GREENGREEN ANARCHYANARCHY AnAn Anti-CivilizationAnti-Civilization JournalJournal ofof TheoryTheory andand ActionAction www.greenanarchy.org SPRING/ SUMMER 2008 we live to live ISSUE #25

(i guess you could say we are “pro-lifers”)

GREEN ANARCHY PO BOX 11331 Eugene, OR 97440 [email protected]

$4 USA, $6 CANADA, $7 EUROPE, $8 WORLD FREE TO U.S.PRISONERS Direct Action Anarchist Resistance, pg 26 ContentsContents:: Ecological Defense and Animal Liberation, pg 40 Issue #25 Spring/Summer 2008 Indigenous Struggles, pg 48 Anti-Capitalist and Anti-State Battles, pg 54 Prisoner Escapes and Uprisings, pg 62 Articles Symptoms of the System’s Meltdown, pg 67 Silence byJohn Zerzan, pg 4 Straight Lines Don’t Work Any More Sections by Rebelaze, pg 6 Welcome to Green Anarchy, pg 2 Connecting to Place In the Land of the Lost: Fragment #42-44, pg 46 Questions for the Nomadic Wanderers The Garden of Peculiarities: by Sal Insieme, pg 8 State Repression News, pg 70 Hope Against Hope: Why Progressivism is as Useless Reviews, pg 74 as Leftism by Tara Specter, pg 12 News from the Balcony with Waldorf and Statler, pg 80 Sermon on the Cyber Mount Letters, pg 86 by The Honorable Reverend Black A. Hole,pg 14 Subscriber and Distributor Info, pg 90 Second-Best Life: Real Virtuality Green Anarchy Distro, pg 90 byJohn Zerzan, pg 16 Announcements, pg 92 Canaries In the Clockwork by earth-ling-gerring, pg 17 A Specious Species by C.E. Hayes, pg 18 Alone Together: the City and its Inmates ...... inin thethe midstmidst ofof activity,activity, by John Zerzan, pg 20 therethere is a blurring between The End Of Slavery: Urban Scout On Creating A World thethe solosolo and the swarm. Beyond Civilization, with Lisa Wells, pg 23 Dwelling-while-letting-be by Dr. Peters’ Cassandra Complex, pg 32 Reflections on the Joys, Dilemmas, and Miscellaneous and the pieces Exhilaration of a Decivilizing Papa, part I by Felonious Skunk, pg 36 fall Reclaiming the Myth-Time: Finding our Place through Story and Song by Scavenger, pg 44 Force of Habit, Habit of Force: where they may The (Screen) Door of Perception by Dan Todd, pg 47 with a little help A culture beyond time by Thomas Toivonen, pg 52 from Maroons: Guardians of the flag of liberation by Hadotso, pg 58 thoughtfulness Laughing in the Face of Power by a disgruntled recklessness animal with a sense of humor, pg 64 hopelessness Zerzan & Zerzan Anti-Civ Madness Tour 2007, pg 81 connectedness happiness G8, Germany: The Aftermath, by Jacob Duval pg 82 and the mess Feral Visions: Fight or Flight?, by Allie MoCat pg 84

Page 1 SPRING/SUMMERwith ‘08 timeISSUE to rest was Silence, a look at the overwhelming “roar of standardization, its information-noise and harried, surface ‘communication’ modes”. He declares a need for silence as a response to and an escape from the “unrelenting, colonizing penetrability of non-silence, pushing into every non-place.” John also examines the bleak urban landscape in Alone Together: the City and WelcomeWelcome its Inmates, and the hyper-alienated cyber-world (back) in Second-Best Life: Real Virtuality. There is (back) an interesting look at techno-narcissism in A Specious Species by C.E. Hayes, and a spoof of the overwhelmingly obedient religiosity towards science in Sermon on the Cyber Mount by The Honorable Reverend Black A. Hole. Hope Against Hope: Why Progressivism is as Useless as Leftism by Tara Specter, challenges us to “feel life itself coursing through our veins in the act, to feel ourselves at one with the spirit of all that lives,” as it critiques the likes of Murray Bookchin and those who “buy into the time of Issue #25-Spring/Summer 2008 the false ecology and thus into the myth of progress.” There are numerous personal, reflec- tive, strategic, and practical thoughts expressed in pieces like Connecting to Place In the Land of the Lost: Questions for the Nomadic Wan- to Green Anarchy derers by Sal Insieme, Reflections on the Joys, Dilemmas, and Miscellaneous Exhilaration of “Oh, a false clock tries to tick out my time. a Decivilizing Papa, by Felonious Skunk, To disgrace, displace, and bother me.” Reclaiming the Myth-Time: Finding our Place through Story and Song by Scavenger, and Lisa Ð Bob Dylan, Restless Farewell Wells’ interview: The End Of Slavery: Urban Scout On Creating A World Beyond Civilization. Well It’s Time, Time, Time… We still wish to do so, and our goal is to con- Dwelling-while-letting-be by Dr. Peters’ Time moves fast. Time moves slow. But for tinue to publish about twice a year. However, Cassandra Complex, explores the topic of those who are still trapped by it (almost every our release date won’t be as predictable six “death consciousness, including the fear of single one of us to some degree), it sure moves. months in advance. Who knows what might death, as one of the key pillars of the civilized Being an abstract understanding of reality, time come up? Babies? Rabies? Scabies? Maybes? order engulfing us in artificiality.” A culture can be subjective, collaborative, and authori- We would rather organically balance our ener- beyond time by Thomas Toivonen, focuses on tative. It changes pace and purpose depending gies and take our time to create a provocative the Piraha people and their perceived immediacy on the situation, temperament, or company, but and worthwhile project, then rush some partial of experience in their view and comprehension for most of us, it still ticks out our lives. It product for people to consume at regular of the world (with limited binary quantification: slips away, catches up on you, and drags on. intervals. We realize that some people will give numerals, color, language, etc.). In applying this But, there is so much to think about and so us shit (especially our major distributors), call concept to the rest of us, Toivonen asks much living to do despite its oppressive us slackers or lifestylists (anarcho-careerists and “Perhaps time is not linear and part of the looming death tone. And, priorities shift as activists), or predict our eminent demise (those fundamental structure of the universe, not a time adjusts. We find ourselves immersed not who have always wished for it), but we ain’t dimension in which events occur in sequence in better or worse activities, but different and sweatin’ it. We’re not fighting for a world with but a constructed dimension. And perhaps it’s sometimes still very similar. As you may have trains that run on time. We don’t even fucking possible that instead of being an objective thing noticed, some time has passed since our pre- want trains, nor the mass society or culture that to be measured, time is actually part of a mental vious issue of Green Anarchy. Time got away needs and wants them. Don’t worry, we plan measuring system that keeps us from descend- from us while we were busy living (exploring on unleashing the virus we call GA as often as ing into total anarchy.” Maroons: Guardians our world, licking old wounds, playing with we can and as thoroughly as possible. But, we’re of the flag of liberation by Hadotso, extensively wee ones). And no matter how hard you try gonna do it on our time. And our watches seem reports on the various fugitives and runaway (caffeinated or not), you can’t catch time. to be broken… captives who disappeared into the wilds of the This being said, we still very much feel the Americas to create autonomous and resistant importance of this project, despite (and maybe cultures. Laughing in the Face of Power by a because of) a depressing social scenario for What’s In the Mix? disgruntled animal with a sense of humor, takes all who wish to live, and especially for those This issue was some time in the making and an unexpected peek at comedy as a strategy of who wish to live wild. We want this journal to includes a variety of articles from the collec- subversion, focusing mainly on anti-authoritarian remain a breathing and blossoming forum for tive and by folks who sent them in to us. We’d comedian, George Carlin. Our State Repression all those who want to see civilization aban- like to thank all those who contributed. Always News section covers most of the suppression doned and life freely experienced. We have extremely anxious for us to get another issue and legal news facing those attempting to pose attempted to balance a huge and extensive of the magazine out on the streets, John Zerzan a challenge to the machine, including a rap-up project that advocates, debates, reports, and ex- was quite prolific this time, as he kept writing on the “green scare” trials and sentencing. We plores ideas and practice with a life fully lived. while some of us were off doing other things. took a slightly different approach for most of Perhaps his most unique and unexpected piece the direct action reports, as a year was a lot to GREENGREEN ANARCHYANARCHY #25#25 PagePage 22 cover in our usual listing format. Let us know If it is at all possible, try to if this was more interesting and helpful. We, of share the magazine, as our what’s black and white and read all over? course, also have the customary opinion sec- costs for this particular aspect tions, consisting of reviews, letters, reportbacks, are about $1,500 per issue and everyone’s favorite grumpy ol’ men, and steadily rising. We also Waldorf and Statler. We hope this will give you ask that non-incarcerated more than enough stuff to chew on for a while. people try to help with this If you’re the type to read it all through once, cost if they can, either by maybe come back to it with different eyes now sending donations to under- and again. Or, if you like just a little taste once write this cause or by helping in a while, there is quite a smorgasbord to chose to procure grants for this from. Let us know what you think, and help to specific purpose. Any help make future issues reflect your anti-civilization along these lines is appreci- anarchist opinions and critiques by contributing ated, as our largest readership your thoughts (and/or actions). is in the prison system. Remember, Green Anarchy is an all-volunteer project, Odds and Ends costing thousands of dollars The costs of producing Green Anarchy always per issue. The many ways you increases to some degree, but recently the can support it include: be- postage rates to ship the magazine, especially coming a PAYING distributor, overseas, has gone up phenomenally. This has subscriber, or special donor. caused us to raise our prices accordingly, with Also, consider ordering from foreign distributors affected most. Please our extensive distro (located www.greenanarchy.orgwww.greenanarchy.org understand this is out of our hands and we still on page 90), which includes wish to send out free copies to those who want over 80 pamphlets and zines, ...contact us to become more involved in the magazine. them, but probably not as many. If we were books, and videos. Now you previously sending you some, it may not last can order and subscribe online unless you make an effort to contact us and (under 1000 words), letters (under 500 words), with our new PayPal account. We are always poems, and images (as TIFF’s if possible or communicate your situation. As anarchists, we looking for technical equipment and supplies are not a charity, but believe in the idea of original hardcopies). We prefer that you email (check our website for details). We are also all contributions of text (as an RTF if sent as an mutual aid, and we are very flexible. looking for physical help, for specific projects We also want to make a special note about attachment). Check our website for updates on and for temporary or long-term editorship. deadlines, themes, and publishing schedule. prisoner subscriptions, now numbering well- And don’t be afraid to add your voice to the The deadline for contributions is June 18, 2008. over 1,300 copies per issue. While we are ongoing anti-civilization discussion by dedicated to continuing to send free copies to sending us your contributions for the next For an Uncivilized Reality, those who have been kidnapped by the state, we issue: articles (up to 4000 words), reviews ask that you not sign up everyone on your unit. The Green Anarchy Collective Spring 2008 Disclaimer: ...and now it is The editors of Green Anarchy do not nec- essarily agree with or endorse all or any time for play particular article, action, announcement, perspective, or language used in each issue. Most articles are written and contributed by people unknown to us. The news and actions are reported on as journalists. Green Anarchy intends to provide an ongoing anti-civilization discussion of theory and practice, NOT periodically release our position paper, ideological requirements, or directive for action. Articles are selected for print when we feel that they have a nugget of interest to “...the“...the dirtdirt ofof gossipgossip the wider anti-civilization discourse. blowsblows intointo mymy face,face, rsrs coverscovers me.me. AndAnd ththee dustdust ofof rumorumo Please keep this in mind when reading and ButBut ifif ththee arrowarrow isis straightstraight AndAnd ththee pointpoint isis slick,slick, do not attribute any ideas or opinions ItIt cancan piercepierce throughthrough dustdust NoNo mattermatter howhow thick.thick. expressed to any party but the author. If SoSo I’llI’ll makemake mymy standstand AndAnd remainremain asas I I amam you have additional questions, contact the AndAnd bibidd farewellfarewell AndAnd nonott givegive aa damn.”damn.” collective (or the individual author when -- B.D.B.D. available). If you have comments, write us a letter or email: [email protected]

PagePage 33 SPRING/SUMMER ‘08 ISSUE by John Zerzan Silence Silence used to be, to varying degrees, a means of isolation. In the industrially-based technosphere, the Machine has almost Now it is the absence of silence that works to render today’s world succeeded in banishing quietude. A natural history of silence is needed empty and isolating. Its reserves have been invaded and depleted. The for this endangered species. Modernity deafens. The noise, like Machine marches globally forward and silence is the dwindling place technology, must never retreatÐÐand never does. where noise has not yet penetrated. For Picard, nothing has changed human character so much as the Civilization is a conspiracy of noise, designed to cover up the loss of silence.7 Thoreau called silence “our inviolable asylum,” an uncomfortable silences. The silence-honoring Wittgenstein understood indispensable refuge that must be defended.8 Silence is necessary the loss of our relationship with it. The unsilent present is a time of against the mounting sound. It’s feared by manipulative mass culture, evaporating attention spans, erosion of critical thinking, and a lessened from which it remains apart, a means of resistance precisely because capacity for deeply felt experiences. Silence, like darkness, is hard to it does not belong to this world. Many things can still be heard against come by; but mind and spirit need its sustenance. the background of silence; thus a way is opened, a way for autonomy Certainly there are many and varied sides to silence. There are and imagining. imposed or voluntary silences of fear, grief, conformity, complicity “Sense opens up in silence,” wrote Jean-Luc Nancy.9 It is to be (e.g. the AIDS-awareness “Silence=Death” formulation), which are approached and experienced bodily, inseparably from the world, in often interrelated states. And nature has been progressively silenced, the silent core of the self. It can highlight our embodiment, a qualitative as documented in Rachel Carson’s prophetic Silent Spring. Nature step away from the hallmark machines that work so resolutely to cannot be definitively silenced, however, which perhaps goes a long disembody us. Silence can be a great aid in unblocking ourselves from way in explaining why some feel it must be destroyed. “There has the prevailing, addictive information sickness at loose in society.10 been a silencing of nature, including our own nature,” concluded It offers us the place to be present to ourselves, to come to grips with Heidegger,1 and we need to let this silence, as silence, speak. It still who we are. Present to the real depth of the world in an increasingly does so often, after all, speak louder than words. thin, flattened technoscape. There will be no liberation of humans without the resurrection of The record of philosophy vis-à-vis silence is generally dismal, as the natural world, and silence is very pertinent to this assertion. The good a gauge as any to its overall failure. Socrates judged silence to great silence of the universe engenders a silent awe, which the be a realm of nonsense, while Aristotle claimed that being silent caused Roman Lucretius meditated upon in the 1st century BCE: “First of flatulence.11 At the same time, however, Raoul Mortley could see a all, contemplate the clear, pure color of the sky, and all it contains “growing dissatisfaction with the use of words,” “an enormous within it: the stars wandering everywhere, the moon, the sun and its increase in the language of silence” in classical Greece.12 light with its incomparable brilliance. If all these objects appeared to Much later, Pascal was terrified by the “silence of the universe,”13 mortals today for the first time, if they appeared to their eyes suddenly and Hegel clearly felt that what could not be spoken was simply the and unexpectedly, what could one cite that would be more marvelous untrue, that silence was a deficiency to be overcome. Schopenhauer than this totality, and whose existence man’s imagination would less and Nietzsche both emphasized the prerequisite value of solitude, have dared to conceive?”2 diverging from anti-silence Hegel, among others. Down to earth, nature is filled with silences. The alternation of the Deservedly well known is a commentary on Odysseus and the seasons is the rhythm of silence; at night silence descends over the Sirens (from Homer’s Odyssey) by Horkheimer and Adorno. They planet, though much less so now. The parts of nature resemble great depict the Sirens’ effort to sidetrack Odysseus from his journey as reserves of silence. Max Picard’s description is almost a poem: “The that of Eros trying to stay the forces of repressive civilization. Kafka forest is like a great reservoir of silence out of which the silence trickles felt that silence would have been a more irresistible means than singing.14 in a thin, slow stream and fills the air with its brightness. The mountain, “Phenomenology begins in silence,” according to Herbert the lake, the fields, the skyÐÐthey all seem to be waiting for a sign to Spiegelberg.15 To put phenomena or objects somehow first, before empty their silence onto the things of noise in the cities of men.”3 ideational constructions, was its founding notion. Or as Heidegger Silence is “not the mere absence of something else.”4 In fact, our had it, there is a thinking deeper and more rigorous than the conceptual, longings turn toward that dimension, its associations and implications. and part of this involves a primordial link between silence and Behind the appeals for silence lies the wish for a perceptual and understanding.16 Postmodernism, and Derrida in particular, deny the cultural new beginning. widespread awareness of the inadequacy of language, asserting that Zen teaches that “silence never varies….”5 But our focus may be gaps of silence in discourse, for example, are barriers to meaning and improved if we turn away from the universalizing placelessness of power. In fact, Derrida strongly castigates “the violence of primitive late modernity. Silence is no doubt culturally specific, and is thus and prelogical silence,” denouncing silence as a nihilist enemy of experienced variously. Nevertheless, as Picard argues, it can confront thought.17 Such strenuous antipathy demonstrates Derrida’s deafness us with the “original beginnings of all things,”6 and presents objects to presence and grace, and the threat silence poses to someone for to us directly and immediately. Silence is primary, summoning presence whom the symbolic is everything. Wittgenstein understood that some- to itself; so it’s a connection to the realm of origin. thing pervades everything sayable, something which is itself unsayable.

GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 4 This is the sense of his well-known last line of the Tractatus A century and a half later, Samuel Beckett made use of silence as an Logico-Philosophicus: “Of that which one cannot speak, one alternative to language. In Krapp’s Last Tape and elsewhere, the idea that should remain silent.”18 all language is an excess of language is strongly on offer. Beckett com- Can silence be considered, approached, without reification, in the plains that “in the forest of symbols” there is never quiet, and longs to break here and now? I think it can be an open, strengthening way of knowing, through the veil of language to silence.27 Northrup Frye found the purpose a generative condition. Silence can also be a dimension of fear, griefÐ of Beckett’s work “to lie in nothing other than the restoration of silence.”28 even of madness and suicide. In fact, it is quite difficult to reify Our most embodied, alive-to-this-earth selves realize best the limits silence, to freeze it into any one non-living thing. At times the reality of language and indeed, the failure of the project of representation. In we interrogate is mute; an index of the depth of the still present this state it is easiest to understand the exhaustion of language, and silence? Wonder may be the question that best gives answers, the fact that we are always a word’s length from immediacy. Kafka silently and deeply. commented on this in “In the Penal Colony,” where the printing press “Silence is so accurate,” said Mark Rothko,19 a line that has intrigued doubled as an instrument of torture. For Thoreau, “as the truest society me for years. Too often we disrupt silence, only to voice some detail approaches always nearer to solitude, so the most excellent speech that misses an overall sense of what we are part of, and how many finally falls into silence.”29 Conversely, mass society banishes the ways there are to destroy it. In the Antarctica winter of 1933, Richard chance of autonomy, just as it forecloses on silence. Byrd recorded: “Took my daily walk at 4PM… I paused to listen to Hölderlin imagined that language draws us into time, but it is the silence…the day was dying, the night being born––but with great silence that holds out against it. Time increases in silence; it appears peace. Here were imponderable processes and forces of the cosmos, not to flow, but to abide. Various temporalities seem close to losing harmonious and soundless.”20 How much is revealed in silence their barriers; past, present, future less divided. through the depths and mysteries of living nature. Annie Dillard But silence is a variable fabric, not a uniformity or an abstraction. also provides a fine response to the din: “At a certain point you say Its quality is never far from its context, just as it is the field of the non- to the woods, to the sea, to the mountains, to the world, Now I am mediated. Unlike time, which has for so long been a measure of ready. Now I will stop and be wholly attentive. You empty yourself estrangement, silence cannot be spatialized or converted into a medium and wait, listening.”21 of exchange. This is why it can be a refuge from time’s incessancy. It is not only the natural world that is accessible via silence. Cioran Gurnemanz, near the opening of Wagner’s Parsifal, sings “Here time indicated the secrets in the silence of things, deciding that “All becomes space.” Silence avoids this primary dynamic of domination. objects have a language which we can decipher only in total silence.”22 So here we are, with the Machine engulfing us in its various assaults on David Michael Levin’s The Body’s Recollection of Being counsels silence and so much else, intruding deeply. The note North Americans us to “learn to think through the body…we should listen in silence spontaneously hum or sing is B- natural, which is the corresponding tone to our bodily felt experience.”23 And in the interpersonal sphere, of our 60 cycles per second alternating current electricity. (In Europe, silence is a result of empathy and being understood, without words G-sharp is “naturally” sung, matching that continent’s 50 cycles per much more profoundly than otherwise. second AC electricity.) In the globalizing, homogenizing Noise Zone we Native Americans seem to have always placed great value on may soon be further harmonized. Pico Ayer refers to “my growing sense silence and direct experience, and in indigenous cultures in general, of a world that’s singing the same song in a hundred accents all at once.”30 silence denotes respect and self-effacement. It is at the core of the Vision We need a refusal of the roar of standardization, its information- Quest, the solitary period of noise and harried, surface fasting and closeness to the “communication” modes. A No earth to discover one’s life path silenceÐÐas comfort, to the unrelenting, colonizing and purpose. Inuit Norman penetrability of non-silence, Hallendy assigns more insight ally, and stronghold pushing into every non-place. to the silent state of awareness The rising racket measures, called inuinaqtuk than to by decibel up-ticks and its dreaming.24 Native healers polluting reach, the degrading very often stress silence as an mass world––Don DeLillo’s aid to serenity and hope, while White Noise. stillness is required for success Silence is a rebuke to all this, in the hunt. These needs for and a zone for reconstituting attentiveness and quiet may well ourselves. It gathers in nature, have been key sources of indig- and can help us gather our- enous appreciation of silence. selves for the battles that will Silence reaches back to end debasement. Silence as a presence and original com- powerful tool of resistance, the munity, before the symbolic unheard note that might pre- compromised both silence cede insurrection. It was, for and presence. It predates what example, what slave masters Levinas called “the unity of representation,”25 that always works feared most.31 In various Asian spiritual traditions, the muni, vowed to silence the silence and replace it with the homelessness of symbolic to silence, is the person of greatest capacity and independenceÐÐthe structures. The Latin root for silence, silere, to say nothing, is one who does not need a master for enlightenment.32 related to sinere, to allow to be in a place. We are drawn to those The deepest passions are nurtured in silent ways and depths. How else places where language falls most often, and most crucially, silent. is respect for the dead most signally expressed, intense love best trans- The later Heidegger appreciated the realm of silence, as did mitted, our profoundest thoughts and visions experienced, the unspoiled Hölderlin, one of Heidegger’s important reference points, especially world most directly savored? In this grief-stricken world, according to in his Late Hymns.26 The insatiable longing that Hölderlin expressed Max Horkheimer, we “become more innocent” through grief.33 And so powerfully related not only to an original, silent wholeness, but perhaps more open to silenceÐÐas comfort, ally, and stronghold. also to his growing comprehension that language must always admit December 2007 its origin in loss. (endnotes on page 7) Page 5 SPRING/SUMMER ‘08 ISSUE Thus always does history, whether of part of me yearns for the same wildness they marsh or market place, end in para- say my ancestors dreaded as they sought shelter dox. The ultimate value in these from the terrors of the unknown, freedom from their hunger and the ravage of nature’s transporting me from place to marshes is wildness, and the crane is so-called volatility and unpredictability. Even place. This mantra of feeling wildness incarnate. But all conserva- then, in sneaked the soothsayers and manipu- paralyzed allows me to trick myself into tion of wildness is self-defeating, for lators, the land-grabbers, the domesticators thinking that someone else will clean up the to cherish we must see and fondle, and and the measurers. whole stinking mess and turn things around when enough have seen and fondled, I mourn all day every day, my heart breaking toward meaning once again. But really, I know a little more over what we’ve lost because of “someone” won’t. I know that I can only there is no wilderness left to cherish. all these abstractions that have subtly divided change myself, and that is the only way I know —from Aldo Leopold’s “Marshland Elegy” us from our core selves and what really how to change the world. I just don’t want to matters. I have allowed these divisions and do the work because it’s so difficult. This morning I woke to gaze out subdivisions in my own life because of the The Buddhist phrase “do nothing” I some- my bedroom window onto a lush May world, fallow ignorance and unconsciousness that times scorn as an escapism. Yet our human where a riot of rhododendron blossoms spills defines me as part of the herd because I’m a doing has become our undoing until we feel over the roof of a garage below my bedroom, social animal and others influence me for we have no other options than to do just that— where dogwood and chestnut trees bloom with better or worse. Is it the way I’m wired? My nothing. To be fair, most of us are takers—city joyous abandon, where a thousand different laziness and ineptitude have weighed me down dwellers who feed off nature without any trees burst with resplendent green and nature further into this bog of confusion and ingrati- means to return her generosity, even if we breaks my heart with its beauty. I listened to a tude that erodes a meaningful life. I have no gave such return a thought. We plod along bird singing in an evergreen tree with a haunt- idea why I’m alive right now, in a time with in our demeaning, demanding lives and jobs ing lonely melody that rose and fell because everything costs so much until an airplane drowned out its song. “. . . nature is feared and hated on every level. We do this because The bird must have flown away be- and needs to be controlled, we “choose” to go along with the cause after the growl of the plane died, domesticated, and dominated dominant nightmare (hardly a all I heard was the distant, incessant at any expense to preserve the choice, since we’ve forgotten white noise of a freeway. My heart “sanity” of reason. In this way, everything about autonomy, our ached for those perfect and patient tthehe evasive, adapted, authoritarauthoritarianian one chance for survival). So, worlds in our own backyards which mind has mistrusted and most of us don’t even know what have always existed but which re- mind has mistrusted and the night sky looks like or what it main undiscovered due to our own eviscerated round things feels like to pad along the forest dull-sightedness. We are too busy with likelike ourour Earth,Earth, floor in bare feet. What if we all naming and categorizing, counting stopped right now and did and delineating. nothing for a few hours or even Everything in this civilized life a day? The late Aldo Leopold, rakes my sense of wholeness raw, whose quote begins this essay, shreds it until I want to run and hide shot wolves reflexively in his my head in cool and silent darkness younger days, but as he spent beneath the ground. All the fre- more time in what remained of netic symbols and empty promises wild places, he sensitized himself wrought in sounds, signs and words, to and mourned the diminishing the perpetual profit-seeking seduc- presence of wilderness. Later he tion, the invasive blare and glare, the ...... (and)(and) hashas forfor tenten thousandthousand wrote about how deeply he re- screeching rush, the inattentiveness years sought to hammer curves gretted his careless actions. In and distraction on blank faces, the intointo straightstraight lineslines (odd(odd howhow this way, he painfully discovered caffeinated and drug-addled jitters linearlinear timetime isis measuredmeasured onon aa his own authenticity. that pulsate through veins and round clock face), which all lead What if we just sat somewhere brains, the weariness, the threadbare further and further awayaway fromfrom and breathed in and out and insatiable appetites that goad con- meaning and holistic existence.” trusted that life would carry us sumers and leave them forever on along in its slow geo-logic, beyond empty. What we have here is the war our foolish and dreadful mis- of assaults on our well being by those who so much misery and violation, brutality and takes, just sat and held by simply breathing, would dominate and drive to own every person, destruction everywhere. And like other ordinary without needing to see and fondle, grab and every object, every ounce of “intellectual folks, I feel too paralyzed, too helpless to do litter, without competition or fear. My guess property” on the Earth. anything. I find comfort in saying that I’m is that few of us could do it, least of all I’m part of all of this even though I chide helpless because it allows me to continue with myself because I can hardly give attention myself for sitting here typing on a computer my cowardice, my laziness, my ignorance to anything for over three seconds. Yet a deep screen instead of dancing among the trees along which all define me in my puny state of needing and growing part of me instinctively knows a river somewhere (while they still exist and shelter in right-angled buildings and a hunk that the tired, cadaverous tricks of authoritar- while I still exist with them). Yet the deepest of engineered metal strapped around me to ian manipulation just don’t work any more. GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 6 To the extent that I continue to pretend that tame to fit into this delusional nightmare at any expense to preserve the “sanity” of they work (even typing words on a computer of civilization. reason. In this way, the evasive, adapted, screen validates them), as long as I give them If you could stand on the moon and look at authoritarian mind has mistrusted and any part of my conscious attention, I am per- Earth, you would see no lines, no boundaries, eviscerated round things like our Earth, has for petuating the fear, division, and destruction no color-coded maps. You’d see a lovely blue ten thousand years sought to hammer curves that are components of an inauthentic mind. globe. The artificial lines of private property, into straight lines (odd how linear time is Authenticity, creativity, and wildness are cities, counties, regions, states, and countries measured on a round clock face), which all lead threats to the authoritarian mind, which intends with their numbered roads, their rail ways, and further and further away from meaning and to control and conserve everything in its favor their grids of time, longitude and latitude, are holistic existence. forever, as if existing in an embalmed state nowhere at all except in the hegemonic and We feel the authoritarian mind tighten its so that even worms can’t bring new life from dominating mind. These are imaginary rusting grip around our throats and ram its death. Some green anarchists are actually symbols that police states protect for the corroded cables and lines into our souls. If conservatives because of a longing for wealthy and powerful, the marks of petulant we long for meaning and holistic existence stewardship of the Earth. But life is by fools. The existence of maps is the invention to re-ignite our lives and perception, let us definition about cycles, transformation, and of separation and starvation, but still only an then bend and curve those lifeless straight change; and change is all about the unknown, illusion, because we are all connected with lines back into living circles, cycles, spheres which can instill fear even in the most stalwart each other and with the planet itself in ways and spirals with passion. heart. But there is a lesson in this: Only when we cannot even yet imagine. we understand something, can we begin to Here is an example of how fear and love it. How, then, can we love when we loathing got it wrong from the begin- understand so little? Science can do nothing ning: “Everything in nature is curved. except to compartmentalize and tear apart There are no straight lines. Even space the wholeness that’s more than the sum of itself is said to be circular. Inner space, its parts, so true understanding cannot come some say, is angular, since only humans from science. Spirituality brings in the danger abstract and construct straight lines. But of crystallizing some mediated belief system the curvature of the brain translates to (religion), so understanding cannot come the curvature of the mind, and that must from spirituality. That leaves us with the eter- be why we always reason in circles.” nal wisdom of the human body (so immensely Such regret (I see that statement as an complex), that sacred container in which we expression of regret) suggests how live, that wildness and vastness that we are nature is feared and hated and needs to be taught to fight and force to conform and controlled, domesticated, and dominated

