revolution. VOLUMEII Derrick Jensen is the acclaimed author of A Language Older Than RESISTANCE Words and The Culture of Make Believe, among many others. Author, endgame teacher, activist, small farmer, and leading voice of uncompromis- VOLUMEII ing dissent, he regularly stirs auditoriums across the country with revolutionary spirit. Jensen holds a degree in creative writing from Eastern Washington University, a degree in mineral engineering RESISTANCE physics from the Colorado School of Mines, and has taught at Eastern Washington University and Pelican Bay State Prison. Cover Design: Julie Burke / Front Cover Image: Untitled, 1964 © Jerry N. Uelsmann Author Photo: Karen Tweedy-Holmes ISBN: 978-1-58322-724-4 SEVEN STORIES PRESS 140 Watts Street derrick jensen New York, NY 10013 www.sevenstories.com Endgame_v2_text_20060322:Layout 1 8/5/09 8:07 AM Page i endgame VOLUMEII RESISTANCE Endgame_v2_text_20060322:Layout 1 8/5/09 8:07 AM Page ii Also by Derrick Jensen Railroads and Clearcuts Listening to the Land A Language Older Than Words Standup Tragedy (live CD) The Culture of Make Believe The Other Side of Darkness (live CD) Strangely Like War Walking on Water Welcome to the Machine Endgame_v2_text_20060322:Layout 1 8/5/09 8:07 AM Page iii endgame VOLUMEII RESISTANCE derrick jensen SEVENSTORIESPRESS new york • london • melbourne • toronto Endgame_v2_text_20060322:Layout 1 8/5/09 8:07 AM Page iv Copyright © 2006 by Derrick Jensen A Seven Stories Press First Edition All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, by any means, including mechanical, electric, photocopying, record- ing or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Seven Stories Press 140 Watts Street New York, NY 10013 www.sevenstories.com In Canada: Publishers Group Canada, 559 College Street, Suite 402, Toronto, ON M6G 1a9 In the UK: Turnaround Publisher Services Ltd., Unit 3, Olympia Trading Estate, Coburg Road, Wood Green, London N22 6TZ In Australia: Palgrave Macmillan, 15–19 Claremont Street, South Yarra VIC 3141 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Jensen, Derrick, 1960– Endgame / by Derrick Jensen. p. cm. Vol. 1 has subtitle: The end of civilization; vol. 2: Resistance. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN: 978-1-58322-730-5 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN: 978-1-58322-724-4 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Nature--Effect of human beings on. 2. Human ecology. 3. Civilization. i. Title. gf75.j45 2006 304.2--dc22 2006003645 College professors may order examination copies of Seven Stories Press titles for a free six- month trial period. To order, visit www.sevenstories.com/textbook or fax on school letter- head to (212) 226-1411. Book design by Jon Gilbert Printed in the USA 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 Endgame_v2_text_20060322:Layout 1 8/5/09 8:07 AM Page v Contents Premises............................................................. ix Volume I: The Problem of Civilization Apocalypse............................................................ 1 FiveStories........................................................... 5 Civilization.......................................................... 15 CleanWater.......................................................... 25 Catastrophe.......................................................... 33 Violence............................................................. 49 Irredeemable......................................................... 67 Counterviolence . 77 Listening to the Land . 87 Carrying Capacity . 101 The Needs of the Natural World . 121 PredatorandPrey.................................................... 131 Choices............................................................. 141 Abuse............................................................... 155 A Culture of Occupation . 183 Why Civilization is Killing the World, Part I . 207 Why Civilization is Killing the World, Part II . 229 Bringing Down Civilization, Part I . 249 A History of Violence . 269 Hatred.............................................................. 281 Love Does Not Imply Pacifism . 293 v Endgame_v2_text_20060322:Layout 1 8/5/09 8:07 AM Page vi vi endgame, volume ii: resistance It’sTimetoGetOut................................................. 303 Courage............................................................ 315 Hope............................................................... 327 The Civilized Will Smile as They Tear You Limb from Limb . 339 Their Insanity Was Permanent . 351 Romantic Nihilism . 361 NeckDeepinDenial................................................. 367 MakingItHappen................................................... 375 Fulcrums........................................................... 387 Violence............................................................ 397 Spending Our Way to Sustainability . 405 Empathy and Its Other . 415 Should We Fight Back? . 425 Star Wars ........................................................... 445 Acknowledgments . 453 Notes............................................................... 455 Bibliography........................................................ 473 AbouttheAuthor................................................... 495 Volume II: Resistance We Shall Destroy All of Them . 513 Winning............................................................ 523 Importance......................................................... 535 Identification . 545 Abusers............................................................. 557 A Thousand Years . 575 Dams,PartI........................................................ 585 PretendYouAreaRiver.............................................. 601 Endgame_v2_text_20060322:Layout 1 8/5/09 8:07 AM Page vii contents vii Dams,PartII....................................................... 607 Dams, Part III . 623 Dams,PartIV....................................................... 639 Too Much to Lose (Short Term Loss, Long Term Gain) . 653 Psychopathology . 663 Pacifism, Part I . 673 Responsibility . 693 Pacifism, Part II . 699 What It Means to Be Human . 707 Pacifism, Part III . 719 Fewer Than Jesus Had Apostles . 739 Pacifism, Part IV . 745 Get There First with the Most . 753 Symbolic and Non-symbolic Actions . 769 Like a Bunch of Machines . 785 Bringing Down Civilization, Part II . 797 Breaking Faith . 815 AMatterofTime.................................................... 823 Bringing Down Civilization, Part III . 831 Bringing Down Civilization, Part IV . 839 TheCrash.......................................................... 851 Civilization: Ongoing Holocaust . 859 Endgame........................................................... 871 The Return of the Salmon . 881 Acknowledgments . 893 Notes............................................................... 895 Bibliography........................................................ 909 AbouttheAuthor................................................... 931 Endgame_v2_text_20060322:Layout 1 8/5/09 8:07 AM Page viii Endgame_v2_text_20060322:Layout 1 8/5/09 8:07 AM Page ix Premises PREMISEONE : Civilization is not and can never be sustainable. This is espe- cially true for industrial civilization. PREMISETWO : Traditional communities do not often voluntarily give up or sell the resources on which their communities are based until their commu- nities have been destroyed.They also do not willingly allow their landbases to be damaged so that other resources—gold, oil, and so on—can be extracted. It follows that those who want the resources will do what they can to destroy traditional communities. PREMISETHREE : Our way of living—industrial civilization—is based on, requires, and would collapse very quickly without persistent and widespread violence. PREMISEFOUR : Civilization is based on a clearly defined and widely accepted yet often unarticulated hierarchy. Violence done by those higher on the hierar- chy to those lower is nearly always invisible, that is, unnoticed. When it is noticed, it is fully rationalized. Violence done by those lower on the hierarchy