(continued from page 5) 18 Ludwig Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (London: Routledge, 1974), p. 89. 19 Quoted in James E. B. Breslin, Rothko: A Biography (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993), p. 387. by John Zerzan 20 Silence Quoted in Hannah Merker, Listening (New York: HarperCollins, 1994), p. 127. Endnotes: 21 Annie Dillard, Teaching a Stone to Talk (New York: HarperPerennial, 1982), 1 Martin Heidegger, What is a Thing? (Chicago, Henry Regnery Company, pp 89-90. 1967), p. 288. 22 E. M. Cioran, Tears and Saints, translated by Ilinca Zarifopol-Johnson 2 Quoted in Pierre Hadot, The Veil of Isis, translated by Michael Chan (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995), p. 53. (Cambridge, MA: Bellknap Press, 2000), pp 212-213. 23 David Michael Levin, The Body’s Recollection of Being (Boston: Routledge, 3 Max Picard, The World of Silence (Chicago: Henry Regnery Company, 1985), pp 60-61. 1952), p. 139. 24 Norman Hallendy, Inuksuit: Silent Messengers of the Arctic (Toronto: 4 Bernard P. Dauenhauer, Silence: the Phenomenon and Its Ontological Douglas & McIntyre, 2000), pp 84-85. Significance (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1980), p. vii. 25 Emmanuel Levinas, Proper Names, translated by Michael B. Smith 5 Chang Chung-Yuan, Original Teachings of Ch’an Buddhism (New York: (Stanford CA: Stanford University Press, 1996), p. 4. Vintage, 1971), p. 12. 26 Emery Edward George, Hölderlin’s “Ars Poetica”: A Part-Rigorous 6 Picard, op.cit., p. 22. Analysis of Information Structure in the Late Hymns (The Hague: Mouton, 7 Ibid., p. 221. 1973), pp 308, 363, 367. 8 Henry David Thoreau, “A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers,” in 27 Samuel Beckett, “German letter” dated 9 July 1937, in C.J. Ackerley and The Works of Thoreau, edited by Henry Seidel Canby (Boston: Houghton S.E. Gontorski, The Grove Companion to Samuel Beckett (New York: Grove Mifflin, 1946), p. 241. Press, 2004), p. 221. 9 Jean-Luc Nancy, Listening, translated by Charlotte Mandell (New York: 28 Northrup Frye, “The Nightmare Life in Death,” in J.D. O’Hara, editor, Fordham University Press, 2007), p. 26. Twentieth Century Interpretations of Malloy, Malone Dies, and The 10 I first encountered this term in Ted Mooney’s novel, Easy Travel to Other Unnamable (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1970), p. 34. Planets (New York: Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1981). 29 Thoreau, op.cit., p. 241. 11 Aristotle, Works of Aristotle, translated by S. Forster, Vol. VII, Problemata 30 Pico Ayer, The Global Soul (New York: Knopf, 2000), p. 271. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1927), p. 896, lines 20-26. 31 Mark M. Smith, Listening to Nineteenth-Century America (Chapel Hill: The 12 Raoul Mortley, From Word to Silence I (Bonn: Hanstein, 1986), p. 110. University of North Carolina Press), p. 68. 13 Blaise Pascal, Pensées, edited by Phillipe Seller (Paris: Bordas, 1991), p. 256. See also Thomas Merton, The Strange Islands (New York: New Directions, 14 Franz Kafka, Parables, cited in George Steiner, Language and Silence (New 1957); specifically, this passage from “The Tower of Babel: A Morality”: York: Atheneum, 1967), p. 54. Leader: Who is He? 15 Herbert Spiegelberg, The Phenomenological Movement, Vol. Two (The Captain: His name is Silence. Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1969), p. 693. Leader: Useless! Throw him out! Let Silence be crucified! 16 Martin Heidegger, “Letter on Humanism,” Basic Writings (San Francisco: 32 Alex Wayman, “Two traditions of India––truth and silence,” Philosophy Harper San Francisco, 1992), p. 258. East and West 24 (October 1974), pp 389-403. 17 Jacques Derrida, Writing and Difference, translated by Alan Bass (Chicago: 33 Max Horkheimer, Dawn and Decline: Notes 1926-1931 and 1950-1969 University of Chicago Press, 1978), p. 130. (New York: Seabury Press, 1978), p. 140.

Page 7 SPRING/SUMMER ‘08 ISSUE place comes alive again in a certain sense. It is rejuvenated and revitalized for another year of birth, growth, and death (and all the life in between). And it is only through sweat and time, joy and sorrow, warmth and frigidness, that I will grow to be a part of it and under- ConnectingConnecting toto stand it and add my influence in a balanced, yet distinct way. It is from this learning and unlearning, disconnecting and reconnecting, that I grow and explore. With my roots planted firmly in the ground, dreams flowing from there, and passions freely explored… Place.Place. .. .. We’ve all seen the bumpersticker: All Who Wander Are Not Lost. True enough, but does this inherently imply one knows where they are, have been, or are going? Sure, there is an intriguing element of romanticism to it (some- thing I’m not sure I want leading me around). Some of my favorite songs, images, and stories are about the spontaneous and freewheelin’ traveler serendipitously flowing and colliding with unexpected situations, characters, and experiences. The allure of this archetype suggests something profound, perhaps the long- ing to connect to some missing or repressed sense, or possibly a distinct yearning for some- by thing intensely deviant from the crap put Sal Insieme before us, possibly it’s never fitting into a grossly disjointed world, or maybe simply a response to boredom. It does seem necessary to be physically in motion to chase our dreams (if chasing them is how we wish to live them), and conceivably, for some, this also applies to location(s) of habitation. There are many lessons to be learned and inspiration to be gained from the drifter’s and mobile Questions for the adventurer’s narratives for sure, but there also seem to be many limitations, trappings, and delusions, often poetically realized in the Nomadic Wanderer terminal chapters of their journeys. But I don’t necessarily have the desire to be a ragged road- worn wandering sage-like phenomenon, I just in All of Us wanna live, here and now. But hey, the travelin’ is the moment, so why worry about any pre- Livin’ on the road my friend, was gonna keep you free and clean. sumably more fixed context or situation? Well, here’s the dilemma as I see it, in this Now you wear your skin like iron and your breath’s as hard as kerosene. post-modern reality where most of us are all –Townes Van Zandt, Poncho and Lefty so dislocated and separated from our world I’ve been traveling so long…How’m I ever going to know my home…When I see it again. (to more or lesser extents, without a doubt, –Joni Mitchell, Black Crow but those who claim they are not are rarely honest with themselves), many of the more “Ah, my friends from the prison they ask unto me, ‘How good, how good does it feel to be free?’ radical and inspiring respond to this condition And I answer them, most mysteriously, ‘Are birds free from the chains of the skyway?’” by surfing the waves of displacement, and -Bob Dylan, Ballad in Plain D perhaps at the expense of deeply connecting to a place and bioregion. To be clear, for me, As I gather up my rambling scribbles, aqua-delight is only revealed to us in the place is not merely a physical locality or abstract wandering emphasis, and drifting thoughts middle of winter, a time when many abandon spot on a map, but a context or situation which into a (hopefully) more coherent and com- the dank and saturated northwestern lands includes plants, animals, land formations, municative form, I reflect upon the place I for sunnier and drier ground. To me, the beauty climate, patterns, narratives, people, etc (and, am becoming a part of… I have just returned of this cascading water is a celebration of the unfortunately in most places, culture, politics, from a hike up the mountain with some of my essence of this place, of the seasonal shifts and other hyper-socialized phenomenon). And, neighbors to a spectacular waterfall high atop and the cyclical nature of its patterns. It re- by deeply connecting, I don’t presume to know our watershed. It triggered in me a rein- minds me of the vital and tangible substances for others what that specifically means, nor vigorated contemplation of the concept of which we are all comprised of (quite literally, do I limit this to a mere “biological” under- connecting to place and motivated me to finally as this is part of my water source). For me, it standing. There is much to be explored on this wrap up this piece (for now). You see, this is only after weeks of pounding rain that this topic, and this initial exercise is not meant as GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 8 an explicit call for people to run to the forest how do we maintain combined mutual projects like shelter, grown food, storage, stability, and or create a community of any particular type, and ongoing explorations that help us to the intimate knowledge of local resources, to nor am I suggesting any specific bioregion achieve greater autonomy and self-sufficiency name a few. Also, the continuity of a localized as ideal, as connection to place is possible as communities with less and less dependence social dynamic is often supported by those almost anywhere, provided we are open and on the system? How might we explore the who remain, offering the wanderer situations enthusiastic. I am certainly no proponent of balance between change and constancy, be- to enter into with little responsibility for making unnecessarily fortifying positions, in ideas, tween motion and stillness? These are just them happen. They become consumers and methods, or physical locales, but for me, some questions which initially come to mind spectators of a living community. Often, they so-called-temporary autonomous zones or when examining the differences between a become the biggest critics of these situations, touring around between the margins is unsatis- more nomadic and a more fixed reality while risking very little to change them since factory and incomplete compared with a life within the context we currently inhabit and there is little ongoing connection. These critiques of ongoing and deepening connection to a possible future situations. Questions for the can be a useful detached perspective, but they place. I hope to begin a larger discussion that nomadic wanderer in all of us… often lack a deeper understanding of ongoing can ask some questions and attempt to distill dynamics. For many who wander, there seems from them some strategic momentum for Often, the contemporary nomadic wanderer to be a perpetual dissatisfaction with wherever myself and for those whose visions may claims to have a freer life by not being bogged they are and what they are doing, stemming generally overlap in places. This feels essen- down by the baggage of a more sedentary partly from their context, and perhaps, a lapse of tial to me for deep reconnection and healing existence (commitments, accumulation of creativity, confidence, or motivation. Others from an ongoing domestication process that things, perceived limits of the area), that they desperately fear being “out of the loop” or subtly disconnects and brutally tears us from can spontaneously decide to go anywhere and “missing out” on what is occurring every- belonging anywhere. do anything at anytime based solely on their where else, creating an inability to focus Now we all have abundant reasons for what desires. This, beyond being a generally rhetorical attention on where they currently are. This, we do, hopefully derived from a symbiotic position, does not acknowledge the baggage perhaps, somewhat explains “scene-hopping”, combination of critical thought, practical con- of the wanderer and sets up absolutist straw and the massive influx of “lost souls” and siderations, and unobstructed desires. So, I am arguments and false dichotomies. It does seem people who wanted to be where the action was not judging those who choose more nomadic that the more sedentary a life becomes, the when Eugene was a hotspot in the late ‘90s ways, I am just hoping to examine the strategic more potential there is for certain dynamics and early ‘00s, and similar spots since then, motivations and consider the ramifications of that one might view as problematic, but this rather than creating something unique where the patterns of our lives as we attempt to move is certainly no given, and perhaps a partial they were. Then there is, of course, always the towards a wilder existence as we each may trade-off for other dynamics that might be overly-generous suggestion that the traveler see it. Born into the armpit of industrial and seen as more desirable. Personally, I aspire to brings a unique perspective and the stories social hell (New Jersey), I have spent what a bioregional-centered existence, one which and songs of other places. This can surely be would statistically be half my life, wandering might include shorter seasonal travels between a positive thing, but it also tends to become a and searching for a place to call home, where more permanent nodes, areas, or encampments, specialized role for those either unwilling or my roots can take hold, where I can actively rather then a sedentary one, which implies a unable to take responsibility for their own nour- be present without overwhelming passive, inert, and inanimate existence too rigid ishment and needs and to deal with the thoughts of unsettledness and dis- perceived ups and downs of being part satisfaction moving my mind and of a living community and a place. body elsewhere. I feel I have found Some present the life of the traveler that place for myself. No, I have or seasonal dweller as closer to how not discovered a mythical paradise many gatherer-hunters live(d) outside or “perfect place”, just one that I (or before) civilization, but beyond feel I can grow in, in a somewhat mostly superficial aspects there really healthy way despite any inevitable is no comparison. The resemblance is drawbacks. I have found a place poetic if nothing else. Not to idealize to explore, understand, and become any life-way or flatten those with part of. But mostly, I have found very unique characteristics, nomadic this place within myself. It is pos- gatherer-hunters do not typically sible that I may be subconsciously travel outside of a larger bioregion Ð idealizing this (at least enough to moving up and down valleys and allow myself to propagate some . . . In thethe rivers, from coast to mountains, wetter roots), and I understand well that . . . In weather to drier, etc Ð but rarely to people travel to live temporarily or another side of a continent, across vast seasonally in various regions for spaces, or to dramatically divergent many reasons: financial, family, terrains, climates, and cultures. This opportunities, novelty, change, and is most likely for a number of reasons, comfort, to name a few, and there LandLand ofof thethe LostLost not the least of which is the lack of are obviously benefits for some to modern technological transportation live in this manner. But what is systems, as the perimeters of their traded for these benefits? How world is determined by their own feet, does one connect beyond a superficial appre- for integration into organic ebbs and flows, something any post-civilized (non-massified) ciation or tourist-like perception if their roots not to mention personal desires. But to be existence would also entail. It makes sense to never intensely penetrate? How do we develop placeless surely has its drawbacks. Regardless me that long-term strategies might want to take communities based on deep affinity, trust, and of the level of independence, the wanderer this into account. Terrain, plant species, animals, understanding of one another if we are always typically needs to rely on those with a more climate, and other localized patterns surely transient in nature? Without some level of long- permanent situation for many basic needs, term engagement with each other, without a place, ones that often require a more fixed situation (continued on next page) Page 9 SPRING/SUMMER ‘08 ISSUE have variety in pedal route, but more along a consuming implements, it is hard to imagine minimally planted or seasonally altered their gradual shift or gradation, in which much of a foraging lifestyle for many, at least not until landscape as compensation for temporary or the make-up and life of an area remains a prolonged period of recovery has ensued and long-term deficiencies in wild foods, and as relatively congruous, or at least fairly pre- a dramatic reduction in human population populations began to increase, or as a method dictable as one understands and moves within occurs. The agrarian lifestyle, however, offers of dealing with the beginning stages of or it. Gatherer-hunters don’t seem to just wander too many of the traps that we are currently recovery from colonization. To me, this explo- around and stumble upon nourishment for entangled in, with considerable manipulation ration makes more sense for our situation then sustaining their life, but instead, they appear and control of almost all environmental factors, any ideologically driven absolutist purity about to mostly follow ancestral routes and tech- tremendous resource extraction and displace- returning to our “true nature”. Approaching niques passed on through annual journeys and ment, not to mention surplus and the social this delicate balance with critical thought of procedures (not that dissimilar from other institutions which seem to inevitably come our impacts, tendencies, methods, and migratory animals) and through mindsets, and with abundant an instinctual understanding of creativity, we could begin to place. Specific treks might be live as autonomous commu- varied, but they are usually nities that value individual modified more by things like the freedom, collective vision, foods available based on that and ecological balance. year’s weather than any particu- Rather then endlessly and lar whim (not that this might exclusively study gatherer- not be a factor as well), but hunters, who admittedly offer still along the same general rec- extremely vital examples of ognized route. Their journeys humans thriving within the seem to be about their survival balance of wild areas, it might and understanding of the pat- be more advantageous to put terns around them, not merely some emphasis on under- thrill-seeking. They know the standing and learning from foods, medicines, dangers, and those who live(d) healthily crucial places along the way. on more marginal lands and There is a perpetual nature and situations (those who are connectedness to their travels, active participants in their not haphazard drifting or scene world, in a balanced way, with- hopping. This may not jive out developing unhealthy with some purists of anarchist social dynamics often attrib- dogma who wish to do anything at anytime, along with it. The turn to an agrarian based uted to others who plant food.) and utalizing regardless of petty physical limitations like lifestyle seems to be at the elemental stages of the applicable lessons, combined with our eating, but it does have very important relevance civilization, which may have introduced the own particular desires, to a specific place. pertaining to taking responsibility for our own development of social stratification, taboos, But this is beginning to turn into a different survival and living with other patterns of life, subjugation, religion, cities, and government. essay. So, briefly contemplating the concept from which our unique beings may thrive in Also, as a step away from living within a of the foraging-horticulturists, or really any connection to others in a shared home. symbiotic relationship with the rest of one’s small-scale earth-based community, how do But enough about gatherer-hunters, as we environment, it may have led to a disconnect and nomadism and sedentism relate, and how are not them (at least not in practice or in psychological shift, not to mention a dramatic might we explore the balance between change socialized mindset). While I do believe gatherer- increase in population and resource depletion. and constancy? There are so many levels to hunters are humans in their most animalistic To me, one of the more interesting and these questions, compounded with individual form (that I have yet to see or understand, but realistic possibilities for humans wanting to and collective perspectives and priorities, but certainly not limited to), and thus how we reintegrate into the patterns of life in a more it seems to me that the more time spent in a evolved as part of the natural world in a sustainable and less manipulative way is a life relationship (if that time is spent in open, connected and sustainable way, their situation as foraging-horticulturists, combining the most active, honest, and inquisitive intimacy), the is not exclusively relevant to us right now. useful and least controlling methods of both. deeper it may become, the more intertwined Unfortunately civilized humans have sig- Obviously, its parameters are extremely site and supportive it can be. Where nomadism (in nificantly altered the planet and our current specific, dependant on plant and animal species its most positive sense) can accumulate a wide footprint (carbon and otherwise) does not still remaining and the climate and terrain of variety of experiences, lessons, and substance match that of a gatherer-hunter. Although I may an area, and has a limiting factor as far as scale, for living, it tends to be restricted in other slowly move more in that general direction, this thus prioritizing small-scaled environmentally ways. What do the nomadic wanderers, per- mode of living offers only a nugget of inspiration connected communities. It is also a very petual travelers, and the generally unsettled and wisdom, within a larger context, to the ways practical entry into a more connected reality, trade for the benefits of a less attached and we might live healthier, less oppressive to other one that could transition from a more garden- consistent existence? There is an intimacy with beings, and free, both now and in the near dependant practice to a more wild one, but place (or at least there can be, and seems to be future. Considering the immense destruction that existing somewhere on that continuum or with uncivilized peoples, and less civilized civilization has unfurled on the planet, with consisting of a thoughtful blending of strategies earth-based cultures) that feels too deep to forests turned into deserts, oceans serving as for sustenance and self-organization. Perma- grasp without not only weeks, or seasons, or toxic dumps, rivers fashioned into dammed culture is but one concept that offers some even years in a place, but with generations irrigation ditches and power plants, thousands interesting ideas on a transitional space between upon generations of people who share their upon thousands of species relegated to the these methods of food procurement and inter- stories, techniques, and perceptions. There is domains of tales and history, and humans action with the world. This approach is not too not only the dynamic experience of living with converted into production equipment and dissimilar from certain native peoples who a place that could contain in it all aspects of

GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 10 sustenance (on many levels), but also the civilized humans. But, I think we are often sugars or mass produced starches. They come collective experience of living with others in intimidated and lost when we attempt to into the world whole and, hopefully, remain there. connection. These relationships connect us to advocate for, and even more so, connect to, Despite our impediment, we too can connect. life. These seem to be what have been most anything. We become hyper-critical of every- But we need to start somewhere, some place. severed, isolated, distorted, and alienated in thing. While it is essential to move with New questions arise, only to suggest even the modern human experience. constant critique, if it is at the level of paralysis more, and none of them are easy or cut-and- Our relationship with climate, seasons, local and absolute pessimism, it is ultimately useless. dried. How do we assess our negative impact foods and medicines are important factors in Hyper-anything is typically a sign of overcom- on a place? Can we be a part of healing wounds connecting us to place. Again, relationships pensation concealing an emptiness, rather then humans created and be a part of restoration? connect us, and the more we have with a place, an open-ended, yet clear and precise under- How do we begin to heal and reintegrate? the more connected we may become. Living standing and actualization. The concept of Where do transitional concepts fit into an through season upon season with a place offers “rewilding” can bridge this gap in theory anti-civilization practice? How do we balance us a wide variety, and yet similar experiences, and practice. I tend to think that “rewilding” a perceived deep understanding with the to create connection. Our interaction may has much to do with decivilizing our minds. dangers of thinking we know what is best? become more fluid, interactive, and organic Allowing ourselves to open up to situations as we transition into a place. Whereas, the and experiences without the ceaseless baggage We are living in the land of the lost, where transient perspective on “ideal climate” is of civilization (or at least consciously mini- we are shattered and disconnected from the odd to me, one I believe has much to do with mizing the unhealthy appendages) is essential perpetuity and endless cycles of our existence, our socialized needs to be “conventionally in initiating the experience of going feral. immensely constant, dynamically in the midst comfortable” with as little effort as possible. For many, however, it remains solely an of radical change, and subtly growing and dying; Rather than allowing our bodies to adjust to intellectual and rhetorical procedure, with most one of being. We can be lost anywhere; far changes around us and challenging our mind’s practice avoided because of its impurity, or away, down the road, where we reside, or in trained expectations, we tend to drastically effort required. If it does get physical, it our heads. It might be enjoyable if anywhere alter our surroundings or relocate to an entirely typically repeats certain survival skills over we hung our hat was home, and maybe some different place to keep the dry and 72 degree and over. Practical skills like starting fires, can live that, but to me, it seems, that a deep supposed “ideal” condition for human com- building shelters, skinning roadkill, etc, are connection to place brings a wholeness with fort. While some wish to go where the sun is significant, but more involved explorations it, one of being at home. One of belonging, or always shining, this seems to be a somewhat and connecting to the world we inhabit seem at least trying to belong, to something different, cursory and one dimensional aspect of place to require a long-term immersion into living something alive, rather then one of perpetual and reminds me of the fictional safety of New in a place and with people. Beginning to know collisions and temporarily coinciding with Agers who only want to think “positive our world is a slow process, one we are coming things springing from the motivations of civi- thoughts” or a Beach Boys record, two things into damaged. Those who are born into connected lization. Maybe for some this is holding up in I just can’t seem to develop a taste for. This relationships do not learn through scar tissue, a forest canyon with some folks figuring out endless summer mentality is, in my opinion, but through eyes which have never starred how to live with the place, for others it may a disconnected perspective. The cycles of a blankly upon a computer screen, or maybe even be forming relationships with a few places, and season inform much of what a place is. For a printed word. They develop relationships with for some, never embracing any place. But the instance, where I live, the green summers are their world with ears that have never heard a road has its own chains, because chasing free- directly related to the wet winters. Specific life jackhammer or the beep of an alarm clock, but dom, seems to me, leaves you running on the has developed here because of the particulars instead, the sound of wind approaching, a critter chase rather then the stuff of life. The grass of the place. This is the case everywhere. There chewing, or a fire crackling. They explore their is not usually any greener despite our continu- are essential factors of a place which make it world on feet that have never walked on the ing fickleness. I don’t want to be a transplant what it is, and understanding them and moving unforgivingness of concrete, with hands that forever. I may never be indigenous to a within (rather than against them or placing value have not been trained to push buttons and type place, but I can be part of it. I’d rather be fully on them) connect us. When we continually on keyboards. They kiss with mouths that have present, plant roots, and live and create where rip ourselves from it, recontextualize our- never uttered useless rhetoric and digest foods I’m at, than always hoping its just a little selves, we become dislocated, and possibly, in stomachs which do not know processed better down the road... neurotic, obtaining a virtual “high” from this dislocation, and philosophically rationalizing it as a “more free” existence. “. . .the more time spent in a relationship (if that We may even develop an addiction or time is spent in open, active, honest, and perceived need for this perpetual relo- cation. But, except for migratory birds inquisitive intimacy), the deeper it may become, that naturally have the ability to fly and have evolved over time in this unique the more intertwined and supportive it can be.” way to travel great distances seasonally, civilized humans are the only terrestrial creatures that move such great distances and complete transformation of setting with the seasons. This has only been an option, to the scale, amount, and fre- quency that currently transpires, with mass society and technology. I think most anarchists, including my- self, tend to prioritize the “breaking away from” tendency. A necessary and under- standable response to our condition as Page 11 SPRING/SUMMER ‘‘08 ISSUE Hope Why Progressivism Against is as Useless Hope: as Leftism I. No Time For Progress The land is dying, but it looks like spring. by This winter’s weather seems lost, as if the Earth itself had grown senile and forgetful. Tara Specter It isn’t the old age of winters past, when the years themselves die into renewal. The winter now seems cold and unrelenting, brutal, brought down by ill-health and left alone with no way to care for itself. Rain that should have fallen long and hard by now is yet to come, the mud that would be found this time of year choked in dust. The scrubjays, normally scarce, have gone entirely, only to be replaced by other birds from farther south. The sight of these new birds, themselves lost to their habitual terrain, is as eerie and disturbing as the daffodils blooming here at the end of January. I am afraid of the winter daffodils. They mean the death of the land. And yet, while frightened, I also recognize a certain power of the Earth, which is itself always more than death. Life, once begun, once discovered and unleashed, cannot be And it puts itself in all its forms against what II. Against Bookchin undone, cannot be lost. Death can come for needs undoing. Those who fight with life are Bookchin buys into the time of the false ecology living things, but life itself is endless. For made free by bursting forth as the vanguard and thus into the myth of progress. Evolution every misshapen circumstance we bring and of the real. is not progress, ecology is not progress, nor is every rhythm we destroy, life will find a new But this is not progress in the sense of the history progress. The call he makes for a way. It will heal its wounds and continue on, Progressives. We should not expect progress. Kropotkinist social ecology is based in the wrapping its patterns, its lifeways, and its Progress belongs to the time of false ecology, neo-Aristotelian tradition of natural law. But newly innovated rhythms around time itself, to the history of a world whose time has been nature has no laws or fixed agendas. It is not pulling eternity into an exuberance that shuts made straight by the illusions of economy. normative or institutional, but purely decisional. out all particulars of despair. The Earth has never known a line like that. Those patterns some might call laws are habits, For those of us who fight with life, who Time is found in tendrils, in loops, in the are a form of the universe making love to itself. align ourselves not against the plight of the movement of arcs and circles, ellipses, and They are not laws. Nature is not legislated. It is infinite particulars of synthetic death but with continua. Space itself is open, free, and a process of self-exploration, holding itself the joy of life set free, the challenge is not to roiling, bent and moved by its own content, open to its own endless reordering and continual undo the false ecology of man. That is easy: never lost to some illusion of immediate interrelation. It is not subject to law or to the break it, burn it, tear it down. The challenge infinity but rather intimate and close and wild exercise of sovereignty’s sway over death. is to feel life itself coursing through our veins in an eros of and for itself. The history of the Life finds only life. We see in Bookchin the in the act, to feel ourselves at one with the world is a spinning pulsation turning round dialectics of his ideological leftism and of spirit of all that lives. It is difficult not because an ellipse. It is vibrant and dynamic and can- the false ecology that believes that time and right action is here ambiguous or uncertain, not be regulated, controlled, or conditioned. space bring encounters with a reified death but because life itself is bigger than us, more Only the small particulars of death can be so (the nonliving or inorganic, here, as objects vast even than our largest acts. And so we can constrained. And that is why the false ecology for appropriation): never act on behalf of life, but always and can only wield power by making use of Put quite simply, ecology deals with only as life. Life knows death intimately, death. It fights with death. We fight with life. the dynamic balance of nature, with the knows its cracks and fissures and weaknesses. It. We. GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 12 interdependence of living and non- Nature in its final manifestation, like Bloch moves towards the posthumanistic at living things. Since nature also includes history in its final manifestation, lies the instant Bookchin fails to do so. Bloch puts human beings, the science must in- at the horizon of the future. The more the nature of humanity, as self-constructing and clude humanity’s role in the natural a common technique [Allianztechnik] self-mediating natural system, at risk in such a world—specifically, the character, is attainable instead of one that is way that our relationship to nature is questioned form, and structure of humanity’s re- external—one that is mediated with not through a reorientation of the “human” lationship with other species and with the co-productivity [Mitproduktivitat] (in a “natural state” or otherwise) toward nature, the inorganic substrate of the biotic of nature—the more we can be sure but through a redeployment of humanity itself environment. From a critical viewpoint, that the frozen powers of a frozen nature as metaphor for its own way of being-related. ecology opens to wide purview the vast will again be emancipated. Nature is In this view, an ethic is implied that sees disequilibrium that has emerged from not something that can be consigned “nature” as inherently good because it is the humanity’s split with the natural world. to the past. Rather it is the construc- ahistorical locus for the manifestation of One of nature’s very unique species, tion-site that has not yet been cleared, good-as-such in and as the manifestation of the homo sapiens, has slowly and pains- the building tools that have not yet historical subjectivity of humanity, in turn takingly developed from the natural been attained in an adequate form for the carriers of social good. Thus nature is world into a unique social world of its the human house that itself does not valuable in itself, not because of an anthropo- own. As both worlds interact with each yet exist in an adequate form. The centric ethic that sees it as the object of our other through highly complex phases ability of problem-laden natural subjec- respect, but because it is the primordial ground of evolution, it has become as important tivity to participate in the construction of relation itself in its dynamic possibility: sie to speak of a social ecology as to speak of this house is the objective-utopian unentfremdet aufgeht, als vermitteltes Gut. of a natural ecology. correlate of the human-utopian fantasy One can hear here indirect echoes of conceived in concrete terms. Therefore Heidegger’s “anti-Platonic” reading of the line The heroic narrative of the emergence of the it is certain that the human house from Trakl: “Es ist die Seele ein Fremdes auf human is amplified by the sense of scien- stands not only in history and on the Erden” (“Yes, the soul is a stranger upon the tific certainty about the nature, or at least ground of human activity; it stands earth.”). Derrida explains: sharp boundaries, of the human as a strictly primarily on the ground of a mediated differentiable species. Postulating a radical Heidegger immediately disqualifies natural subjectivity on the construction break between “nature” and the “social any “Platonic” hearing of this. That the site of nature. Nature’s conceptual world,” Bookchin proceeds to shore up this soul is a “stranger” does not signify frontier [Grenzbegriff] is not the begin- difference by articulating the relationship as that one must take it to be imprisoned, ning of human history, where nature mediated by “highly complex phases of exiled, tumbled into the terrestrial (which is always present in history and evolution.” The meaning of this latter phrase here below, fallen into a body doomed always surrounds it) turns into the site remains elusive at best, and we can only to the corruption (Verwesen) of what of the human sovereign realm [regnum assume that he uses here an ecological is lacking in Being and in truth is not. hominis], but rather where it turns into flourish in order to generate a place-holder Heidegger does thus indeed propose a the adequate site [for the adequate or stop-gap for a yet-to-be-theorized aspect change of meaning in the interpretation. human house] as an unalienated medi- of his theory. This change of meaning goes against ated good [und sie unentfremdet Bookchin’s attempt at an ecocentric Platonism, comes down to an inversion, aufgeht, als vermitteltes Gut]. posthumanism falls back into the categories precisely, of meaning itself [le sens of humanism’s speciesist false ecology at même], the direction or orientation of the precisely the moment we would wish it to soul’s movement. This reversal of be most powerful: in the presentation of meaning—and of the meaning of its ethical scheme. Bookchin’s largely meaning—passes in the first place negative critique of urbanity, counter- through a listening to language. balanced with an aphoristic positive critique, Heidegger first repatriates the word romantic at best, cannot do much more than fremd from the German language, describe the boundaries of Aristotelian leading it back to its ‘althochdeutsch’ humanism as a kind of banal urbanity and [Old High German] meaning, fram, then reorient the relationship between which, he says, ‘properly means’ culture and nature according to a “healthier” (bedeutet eigentlich): to be on the ethic of “respect for nature.” The lack of way towards (unterwegs nach) else- specificity in the determination of the moral where and forwards (anderswohin patients for this ethic make Bookchin’s vorwärts), with the sense of destination ethic seem unlikely to succeed. Moreover, (Bestimmung) rather than of wandering. without a critique of urbanity’s construc- And he concludes from this that, far tion and determination of death as the from being exiled on the earth like a form of its relation to life, it is difficult fallen stranger, the soul is on the way to see how the scenario that would provide towards the earth: Die seele sucht die for his ethic’s implementation in the first Erde erst, flieht sie nicht, the soul only place could emerge. seeks the earth, it does not flee it. The This blind spot allows Bookchin to miss soul is a stranger because it does not the profound sense in which Ernst Bloch, yet inhabit the earth—rather as the an early German Green thinker, identifies word ‘fremd’ is strange because its the problem scenario in a way not addressed meaning does not yet inhabit, because in the Kropotkinist milieu, even though he it no longer inhabits, its proper cites the relevant passage: althochdeutsch place. (continued on page 15) Page 13 SPRING/SUMMER ‘08 ISSUE Sermon on the Cyber Mount by The Honorable Reverend Black A. Hole

“The Christian resolve to find the world evil and ugly has made the world evil and ugly.” Nietzsche “God is dead: but considering the state Man is in, there will perhaps be caves, for ages yet, in which his shadow will be shown.” Nietzsche I have seen the multitudes of weary post-modern wanderers searching for the light to illuminate their brain in a vat. I have seen the chaotic bundles of particles lead into temptation by a connection to that conglomeration of cells they call a body. I fear their eternal salvation from a bestial life of animality in the wretched wilderness is threatened by demons of the most ghoulish kind. I have gathered here on this synthetic, deforested mountain with you on this disgustingly natural day to tell you about a motley crew of hell spawns spreading their torturous sensual terror and fiendish lies of non-symbolic life. For do not be fooled by their wicked ways and trickery. The symbolic is supreme, the alpha spherical object aimlessly rotating around our arch enemy The Sun. and the omega. In the beginning was the symbolic, and the symbolic I know your ears have been stung and your minds polluted by my was with homo symbolicus, and the symbolic was human life. mentioning of this most formidable of our foes, but hear me out my It has been proven by our priestly archaeologists. They have FACTS to biologically determined sheep programmed to accept hierarchy. The good back up their expert authority. Woe to those who shall be so bold as to shepherds in white coats are here to save you from perpetual torment at challenge the holy realm of empirical research. Even if our cardinal the hands of those who dance in the ninth circle of hell, inhabiting the anthropologists have miscalculated in their interpretative schemes, it deepest, darkest parts of the wilderness where the species traitors of matters not. For one cannot go back, at least until we develop a time science frolic in their games of debauchery and lazily loft about in their machine, for we are thoroughly entangled in the symbolic and there is unproductive sloth. Such is the way of life the Sun encourages, with its no escape. Thus spoke Bishop Derrida. But who would wish to visit such unstinting bounty of abundance uneconomically distributed throughout ghastly times when homo pre-symbolicus forsook their cognitive abilities this gleaming prison of a planet we must fervently work towards escaping. and chose instead to constantly revel in the orgasmic pleasure of direct This tyranny of evolution and photosynthesis must be superceded by our experience with a voluptuous earth? These primitivist heretics will surely own genetic engineering, for no alternative life of autonomy in connection be smote by the wrath of the Lord our Savior Science through the medium to the disgracefully numerous animal and plant species taking up so of its most faithfully representative son Noam Christomsky. much of our space must be allowed to lead us astray from our Scientifically The masses have been living in darkness with their false gods of ordained mission. The species traitors will burn at the concrete stake; organized religion, exploitative economic systems, and petty political they will face the fury of our most powerful gizmos like the sub-human attachments which have aided, yet also impeded, unfettered scientific specimen of Sodom and Gomorrah. Their words will be destroyed and progress for too long. For the dawn of a new cyber age is upon us. The era prevented from being distributed by any bookseller, including AK press. of Science has come. Repent all ye sinners who have been naughty For their false tongues spewing a poisonous venom of immediacy through following your instincts and valuing natural diversity over cloud your reasoning powers with their fanciful tales of humanity not artificial standardization. Reason will reign for 1000 years on this worshipping the Sun during the Paleolithic, not considering it sacred inanimate rock we are unjustly bound by. For the experimental reign and not deriving morality from it, but simply being affiliated with it of the Scientific Revolution is approximately half complete. As we in a direct experiential bliss that predates the stately empires of enter this second 500 year term of relativity and uncertainty yore whose subjects fell to their knees in praise of what they principles, the space-time continuum of symbolic abstraction thought was divine. It is this most primitive of unscientific condi- and distancing of scientific tinkering will boldly lead us where tions that we must cast down with a hail of equations. For we can no other species, with their scientifically proven inferior work with the symbolically inclined but the friends of the intelligence, has ever dreamed of going before. The goal is Neanderthal and pre-symbolic sapiens are the devilish children immortality, and by Science we will either achieve it on this of nature. It is but a small step from the abstractions and emptiness blue and green cesspool or we will travel to other parts of of cave paintings and divine enslavement to a full immersion the universe in search of everlasting life. in the temple of microscopes and satellites. We shall prevail. A scientifically inclined humanity is the culmination We shall forcefully if necessary, voluntarily if willing, of consciousness on this otherwise meaningless convert the unenlightened savages to the true way.

GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 14 For no one comes to the Holy Father Science except through the symbolic consensual processes, but eventually their work yielded a stunning message of our messiah Christomsky. conclusion. Christomsky descended Mount Pie in the Sky, and proclaimed So I call on all ye faithful taxpaying supporters of scientific endeavors “Let my people go you money hungry bastards. For a post-profit motive and consumers of endless supplies of gadgets to renounce your childish society has arrived and we will need new laws to replace the old ones. desire to listen to those who would fight alongside the anacondas and We wouldn’t want anarchy, would we?” And so the new Commandments, alligators. For you should know these flesh and blood mirages conceal entitled Lessons in Bookchinology, were bestowed upon the audience. their true being as evil spirits ascended from the River Styx sent by the 1. Thou shall have no other gods but Science, for this god is truly Sun itself to prey on your children. The glorious Christomsky has come Omnipotent (virtual reality), Omniscient (artificial intelligence) and as the spokesperson for Science, and he has a new covenant for sinners Omnipresent (electricity). 2. Thou shall not kill, unless of course it is to enter into and absolve themselves of their pre-technological ways. pygmy foragers or gorillas living on land containing coltan you need to For our Lord Science welcomes liberals and conservatives, anarchists mine in order to make cell phones. 3. Thou shall not steal, unless it is and communists, leftists and post-leftists, jews and gentiles underneath the joy one gets from non-sedentary life. 4. Thou shall honor and keep the big tent of laborious manipulations. All who so yearn to earn their holy Descartes’ birthday, for never must we think that historical icons bread by the sweat of their brow, we congratulate thee for thou dismissal are alienating or that specialists are unnecessary. 5. Thou shall not lie, of barbaric thoughts and slovenly foraging. But the time has come where unless it is done to convert a pre-homo symbolicus savage to the Church you will no longer need to face the possibility of a nasty, brutish and of Chemistry. 6. Thou shall not take Inter-Planetary Space Exploration’s short façade of existence in the grasslands and deserts of the real, for name in vain. 7. Thou shall not commit adultery with your neighbors Science will not stop until it has made its utilitarian mark on every scientifically designed android fuck toy. 8. Thou shall not covet thy last bit of nature. neighbors widgets for all are welcome to delve into mediation as they And I saw Christomsky open his mouth and teach them, saying Blessed please by unrelentingly visiting communal stores filled with the last are the poor in internet connections, for no one will be denied computer techno-device. 9. Thou shall not autonomously make anything for access in the reign of technocracy. Blessed are the meek, for they will cybernetic factory production is the sole source of survival and enjoy- submit to microchip implantation. Blessed are the merciful, for they are ment. 10. Thou shall honor thy parents and schoolteachers for they are the ones who refuse the primitivist call for resistance to our transcendent the key to each generation’s adherence to Science. ways. Blessed are the symbol makers, for they are the prehistoric Recognizing the difficulty in remembering these principal points of precedent for scientific separation. And as Christomsky delivered his Bookchinology, Christomsky boiled them down to one key commandment words, a man in the crowd rose up and said, “Oh faithfully representative and spoketh thus. “Thou shall slavishly obey Science by disconnecting son of the Lord our Savior Science, I once was lost but now am found. You yourself from non-symbolic ecstasy and pre-domesticated cornucopias.” have healed my blindness to the greatness of a life of estrangement from Hallelujah! Praise the Lord our Savior Science! For it has created wildness. You have shown me the wondrous capacity of your water skis to our world of asphalt, skyscrapers and medical experimentation on walk on water. But I wonder if the others will be as receptive.” animals as a benevolent redemption from the howling wilderness Christomsky was struck by the man’s astute observation. After running always threatening our concoctions. Now we’ll be passing along the the data through a supercomputer, the messiah decided more evidence collection plate for we couldn’t dominate the world without your generosity. would be needed to sway the thickheaded. He thus consulted with Science. They debated for hours in the usual anarcho-democratic Kindly place your dignity in the wastebasket on the way out. Hope Against Hopeby Tara Specter

(continued from page 13) a humanist teleology, which, he would claim, Of course, with Bloch the Platonic echo “in spite of all the denegations or all the returns even as it is submitted to counter- avoidances one could wish,…has remained utopian suspension. The unentfremdetlichkeit up till now…the price to be paid in the ethico- of Bloch’s vermitteltes Gut is discovered in political denunciation of biologism, racism, and as its proper expression as a good that is naturalism, etc.” both more imminent and more constrained for its actualization. Because it is at one with life, the soul does not inhabit the earth. Cut off from being cut off, we are strangers to alienation. An always-already present and available relationship is discovered and made III. The Beginningless War But the serious tone breaks into a laugh like manifest as the making possible of an I am afraid of the winter daffodils, angered grass in the cracks of a parking lot, as we impossible relation, through the pressure of by the decay and disorder they would carry. look across the line we drew and see flowers a disclosure of the good that can never be But there is a joy in them: in the midst of a growing up in winter. Because there is no disclosed as a good: a temporally precessive senile season, I recognize that that which we progress to be made, we can declare victory amelioration that never improves, that never hold dear has always already won. I know before the battle. The fire that burns the false leaves a starting gate it was never placed in, that the intimate encompassing of life in and ecology to the ground is the warmth of the but always seeks and always becomes better; for itself extends beyond the reach of the heart of life itself. The ashes that remain are a perfect imperfection that needs no perfecting ecology of death. That its always-already the sacred transformation of death that we because it grows ever more perfect by display- won victory is an expression of its self- smear across our own bodies. There is no ing ever more imperfection; an always surrendering to its infinite not-yet. The fore- dialectic. There is no cause for hope or fear. present “not-yet.” We need not therefore con- front of life is the line we draw at the edge There is only life—its winding, growing cede, with Derrida, the apparent necessity of of death, saying “This far and no farther.” chains of limitless, free, self-liberating desire.

PagePage 1515 SPRING/SUMMER ‘‘08 ISSUE a success insofar as it is “less lonely and less predictable” than the life we have now.4 This inversion of reality is the consolation of the supernatural of many Second-BestSecond-Best religions, and serves a similar substitutive function. Reality is disappearing behind a screen, as the separation of mind from body and Life:Life: RealReal VirtualityVirtuality nature intensifies. The technical means are being perfected fairly quickly, making good on the promises of the early 1990s. At that time VR, despite much ballyhoo,5 could not really deliver the goods. Fifteen or so years later, the technology of Second Life (for example) engages many users with a strong sense of physical presence by and other pseudo-sensory effects. Virtual reality is now the definitive expression John Zerzan of the postmodern condition, perhaps best typified by the fact that nothing wild exists there, only what serves human consumption. Foucault described the shift of power in modernity from sovereignty to discipline, and an enormously technologized daily life has accelerated this shift. 6 Contem- Reams of empirical studies and a century or two of social theory porary life is thoroughly surveilled and policed, to an unprecedented have noticed that modernity produces increasingly shallow and degree. But the weight and density of tech mediation create an even instrumental relationships. Where bonds of mutuality, based on more defining reality, and a more profound stage of control. When face-to-face connection, once survived, we now tend to exist in a the nature of experience, on a primary level, is so deeply altered, we depthless, dematerialized technoculture. This is the trajectory of are seeing a fundamental shift—a shift being extended everywhere, industrial mass society, not transcending itself through technology, at an accelerating pace. but instead becoming ever more fully realized. Virtual reality best typifies this movement, its simulations and In this context, it is striking to note that the original usage of robotic fantasies a cutting-edge component of the steadily advancing, “virtual” was as the adjectival form of “virtue”. Virtual reality is not universalizing, standardizing global culture. Sadly pertinent is Philip only the creation of a narcissistic subculture; it represents a much Zai’s judgement that VR is the “metaphysical maturity of civilization”. 7 wider loss of identity and reality. Its essential goal is the perfect All that is tangible, sensual, and earth-based corrodes and shrinks intimacy of human and machine, the eradication of difference within technologically mediated existence. between in-person and computer-based interaction. Of course, there are forms of resistance to this latest efflorescence Second Life. Born Again. Both are escape routes from a gravely of the false. But a luddite reaction always seems to pale before the worsening reality. Both the high-tech and the fundamentalist options magnitude of what it faces. There is a very long, sedimented history are passive responses to the actual situation now engulfing us. We are behind every newest technological move, an unbroken chain of so physically and socially distant from one another, and encroaching contingency. The leap involved in grasping new technics is made virtuality drives us ever further apart. We can choose to “live” as easier by the gradual impoverishment of human desires and aptitudes free-floating surrogates in the new, untrashed Denial Land of VR, but caused by the earlier innovations. The promise is, always, that more only if we embrace what Zizek called “the ruthless technological technology will bring improvement—which more accurately drive which determines our lives.”1 means, more technology will make up for what was lost in the Cyberspace means collapsing nature into technology, in the words preceding “advances”. The only way out is to break this chain, by of Allucquere Rosanne Stone; she notes that we are losing our refusing its imperative. grounding as physical beings. 2 The key response in the arid techno- Heidegger assailed the “objectification of all beings…brought into world is, of course, more technology. Drug technology, for the 70 the disposal of representation and production,” pointing out that million Americans with insomnia; for the sexually dysfunctional males “nature appears everywhere as the object of technology”, and now dependent on Viagra, Cialis, etc.; for the depressed and anxious concluding that “World becomes object”. 8 He also understood how who no longer dream or feel. technology changes our relation to things, a phenomenon underlined And as this regime works to further flatten and suppress direct by virtual reality. “Talk of a respect for things is more and more experience, Virtual Reality, its latest triumph, comes in to fill the void. unintelligible in a world that is becoming ever more technical. They Second Life, There, and whatever brand is next to offer dream worlds, are simply vanishing…,: remarked Gadamer. 9 Virtuality is certainly to a world denuded of dreams. In our time, “virtual bereavement” and that “vanishing”. “online grieving” are touted as superior to being present to comfort There has been in fact a recent counter-attack in favor of respecting those who mourn;3 where tiny infants are subjected to videos; where things as such, in favor of freeing them from an instrumental status, “teledildonics” delivers simulated sex to distant subjects. at least on the philosophical plane. Titles such as Things (2004) and “Welcome to Second Life. We look forward to seeing you in-world”, The Lure of the Object (2005) speak to this. 10 Desire for the authentic the website promo beckons. Immersive and interactive, VR provides experience of “thingness” (Heidegger’s term) is a rebuke to the the space so unlike the reality its customers reject. For a few dollars, pathological condition known as modernity, a realization that anyone can exist there as an “avatar” who will never grow old, bored, “accepting the otherness of things is the condition for accepting or overweight. Wade Roush of Technology Review declares Second Life otherness as such.” 11 GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 16 Immersion in virtual reality is a particularly virulent strain of this pathology because of the degree of interactivity and self-representation involved. Never has the built environment depended so crucially on CANARIES IN THE our participation, and never before has this participation been so potentially totalizing. With its appeal as, literally, a second life, a second world, it is The MatrixÐÐone that we ourselves are to continually pay to reproduce. Heinz Pagels’ description of the symbolic, in general, CLOCKWORK certainly applies to virtual reality: in denying “the immediacy of reality and in creating a substitute we have but spun another thread in the by earth-ling-gerring web of our grand illusion.” 12 This use of cyberspace takes represen- tation to new levels of self-enclosure and self-domestication. Spengler’s survey of Western civilization led him to conclude that “an artificial world is permeating and poisoning the natural. The Do you have the time? civilization itself has become a machine that does, or tries to do, everything in mechanical fashion.” 13 Second Life, Google Earth, etc., using graphics cards and broadband connections are sophisticated and enticing escape hatches, but it’s still the same basic machine orien- tation. And VR, as David Gelernter happily proclaimed, “is the sort of instrument that modern life demands.”14 Born of military research and the entertainment industry, Virtual Or does Time have you? Reality depends on us for its projected role throughout society. Real virtuality will be the norm when it infects various spheres, but only with our active consent. Wittgenstein felt that “it is not absurd e.g. to It must if you have your wristwatch on, you do have one right? Compulsory attire is cumulatively tiring. All of us cyborgs with believe that the age of science and technology is the beginning of the 15 clocks on our wrists, as we compulsively watch our watches. end for humanity.” Science and technology are the greatest triumphs Us watching Time pass, Time watching us pass, who will pass, of civilization, and the point is more grimly apparent than ever. Time or us? The clocks surround us, always all the time, in time off and time on. Like an international date line, the Endnotes: timeline is straight as a railroad, to be in time means to be in 1 Slavoj Zizek, The Plague of Fantasies (New York: Verso, 1997), p. 44. line. All of the watched watchers marching in line to Time. 2 Allucquere Rosanne Stone, “Will the Real Body Please Stand Up?” in Michael ‘Get in Line’ the loud speakers scream. Hardly necessary when Benedikt, ed., Cyberspace: First Steps (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1991). you’re (c)locked in, day in and day out, in the prison of Progress 3 Joseph Hart, “Grief Goes Online” in Utne, April 2007. 4 Wade Roush, “Second Earth” in Technology Review, July/August 2007, p. 48. which is the progress of Prison. Locked in by clocks, cell blocks, 5 Widely circulated books include: Howard Rheingold, Virtual Reality (New city blocks, and market stocks. For it is the Timer who calls York: Summit Books, 1991), Michael Heim, The Metaphysics of VR (New York: the shots. He tells the racers when to go and when to stop. We Oxford University Press, 1993), Rudy Rucker, R.U. Sirius, Queen Mu, Mondo run in the rat race wheel that goes nowhere, these hordes of 2000: A User’s Guide (New York: Harper-Collins, 1992), Nadia Magnemat rats race for the traces of the faces of meaningful scraps that Thalmann and Daniel Thalmann, Virtual Worlds and Multimedia (New York: turned out to be meaningless traps. Lab rats in the Laboratory Wiley, 1993), Benjamin Woolley, Virtual Worlds (Cambridge, MA: Blackwell, race. Humanities become as the cattle we used to keep, that 1992). An excellent corrective is Robert Markley, ed., Virtual Realities and Their now keeps us. The labour stock in the machine’s cattle stocks, Discontents (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996). 6 For his idiosyncratic twist on this, see Jean Baudrillard, Forget Foucault (New and like them we too end up on the chopping blocks. Chopped York: Semiotext, 1987). from the land, and laid out in blocks. Acres and acres of mass 7 Philip Zai, Get Real: A Philosophical Adventure in Virtual Reality (Lanham, market massacres. The work of the clock is to degrade, through MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 1998), p. 171. the use and abuse of (wo)man hours that they take away from 8 Martin Heidegger, “Nietzsche’s Word: ‘God is Dead’” in his Off the Beaten humyns everyday, for which it does indeed count on, as your Track, translated and edited by Julian Young and Kenneth Haynes (Cambridge: life counts down, and proceeding along in this way like Cambridge University Press, 2002), p. 191. clockwork. Fortunately the progress of Work is still a work in 9 Hans-Georg Gadamer, Philosophical Hermeneutics, translated and edited by David E. Linge (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1976), p. 71. progress. Time is running out for us domesticated mammals, 10 Bill Brown, ed., Things (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004); and maybe even for life on this planet Earth. If it dies, what Stephen Melville, ed., The Lure of Things (Williamstown, MA: Sterling and then? Nay I say, why not run out of time altogether, how about Francine Clark Art Institute, 2005). now? The time has come to escape this flying machine. Fly, 11 Brown, op. cit., p. 12. fight, or flee to freedom! It’s about Time! If you have ever 12 Heinz R. Pagels, The Dreams of Reason: The Computer and the Rise of the looked outside of this fascist zeppelin, could you not see that Sciences of Complexity (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1988). it is in fact made of lead? It’s not even flying at all, but has 13 Oswald Spengler, Man and Technics, translated by Charles Francis Atkinson (Westport CT: Greenwood Press, 1976), p. 94. already started to fall; we’re falling back down to earth. 14 David Gelerntner, Mirror Worlds (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991), p. 34. Abandon ship! Sound the call. When the Time comes, how about 15 Ludwig Wittgenstein, Culture and Value, translated by P. Winch (Oxford: we really punch the clock. Smash it to pieces, maybe then we Blackwell, 1986), p. 56. can find our peace. For we need its shards for arrowheads. We’ll need them to shoot at the hearts and the heads of the encroaching robot Army. Only then will we humans have time to burn, and time to learn to burn. And burn it we will, with our wills we will act, and may the words on our breath fan the flames of revolt. These flames are the flames of the Phoenix that will fly down upon the city, and into it’s clockwork. For we are the canaries in the clockwork, and may we summon the creation/destruction of this Phoenix of Chaos to bring this civilization to an end. And in its ashes, maybe then; maybe then we may sow the seeds of sustainable autonomy, of green anarchy, and let them spread and grow wild. Page 1717 SPRING/SUMMER ‘08 ISSUE experience of society, our culture, more and more general Ð a worldwide mono- culture. While pursuing its self-fulfilling prophecies of personal freedom, liberty and unlimited variations for unique self expression (individuality) it has done nothing but construct a worldwide mono- culture that is destroying the possibility of the existence for any real experience and replaces it with a “standing reserve” of experiential processes with superficially constructed deviations on the process to simulate individuality Ð the marketing term is personalization. What we have today, and what we have to look forward to, is a technological culture, civilization, that is in love with itself and the multiple reflections it makes in its own image for us to celebrate, or obsess over. Fast and furiously we are led into the frenzied self adulation of our technologi- cal society, its products and the reflection of them in ourselves. Our technology has never really been a reflection of ourselves directly. We were simply the vehicle for its deliverance, or its own being. For tech- nology and its partner in disgrace, science, do not exist beyond the being we give them and as such, they exist outside of our direct human experience (the reality of our “being here”). They are virtual activities and we have elevated these virtual activities to their current level of control over our real lives and experiences. Technology and science are pressed into use to model and manipu- A Specious late those beings in the world that do not perform the same manipulation. Upon this world, the “progress” of science/technology was not carried out by any other living creature besides humanity. Without us as the vehicle, technology stops. Science does not exist. The “knowledge” it begets is once again unknown and the products associated Species with such knowledge deteriorate and become by C.E. Hayes useless. Technology and scientific thought should be properly understood as a type of possession of the mind. The mind is The experience of technological narcissism possessed with a will to dominate, manipulate and serve that which produces a smothering obsession with ways to reflect the superficial self. gives it structure Ð technological society itself. Our use of technology is There is an inability of self-expression without recourse to a superficial definitely not a benign creative diversion that is employed in the natural identification within a technological process, product or field of influ- act of preserving and protecting our place in the natural world. It exists ence. The process of self-expression becomes an obsession to declare solely to separate us from our natural being and environment. What we individuality, uniqueness, specialness that is founded on superficiality. have in the mirror of our existence is not ourselves, but rather the Each superficiality exhibits itself as a change in angle from, or newly system generated by our technology. cast reflection of, the technologically constructed subject. Self-expression No longer can we see ourselves in much of the society we encounter. has become a variation on a common theme Ð the celebration of the What we see are reflections of the technological system with manufac- narcissistic superficial self through purely technological means. tured deviations on superficial levels. The desire to “be human” has Our culture tempts us with speciousness backed by a rubric of thought been supplanted with a desire to be “different” within the system and that enforces its repetition ad infinitum. There is unlimited access to the most of all, to be acknowledged for being different. The consequence same experience wherein the experience of the individual is amplified of these desires to be different, and the seeking of acknowledgement via small manufactured superficial changes. The promise of technology for being different, is that life becomes subservient to the system that has always been to make life easier and better. What it has done is communicates the expressions. The system now provides the means to provide standardization and unlimited access. Precisely what has create deviations on expression, and what follows is technology happened is individuality, uniqueness, and the creative act, have nearly becoming not just the messenger of human expression, but what been erased from experience. We now follow standard procedure to meet humanity expresses. Human desires are now sublimated, if not elimi- stated goals. Technological narcissism pushes forward with making the nated, based on the technological methods available for expression. GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 18 The raw experience of being human is repressed and redirected to serve The focus becomes how can “I” stand out from all the sameness that the refinement of technological control over our direct experience of technology fosters, but the ability to stand out only manifests on purely the world. That which can be modeled, manipulated and quantified in a superficial, or stylistic, terms. How many genre names can we give to virtual manner becomes the basis of what we do to our physical reality. the explosion of sameness that has occurred in the Digital Age? Only The refinement of technology (specialization) reveals smaller and the smallest of superficial deviations produce the desire to be recog- smaller deviations on physical reality until the reality is lost. What is nized as different or claim individuality. Sometimes the “difference” is left is the superficiality of the technologically derived model. This now only in the application of certain technology to the same exact data Ð becomes the desire, our desire: The technical perfection of a techno- from black and white to color, from analog to digital, from orchestra to logically derived model of ourselves. We are bred by the system to synthesizer, etc. desire a life free of pain, suffering, distress, death, loss, and uncertainty The stimulus to all this activity is the same Ð the ubiquity of technology among other things that are harmful to the functioning of the system. creates common cultural data and enables its expression in common What remains is an impossible human life essentially, but the models terms. The reaction to the stimulus is narcissistic behavior. The over- have supplanted our concept of reality to the point where the virtual powering desire to be “acknowledged” by others for ones own world, the technologically perfect world, is the actual foundation of individuality fuels the engine of the current technologically dependent reality. Self-expression is sublimated to the virtual world. Self- culture. Since the experience of life is so schematized by the technol- expression becomes not an expression of the self, but an expression of ogy we manipulate, consume and depend upon, the will to express a particular superficiality within the model constructed by the prevailing ourselves has now turned to our own bodies as the last refuge from the technology of the moment. We pretend to be what we are not in order to invasion of technology. With horrific irony, or absurd incongruity, the justify the existence of what we create and express. only means we have at our disposal to express what our body experiences We fall in love with the perfection of the model. The closest we can “out there” in the real world is reliant on the prevailing technological get to a raw human experience is this love, but it is a mutated and framing of what we are supposed to be experiencing. The real world we deformed version of love that is not naturally derived from our experience encounter is largely the schema of technology imposed on our lives to with direct reality. It is a technologically derived form of narcissism. It make them “better”, i.e. more efficient, less strenuous, more comfort- is not ourselves, nor anyone, we are in love with, but rather a reflection able, happier, and so forth. To strip the world of technology would of ourselves cast by a mirror of science and technology. We desire to return us to a brutal encounter with nature that we cannot bear to become what we are not, nor will ever be, but push ourselves to sustain, or so those who uphold the current technocratic civilization become the reflection. We want the perfection promised by the techno- propose. It is here, in the experience of a non-technologically mediated logical reflection. Self-expression is therefore not from the self, but existence, that one may find access to unfettered self-expression, though. rather an expression dictated by the reflection. The specious species that we have become desires the perfections of This “techno-expression” has manifested itself in many ways. experience that are promised by the technological representations of Blogging, as a means of publishing a single person’s multimedia diary what it means to be human. An infallible “yes” or “no” to life as it has (a personalized electronic press kit of sorts) accessible to all, is perhaps been constructed is what one desires in the schematized cultural expe- a fitting example. Being accessible to all necessarily means that all can rience. To experience an in between state cannot be accurately expressed understand, that all can identify with, and this type of experience can by such methods and as such, is intolerable. When the strict logic of only be produced if all have similar cultural data. Because the technol- scientific rigor is interrupted by the contradiction of emotions and ogy exists and because the technology is widespread, the experience of reality itself, the experience is broken down into smaller technically it (being technological) becomes a common fixture (utility) of daily manufactured states, quantified, analyzed and processed. The technical existence to the beings that use it. It is to this end that the use of technol- term for this may be conflict resolution. The technological narcissist ogy becomes the basis of the human experience. In order to express desires clarity and confirmation of their self. Self-expression is derived what it is to be human we must resort to expressing what it means to by establishing a superficial identification within a technological experience the technology we use. Blogging, while at superficial level, process, product or field of influence in order to confirm and clarify may appear to cover a wide spectrum of subjects, discourses and styles, ones internal feelings. Without the technology to parse the experience actually restricts any sort of unique personal perspective from coming of being in the world, then self-expression becomes impossible and the into existence. In order to be understood, one must speak the language experiential data self-expression draws upon for inspiration becomes of technology. In doing so, the speaker channels the language of the meaningless. As it stands, any technologically derived expression of system and its desires through themselves. One needs gadgets to blog, reality is better than none, therefore self-expression has been reduced the knowledge of the gadgets that enable the processing of reality, and to spurious and superficial layers of technological narcissism. lastly the time to create the blog in isolation from reality in order to distill real-life into something that is able to be represented as some- thing intelligible through a personal computer by others. In order for blogging to be effective at conveying information, human experience must be regulated and standardized Ð made easily digestible and transmittable by technology. What instructs the content of the blog is that which the blogger can distill through the current technology. No longer are we limited to literate technology (writing) capturing data, but we now have ubiquitous technology to record images and sound Ð hence the rise of MySpace and YouTube (nothing narcissistic about the names of those sites at all!). Not only this, but there are even virtual worlds for us to inhabit such as SecondLife, which completely do away with the real world entirely. Perhaps the virtual world/virtual life is the greatest achievement of technological processing of life to date. It does away with the translation of reality and replaces it outright. In order to be “heard” within these virtual communities, you must be able to relate to common cultural data (monoculture) and have the ability to express it in familiar terms.

Page 19 SPRING/SUMMER ‘08 ISSUE The mega-cities have more in common with each other than with any other social organisms. Their citizens tend to dress the same and otherwise consume the same global culture, under a steadily more comprehensive surveillance gaze. This is the opposite of living in a particular place on the earth, with respect for its uniqueness. These days, all space is becoming urban space; there is not a spot on the planet that couldn’t become at least virtually urban upon the turn of a satellite. We have been trained and equipped to mold space as if it were an object. Such an education is mandated in this Digital Age, dominated by cities and metro regions to an extent unprecedented in history. How has this come to pass? As Weber put it, “one may find anything or everything in the city texts except the informing AloneAlone principle that creates the city itself.”4 But it is clear what the fundamental mechanism/dynamic/ “principle” is and always has been. As Weber continued: “Every device in the city facilitating trade and industry prepares the way for further TogetherTogether:: division of labor and further specialization of tasks.”5 Further massification, standardization, equivalence. As tools became systems of technology—that is, as social complexity developedÐÐthe city appeared. The city-machine was the earliest and biggest technological phenomenon, the culmination of the division of labor. Or as Lewis Mumford characterized it, “the mark of the city is its purposive social complexity.”6 The two modes in this context are the same. Cities are the most complex artifacts ever contrived, just as urbanization is one of the prime measures of development. The coming world-city perfects its war on nature, obliterating it in favor of the artificial, and reducing the countryside to mere “environs” that conform to urban priorities. All cities are antithetical to the land. Certeau’s “Walking in the City” has rather an eerie quality, given its subject and the fact that it was written in 2000. Certeau saw the World Trade Center as “the most monumental figure” of Western urbanism and felt that “to be lifted to [its] summit is to be carried away by the city’s hold.”7 The viability thethe CityCity of the city has entered its inevitable stage of being doubted, accompanied by an anxiety heightenedÐÐbut not createdÐÐ on 9/11. The deep ambivalence about urban life, felt through- out civilization’s reign, has become much more pronounced. andand itsits Domestication made civilization possible, and intensified domestication brought forth urban culture. Primary horti- by cultural communitiesÐÐsettlements and villagesÐÐwere InmatesInmates John Zerzan superseded by cities as massified agriculture took hold. One enduring marker of this shift is megalithic monumentality. In early Neolithic monuments all the qualities of the city are The proportion of humanity living in cities has been growing expo- found: sedentism, permanence, density, a visible announcement of nentially, along with industrialization. The megalopolis is the latest the triumphal march of farming over foraging. The city’s spectacular form of urban “habitat”, increasingly interposing itself between centralization is a major turning point in human cultural evolution, human life and the biosphere. the arrival of civilization in its full, definitive sense. The city is also a barrier between its inmates, a world of strangers. There have been civilizations without cities (e.g. the early Maya In fact, all cities in world history were founded by strangers and out- civilization), but not many. More often they are a key feature and siders, settled together in unique, previously unfamiliar environments. develop with a relatively sudden force, as if the energy repressed by It is the dominant culture at its center, its height, its most dominant. domestication must burst forth to a new level of its control logic. The Joseph Grange is, sadly, basically correct in saying that it is “par urban explosion does not escape some bad reviews, however. In the excellence, the place where human values come to their most concrete Hebrew tradition, it was Cain, murderer of Abel, who founded the expression.”1 (If one pardons the pun, also sadly apt.) Of course, the first city. Similarly, such urban references as Babylon, the Tower of word “human” receives its fully deformed meaning in the urban Babel, and Sodom and Gomorrah are wholly negative. A deep context, especially that of today. Everyone can see the modern ambivalence about cities is, in fact, a constant of civilization. “flatscape”, in Norberg-Schulz’s terse term (1969), the Nothing By about 4000 BC the first cities appeared in Mesopotamia and Zones of placelessness where localism and variety are steadily being Egypt, when political means were devised to channel the surpluses diminished, if not eradicated.2 The supermarket, the mall, the airport created by a new agricultural ethos into the hands of a ruling lounge are everywhere the same, just as office, school, apartment block, minority. This development required economic input from wider hospital, and prison are scarcely distinguishable one from another, in and wider areas of production; large-scale, centralized, bureaucratic our own cities. 3 institutions were not long in coming. Villages were pulled into

GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 20 increasingly specialized maximization strategies to produce bigger States as we know them already existed by this period, and powerful surpluses flowing to the cities. Greater grain production, for example, cities emerged as capitals, the loci of state power. Political domination could only be achieved with additional work and more coercion. has always flowed from these urban centers. In this context, peasants Resistance occurred within this well-known framework, as the more leave behind one known and hated servitude for new, initially undis- primitive farming communities were forcibly converted into admin- closed forms of bondage and suffering. The city, already a site of istered towns, such as Nineveh. Nomadic peoples of Sinai refused to local power and war, is an incubator of infectious diseases, including mine copper for the Egyptian rulers, to cite another instance.8 Small- plague, and of course greatly magnifies the impacts of fire, earth- holders were forced off the land into cities; this displacement is a quake, and other dangers. basic part of a familiar pattern that continues today. For thousands of generations humans rose at daybreak and slept Urban reality is primarily about trade and commerce, with a nearly after the sun went down, basking in the glories of sunrise, sunset, total dependence on support from external areas for continued ex- and starry skies. Half a millennium ago, city bells and clocks istence. To guarantee such an artificial subsistence, city fathers announced an increasingly ordered and regulated daily life, the reign turn inevitably to war, that chronic civilizational staple. “Conquest of urban timekeeping. With modernity, lived time disappears; time abroad and repression at home,” in Stanley Diamond’s words, is a becomes a resource, an objectified materiality. Measured, reified defining characterization of cities from their very origins.9 The early time isolates the individual in the force-field of deepening division Sumerian city-states, for example, were constantly at war. The and separation, ever diminishing wholeness. Contact with the earth struggle for stability of urban market economies was an unremitting ebbs, as urbanization grows; and as Hogarth depicted in his mid- matter of survival. Armies and warfare were cardinal necessities, espe- 18th century images of London, physical contact among people lessens cially given the built-in expansionist character of the urban dynamic. dramatically. At this time Nicolas Chamfort declared, “Paris is a Uruk, the biggest Mesopotamian city of its time (ca 2700 BC), boasted city of gaieties and pleasures, where four-fifths of the inhabitants a double-ring wall six miles long, fortified by 900 towers. From this die of grief.”12 In Emile (1762), Rousseau put it more personally; early period through the Middle Ages, virtually all cities were fortified “Adieu, Paris. We are seeking love, happiness, innocence. We shall garrisons. Julius Caesar used the word oppidum (garrison) to denote never be far enough away from you.”13 The pervasive weight of every town in Gaul. urban existence penetrated even the most outwardly vital political The first urban centers also consistently reveal a strong ceremonial phenomena, including the French Revolution. Crowds in revolutionary orientation. The movement away from an immanent, earth-based Paris often seemed strangely apathetic, prompting Richard Sennett spirituality to emphasis on sacred or supernatural spaces receives a to detect there the first pronounced modern signs of urban passivity.14 further deformation with literally awe-inspiring, mighty urban temples In the following century Engels, in contrary fashion, decided that it and tombs. The elevation of a society’s gods corresponded to the is in the city that the proletariat achieves its “fullest classic perfection.”15 increasing complexity and stratification of its social structure. But Tocqueville had already seen how individuals in cities feel “strangers Religious monumentality, by the way, was not only an obedience- to the destinies of each other.”16 Later in the 19th century, Durkheim inducing tactic by those in authority; it was also a fundamental noted that suicide and insanity increase with modern urbanization. In vehicle for the spread of domestication.10 fact, a sense of dependence, loneliness, and every kind of emotional But the real rise to dominance began not only with intensified agri- disturbance are generated, giving rise to Benjamin’s perception that cultureÐÐand the appearance of writing systems, as Childe, Levi-Strauss “Fear, revulsion, and horror were the emotions which the big-city and others have notedÐÐbut with metallurgy. Succeeding civilization’s crowd aroused in those who first observed it.”17 The technological initial Neolithic stage, the Bronze Age and even more so, the Iron Age developments in the areas of sewage and other sanitation challenges, brought urbanization into its full centrality. According to Toynbee, “If while required in burgeoning metropoles, also enable urbanization the increase in the size of cities in the course of history is presented and its further growth. Life in cities is only possible with such visually in the form of a curve, this curve will be found to have the continual technological supports. same configuration as a curve presenting the increase in the potency of By 1900, Georg Simmel understood how living in cities brings technology.”11 And with the increasingly urbanized character of social about not only loneliness, but also the reserve or emotional numbness life, the city can be seen as a container. Cities, like the factories that are that exacerbates it. As Simmel saw, this is very closely analogous to already present, rely on containment. Cities and factories are never at the effects of industrial life in general: “Punctuality, calculability, base freely chosen by the people inside them; domination keeps them exactness are forced upon life by the complexity and extension of there. Aristophanes put it well in his 414 BC creation, The Birds: “A metropolitan existence.”18 The urban languor and impotence expressed city must rise, to house all birds; then you must fence in the air, the sky, in T.S. Eliot’s early poetry, for example, helps fill in this picture of the earth, and must surround it by walls, like Babylon.” reduced life. (continued on next page)

Page 21 SPRING/SUMMER ‘‘08 ISSUE The term “suburb” was used from Shakespeare and Milton onwards Endnotes: in very much the modern sense, but it was not until the onslaught of 1 Joseph Grange, The City: An Urban Cosmology (Albany: State University of industrialization that the suburban phenomenon truly emerged. Thus New York Press, 1999), p. xv. residential development appeared on the outskirts of America’s biggest 2 Edward Relph, Place and Placelessness (London: Pion Ltd., 1976), p. 6. cities between 1815 and 1860. Marx referred to capitalism as “the 3 Meanwhile, phenomena such as “Old Town” areas and historical districts urbanization of the countryside”19 ; suburbanization really hit its stride, distract from tedium and standardization, but also underline these defining urban in its contemporary meaning, just after World War II. Refined mass characteristics. The patented superficiality of postmodern architecture underlines it as well. production techniques created a physical conformity to match and 4 20 Max Weber, The City, translated by Don Martindale and Gertrud Neuwirth magnify social conformity. Depthless, homogenized, a hothouse of (Glencoe, IL: The Free Press, 1958), p. 11. consumerism fenced in by strip malls and freeways, the suburb is the 5 ibid., p. 21 further degraded outcome of the city. As such, the differences between 6 Lewis Mumford, The Culture of Cities (New York: Harcourt, Brace and urban and suburban should not be exaggerated or seen as qualitative. Company, 1938), p. 6. For all of the valid historical content, Mumford can also Withdrawal, facilitated by an array of high-tech devicesÐÐiPods, cell lapse into absurdity, e.g. “the city should be an organ of love….” in The City in phones, etc.ÐÐis now the order of the day, a very telling phenomenon.21 History (New York, Harcourt, Brace, 1961), p. 575. 7 Michel de Certeau, The Certeau Reader, edited by Graham Ward (London: Civilization, as is clear from the word’s original Latin meaning, is what Blackwell Publishers, 2000), p. 103. 22 goes on in cities. More than half of the world’s population now lives in 8 Stanley Diamond, In Search of the Primitive (New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction cities, McDonaldizing non-places like Kuala Lumpur and Singapore that Books, 1974), p. 7. have so resolutely turned their backs on their own rich contexts. The 9 ibid., p. 1. urbanizing imperative is an ongoing characteristic of civilization. 10 Andrew Sherratt, Economy and Society in Prehistoric Europe (Princeton: A certain perverse allure still obtains for some, and it has become so Princeton University Press, 1997), p. 362. 11 Arnold Toynbee, Cities on the Move (New York: Oxford University Press, hard to escape the urban influence zone anyway. There is still a flicker of 1970), p. 173. hope for community, or at least for diversion, in the metropolis. And 12 Nicolas Chamfort, quoted in James A. Clapp, The City, A Dictionary of some of us remain there in order not to lose contact with what we feel Quotable Thought on Cities and Urban Life (New Brunswick, NJ: Center for compelled to understand, so we can bring it to an end. Certainly, there are Urban Policy Research, 1984), p. 51. those who struggle to humanize the city, to develop public gardens and 13 Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Emile, translated by Allan Bloom (New York: Basic other amenities, but cities remain what they have always been. Most of Books, 1979), p. 355. 14 Richard Sennett, Flesh and Stone: the Body and the City in Western their inhabitants simply accept the urban reality and try to adjust to it, Civilization (New York: W.W. Norton, 1994), p. 23. with the same outward passivity they express toward the enveloping 15 Friedrich Engels, The Condition of the Working Class in England (St. Albans: techno-world. Panther Press, 1969), p. 75. Some try always to reform the unreformable. Let’s have “a new 16 Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America v. 2 (New York, Vintage, 1963), modernity”, “a new attitude about technology”, etc. etc. Julia Kristeva p. 141. 17 calls for “a cosmopolitanism of a new sort…”23 Such orientations Walter Benjamin, Illuminations, translated by Harry Zahn (New York: Schocken Books, 1969), p. 174. reveal, among other things, the conviction that what are widely 18 Kurt H. Wolff, The Sociology of Georg Simmel (New York: The Free Press, considered essentials of social life will always be with us. Max Weber 1950), p. 413. judged modernity and bureaucratic rationality to be “escape-proof”, 19 Karl Marx, Grundrisse (New York, Vintage, 1973), p. 479. while Toynbee saw the Ecumenopolis, as he called the stage of 20 A typical and apposite work is Richard Harris, Creeping Conformity: How gigantism succeeding the stage of the megalopolis, “inevitable”.24 Ellul Canada Became Suburban, 1900-1960 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2004). 21 referred to urbanization as that “which can only be accepted.”25 Very pertinent is Michael Bull, Sounding Out the City: Personal Stereos and the Management of Everyday Life (New York, Oxford University Press, 2000). However, given today’s urban reality, and how and why cities came 22 This is not only true in the West. In Arabic civilization, for example, to be in the first place and continue to exist, what James Baldwin said madaniyya, or civilization, comes from madine, which means city. of the ghetto fully applies to the city: “[It] can be improved in one way 23 Julia Kristeva, Strangers to Ourselves (New York: Columbia University Press, only: out of existence.”26 There is a strong consensus among urban 1991), p. 192. theorists, by the way, that “cities are newly divided and polarized.”27 24 Toynbee, op.cit., p. 196 25 That the poor and the indigenous must be urbanized is another primary Jacques Ellul, The Political Illusion (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1967), p. 43. 26 James Baldwin, Nobody Knows My Name (New York, The Dial Press, 1961), p. 65. facet of colonialist-imperialist ideology. 27 Peter Marcuse and Ronald van Kempen, editors, Of States and Cities: the The original monumentalism is still present and underlined in today’s Partioning of Urban Space (New York, Oxford University Press, 2002), p. vii. city, with the same dwarfing and disempowering of the individual. 28 John Habberton, Our Country’s Future (Philadelphia: International Publishing Human scale is obliterated by high-rises, sensory deprivation deepens, Company, 1889), cited in Clapp, op.cit., p. 105. and inhabitants are assailed by monotony, noise, and other pollutants. 29 Kai N. Lee, “Urban Sustainability and the Limits of Classical Environmentalism,” The cyberspace world is itself an urban environment, accelerating in Environment and Urbanization 18:1 (April 2006), p. 9. the radical decline of physical presence and connection. Urban space is the always advancing (vertically and horizontally) symbol of the defeat of “Depthless, homogenized, a hothouse of consumerism nature and the death of community. What John Habberton wrote in 1889 fenced in by strip malls and freeways, the suburb is could not be more valid now: “A great city is a great sore—a sore which the further degraded outcome of the city. As such, the 28 can never be cured.” Or as Kai W. Lee replied to the question whether differences between urban and suburban should not a transition to sustainable cities is imaginable: “The answer is no.”29 Copán, Palenque, and Tikal were rich cities of Maya civilization be exaggerated or seen as qualitative.” abandoned at their height, between 600 and 900 A.D. With similar examples from various cultures, they point a way forward for us. The literature of urbanism has only grown darker and more dystopian in recent years, as terrorism and collapse cast their shadows on the most untenable products of civilization: the world’s cities. Turning from the perpetual servitude and chronic sickness of urban existence, we may draw inspiration from such places as former indigenous settlements on what is now called the Los Angeles River. Places where the sphere of life is rooted in subsisting as fully skilled humans in harmony with the earth.

GREEN ANARCHY #25 Pagee 22 school in New Jersey. We LW: You are known as the father occupied those seventy- of the pre-emptive-post-apoca- The of two hellish hours planning lyptic movement, is that right? schemes for self-suffi- End US: Ha. I don’t know if I’d call myself the ciency and writing raps father. It’s a mostly tongue in cheek label…but about debris huts and the yes, there are groups of people preparing for . collapse of civilization. the end of civilization. My friend and I joke Slavery It was a good time. that we have a lot more in common with Chris- Two years later, back tian fundamentalists stockpiling food in the home in Portland, Bauer middle of nowhere, than we do with environ- began to explore the trans- mental activists or most people our own age… mission of culture through art and more specifically, LW: A lot of the Urban Scout how the stories we tell material, particularly the either support the con- movie, seems to cater to a hip tinuation of life on this audience, or at least seeks to planet or its destruction. meet them on their level. I He formed Myth Media, a doubt any true fundies would non-profit organization, take kindly to the beer bongs “committed to creating cul- and casual sex portrayed in tural and environmental An the movie. change through the arts.” Interview But, he has not found it US: Initially my plan was to open the world of altogether satisfying. “Pro- survival skills to my friends and the rest of the by Lisa grams can be beneficial in hipsterati. That’s no small task, to win over a Wells local specific cases and bunch of sarcastic, skeptical fashionistas… but that’s great,” says Bauer, I think it worked. Now I’m more interested in “but if you think that start- fostering an inclusive relationship with people Urban Scout On Creating A ing a non-profit or running from all different backgrounds who ideologically an arts camp is going to might be at odds, but share the more important World Beyond Civilization save the world you’re concern of survival through collapse and beyond. lying to yourself.” Like many of us who grew up in Those who reject civilization often find LW: I wonder if you could talk the Northwest, Peter Bauer spent themselves stuck between two immobilizing about what a typical day much of his youth hiking and camping the sentiments, the hatred felt for an insane system looks like for an urban granddaddy forests that, at one time, stretched of destruction, and the self-loathing that accom- hunter-gatherer. from here to the Atlantic. Even in the late panies their dependence on it. The desperate 1980’s expanses of untouched wilderness question then becomes, what world exists US: Sure… Well, for me, every morning I get could be found in Oregon where families like beyond civilization and how do we get there? up and I sit in my back yard, and just try to take ours camped for weeks in the summer without Bauer began working on that question with in all that’s around me. At first I was getting ever coming upon another human soul. Those the advent of his now marginally famous alter really bored…my mind would wander a lot. You early experiences in the woods have informed ego, the Urban Scout. The pseudo myth goes: know, birds squawk, cats lie in the sun, trees stand every decision we’ve made since, the memory Urban Scout is an indigenous relic thrown for- etc. But then, like anything you spend time with, of an intact world first met by un-jaded eyes, ward to modern times for the pre-emptive post subtleties started to reveal themselves and I got a naiveté of the shortest shelf life. One spot apocalyptic movement, a movement of people interested. The birds are talking to each other on the Nehalem River that Bauer and I used attempting to live as if the apocalypse has and you want to figure out what they’re saying. to frequent, an area teeming with biodiversity, already happened. What began as a comic You notice that there are these lives all around was, in a single season, reduced to a muddy experiment in redefining the autochthonous, you, living out their stories separate from you, parking lot. Our reaction when we discovered (in the short film, The Adventures Of Urban and they’re not human. It’s so simple but so it that summer was maybe most disturbing; Scout, Bauer takes a girl back to his debris hut fascinating. The eventual goal is to not only not the wailing to earth apropos to losing a where they beer bong Pabst and throw rabbit watch but to participate in this world. To get to lifelong love, not even a tear, because some- sticks) has now become an obsession. On April know specific birds who will come and sit right where in our minds we knew we had been 1, 2006 Bauer began his year as Urban Scout. by you. To eat the fruit of the trees. It becomes a relating on borrowed time, that a hundred years He says, “The focus of this project is unlocking conscious interaction with other-than-human life. ago someone had slotted that place a dump, the food. Civilization keeps people impris- To me, this is the essence of the hunter-gatherer. like everywhere else we had come to love, and oned by not teaching them how to get their it was only a matter of time before death came own food or by making laws against food to collect. This is perhaps the one story shared self-sufficiency. I plan to learn how to hunt, by every generation enslaved by civilization forage, or grow all my own food, collect and since its grievous birth, the story of holocaust filter all my own water, and build my own on the whole, and in particular, the murder of shelter. Rent free, bill free, and grocery each sweet childhood mile. store free.” Galvanized by the writings of Tom Brown Jr., We met on my porch in NE Portland on the Daniel Quinn, and the evidence of our own grief, morning of April 7, 2007, on a perfect, clear we abandoned our junior year of high school and day. In the recording you can barely hear us took off on a Greyhound for wilderness survival over the chorus of songbirds. (continued on next page) Page 23 SPRING/SUMMER ‘08 ISSUE LW: Where is this back yard? LW: Isn’t it funny to even have Because even if you don’t like everyone on Where are you living? to explain this? It just seems your team (and it’s commonly documented so evident, I mean, how far from that not everyone in tribal situations always It’s not actually my backyard, it’s several US: yourself do you have to get to got along,) you rely on them for your different people’s that I’m squatting in. In a assume the world is dead. survival…and you trust them, despite petty tipi actually…which may not have been the differences. It’s an ingrained peacemaking best choice for shelter in the northwest due to US: Unfortunately, pretty far... But, you know system, because while there is not some noble the moisture, but I’m learning a lot from my I think that’s what rewilding is about, coming mandate that demands all teammates are best mistake. So yeah, most days I work on home to yourself and to your place… And why buddies, in-fighting will inevitably fuck up primitive skills, I make cordage out of yucca stop with pets or animals? How deeply can your team work on the field. leaves (which are in a lot of urban yards), I you empathize? With plants? What about collect wood and stones to make blades and stones and rivers and clouds? Indigenous LW: So what makes urban hunt- other tools. To me, urban hunting and gather- people experienced this everyday. Of course ing and gathering different ing and the rewilding stuff isn’t so much about their empathy extended to all of these elements. from hunting and gathering primitivism –that’s inevitable- for me it’s about According to Darwin’s theory, feelings of love in what some would call, ...the returning to an indigenous mindset, less about and empathy would only have survived “natural world,”…though, I wearing buckskin or living in a Tipi, and more through evolution if they served an evolution- get the sense that definition about seeing things through the eyes of a native, ary purpose. So having empathy… more like might be up for discussion? and having the relationship that they had with sensing others moods (whether these others their human families, and the US: Well, one unique larger family that included every- characteristic of an urban thing under and beyond the sun. A environment is that it’s lot of people take primitive skills overrun with all of these to simply mean making tools from people. I think it may scratch, or natural materials, and require less effort than that primitive living means using wilderness survival actu- tools made from natural materials ally, because you can to get food. I like those ideas, but dumpster dive, you can I believe that primitive skills and “spange,” you can steal…I primitive living have little to do mean lets face it, cops and with tool-making, and lots-to-do security guards are much with relating to and remembering more unaware than your to honor and give back to the humans average bear or cougar. and other-than-humans around Cities are basically “re- you that give you life. source” magnets. All the food and tools native to LW: What you’re de- these other habitats are scribing is the basic extracted and imported to tenet of indigenous the city. The city is basi- philosophy. I hear it called are people, rocks, trees, wind, or animals) has cally just one big pile of (mostly toxic) food. animism a lot. Basically the a beneficial outcome evolutionarily. It reminds There’s too much for everyone to even eat, belief that all life is sacred, us to take care of the planet. Native people they call this extra “waste.” So the waste that there is no inherent interact with the land in a series of relation- becomes a cache for wild foragers like raccoons, hierarchy in the natural ships, they see not just mammals but stones coyotes, pigeons, ‘possums, and people. Of world. and clouds as members of an extended family, course this only remains true as long as and behave toward them accordingly. the civilized machine continues its crazed US: Right. You could be a mountain man consumption. If it were to stop, or should I wearing buckskin clothes and living off the LW: When you say “family” of say, when it stops, a city may be the worst land but still not be living with it, so to speak, course, I imagine an ideali- place on earth to be. not seeing how an indigenous person sees it. I zation of family… not the guess it’s more than “seeing it.” It’s a holistic civilized families most of us LW: Here’s where all those sensory and emotional experience. You em- actually belong to…because, blockbuster apocalypse movies pathize with the world. You feel for it. Some for the most part, those just start to hit home. Rioting, anthropologists call this anthropomorphizing, seem to mimic the abusive re- cannibalism, conflagration! but that word, I feel, originates from people lationship we enact with the who are unwilling to empathize. I’m not Ha. Sure, there might be some of that. rest of the world. US: “projecting” my feelings onto the world, I’m There are most definitely real consequences opening myself up and letting the feelings in. US: Good point, I am definitely not referring for the way we’ve been living…and those will To me, empathy is another way of sensing, a to most civilized families. I’m not talking not be avoided. For example, with all the way of “seeing” the world with your heart. about the hierarchical, patriarchal, “nuclear” resources that are imported here, we have For example, when you hear a dog whine you family. I’m thinking groups of people who an artificially inflated population. When know that it’s feeling something, a sadness. agree for the most part on the same rules or even a part of the “just in time” food economy I’m not projecting my human emotions onto set of boundaries and are employed to assist collapses it won’t be pretty. the dog. The dog is noticeably in pain, and one another. I’m getting at the word tribe here, that pain can carry over to me if I let it in. but the same descriptors are in place for many LW: Do you want to explain That’s called empathy. social organizations, say, like a sports team. what that is?

GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 24 US: The Just-in-time economy means that My second bit of advice, and I can hear LW: Do you see similarities products arrive at stores “just in time” to everyone groan when I say this; you may between what you’re building replace what is bought; the shelves are never want to drastically change your diet. Seriously. and the way groups of empty. This exists for shipping and storage To wean yourself from civilization’s teat you street kids or rural “efficiency”. It also means that at any given can begin to eat a natural diet that doesn’t poor have been living time, cities only have 3-7 days of food on their include wheat and sugar, but includes lots for years? shelves. If any link in that chain gets broken… of greens and more fermented foods. I quit well look at what Katrina did. cigarettes, coffee, wheat (yes that means US: I see similarities. It’s natural for That being said, whenever I focus on the ugly no beer or liquor), dairy, and sugar. It can people to join together in survival, side of collapse, I begin to feel paralyzed. For be rough at first but eventually you feel and certainly organizations with that reason I don’t generally like to dwell on fantastic. I mean when you cut this other some experience under their belts it. Everybody wants to bullshit about the doom stuff out, you’re eating the things that humans will be better off as collapse happens. and gloom side of things. I don’t do that. There ate for millions of years; vegetables, fruit, But I’m interested in a group that seems to be enough grief for the future already. and meat. provides more than social support Everyone does that. That’s why I like to or protection. I want to take care of my basic needs without having to remember there is a lot more to give praise LW: I sense the hoards of rely on anyone for support outside for. Like the return of community. The return angry vegans lining up out- of the group. That means, no of biodiversity. The end of slavery. No more side your tipi door. masters. We could spend all day crying and government agencies. No store, that’s fine too, but I also think this is a time to US: I’ve heard a million arguments for no money, no waiting in line for celebrate. It’s over! Yes, it won’t be easy, and veganism…I was even vegan for two years a handout. I want to be able to it won’t be pretty… but Civilization is done! when I was a teenager, but none of these pick food off a tree and eat it. You know? Let’s keep crying, and also start arguments hold true for indigenous people; I want to be able to sleep partying! unless you’re surrounded by mongo mongo in a shelter that I don’t nuts, you’ve got to eat meat for protein. Any- have to pay for on a way, I don’t see a difference between eating monthly basis. I want LW: Sounds like a case for plants and animals. Just because you can’t to drink clean water, running away to the woods, if hear a plant scream with your ears doesn’t without spending a there are any left. mean they don’t do it. I think it’s a fairly dime. And I want my US: It takes a whole different and wild skill ignorant and totally civilized myth that some- group to support this. set and awareness to flourish out there. Had you how killing animals is crueler than killing I want my friends to come to the Northwest 500 years ago, life was plants. An animist doesn’t see a difference. harvest food for me much easier than it is today. Indigenous cultures Life, is life, is rocks and clouds and ev- when I can’t, and I had thousand year old practices of getting food erything. Only a civilized culture would want to harvest food and giving back to their land base. If you were generate a spiritual hierarchy, with animals for them when they hungry, you could literally just walk up to the somehow above plants. can’t. I want to help river and pick out a fish with your bare hands. build shelters and One of the things you learn by reading anthro- LW: Suppose you do find a way collect rainwater and pology texts is that an indigenous kid had the to successfully live beyond plant gardens and skills they needed to survive by the age of civilization, indigenous hunt deer. I want a nine… simple right? But that’s still nine years communities have been at- group to foster not of emersion in a whole culture, a culture that tempting to live in this way self-sufficiency, has been mostly destroyed. So yes, hunting is forever and have been consis- but group suffi- real difficult if you’ve never done it before, and tently met with institution- ciency, without if you’re trying to do it in an environment that alized violence. What makes participating in has been decimated. you so sure you won’t be met the monetary with the same? economy. LW: There are a lot of people : I’m not sure that I won’t be. And that is out there who probably US LW: something we need to discuss as a community. couldn’t tell you what a bow Sounds Alone I don’t pose much of a threat. You drill is, let alone use one. pretty know, most of those cultures were sitting Where do you suggest some- dreamy… on “resources,” that companies wanted to one with no background in extract. We live in cities where the spoils of Yeah. survival skills focus their US: that behavior are imported too, so we don’t And it’s efforts? pose a great threat in that regard. Of course, the most US: I get asked this one a lot, and every time when a group starts to get together that be- natural I say family. No amount of primitive skill comes a different thing. We have a wonderful thing in mastery can equal the benefit of loyal, quality homeless community in Portland called the world. relationships in a crash situation. If you can Dignity Village, and they have had to face trap animals but have no friends you’re a harassment and displacement. But I think mountain man looking at a life of struggling that’s where the scout skills of invisibility the to survive. A group of people foraging together come into play. There are stories of intact can’t be beat in terms of energy economy, tribes maintaining their cultural heritage living end. effectiveness, and fun. I mean we evolved in right under our noses in cities, camouflaged social organizations for a reason. as homeless people.

Page 25 SPRING/SUMMERSPRING/SUMMER ‘‘0808 ISSUEISSUE The December protest targeted their sponsorship of the Winter Olympic games scheduled to be held in the city in 2010. In an anony- mous statement released via the Internet the anonymous protesters claimed their action is: only a tiny AnAnararchistchist taste of the mayhem we [would] like to see submerge the city of Vancouver for 2010. Lets build a constellation of revolt that threat- ens not only the Olympics but capitalism and the state in gen- (and some eral. We propose a new sport to compromises) be added to the 2010 games, AttacksAttacks amateur vandalism of Royal Bank of Canada locations across a world of Vancouver and Canada. But unlike most sports you don’t have to wait until the 17 days of official events freedom 2007 to begin competing, you can start right now!!! It’s as easy as pick- ing up a stone!!! Don’t forget a awaits gold medal will be given for the most damage at a single location. The same time that in the city centre “celebrations” are organised to In October, an intercontinental welcome the new year we, by striking, mean to prove that the flame coalition of indigenous called for a boycott of the games because they of negation won’t cease to burn, not even this new year, against any are destructive to the environment repressive plan! - Greek anarchists in solidarity with imprisoned fighters (New Year’s Attack) and are to be held on “stolen land.” Last March, Native Warriors stole ARGENTINA charges of destruction of the “Geert does not belong in this the official Olympic flag from it’s On the morning of September 22, windows of a fast-food restaurant society,” the prosecutor said perch above downtown Vancover a branch of the Arkis real estate and a fur shop. On clear instigation during the trial. Indeed, Geert and in protest. That action was dedicated chain (of Greek ownership), located of the state security services (as all those who fight against the to elder Harriet Nahanee who died in the Buenos Aires neighborhood turned out also in the records of State, its prisons and its tribunals, following her imprisonment for pro- of San Telmo, was painted with the trial), Geert was targeted do not belong in this society. testing the expansion of the Sea to symbols in solidarity with Giannis during this demonstration. The Repression is there to break this Sky highway – the primary artery Dimitrakis, an anarchist compan- police seized the opportunity, struggle and to isolate the individu- to the main site of the winter Games. ion imprisoned by the Greek mobilized massively (with a special als who struggle. In this sense, state. Giannis Dimitrakis to the intervention team, helicopter, the repression that touches one etc.), and after a few skirmishes of us, touches us all. CHILE street!!! Down with the walls of An Army recruiting center in the all the prisons!! arrested 17 demonstrators. The Should the ladies and gentle- most were released after 12 hours, men Judges think that we give in Santiago Metropolitan Region was not without first having been just like that, that we let them bombed in February by the previously BELGIUM threatened and mistreated in the take a comrade out of our midst, unknown Federación Revuelta From a communique: darks of the cells. Three comrades than our solidarity can prove the Sección Antipolicial Antonio Ramón NO SURRENDER... – Geert, Joppe and Olivier – were contrary. Solidarity is for us not a Ramón. NO PARALYSIS... charged and provisionally re- therapeutic activity, but is an According to their communiqué: On the 24th of April 2007, the leased after 16 days... integral part of our existence as We’re here again. court of Dendermonde (Belgium) This trial proves again how the anarchists. The extension of our We’ve always existed. sentenced our comrade Geert State creates and selects the revolt is the only answer the Confronting the uniformed troops Waegemans to 1-year imprison- facts as it suits it best. Geert was State can expect to its trials and of the exploiter and terrorist state. ment on the charges of beating and caught because he is an anarchist sentences. It’s up to us now to find Confronting them. wounding police officers and resist- and because he continued to be the means and ways of expression 100 years ago we challenged its ing authority. Geert was not present actively involved within the anar- thereof. slave-master hatred in the city of during the sentence, the judge chist movement also after his FREEDOM FOR ALL PRISONERS Iquique, in the port bloodied by ordered his immediate arrest. previous condemnation. Geert FOR ANARCHY its patriotic bullets and sabers In the shadow of the democratic was released on parole in April Anarchist Black Cross Antwerpen that December of 1907. State and its media, no discus- 2003 after a sentence of 5 years Anarchist Black Cross Gent Today, in the consumerist sion about facts is possible. Their for a series of incendiary attacks December of 2007, we attack this damned place devoted as a center reality is not ours, and that was on fast-food restaurants and infra- CANADA proven again during this trial. structures of the meat industry. of torture and extermination, this On June 28, 2005 there was a Anarchists claimed responsibility symbol of its state. The State can use the sentence for smashing a number of windows demonstration in the streets of in Dendermonde to let him sit out Antonio Ramón Ramón came Dendermonde in solidarity with at a branch office of the Royal before us with the stabbing of the remaining 2.5 years from this Bank of Canada in Vancouver, BC. two comrades who stood trial on former sentence... the assassin Silva Renard. Our GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 26 homage to this anarchist and his were torched. In response to the The near daily attacks on banks, The proclamation promised more vindicating dagger. Insurrectionary arson and numerous threats cop stations, and cop cars we reported violence against police targets. Po- vengeance is always relentless. against their vans, materials, and on in 2006, continued unabated lice said they believe the group is We are here again. personnel the company has decided throughout spring, punctuated by armed with missiles, automatic Responding to the intensifica- not to work at the site where the an attack by 50 anarchists against weapons, and grenades – despite tion of state violence unfolding Ungdomshuset stood according to cops guarding a LAOS party the obvious absence of such weap- after the executions of two pigs an announcement posted on the member’s bookstore. The pigs ons in any actions reported thus and continuing with the hysteri- company’s website. The trucks had were beaten with metal pipes and far. The pigs also fear they may be cal (and as useless and those who been parked in a lot outside of 3x34 their helmets and shields taken. seeking wider support among make it) pursuit of those who do Transport’s main office. Many of the cops in the detail striking teachers, contract workers not respect the property that Since the Ungdomshuset was abandoned their posts, others and farmers. sustains capital, supported by the evicted earlier this year, solidarity begged for mercy saying “we have Polydoras indicated his interest complicit press and the people actions and demonstrations have families and kids.” Two of the pigs in arming riot police with plastic who support, with its tip-offs, the been held in various cities across were seriously injured, one of bullets following heavy criticism same state that obliges them to Europe and in New York City. whom lost his teeth. leveled at his ministry after a spate live in little houses for slaves and Radio stations were occupied in: of attacks on police stations and transports them in modern barracks FRANCE Athens, Thessaloniki, Heraklion, guard posts by suspected anar- on wheels. When hated right-winger Sarkozy Chania, Larissa, Lamia, Kozani, chists. Three months of violent We salute all those who act in soli- was sworn in as French president Mytilini and so on, in solidarity to student protests this year also led darity with the resistances and who on May 16, rioters hit the streets prisoners. During the occupations, to criticism of the police force, don’t believe state propaganda. again. He was the asshole (ahh communiqués concerning the social which is overseen by his ministry. We support the combat that there are so many, eh?) that helped role of prisons, prisoner issues, and According to sources, Greek cops frees the Mapuche people from fan the flames in last year’s riots opposition to the transportation of were issued guns capable of firing the state. The police troops be- with his invectives against rebel- prisoners in struggle were read, and both paint balls and plastic bullets. siege and try to impose terror in lious youth. French cops said that also songs were transmitted. Paint balls are increasingly being the rebel communities of the used to tag rowdy individuals at 592 people were arrested overnight In May, the government announced Mapuche territory under Chilean demonstrations and other public after groups of “militant anarchists” plans to ramp up security in the occupation. The Mapuche com- gatherings, making it easier to and minority youths from suburban face of repeated attacks. Prime batants expel them from their identify them for later arrest. ghettos raged against his election. Minister Costas Karamanlis or- lands. Strength brothers, the By evening, at least 730 cars and dered Public Order Minister Vyron June opened with the arrest of destruction of all the states and several schools had been set afire Polydoras to increase anti-terror three youths on suspicion of at- the construction of free and anti- across the country. Dozens of pigs cooperation with the Greek Police’s tempting to set fire to a municipal authoritarian societies have our were injured and hundreds of counter-terrorism unit to restore police car. Given the effective- complete combative solidarity. people were arrested. calm in Athens and specifically ness of anarchists to carry out It’s our objective. bring order to the Exarchia neigh- actions unfettered, authorities 100 Years After the Massacre borhood, which has long been a and the media reveled at the rare in the School of Santa Maria GREECE stronghold of anarchists and had apprehension. “The effectiveness Iquique, Autonomous Groups The Momentum Builds recently seen a spate of violent of the police officers involved in Against the State and Capital! New Year’s Eve: A group of some attacks. The order followed a proc- the operation sends a strong mes- Multiply the Bombs that Destroy 50 hooded motorcyclists threw lamation from a group calling sage to other extremist elements the Walls of this Rotten World! smoke bombs and fireworks at themselves Revolutionary Struggle, ...but praise for the clampdown Strength to the Destruction of cops stationed outside Korydallos claiming responsibility for an at- should not lead to relaxation. the State, Producer of Cadavers! Prison shortly before midnight. tack on a police station in April. We Are Here. 100 Years Later!!! The group of sus- (continued on next page) pected anarchists DENMARK also threw leaflets Ungdomshuset Update: demanding the re- and it burns On March 3, there was rioting lease of an inmate outside Ungdomshuset, a long- at the prison. The burns burns running, but recently evicted, squat “Anarchist Rabid Bri- and social center. The area of gades” also started Nørrebro was completely overrun. the year with a bang, At the same time, riots were taking claiming responsi- place in the area around Freetown bility for an arson Chrisrians. Rioters used cars and attack on the offices rubbish bins to build barricades of New Democracy and set fires on the streets. One fire (the ruling party) at spread to a nearby kindergarten Petralona. According but was quickly extinguished. In a to an anonymous secondary school, the library and phone call to a news- media room were ransacked and paper, the attack books and computers were burned was in solidarity with on the street. Marios Tsourapas, Two trucks owned by 3x34 Trans- Chrissostomos port, the company responsible for Kontorevithakis and demolishing the Youth House, Vaggelis Botzatzis and all held by the state. Page 27 SPRING/SUMMER ‘‘08 ISSUE In July, day time attacks on promi- nent targets boldly continued. A group of 30 hooded youths attacked the Greek Culture Ministry head- quarters with petrol bombs shortly before 10am. Two cars were burnt, no injuries reported, and no arrests made. Three days later, anarchists staged parallel hits on banks in different parts of central Athens, continuing similar attacks made earlier in the week in advance of the trial of accused bank robber, Yiannis Dimitrakis. One of the latest attacks was against the branch of National Bank, the site of the 2006 armed robbery that led to the InsurrectionaryInsurrectionary GreetingsGreetings bloody shootout and Dimitrakis’ arrest. Hooded assailants hurled fromfrom TThessaloniki,hessaloniki, GreeceGreece stones, wood, and paint at the bank’s facade despite the uniformed and plainclothes cops stationed outside and within the bank. All the assailants eluded arrest. Elsewhere in the city, another group of suspected anarchists The struggle for public safety is a and a Miele electrical goods almost caused a prison riot as anar- used Molotov cocktails to attack perpetual one.” Two of the suspects showroom were attacked some chists and prisoners spent nearly an three other banks. Again, there are university students, alarming 20 minutes later. There were no hour shouting political slogans. were no injuries in either attack. many who thought anarchists only injuries in any of these incidents. Prison guards unable to handle the In a related incident, around 40 came from the “social and eco- Insurrectionary activity took a situation, locked themselves up people stormed the offices of Spor nomic fringe groups”. “Hard work stronger turn when about 20 waiting for the demo to end. FM radio station and forced staff and cooperation always bring re- masked youths wielding sledge- A video surfaced in late June to broadcast a live 10-minute sults,” said Polydoras. hammers and iron bars damaged depicting a cop in central Athens statement expressing solidarity The revelry was surely short four banks and a government car beating two immigrants detained for Dimitrakis and another jailed lived; within days seven arson during business hours in central at a police station on suspicion of anarchist, Vassilis Stergiou. attacks were conducted against Athens, police said. One man suffered snatching a woman’s handbag. A presidential decree reclassified German-related targets in Athens light injuries from broken glass. The two were also forced to slap attacks by self-styled anarchists as and Thessaloníki. The attacks were Police said the attackers scattered each other in the face. Four officers, terrorists. “It has been decided that believed to be linked to ongoing leaflets demanding the release of including the precinct captain, were the anti-terrorist unit will assume protests at the G8 summit in Greek anarchists, charged or con- immediately suspended over the an active role in restricting the Germany. In what appeared to be victed for various crimes, from prison. affair. A fifth officer seen walking activities of anti-establishment a coordinated plan, three targets Day time attacks are uncommon, in and out of the office where the figures”, a top-ranking pig stated. were hit in Athens in the space making these bold actions all the beating took place was subsequently It is expected that this procedure of 10 minutes. At about 1 am, an more concerning for authorities. charged. The discovery of the video will produce valuable information explosive device made of camping In mid-June, more than 150 anar- led to a further resurgence in an- related to the identity and activities gas canisters exploded under an chists arrived at Diavata Prison, at archist activity. While an outcry of domestic terrorist groups, he empty school bus belonging to exactly the time that the prisoners from all camps could be heard, said. “The nature of terrorism in the Greek-German School in were in the yard, to hold a solidarity spokesman Evangelos Antonaros Greece has changed,” according to eastern Athens, destroying the demo to Timo Behrendt from Berlin, accused critics of the torture incident another senior police source, who bus and a nearby parked car. Germany. Timo was arrested on the for not also condemning a May 22 maintained that “organized groups Similar devices went off a couple 20th February after a concert orga- attack on a policeman by hooded of anarchists are a recruiting ground of minutes later at an Opel dealer- nized by students in the University youths. Polydoras had previously for terrorists, while their activities ship in the west of the city. Three of Thessaloníki in solidarity with told his forces that they are the are a source of funding (for terror- cars were destroyed in that blaze. those accused for taking part into “praetorian guard”, bolstering ear- ism).” Senior officers from the Minutes later, an explosion de- student riots against a proposed lier remarks made by former prime Greek Police Force’s core operations stroyed six cars at a Mercedes-Benz education bill that shook Greek for minister Constantine Mitsotakis unit and its anti-terrorism unit held dealership in northern Athens. almost a year. After the concert, telling the pigs, “You are the state.” an emergency summit to discuss Nobody was hurt in the incidents. some concert-goers tussled with No one expects more than verbal ways of preventing attacks such as In Thessaloniki, four German- pigs attempting to clear the venue. reprimands despite rhetoric to the recent firebombing of the Culture related targets were assailed Timo was brutally arrested in the the contrary. The lead police culprit Ministry in Exarchia and against within a 20-minute period. At late evening; allegations stated he in the nearly deadly beating of a the offices of Ethniki Insurance on about 1 am, a cash machine out- had taken part in the protest against Cypriot student in November 2006 Syngrou Avenue. side a German supermarket set fire. the police interference. The anarchist was suspended for 15 days and Were these new edicts successful? Two Mercedes-Benz dealerships solidarity demo, with riot police nearby, then transferred favorably. Authorities weighed in right away:

GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 28 “We appear to have reached a point Besides a 16 percent increase in in prison. Cops said the suspect The arson against the Sykies where groups of self-styled anarchists robbery and burglaries, guerrilla allegedly took part in an arson municipality car was a minimum are able to make midday raids in attacks had resurfaced, most nota- attack on a Thessaloniki lot belong- response to the injust detaintion downtown Athens with impunity. bly with the assassination attempt ing to a French car dealership – of Vaggelis Botzatzis and a token Yesterday’s attack on the National against a minister last year and a in an apparent show of solidarity of solidarity to the three comrades Bank branch on Solonos Street took grenade attack on the U.S. Embassy with youths rioting in the suburbs persecuted by the repressive state place only 24 hours after an urgent in January. of Paris. At least five cars were and the one and only terrorist meeting of the Greek police, which While bourgeois Greeks rushed damaged. The student is also organisation, the Greek Police. decided upon a new set of measures to install alarm systems and suspected of involvement in at- Four cars belonging to staff of the to combat the phenomenon.” steel-reinforced security doors tacks in recent months on a bank embassies of Italy, Turkey and the Also in July, twenty people were and prepared to voice their discon- ATM and two trucks owned by the Philippines were destroyed by impro- arrested when dozens of suspected tent at the ballot box, anarchists state power corporation, police vised explosives constructed out of anarchists in hoods and motor- continued to pursue their discon- said. An anarchist group claimed gas canisters, according to police. cycle helmets threw petrol bombs, tent more directly. Banks and responsibility for the ATM attack. At least two of the cars displayed sticks and stones at riot police cars continued to be torched with diplomatic license plates and did not December 2007, Greek anarchists following a protest march by African near daily frequency. “There is fly national identification flags. No closed out the year with a slurry of immigrants and human rights ac- wide discontent among young one has claimed responsibility for attacks on the state and economic tivists sparked by the death of an people who are angry and want the actions all of which took place systems, two key elements of African immigrant in Thessaloniki. to vent that anger,” said University in a 35-minute period. civilization’s despised system. Police responded with tear gas and of Piraeus Professor Mary Bossis, a Following the murder of an immi- On December 24, the “Revolutionary the suspects, all Greek nationals, security expert and former govern- grant without papers by a cop Attack Groups” claimed responsi- were released after being charged ment consultant. “The number of outside Amyntaion, a small town bility for arsons on security vehicles with causing grievous bodily harm these attacks will continue to rise.” near Thessaloniki, a nation-wide in Athens: and breaches of the peace. Living up to their pledge, the re- coordination of anarchists and anti- On Dec. 24 we attacked the Nigerian immigrant Tony elected party developed plans to authoritarians acted in solidarity for private guard company “Group Onuoha, 25, suffered fatal head monitor public demonstrations via the immigrants. During the protest, 4-Wackenhut” headquarters injuries after jumping from the the 1000+ surveillance cameras paint bombs were thrown on the destroying around 15 vehicles window of a cafeteria where he had installed in 2004 as part of a $1.44 police station in Amyntaion. used in money transfers. This been selling pirated CDs. Onuoha’s billion security umbrella for the Days later in Athens, cops repeat- company, apart from owning friends and relatives claimed he Olympic Games. A legal objection edly attacked a 1500-person strong private prisons in America and was being chased by undercover was launched by civil liberties anarchist/anti-authoritarian bloc in England, in our country consti- policemen. groups, but the Greek Supreme an attempt to separate them from tutes the most important piece of Nigeria’s charge d’affaires in court upheld the plan allowing cops 15,000 other demonstrators – the growing police-like corp of Greece asked the immigrant com- to position closed-circuit cameras many who fought back with stones security professionals that floods munity to avoid violence and stay at public gatherings and to use any and sticks – participating in a naton- the streets, breeding the big away from anarchist groups trying incriminating videotape to identify wide strike against the state. A brother shoving cameras, circu- to attach themselves to the protests. and prosecute those caught on film luxury car had its windows broken lating the banks’ wealth and committing crimes. The democratic In early September, a cop was injured and was set on fire along with a guarding diverse capitalist targets mantra of “the greater good” was in a clash at Aristotelio University bank’s ATM and one of the many contributing in the increasing so- echoed once again when Justice a few hours after a keynote address surveillance cameras. On one street, cial control and repression. Minister Sotiris Hatzigakis proclaimed by Greek Prime Minister Costas cops were attacked and two per- The message here is clear. “Society must weigh personal data Karamanlis stumping for upcoming sons that were handcuffed earlier When dealing with the rage of against the benefits for the wider elections. in the day were freed. Throughout insurgents they cannot be safe, community”. The Left Coalition Karamanlis’ visit to the city was the day, numerous ATMs and sur- even in their headquarters. Our party, in typical form, bemoaned met with the usual demonstra- veillance cameras were destroyed, attack was an action of solidarity this development which “...insults tions by 5,000 union and leftist dozens of arrests reported, mostly to our emprisoned comrades: the personal liberties of citizens...This groups protesting against the for misdemeanors. In Thessaloniki, Giannis Dimitrakis, Giorgos is a severe blow to our justice system government’s economic policies demonstrators trashed a McDonalds, Voutsis-Vogiatzis, Marios and the protection of human rights.” that passed without incident. broke bank windows, and burnt up Tsourapas, Chrissostomos Police stepped up pressure for However, cops stationed outside power supply boxes of surveillance Kontorevithakis, Vaggelis access after the January grenade the university were attacked with cameras. In total, more than Botzatzis as well as to the attack on the U.S. Embassy where firebombs and projectiles by a 30,000 people participated in the prisoners of the Revolutionary street cameras reportedly filmed group of 30 people hidden inside demonstrations. Organisation November 17 that three people firing rockets. the grounds. As ossifers entered are being kept under a state of By mid-month, attacks included: a university grounds in pursuit, By mid-month, a 27-year-old student total isolation. It is an action of second attack with stones, sticks and one of them was hit in the head was apprehended and charged for solidarity to the insurgent prison- molotov cocktails within 24-hours by a slingshot bullet. Riot police alleged involvement in a string of ers of April, many of whom face against cops stationed outside reinforcements were subsequently recent arson attacks by suspected torture and constant transfers. Pasok (ex-ruling socialist party) sent in and arrested one person. anarchists. The suspect was charged It all continues... offices. Unidentified persons set The pending electoral circus under the strict anti-terrorism on fire a car belonging to Sykies A promising beginning: The first scheduled on September 16 was laws passed in 2001 and formally municipality while parked opposite reported attack in 2008 was an billed as “tightly contested”. The accused of committing acts of terror- to the city hall and close to the arson 20 minutes after midnight faithful electorate situated in- ism, participation in a criminal local police station. An unknown at a subsidiary of Geniki Bank in country crime ahead of interna- group, arson, and possession of person from the “Anarchist Core” Athens. Unidentified persons tional crime (aka foreign policy) explosives. If convicted, the post- claimed responsibility stating: as a key issue, according to polls. graduate student faces up to 25 years (continued on next page) Page 29 SPRING/SUMMER ‘08 ISSUE planted an incendiary They added, it “op- device that exploded, poses everything in a breaking the glass of the spirit of struggle and entrance door. An anony- healthy violence” the mous group claimed re- objective being “to sponsibility via e-mail: turn this gray and The attack at Geniki bourgeois society Bank on 1/1/2008 was in into a triumph of solidarity to emprisoned color”. The statement fighters. The same time was signed FTM that in the city centre Azionefuturista 2007. “celebrations” are you gotta have either a Five people were organised to welcome If you’re good trap, seized later in the the new year we, by month, with police striking, mean to prove gonna bait a lot of luck, calling them members that the flame of nega- a big surprise, of a group called tion won’t cease to burn them... “Coop/Fai”, an acro- not even this new year, or a whole lotta passion nym which stands for against any repressive “Against all political plan. Freedom to Chr. (aka defective rational thought). order/Informal anar- Kontorevithakis and M. chic federation”. “The Tsourapas. (or any combo of the above) investigation has led to the complete dis- ITALY mantling of an anarcho- From a missive from the insurrectionalist cell,” “Anarchists of Rovereto the police said in a and Trento”: statement where it de- On Wednesday, June scribed Coop/Fai as a 13, 2007, in Trento, Italy, group dedicated to a trial was carried out suuuuuuuwwweeeeeeeee!! “terrorism and the against our friend and subversion of demo- companion Juan Sorroche, accused cratic order”. Active of arson against the Trenitalia [Editors: Juan was sentenced to 12 suspected rioters taken into custody since 2003, the group had claimed train company and “subversive months in prison; he’s already done by groups of plain clothed officers. responsibility for letter bombs sent association for the purpose of 7 for damages, with terrorist aggra- A McDonald’s restaurant and a bank to Prodi, then president of the Euro- terrorism”. The train company vation for supposedly burning the were also vandalized. pean Commission, to the president Trenitalia train units.] of the European Central Bank and assists in the deportation of im- October 10: Graffiti railing against The Prosecutor of Trento made other European Union institutions. migrants. Pope Benedict, including one the trial into a closed door pro- 18,000 pages of surveillance reading “Death to Ratzinger”, was ceeding, impeding the access of evidence, from video, telephone found on walls in Naples ahead of USA Juan’s companions. and ambient sources, meant to a visit there by the Pontiff later in January 26, at an Army recruiting After a blocking of traffic put support the hypothesis of “asso- October. A source in Italy’s anti- station in Athens (Georgia not into practice by some 30 anarchists ciation”, amounted to absolutely terrorist police said they suspected Greece), two cars’ tires were and other people in solidarity, the nothing. So the prosecutor Paolo the graffiti was the work of leftist slashed; anarchy signs and post doors were opened, allowing some Storari tried to characterize parts and anarchist groups but were still office stickers were slapped along companions inside to greet Juan. of Juan’s written correspondence investigating. Anti-clerical graffiti the outside and someone had taken During the intervention, the from prison and his previous legal against the Pope and Archbishop the time to write “baby killer” and searches and investigations in troubles over the grabbing of the Angelo Bagnasco, head of the Italian “murderer.” This incident marks the Bologna were also spoken of. In Olympic torch and a punch given Bishops Conference, appeared in second time that cars here had been light of the media lynching on a to a fascist as having “terrorist several Italian cities in May after vandalized, with damages exceeding national level against some basic purposes”. Bagnasco made comments that $600, according to police reports. banalities always maintained by After placing microspies every- angered the gay community. “Petty acts of vandalism are a revolutionaries, it seemed appro- where (in houses, cars, centers, Two days before the scheduled poor substitute for ongoing organi- priate to hang a banner reading: public places and even in a visit from the leader of one of the zation and strategic campaigns,” “The Terrorist is the State”. companion’s bag) and installing most deadly organizations in history said Damon Krane, with People tens of surveillance cameras (in In early June, tens of thousands of – the Catholic Church – self-described Might, a local anti-war group that front of houses and centers, in protesters marched through Rome anarchists poured dye into Rome’s is still trying to get off the ground. telephone booths and near numer- as Bush visited with the Pope. Trevi Fountain, turning the water “However, at least this minor van- ous cell phone repeater towers) at As the procession reached it’s des- in the tourist magnet a bright dalism shows that there are people a cost of around a million Euros, our tination at the popular tourist des- blood-red. Leaflets left around the out there who think the appropriate public mercenary of repression tination Piazza Navona, masked, fountain referred to the Rome Film response to ongoing mass murder has found himself empty-handed. helmeted radicals threw rocks, Fest in the Italian capital: “You goes a little farther than candlelight Nonetheless, he has asked for a smoke bombs, flares, and other wanted just a red carpet; we want vigils, protest marches and waiting sentence of 4 years and 4 projectiles at pigs as a helicopter a city entirely in vermilion” before for the next election,” he said. “And months in prison. The sentence hovered overhead. Several cops denouncing the event’s 15-million- quite frankly, I’m not at all sad to hear will be announced on July 6. were reported injured and six euro ($21million dollar) budget. of recruiters’ tires being slashed.” GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 30 The two seemingly isolated After setting up camp at a local “dare to those here in the heart of Emma’s, a nonprofit bookstore incidents at the recruiting station farm, Dickinson County Sheriffs the imperial beast to step it up. In and cafe that had outgrown their are the only remaining signs of officers told the group to report suburbs so hollow, may the echo current residence. Khatib and the anti-war, counter-recruitment to the Kiowa County Emergency of our actions be long and loud! the other collective members had movement in Athens, after groups Response Command Post to receive Big ups to all those out there used the main church space in the such as the Athens Anti-War Coali- official permission to continue. who claim RAAN. Fuck them past for larger events, such as a tion dissolved and newer factions Two went to the Command Post, haters who don’t realize we are book signing by Ralph Nader. haven’t grown to fill the void. while three others went to the but a few of the millions of ant’s The congregation and collective “The movement was very success- County Courthouse to pick up bites which can topple this elephant reached a consensus early this ful in mobilizing huge numbers water and provisions being offered once and for all. year to form a nonprofit organi- of people,” said Krane, who was by the Red Cross. No war but class war, commu- zation that rents out the space and affiliated with the Athens Anti-War Cops soon confronted the group, nism or bust! uses the money to help pay utility Coalition before it dissolved. “All asking for identification: “We need IT’S A DO OR DIE SITUATION – and renovation costs. Though that success really failed to have to check to see if you are affiliated WE WILL BE INVINCIBLE! Khatib is hesitant to declare 2640 much impact.” with the anarchists” one pig stated. a bastion for the progressive Early Halloween evening in down- Shortly thereafter, they were ordered community, she hopes it will In April, vandals painted anti-war town Santa Barbara, CA more than to leave and not return. When grow to serve that purpose in the slogans all over the Collier County 100 young people staged a surprise asked why they were being ordered coming years. Republican Party headquartersIn “party” shutting down one block of to leave the city, they were told Naples, Florida . They also took all State Street for an hour, handing “You’re part of a dangerous anar- the red, white and blue decorations out free food and costumes, and : chist group that will only drain our websites that decorated the building and shouting their opposition to corpo- security resources,” he responded. www.bombsandshields.org burned them in the building’s rear rate America. Waving anarchy flags “We’ve been monitoring your parking lot. Volunteer Republican and chanting “Whose streets? Our www.anarchistblackcross.org website and e-mails, we know what staffers said that the building had streets!” demonstrators wearing kind of agenda you have... Kansas been targeted by vandals at least bandannas and costumes marched Mutual Aid is not welcome in this three times in the past week and with banners that read, “You are city, end of story. I know you are North American a half. now entering an autonomous going through legitimate means to Slogans were painted on three zone.” Propping up the banners work in the city, and you’re story sides of the building and on the were shopping carts filled with Anarchist seems picture perfect, but we sidewalk. Some of the slogans read complimentary costume pieces know who you are, and you’re not “Democracy failed,” “All war is de- and treats like bagels, cookies and Political Prisoners: allowed here.” ception,” “Who would Jesus bomb?,” hot dog buns. The group was escorted out of “I won’t kill for capitalists,” “Fascists,” “They say this is public property, Bill Dunne, #10916-086, the city by several police vehicles “Stop Bush,” “Repaint with Iraqi but it doesn’t really belong to the Box 019001, Atwater, CA with their lights flashing, and left 95301. Anti-authoritarian blood” and “If legality equaled public,” said masked demonstrator just outside the city. “We will continue sentenced to 90 years for morality, Bush would be in jail.” Bryce Lagerquist. “It belongs to to work in whatever capacity we the attempted liberation of Circle “A” anarchist symbols and corporations. At least for one night can in the areas around the city that a prisoner in 1979. peace signs were also painted we can take them back.” Within a we may still be allowed into, and outside the offices. half hour, officers in helmets and Ojore N. Lutalo, #59860, provide support to those entering brandishing crowd-control gear PO 861, SBI #901548, Trenton, On May 19, five members and the city...Relief workers were met the party goers. NJ 08625. Anarchist and volunteers affiliated with Kansas banned from Greensburg today black liberation soldier serving After a little more than an hour, Mutual Aid, a Lawrence based because of their political beliefs time for revolutionary clandes- word circulated that police were class struggle anarchist collective and work against oppression and tine activities. taking photos of demonstrators (compromisers) went to Greensburg tyrannical state control.” and were waiting in riot formation. Mike Rusniak, DOC to assist tornado victims. They In June, the Red & Anarchist Action The band packed up and people K88887, Dixon CC, 2600 helped to establish a base of opera- Network (RAAN), an autonomous began to leave. Scattered reports Brinton, PO Box 99, Dixon, IL tions for tornado relief efforts. Leftist conglomeration of anarchist of crowds walking the streets and 61021. Serving time for stealing KMA assisted AmeriCorps, and a police car, and other acts of cells, attacked an Air Force recruiting people jumping into the paths of the Mennonite Disaster Services. anti-government property- office in Rockville, MD. cars continued after the initial inci- destruction. From their communiqué: dent, but police reported no arrests. sometimes ...around 3:00 AM this morning State Street was left looking like Brian McCarvill, #11037967, lightning an autonomous cell used bricks a schoolyard blacktop with mes- OSP, 2605 State St, Salem, and other common household sages written in chalk, including OR 97310. Became politi- strikes twice, items to smash the shit out of the “Kucinich for president!” “Anarchy: cally active while serving a 39-year sentence on bogus but you can’t Air Force recruiting center in Free for one day,” “Paranoia!” and charges, he has been con- Rockville, Maryland. “Save Palestine!” tinually harassed after filing Do we even need to explain the depend on it. In November self-described anar- a lawsuit against the Oregon motivation for our actions? chists (also compromisers) in Dept. of Corrections. A shout out to our comrades Baltimore, MD came together to from the Borf: Revolution or Jerome W. Bey, #37479, help keep a financially strapped Bust Faction (BORFROBF), who SCCC (1-B-224), 255 West Hwy church in business. “It’s a crazy 32, Licking, MO 65102. Social late last year gave a similar treat- little project,” said Kate Khatib, prisoner and founder of the ment to the military recruitment a member of a group of self- anarcho-syndicalist Missouri center in Silver Spring. Consider described anarchists who run Red Prison Labor Union. this a modest response to your Page 31 SPRING/SUMMER ‘08 ISSUE Dwelling-while- letting-be

by Dr. Peters’ Cassandra Complex

Although many of us are firmly ensconced in Humanity’s consciousness towards death has from adequately dealing with the fear of death. a civilized reality we vehemently abhor and undergone various shifts through the ages. Often In a similar way to many other key institutions desire to abolish through immediate action, a considered by Marxists and anarchists to not of civilization, such as hierarchy, patriarchy and nexus of beliefs and behaviors underlie be “of the base,” a historical analysis of death war, human animals are mentally beaten into domination’s reign that, unless theoretically and fear can shed much light on social and ecological identifying with a “natural/biological” basis for experientially decoded and transcended, will tendencies that solidify the iron grip of life keeping us penned up, unhappy and destructive. prevent neo-Neanderthals from attaining a wild- numbing control. Zen koans are interpreted in Preempting an overthrow of the system, hoping ness no authority can co-opt. The critique of a variety of ways; however, the story about a to keep the alienated clutching to castles made symbolic thought and domestication, carried out man walking through a wilderness is a good of sand, these PhD’s and talking heads are with profuse passion by renegades overwhelmed starting point for shedding some light on the content anesthetizing possible deserters into by the lack of joy in comatose industrialism, biological vs. cultural explanations for the fear performing duties like household pets. In has aided efforts to leave behind the baggage of death. While walking the man comes across opposition to this clouding of clarity, the Zen of abstraction and sedentary manipulation. a tiger and begins to run but soon approaches a story can be seen as containing a significant The disillusioned begin to realize that the cliff. Descending the cliff on a vine, he sees lesson about authentic reactions to impending roots of our crisis originated in Paleolithic another tiger below and a mouse starts gnawing death that predate cultural encasements caves of nascent ideology and specialization on the vine. In the thick of a dilemma, the man pushing us towards immortality, compliance which laid the tracks for planetary Neolithic sees a wild strawberry on the vine, eats it, and with power and ecological disappearance expansion. As one barbarian knocking at the proclaims its delicious taste. The story abruptly associated with a perverse yearning for total gates of hell has stated, “Only a politics that ends with this affirmation of pleasure while command of nature. It is the relic of pre- undoes language and time and is thus vision- staring at the inevitable. groupthink consciousness in the Zen story that ary to the point of voluptuousness has any Although a culturally induced mindset could allows for a focus on the embrace of wild meaning.”1. Adding to the laundry list of inter- have contributed to the man’s initial running delight, a merging with the earth that ends in connected oppressions can be an intimidating away, in an unrelated study Zilboorg concludes death but does not preclude fulfilling experience. process that exudes liberatory potential but often that on some basic level the fear of death is a One could easily imagine how other traditions affects us on personal levels that show a biological response that triggers emotions of would tell the story, focused as they are on keep- myopic inability to face our most unquestioned flight in the face of danger allowing species ing lobotomized scarecrows afraid of lions and fears. In a spirit of vibrant refusal that confronts survival.2. The problem with this is that cul- tigers and bears. The pyramid structure of civi- the dread we have been trained to feel, this article turally prodded terror is a crucial element for lization, with humans governing at the apex, will look at death consciousness, including elucidating not only ambiguous koans, but the has given ample worldwide evidence of how the fear of death, as one of the key pillars of the core dynamics of subjection that are often over- frightened tremblers approach “inferior crea- civilized order engulfing us in artificiality. looked by intellectual gangs shielding people tures” lurking behind every perceived obstacle. GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 32 For example, a biblical rendition would boast of the afterlife is to say, “How do you know? If division of labor and hierarchy produces the man’s genius to create agricultural fields that Have you died and been there?”5. divided society and divided individuals, the quickly reduce the mouse population. A more This last poignant question is a good segue ritualistic role of the shaman in art production modern adaptation would bask in the glory of for trying to understand the subtle yet drastic and religious ideology can be seen as a unique boundary lines and property rights that would changes occurring in the Upper Paleolithic that form of countering, in the name of alternative keep the Zen man from walking without a permit provide important indicators of shifts in human hierarchies, or possibly even working together through the land. Reassuring the peons near the relationships with each other and nature that with, already formed hierarchies based on bottom of the pyramid, communist politburos allow us to more clearly see how culturally emergent novelty. A culturally enshrined en- and capitalist public schools would soften our oriented death fear arose. Neanderthals in the couragement placing a premium on innovation anxiety by telling children bedtime stories of Middle Paleolithic sporadically buried their and originality can move death consciousness pesticides and military behemoths “fighting the dead, an event that may have been the first in radically different directions, bringing to the good fight” against the tigers infringing on our attempts to sever human from animal life and forefront concepts of fear, afterlife, immortality, right to live in solipsistic hedonism. The cultural initiate a cultural fear of death. The rarity of increased burial rates/complexity in burial die is cast, pressing on with an agenda to create these occurrences, however, could be a sign procedures, ancestors, gods, morality, group a techno-heaven on earth to compensate for of resistance to this very separation more fully consciousness focused around a leader and a Thoreau’s “heaven under our feet”3. we are in flow starting around 40,000 years ago. slew of other bullshit moving us further away reluctant to fall in love with. Bataille saw in Upper Paleolithic art humanity’s from nature and fearless ecstasy. As Becker If the Paleolithic period can accurately be rising above the “limitations of animality”, wryly stated, “The more you fear death and the described as one largely of autonomy, imme- making this “tangible by leaving us images emptier you are, the more you people your diacy, ecological health and lack of organized of the very animality from which they had world with omnipotent father-figures, extra- violence, as has been stated by numerous escaped.”6. The shaman’s voyage to the beyond magical helpers.” 9. Material and immaterial anthropologists, one could also add that an dealt with many themes of death through culture ushers in symbolic relationships that seal absence of death fear was a defining aspect of ritualized art production. A power was people off from each other, a defeat of Eros that this way of life. Embedded in a holistic context growing in the bands, symbolized by religious is replaced by antagonism between tightly that prevented the rise of all-encompassing fears unrest born in the pits of ceremonial caves. structured kinship groups. Kelly proclaims the and binding groups, foragers for the first couple Hodder notes that this seductive ritual influence origins of war in these very same developments of million years seem to have lived in a state of “may not only promote the acceptance of of increased group cohesion based on cultural fearless ecstasy. James Woodburn, who lived change but also promote its creation.”7. constructs, war itself being a phenomenon that with the Hadza hunter-gatherers of Tanzania, It is here that a sort of pre-domesticated could lead to increased fear of death.10. Shreeve found not only a lack of belief in the afterlife, competitive feasting, or more accurately a com- has also posited that tool specialization could but also a view of death as having natural causes petitive materialization of ideology, could be seen have led to increased group identification, as without bringing in supernatural factors as in play at the dawn of a major transition away leaders often manipulate people for purposes often occurs in nearby villages centered on from dwelling-while-letting-be. Tools displayed of fighting when they are not as easily free to farming. Some Hadza display fear on an in- a remarkable lack of spe- leave situations they find dividual level but there are few procedures, cialization and division of undesirable.11. If this prescriptions, taboos and rituals associated with labor before the “creative seems overly speculative, death. Woodburn feels that without missionary explosion” of the Upper Schulting points out that pressure and agricultural influence the Hadza Paleolithic. Modern Homo “the number of burials would probably display even less fear and less sapiens were already known in Europe increases complexity in behavior patterns relating to anatomically developed dramatically in the Upper death, leaving them in a condition of sim- tens of thousands of years Paleolithic period, and plicity resembling that of wild beings. before this period of cultural particularly in its later The Baka of Cameroon are another instructive development, so biological stages. Some graves appear example of people who have been able to keep explanations are justifiably more elaborate relative to a direct relationship with death, unmediated by viewed with skepticism others, and it has been sug- power seekers utilizing religion to establish pre- by some archaeologists. A gested that the beginnings cedents for civilization. Baka men and women less mainstream (because of social differentiation also have confrontations with local domesticated not environmentally de- can be found at this villagers over “proper conduct” in relation to terministic), yet coherent time.”12. Rank identified death. Before the intrusions of civilization, these explanation concerning an “individual impulse… foragers were known for not practicing burial power relations has been for creation of national, of the deceased, a clear manifestation of offered by Kuhn and Stiner. religious and artistic heathenism in the eyes of the culturally refined. They see how “redistri- heroes…the individual Occasionally a grass hut would be pulled down bution of excess resources paving the way for a collec- over a dead body and the group would move [in the Upper Paleolithic] tive eternity impulse.”13. on in their rhythmic seasonal rounds, however, can provide…social pres- Woodburn concluded in there were reports that corpses were devoured tige” and that “under such conditions there may his study of death related to foragers that the by wild animals. When the Baka speak with be, over the long term, a real benefit to becoming immediate return hunter-gatherers, focused on Euro-Americans curious about these untamed, more efficient or faster at harvesting resources, a lack of time consciousness, lack of food free people, the responses must be jarring to even when they are not scarce in the environ- storage and a minimum of investment in long- the cemetery builders and casket makers. ment relative to consumer demand.”8. Despite lasting artifacts or in enduring long debts, were “When you’re dead, you’re dead and that’s the the economical jargon, this idea plausibly precisely characterized by a complete absence end of you,” one Baka sagaciously says.4. allows us to see how hierarchy could have arose of “chiefs, shamans or specialists, whose task Similarly, the Mbuti avoid speculating about and solidified itself in conjunction with religious is to administer or control death rituals.” life after death. Their response to villagers, developments playing on the fears of divided Complex death ideas associated with a growing missionaries or any who claim knowledge of peoples in the wake of social upheaval. (continued on next page) Page 33 SPRING/SUMMER ‘08 ISSUE sense of fear related to spirits and nature are As Baudrillard indicts, commodities from the governmental systems based on accumulating commonly associated with conflicts surrounding outset remove “indeterminacy from nature (and wealth as a re-directed form of immanent succession of office holders and property man)…confirmed in the…civilizing mania of the immortality and frightening peasants and inheritance found amongst what Woodburn era of production, a mania for leaving no frag- artisans into moral chains to avoid hell, the called delayed return hunter-gatherers who are ment unproduced…”20., the effects being quite latter zealously nudged by Dante’s The Divine focused on the exact opposite of what defines clear in the wasted landscapes and dreary lives Comedy written in the 14th century, the scientific immediate return people.14. Bird-David also following the heels of long distance trade routes revolution springs to being with all it’s recognized the fact that immediate return for- and slavery abounding in the ancient world. boogeymen in nature needing to be exorcised/ agers display much less fear being in nature, eliminated in hopes of achieving real earthly lacking a desire to remove themselves from immortality. With its view of nature as a it through both culture and agriculture.15. clock to be finely tuned and adjusted to the Following what Hodder called a “revolution machine’s every whim, the goal being to of symbols” in the Upper Paleolithic, further greatly prolong human/civilization’s life if intensifications of death fear related to not make it immortal/intergalactically culturally sanctioned hierarchy in the supreme, one could fill an entire library Neolithic appear. The first cemeteries are with the fear filled ideas of various modern found in the Mesolithic directly preceding mad (but aren’t they all?) scientists and the Neolithic. Secondary burials suggest an enlightenment philosophers. The usual increase in ancestor worship, similar to what suspects, such as Bacon and Descartes, occurs over much of Europe in the Neolithic. collude over the centuries with later philo- Monuments with religious significance arise sophical immortalizers across a wide range almost simultaneously with domesticated from the capitalist Benjamin Franklin to the economies. At Catalhoyuk, an early Neolithic anarchist William Godwin. A spokesperson society, the start of history as collective for reason over instinct, Godwin saw a memory through material artifacts begins “potential omnipotence” of the mind over to call on the ancestors for social enhance- body/matter, concluding “In a word, why ments of certain segments of society over may not man be one day immortal?”24. others.16. Cauvin identified a region wide Franklin can barely contain himself in a cultural expansion of Neolithic tendencies 1780 letter stating “The rapid progress true reflecting “a new distinction at the heart of Once subsumed by urban solitude and science now makes, occasions my regretting the human imagination between an above and impersonal mass diversions, empires spawn a sometimes that I was born so soon. It is impos- a below, between an order of a divine force, frantically revived search for immortality found sible to imagine the height to which may be personified and dominant, and that of an in many traditions, most prevalently the carried, in a thousand years, the power of man everyday humanity whose internal striving Egyptian, Judeo-Christian and Chinese, which over matter…all diseases may by sure means towards this perfect, transcendent being may continue to push scientific projects today. be prevented or cured, not excepting even that be symbolized by the upraised arms of the Egyptians were obsessed with religiously of old age, and our lives lengthened at plea- supplicant” found in many of the figurines in directed pyramid construction and selective sure…”25. Oh Benjamin you rascal, always the archaeological record. Death takes on a immortality for pharaohs and certain lower state trying to keep every tiny human infant alive well represented role in the attributes of the functionaries. Another example is the Old and grandma hooked up to a respirator for all Near Eastern goddesses. Wild animals are Testament story of the fall introducing death eternity while simultaneously obliterating forced to don an enhanced persona of fear, into a world that presumably would have retained other species and the opportunity for wild where the “divinity…is seen on a transcendent its immortal state for humanity if sin had not human freedom. I guess we should be thankful… plane where fears and conflicts are resolved, entered. The entire Christian-Islamic tradition But no! I hear a defiant voice from the depths where the compliant panthers become a is thus based on a repression of life in favor of of savagery refusing the loss of relational seat…” as can be found in the famous statues regaining the mythical immortality, a shrewd diversity in nature, the decreased child mortal- of the goddess in the domestic sphere using lie by elites to keep people focused on abstrac- ity rates “wondrously” produced by industry, animals for a throne.17. tions that are easily mediated by priests.21. the life expectancies of 75 years and counting, Communication with the divine/deceased Sandwiched between Judaism and Christianity, the pounds of caked on makeup to defy aging, performed by religious authorities played a key Plato furthered the quest for eternity, tying the and the atrophy of uncultivated autonomy. part in growing socio-economic gaps between “bond between immortality, power and knowl- Who is it tapping at our chamber door, scaring people and nature in the Neolithic that would edge.”22. The bid for the philosopher’s right laboratory worshipping experimenters and the only be enhanced with the rise of cities and to rule was justified by reference to sole access living dead armchair philosopher-mummies states. Bauman quips ala Orwell that “Thanks to the eternal, grounding the philosopher’s own entombed in universities? Why it’s The Savage to social rituals, all members were immortal, hope for immortality through the medium of himself from Huxley’s Brave New World. At yet some were clearly more immortal than the disseminated treatise. In the Chinese empire the peak of cyber play land, covering most of others.”18. Paul Shepard wrote that humanity absorbing large swaths of territory around the the planet with an odorless stench of despair, “came to live more and more with his own same time, we see the originally nature oriented, there is literally one lone voice raging against fabrications” through domestication and anarchistic and non-death fearing ideas and futuristic masters. In a Nietzschean poetic fury, spreading urban culture, effecting our sensual practices of Zhuangzi and other Daoists distorted trying to explain to the technocrats that a life connection with nature, transforming our sight, into longevity cults closely tied with the state of danger and freedom in nature is desirable, hearing, taste and mentality towards a more and obedience to religious figures in hopes for Mustapha Mond retorts “you’re claiming the readily pacified attitude favorable to power. immortality.23. right to be unhappy. Not to mention the right “What remained outside his jurisdiction–the Just when you think things couldn’t get to grow old and ugly and impotent; the right otherness of wildness (internal and external), worse, right around the time when the Brethren to have syphilis and cancer; the right to have death, and the mysteries of growth and decayÐ of the Free Spirit and similar groups were being too little to eat; the right to be lousy; the right would be repressed by his anxious fears…”19. slaughtered for challenging the papal and to live in constant apprehension of what may

GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 34 happen tomorrow; the right to catch typhoid; speaks of foraging as a fearless life where Notes: the right to be tortured by unspeakable pains although it could always be “our turn to go 1. John Zerzan, Language: Origin and Meaning of every kind.” A long silence ensues with the hungry,”28. an absence of trying to place the ge.htm”http://primitivism.com/language.htm savage replying “I claim them all,” ending with whole world in human hands is a basic feature 2. Zilboorg article on fear of death in Psychoanalytic Mustapha Mond shrugging his shoulders and of pre-alienated life. Similarly, Heidegger Quarterly, 1943 sarcastically saying “You’re welcome.”26. urged us to abandon Das Man, that liquidating, 3. Henry David Thoreau, Walden 4. Woodburn essay in Maurice Bloch, Death and the The Savage’s eloquent epitaph of death defiance, fear inducing group psychology concealing Regeneration of Life restrained passions and freedom deferred are authenticity, in favor of Mitsein, the relational 5. Colin Turnbull, Wayward Servants: The Two Worlds not an isolated testament to nature and sphere of existence where we “let death be” Of The African Pygmies community. Even though modernity suffers and overcome what Freud saw as humanity 6. Georges Bataille, The Cradle of Humanity: Prehistoric Art and Culture from a “collective paranoia,” seeing “assas- having gained “control over the forces of 7. Hodder essay in Steven Mithen, Creativity in Human sination attempts” with every “accident, slightest nature to such an extent that with their help Evolution and Prehistory irregularity, the least catastrophe, an earth they would have no difficulty in exterminat- 8. Kuhn and Stiner essay in Mithen tremor, a house in ruins, bad weather…” and ing one another to the last man. They know 9. Ernest Becker, The Denial of Death finds “death absurd…a piece of sabotage…an this, and hence comes a large part of their 10. Raymond Kelly, Warless Societies and the Origins of War 11. James Shreeve, The Neanderthal Enigma evil demon there to make this machine always current unrest, their unhappiness and their 12. Schulting essay in Mithen break down,” as Baudrillard diagnosis, he also mood of anxiety.”29. John Muir, even after 13. Otto Rank, Art and artist: creative urge and reminds us that indigenous and pre-modern being bedridden from contracting malaria, personality development people everywhere have been resisting “rational abandoned his “religious cant that salvation 14. Woodburn essay in Bloch 15. Nurit Bird-David, The Giving Environment: Another social progress: vaccination, medicine, job lay in eternal life after death…Life and death Perspective on the Economic System of Gatherer-Hunters security, a school education, hygiene, birth were now understood as aspects of a larger in Current Anthropology > 062/browse/00113204/ control and many other things.” A successful cosmic scheme-the natural, wild process was dm991481"Vol. 31, No. 2 (Apr., 1990) infection of people with the “virus of conser- the reality…the beauty.” Muir muses that 16. Ian Hodder, The Leopard’s Tale: Revealing the Mysteries of Catalhoyuk vation and security” has blinded us to the fact “Life seems neither long nor short, and we 17. Jacques Cauvin, The Birth of the Gods and the that people “had to be infected over generations take no more heed to save time or make haste Origin of Agriculture for them to end up believing that they ‘needed’ than do the trees and stars. This is true free- 18. Zygmunt Bauman, Mortality, Immortality and it, and this success is an essential aspect of dom…”30. Teresa tsimmu Martino, in the best Other Life Strategies 19. Paul Shepard, Nature and Madness social domestication and colonization. That tradition of Huxley’s savage, wrote “The choke 20. Jean Baudrillard, Symbolic Exchange and Death entire groups would have preferred to die out hold of fear, domestication, frightens me.” She 21. The Bible rather than see their own structures annihilated ponders “Why do we fear wilderness? Is it 22. Zygmunt Bauman, Mortality, Immortality and by the terrorist intervention of medicine, reason, because it takes away our dominion over all?” Other Life Strategies science and centralized power-this has been In a shocking, to most wage earners and TV 23. Gerald Gruman, A History Of Ideas About The Pro- longation Of Life and A.C. Graham, Chuang-Tzu: The forgotten, swept away under the universal junkies, conclusion she affirms that “I must die Inner Chapters moral law of the ‘instinct’ of conservation.”27. of something and I prefer a few seconds of 24. William Godwin, Enquiry Concerning Political Justice Vestiges of this resistance are found in terror to a slow death of spirit.”31. That is what 25. Benjamin Franklin, Works, John Bigelow, ed. Daniel Quinn’s novel Ishmael. His book is leads her to return her wolf to the wilderness, 26. Aldous Huxley, Brave New World 27. Jean Baudrillard, Symbolic Exchange and Death filled with problematic assumptions that venturing deeper and deeper with each foray, 28. Daniel Quinn, Ishmael could be an essay of its own, however, there often wondering herself why she ever came 29. Havi Carel, Life and Death in Freud and Heidegger are some penetrating insights offered by the back to the drudge of fear and loathing in 30. Max Oelschlaeger, The Idea of Wilderness From telepathic gorilla Ishmael. Sprinkled through- sensory deprivation that is civilization. Maybe Prehistory to the Age of Ecology 31. Teresa tsimmu Martino, The Wolf, the Woman, the out this quasi-Socratic dialogue Ishmael to inspire the rest of us to destroy it? Wilderness: A true story of returning home

Page 35 SPRING/SUMMER ‘08 ISSUE Reflections on the Joys, Dilemmas, and Miscellaneous Exhilarations of a Decivilizing Papa part one by Felonious Skunk

The A passionate and old rejuvenating fire burns Lakota in the eyes of the young was wise. to destroy the barrage of He knew that noxiousness and depravity man’s heart, that surrounds us... These away from nature, sparks can re-ignite the becomes hard; he knew still smoldering passions that lack of respect for of the now dissatisfied growing, living things soon (and often very pacified) led to a lack of respect for shells of former youth... humans, too. So he kept his ...Burn, baby, burn! children close to nature’s – NYC graffiti, 1971 softening influence. – Nez Perce elder domesticated diet which in- June 2007: cludes the troublesome combo I write these words as the last of grains and dairy (or maybe i’m hour of light slowly fades away getting old.) Despite my physical from our forest home. My baby discomfort (which also includes exhaus- girl (whose name shall be purposely tion and sore arms and back from almost omitted from this brief exposition) just continually carrying around the little one), settled into a relaxed sleep for the evening this is my time of solitude and autonomy, (at least for a few hours) after a bottle of when I can carve out some moments to read, expressed breast milk that her mama write, and meditate on various things. It is my pumped for us last night at work (one of the internally focused period, because being a connected many partial concessions we make as we attempt to break papa is full-on-life with only momentary unanimated time free, yet still maneuver through this world Ð a dilemma to pause and reflect. So, I’ll take advantage of these moments to which almost nobody is exempt, despite persuasive to contemplate the astonishing change to my world (one that rhetorical exhalations). My head hurts, nose is stuffed, I could never have predicted), the contradictions I face, the and throat scratchy from allergies that afflict me for the joy, the hardships, and the amazing new little creature in my first time in my life, maybe from some of the non-native life, as I attempt to decivilize myself and help nurture a grasses which grow around our home or the primarily curious more wild child...

GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 36 This is all new to me. I am a first time papa. I was never sure about to be authentic at all times. While people less connected to her offer being a parent Ð against it part of my life, ambivalent at others, and at advice, often overbearingly and with judgement or self-righteousness, times mildly interested. More recently, for brief moments, heavily I typically utilize only the more tactical or technical of suggestions, as enthusiastic. When it seemed likely, I became vigorously optimistic, intuition is our primary guide…our connection. My partner has her anxious, and intensely curious. The pregnancy was numerous books’ relationship with our daughter based on her intuition and experiences, worth of interesting adventures and emotions, and the birth was that and our relationships overlap in some beautiful ways with our girl, some- times a hundred. But being a papa is a life-long journey. Although I times conflicting, but typically supportive or complimentary. Others have been in a deep long-term relationship with my partner (with whom move into the mix, and a far healthier experience begins to develop for I enthusiastically share most aspects of my life), have had a intimate her and those in her life, one that we hope can provide a basis for a feline companion for the past 13 years, lived with numerous people, different kind of reality then typically experienced in this culture. and have had many long-term friendships (not to mention a hyper and psychotic dog), none of these relationships prepared me for this very Jean Liedloff ‘s Continuum Concept (which I reviewed in issue #24) unique one. Without meaning to sound religious or new-aged, I felt was an inspirational text that my partner and I both read just prior to our like I was reborn on our daughter’s birthday (seven years to the day of baby’s birth. And while I don’t agree with certain aspects of her thesis the Seattle riots, another amazing day of exhilarated parturition). While and case study work, the main ideas run parallel with much of what successfully and pleasingly collaborating, conspiring, and consorting seems to be our own intuitive feelings about parenting. The primary with others (although not always quite so harmoniously), I have typi- concept is that healthy newborns enter unscarred into the terrestrial cally cherished my autonomy; the focus and direction of my life and sphere with all the anticipation of life along an ancestral human its moments and situations being almost entirely motivated from continuum. Liedloff describes this continuum as the physical, emotional, within. But in the past six months, my existence has radically and psychological nourishment and maturation based on the range of reprioritized itself. No longer are my intentions and decisions quite expectations and tendencies non-civilized humans have experienced over so ego driven. I am beginning to understand a deeper connection to time. She believes that for children to become both functioning and healthy another that has been only nearly approached or theoretical until now. parts of communities, and also autonomous, self-confident, and happy And this helps me to understand deeper connections on the whole. individuals, they require a similar experience to which our species adapted during its evolution as part of a living world. Some of these circum- There is a huge new layer to my reality that has altered my perceptions, stances and approaches, which seemed “natural” or no-brainers to us yet and others see me differently as well. But, redefining myself as a conflicted with the norms of much of the dominant culture include: papa exclusively is not a satisfactory response to this new situation, constant physical connection while going about our daily activities, although that is a common reaction of those who are enthusiastically sleeping together, responding to body signals without judgement or propelled into the role. As with every all-inclusive role, it becomes invalidation, nourishing self-confidence through appreciation and the boundaries of who we may be, places acceptance as part of a family and larger expectations upon us, and undermines efforts social fabric, spending as much time as we can to be free. I do not wish to see my personal immersed in the natural world (in contrast to identity melt away and become solely this synthetic environments), and allowing self- little girl’s papa. No, I wish to intertwine preservation instincts to develop unimpeded my life with her’s in a way which allows by trying not to overprotect (admittedly, the most for us (and others involved) to be unique difficult, most likely due to lack of experience and peculiar beings integrally connected and with babies and our domesticated notion of vitally important to each other, maintaining “safety”, rather then allowing them to discover and expanding who we are as individuals for themselves their own boundaries of pleasure and as part of some larger willful collection and pain). This is in contrast to the pacified, of people. isolated, artificially stimulated, and rigidly controlled babies locked in playpens and Being a papa offers the chance to be a child crying themselves to sleep between scheduled again, remembering old wounds and learning feedings. Our hope is to avoid the types of anew every day. As someone who suffered situations which may account for much of the under a sadistically abusive parent, I have early traumas that could develop into life-long often felt that my childhood was stolen neurosis, insecurities, frustrations, compulsions, from me, as I missed out not only on the and anxieties (an unending list of dysfunction), vast experiences propagated in healthier and replace them with experiences of self- situations, but also in the absorbed parent- assuredness, trust, connection, and joy (all child bonding unlike any other relationship. attributes at odds with domestication). Being careful not to vicariously re-make what has been done or transpose with my child, I have the opportunity to While we have lost much of the insights and bonds of intergenerational grow and learn and experience as if for the first time, yet with the tribal and earth-based communal living, in specific reference to kids, there wisdom that comes after experiencing similar situations from different is much to be regained or experimented. The concept of being “parents” vantages, something that seems gratifying and possible even without (suggestions for a more appropriate designation without the authoritarian being a papa, it just makes it, for me, more obvious. I revisit past baggage is appreciated) in a more collective situation is extremely circumstances and emotions. I open my eyes in new ways. I take the interesting to us, but in radical environmentalist and anarchist scenes, time to teach and learn what seemed simple or insignificant before, yet it appears difficult, as it is not typically a priority, and at times can with new perspective it now seems vital and alive. I can truly play, be quite frustrating. Now, I’m not a sniveling grumbling whimper- unrestrained by moral expectations, competition, phobias, or value ing whiner, so you won’t hear me complain about the lack of a kids’ placing. The moment is prioritized, and the moments add up to the space at the infoshop or the need for more kids’ workshops at the next accumulation of experiences that make us who we are. To know that I conference. If I think something needs to be happening as part of some- am such a vital part of these experiences for our daughter is inexpressible. thing I am a component of, I will attempt to collaborate with others It is pure joy, and also an immense responsibility based on commitment who have similar desires (or solo if I am alone) and make it happen. to her, but one which rather than bares down upon me, encourages me (continued on next page) PagePage 3737 SPRING/SUMMERSPRING/SUMMER ‘‘0808 ISSUEISSUE Whining is for those who want to be given something. Whimpering is decided to “drop out” once again). These folks could never imagine for those who lack any strength. Grumbling is for those who are too doing anything that did not revolve entirely around the “anarchist stupid to figure things out. And sniveling is for the cowering faint- scene” (substitute the “company”). With websites, discussion boards, hearted. I strive to be none of these, and I hate to hear the endless power point presentations, publications, conferences, travel expenses, drone of the parents who make themselves into the perpetual victims etc, they are in a self-referential existence that is almost entirely to the cold and misunderstanding world of the childless. [This means comprised of soloists and collectives rather than tribes and families. you: who pronounce that you are a single mother before you even tell The microscopic anarchist scene, and being a significant player within us your name and then expect us to watch your kids (who we don’t it, is as far as many can see, with thoughts of living a life outside of even know) so you can go to a workshop on underwater basket weav- this, one which may actually take some anarchist ideas beyond words, ing; and the dad who is so rad that you need to tell us every little rarely explored and often deplored (although usually subtly). mundane detail on how this society is so unfair to men who want to be a positive role Anarchy is something alive, not discussed model in their kids life as you trash your on websites, and until more people attempt co-parent and blame it on Irritable Male to live it, it will never be relevant to anyone Syndrome (look it up, there are people but a few obsessive nerds. The frequent making money diagnosing men with it) from awkwardness (and at times cluelessness all not being held enough as a child]. No, I am the way to hostility) that is apparent towards not one of these perpetual scapegoating those who have kids and the kids them- complainers. However, I will say, that once selves, I think may be a byproduct of the we became parents, it was somewhat of an modern “liberated” youth and thirty to adjustment for my partner and I to maneuver forty-somethings, those who were raised around the subcultures we sometimes inhabit. to think only about themselves and their Now, in the little rural hippie town we live specific place in society’s deranged in, there are plenty of kids, and numerous schema. Typically missing is any kind of networks of support from folks on various connection or commitment to any sort levels (from post-partum support to sharing of community, tribe, or family, and this info and items to play groups and group absence, I believe, is a cause for much home schooling). This is encouraging, and disconnection with each other, not to despite the often annoying buzzers and mention significant failure of our projects whistles of hippie subculture and a tendency and intentions. This is becoming more and towards mindless progressivism, for the most more apparent to me as my relationship part there are a number of young families with my daughter and hers with others in (as part of various larger contexts) attempting her life becomes clearer. Going at it alone to live as outside of the dominant reality as really sucks, and the support networks and best they can figure out right now, and prioritizing this with their kids. integration of our lives is hard to come by in any deep way within a The more difficult scenes for us have been the Earth First!ish crowds scene. Obviously, the nuclear family has a myriad of significant and anarchists (with exceptions of course). issues as well (no need to get into the laundry list here, most of us have been critiquing it since well before we realized we were anarchists). The resistance to “breeding” from the Deep Ecologists was no shocker, An organic strengthening of open kindred family-like bonds based on as we were quite familiar with the self-loathing misanthropic nature of mutual desires and needs seems a healthier alternative to the current those who want to make a political statement out of intellectually societal structures and the reactionary sub-cultures. Overall, without deciding to prohibit themselves from doing what may come as naturally these deepening of relationships, especially with kids, it seems as if as eating and sleeping, and judging those who choose otherwise. I do we are left in a sub-cultural cul-de-sac. agree that there is a huge population problem parasitically dependent on the rest of the earth and only kept alive through the artificial Still, some would ask, “Why bring a child into this?” Fair enough. life-support system of techno-industrial civilization. Bringing a child Perhaps it is a glimmer of hope. Perhaps it is a selfish desire for some into this world is a huge decision, one not to be taken lightly, and one semblance of normality in the face of such despair. Perhaps it is an maybe not for most people at this point in time. I hope most people attempt to help create healthier humans and communities. Perhaps we don’t have kids and we could go a long way by sneaking RU486 into have a strange fetish to look at little versions of ourselves (hopefully the wafers handed out at Catholic mass (I’m kidding, of course), but to not). But I think it is merely an instinctive act that fulfills an ancient promote a perspective that expects everyone to completely give up on desire, one that cannot be moralized or intellectualized away. Whatever ourselves seems somewhat counterintuitive, not too mention pretty the reason or reasons, it has been set in motion, and I am putting myself depressing (I’m not going to go into a long rant on why becoming a into it fully. Besides all the joy she brings and perspectives she shares, parent is NOT the equivalent to being a Nazi deathcamp soldier, for she is helping me to prioritize getting my shit together now. No longer that see my review of Go Light in issue #21 or “Thank You for Not waiting to move away from the system or leaving at a snail’s pace with Breeding” and the Voluntary Human Extinction project reviewed in this more words then action, but instead, consciously detaching as we live. current issue). I will say, however, that the “radical” environmentalist On a practical level, this means figuring out ways to provide as much crowd is at least fairly supportive once a baby is born (too late for an for ourselves as we can and taking responsibility for our lives together abortion I guess), although I am still not gonna let any of them take with as little civilized baggage as possible. our kid down to the river until I teach her how to use a .38 or cross-bow The world we live in is completely unsatisfactory, yet we are here (my half-joking paranoia of their potential infanticidal tendencies). now, so as we detach, hopefully we maneuver through it the best we Actually, the more disappointing reaction to having a baby came from can, balancing calm contemplation mixed with infuriated rage and anarchists, specifically those I would call the “Anarcho-Careerists”. living in the moment. As we grow, our interface with the “real world” These are basically people who would have been corporate yuppies will become more difficult and confusing. But with a healthier base working 60+ hours a week to “get the job done” had they not been filled with self-confidence and thoughtfulness developing from re- turned on to Chomsky or Bakunin in college (I was one until I lationships of trust, honesty, and passion, the world can be less scary, GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 38 not because it is less horrific, but because it is not as compounded Of course, this is always the case, but it becomes more apparent with our socialized internal demons and fears. That which must be every day as a parent. If I had a grape for all the time I thought about confronted can be done from a place of strength and clarity, rather doing something, I would be eternally drunk. If I had a grain of sugar than of concession, compensation, and partial presence. for every conversation I was in that went nowhere and had little or no practical value, I would be in a diabetic coma. So my life is refocused But, we are only beginning this adventure, and it’s not all peaches. on living; the sustenance and play of it. I am less willing to put off the Often on the verge of exhaustion and regularly needing to put aside small details of pleasure or experience for a theorized big dream. things which seemed indispensable before, my life, at times, feels as Dreams are made of the messy and dynamic details not some though it is not mine. But this is an extensive transition and a time to perfectly designed and articulated exquisite vision. So I’ll sit with learn and reprioritize based on desires relating to this new situation, my little one in the garden sharing for the first time the smell of a ripe rather then clinging or reacting. This is not just some rationalization, strawberry, or dip our toes in a cold forest creek, and tell her stories of but in fact, a realization of the embracing of change (that within and the warriors who destroy the metal monsters. And maybe at the end that swirling all around us). It can be tough though, and self-doubt of the day when we are all pooped out and she is sleeping (until she’s can at times overwhelm, especially when contemplating the heavy a little older and adds her own distinctive commentary), I still may reality that the vital care for another life is, for this brief moment, in discuss the need to transcend the dialectical model of analysis over a our hands. But remembering that it is not anything that millions upon homebrew, and eventually get around to helping put out another issue millions of people have not experienced before and billions upon of the magazine. billions of other life-forms have done, makes it less staggering. Altogether, despite the overwhelmingly dreary reality facing the world, our girl is, undoubtedly, in a much better situation then I was at her age Afterword (anti-authoritarian parents, living in a somewhat wild ecosystem, etc). There are too many aspects of our lives that get questioned and December 2007: analyzed and lived as a parent to express here (that’s where future As a year of papahood passes, I find myself even more engrossed in articulated meditations dwell). It is all up for questioning, as we this tremendous situation, wrapping myself up further in life, and it experiment with ways to live as free beings. How do we navigate the hugs me back real big…crawling, walking, screeching, climbing, area between nurture and control? How do we see socialized and growing, laughing, crying, exploring, running, talking, and perhaps innate aspects of gender entering into the relationship? embracing…much to learn and experience…much growing for all How do we see concepts of teaching and learning, of work and play? of us...and so much still to come down. It’s the beginning of a great How do we discover limitless pools of patience, yet still not be taken adventure, one actualized from the profoundly simple and most advantage of? How can we express ourselves more thoroughly? beautifully ordinary occurrences in the world… The first time our girl was away from her mama for an extended ...life giving birth to, and nurturing, new life. period, she had a rough time. Not that we hadn’t had an astoundingly infused connection from the moment I knew she existed to the late- autumn afternoon I caught her slippery wet body from her internal maternal realm. But it is her mama. I mean she came from her, but hopefully I don’t need to tell ya that. Anyway, that first night away from her mama (at about five months old) she cried most of the night, refusing any nourishment, most of the time apathetic to consolement, and sometimes it felt like she was insulted by the very presence of her seemingly now former good buddy papa. Finally, after hours of pain for both of us, she agreed that for now, we needed to help with, deal with, hopefully enjoy with, and anything else that makes up our lives with, each other. She told me this in a long and silent look. It stopped my breath and my heart. I silently responded with my feelings (expressed outwardly on my face and with caress), and we under- stood. Some of our deepest communications go far beyond words, beyond the symbolic, and the really intimate ones beyond explanation. Sometimes, we just stare at each other, and accept each other as those who infinitely care for each other. This is what I strive for in a deeply connected relationship. Becoming a Papa has moved me drastically closer to a life of activity and one focused more immediately on our direct circumstances. While theoretical exploration and critical analysis (of my life and the rest of the world) is and will continue to be a significant and vital component of my life, I have less and less patience for rhetoric, empty words, and mental masturbation (most of what passes for anarchist discourse). Talk ain’t shit. The real deal is in the action; what we actually do. I’d rather make a hundred mistakes, fuck up shit (different from “fuck shit up” ‘cause it is unpurposely self-directed), and learn from the process directly, then sit around sipping tea and talking about it while life passes me by. Living is an act, not an idea. This strikes me more and more every moment I spend living with my little girl. She gets fussy if we are passively or lazily spectating life. She seems to want to fully embrace, immerse, animate, and create, and bring me into it all full on, now! There is no dress rehearsal or edited rewriting. Page 39 SPRING/SUMMER ‘08 ISSUE The Earth’s Tears The Shall Flood the World So Deep So Wide Earth’s Ain’t No Ark Gonna Save Them Now Not This Time Tears No, Not This Time

A brief look at: Ecological Defense and Animal Liberation in more than 30 II looklook downdown onon thethe city,city, SUVs in several neighborhoods. itsits burning,burning, itsits burningburning Massa said. “And Metro pigs alerted the Depart- everything’s prettier at night. I’ve been keyed three or four ment of Homeland Security to thethe flamesflames they’rethey’re leaping,leaping, “The thought of times on my truck.” Massa look into whether this could be they’rethey’re eatingeating thethe buildings,buildings, somebody vandalizing it never helped organize a rally to remind the work of eco-terrorists. crossed my mind,” said Gareth Orion laughs “guerre a outrance” the public that Hummer owners Groves, 32, who lives with his are not self-centered Earth-haters. November 21, – blackbird RAUM mother in an upscale DC neigh- They have organized groups, Stockholm, Sweden: borhood. “I’ve kind of been in including Hummer Hope, that A new group calling itself The SUV’s Still Under Attack shock”. Groves’s mother said she offer their vehicles after such Indians of the Concrete Jungle is sad for her son because he has disasters as Hurricane Katrina. has claimed credit for vandalizing April 2, Woodland, CA: wanted a Hummer for a while. And he said some Hummer driv- more than one-thousand SUVs Nine large trucks and SUV’s were Groves said he wanted the car in ers are students of alternative over the past several months in defaced by suspected eco-vandals. part because he is starting a fuels. “I’m actually starting to order to draw attention to climate A witness reported seeing two company, Washington Sports convert my truck to vegetable oil change and discourage motorists males and one female who ap- Marketing, that is “image-based”, this week,” he said. Christopher from driving vehicles that create peared to be in their late teens, representing clients such as the and Kristina Benson drove their such a high impact on the envi- spray painting cars in the area Washington Redskins players. Hummer six hours from North ronment. The group first made with the letters “ELF.” While many of the neighbors Carolina. “That’s how much this itself known through actions July, Washington, DC: consider themselves liberal- means to us,” Christopher followed by press releases in the leaning environmentalists they According to local reports, a Hum- Benson said. nation’s capital, but now say that do not condone violence. “They’ve mer “on a narrow, leafy street in Groves said cops told him other “tribes” have taken up the got everything at their disposal in Northwest Washington (DC) that the FBI had taken it over cause and employed similar tactics this city to make a statement in a where (Toyota) Prius hybrid cars as a suspected incident of eco- in the cities of Gothenburg, Malmö legal way,” one said. “I consider and Volvos are the norm” was terrorism. and Sundsvall. this a hate crime.” destroyed in July. Two masked From the press-release: Groves wants to get it towed and Fifth of November, men took a bat to every window, The Indians of the Concrete repaired but fears “extremists” a knife to each 38-inch tire and Las Vegas Valley, NV: Jungle are determined to continue might not be done making an scratched into the body: “FOR Dozens of drivers in the southwest their campaign of disarmament. example of him. THE ENVIRON.” part of the Las Vegas Valley awoke If it is done repeatedly and on a Hummer enthusiasts and people One believer in market adjust- to shattered rear windows on their massive scale, deflating tires annoyed by what they see as ments to determine the rightness SUV’s. “Every SUV around here, will develop from a slight annoy- self-righteous environmental- of a product, called this a hate seems like it was hit,” say Tom ance in the eyes of the owners ism, have offered sympathy, crime. “What if that Hummer H2 Dorman, whose SUV was vandal- into a real obstacle for driving support, even space in their garage SUV had been a church, syna- ized but his Toyota Corolla spared. SUVs. Imagine waking up to a for the crippled monster truck. gogue or mosque? Headline: “How senseless, how ridiculous car without “Messing up the truck–that’s just “Congregation Gets Angry for something like this to be hap- air in the tires a little low,” said Sam Massa, a Message: Vandals Break Win- pening,” said Curtis Gentz, who every morn- teenage Hummer driver. “I saw the dows, Slash Pews and Carve In was also targeted. The vandals ing, or even pictures, and it was ridiculous,” an Anti-Religious Note.” [Oh no!] shot or busted out back windows once a week! GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 40 When the glaciers melt, They write: “There are many of New Developments for Rio Tinto, who have recently people’s source of water disap- us who view their methods with acquired the business have pear. When the deserts spread, disgust, and if the Sheriffs of The New Developments arguably the worst record of any agricultural fields become Concrete Jungle (the police) can’t July, Fort Worth, TX: corporation for abuse of the uncultivable. When the sea manage to get to grips with them, A “suspicious” fire destroyed six earth and its people. Whether level rises, homes are inun- we will continue to organize in partially constructed homes in a they’re sponsoring and train- dated. Result: billions of order to protect our rights and new subdivision. Witnesses re- ing paramilitaries committing refugees, countless deaths. our property.” ported seeing two young males genocide in the South Pacific, It’s already estimated that The Cowboys added that they fleeing the area as the fire started. removing entire mountain tops in 160,000 people die every year were in the process of creating a Investigators estimated the dam- Africa or strip mining virgin due to the effects of climate network around the country with ages at approximately $300,000. rainforest that belongs to indig- change, according to the WHO. plans to infiltrate the activist No one was injured. enous tribes, they must be stopped. As an affluent Swede you will group and reveal the identities of Rio Tinto’s recent acquisition survive longer then most. its members. ELF in Iceland of Alcan makes them party to the Those most vulnerable, and July 30, greatest ecological crime currently already worst afflicted by the Rage Against Rainforest Hafnarjordur, Iceland: being committed in Europe. They global warming caused by Destruction According to radical news organi- are looking to turn Iceland’s Northern affluence, are the April 13, zations, the ELF struck in Iceland great wildernesses into a series people of poor countries. In the for the first time. The target was of monolithic power stations to end, however, climate chaos Kampala, Uganda: power aluminum smelters; one Environmental demonstrations the Alcan Aluminum smelter in will affect us all, poor people Hafnarfjordur, which is being ex- of the most polluting and energy as well as rich. turned into deadly riots as protest- intensive industries in the world. ers destroyed property, looted panded into pristine lava fields. This does not have to happen We’re shocked to learn this Rio Tinto bring repression wher- if we impose a radical cut on shops and attacked suspected ever they go, in Bouganville in industrialists. The violence was expansion is moving forward carbon emissions. Now. Not without local democratic consent the South Pacific they hired tomorrow. That’s why we have sparked by plans of the Ugandan mercenaries to rape and murder government and the Indian as promised in the town council disarmed your SUV by deflating elections. all who opposed their massive the tires. Since you live in a city Mehta Group to clear large swaths copper mine, Panguna. Their of the Mabira Rain Forest Reserve This factory is part of ongoing with a functioning and acces- heavy industrialization of the invasion into Iceland is no dif- sible public transportation in order to expand sugar planta- ferent and protests against heavy tions. The plans to expand the Icelandic wilderness powered system you will have no prob- by large dams and geothermal industry are being met with lem going where you want sugar plantations would destroy police violence and activists are 17,000 acres of rain forest, power stations all around the without your SUVs, the most country. fitted up and subject to state obnoxious aspect of bourgeois nearly a third of the Mabira Rain sponsored slander. Forest Reserve home to 50 spe- From the communiqué at Break carbon addiction....It’s not a the Chains Blog: It’s necessary to hit Rio Tinto complicated manoeuvre: just cies of monkeys, along with bird where it hurts, on the bottom and plant species only found in In the early hours of 30/07/07, unscrew the cap of the valve, saboteurs struck at Smurfit line, the balance sheet. Where insert a grain of gravel or stone Mabira. Two people from India it matters. were stoned to death by rioters Kappa, a plastics factory owned in it, and screw it back on. The by Rio Tinto Alcan in Chelmsford, -EARTH LIBERATION FRONT grain will push down the peg and an alleged looter and a Essex. The gates were locked Rio Tinto’s business includes in the middle of the valve, passerby were shot and killed by security officers. Rioters shut, office doors and loading mining and processing mineral making sure the air is gently bays were sabotaged with glue resources. Major products are alu- released. The whole manoeuvre attacked property and burned a sugar transport truck. and a message left painted on minum, copper, diamonds, energy will take about 10 the wall. Vehicles belonging to (coal and uranium), gold, industrial seconds. Leave Rio Tinto were also sabotaged. minerals (borax, titanium dioxide, the SUV, and listen salt, talc), and iron ore. With a to the beautiful global presence, Rio Tinto has a sound of the air strong base in Australia and North petering out. America with significant busi- The Cowboys nesses in South America, Asia, of the Concrete Europe and southern Africa. Jungle (them- selves similarly Strip Mining anonymous) also set up a Equipment Torched website using Early September, a very similar West Virginia: design as Someone torched more than $5 their envi- million worth of equipment at a ronmentalist strip mine in Wyoming County foes. West Virginia. Three end-loaders were sitting idle at a remote (continued on next page) ‘ PagePage 4141 SPRING/SUMMER 08 ISSUE surface mine owned by Bluestone Earth First! and others that teeter the new LRDP. The building would for the day after Earth First!ers Coal’s Dynamic Energy. Everything between activism and eco- house a live animal testing lab but dropped a banner that read “Stop was declared a total loss, and the terrorism haven’t been as busy has no allotted classroom space, I-69” onto its roof and 50 people fire instantly was ruled an arson. here as they have been out west, despite student complaints about assembled outside in protest. Somebody knew where to find but that may be changing”. overcrowded class sizes. Other offices were also bannered the equipment, brought the tools Coal River Mountain Watch has Protesters who came to support and invaded for “our farms, forests to do the job and had the know- become the center of the fight the action from the ground were and futures”. Twenty-four were how to do it. Getting something against surface mining, a local pepper-sprayed and beaten with arrested at the Indianapolis State made of steel that’s 30 feet long group battling mountaintop re- batons by police while attempting Capitol protesting plans for the and weighs 30,000 pounds to burn moval in court and in the media. to get supplies to tree-sitters. Stu- construction of the I-69 NAFTA beyond repair takes more than a The Labor Day action has been dents and community members superhighway. One young woman gallon of gas and a box of matches. ruled arson, fire marshals say. No have claimed the space under the was shot with a Taser, another It’s been 17 years since any suspects were arrested in the tree-sit as their own, decorating the was pepper-sprayed and suffered large-scale labor strife and van- early days following the action. pavement and building structures an asthma attack. Many were dalism has occurred in the out of fallen redwood limbs. reportedly wrestled to the coalfields. The leadership of the Tree Sitting, Does it ground, handcuffed to each other UMWA effectively has turned that Really Do a Thing? The I-69 Resistance behind their backs and left in the organization into sort of a miner’s November 7, The Indiana Department of Trans- sun for hours without being version of the VFW – old timers portation has been attempting to processed or informed of their who talk about the glory days and Santa Cruz, CA: rapidly and covertly move forward charges. According to the local beef about their pensions and are At least one person was arrested with their plans for the construction corporate media, there were anti- not considered likely suspects as activists hoisted platforms into of I-69. Eviction proceedings have I-69 slogans spray-painted on for large-scale terrorism. redwood trees at the University begun for half a dozen families the state capitol building. Citizens Ah, there’s the word: terrorism. of California Santa Cruz to protest whose homes once lay along the for Appropriate Rural Roads de- Last summer, “Mountain Sum- UCSC’s Long Range Development first two miles of the proposed nounced the vandalism calling mer Justice,” came to the area to Plan (LRDP). The tree-sitters say route. These people have been or for ongoing nonviolent activism stop strip mining. That gathering that they are opposed to the are slated to be physically re- against the project. The police was limited to a protest at the planned addition of 4,500 full-time moved from their homes. Unless noted that many of the protesters governor’s office and a march at students and the development the highway expansion is stopped, were from out of state and claimed a Massey Energy mine. One local of 120 acres of upper campus over four hundred more homes the vandals were out of town opined, “folks from groups like forest for a new Biomedical will be replaced by concrete. “protesters for hire”. Sciences Facility; the building According to Roadblock Earth I-69 is part of a proposed super- would be the first project under First!, two I-69 planning offices were highway from Mexico to Canada the subject of eviction proceedings partially cut through wetlands, as “Hayduke’s Moving Company” forests, and family farms. Ground- moved their contents out of the breaking is set for next year. offices and into the street; the section 4 office was shut down

Commercial Whaling leashing a torrent of water into Golf Club Attack A Bit(e) for Ship Sabotaged the heart of the killer ship that Sydney, Australia: two years earlier took 14 minutes Vandals wreaked extensive August 30, Svolvaer, to brutally murder a threatened damage on four putting greens the Animals Lofoten Islands, Norway: minke whale. and dug holes in three others (just a sampling of animal liberation) From the communiqué: The sinking of the whaler and at the Warringah Golf Club. The On the night of August 30th we the silencing of its deadly har- anonymous visitors left a message More Mink Freed decided to celebrate the end of poon is dedicated to the memory on a piece of cardboard stuffed August 12, Hinsdale, MA: commercial whaling in Iceland of the yangtze river dolphin who into one of the holes: Warning!: A new communiqué from animal by removing a large section of because of humankinds greed you bastards kill one bird and liberationists has surfaced cooling pipe in the engine will never again grace the waters we will destroy all your greens claiming responsibility for the room of the norwegian whaler of our blue planet. The turn of at our leisure. We will be watch- release of between 500 and 800 “Willassen Senior”. our wrenches is a rational re- ing and waiting. mink from a fur farm early in the After ensuring that the vessel sponse to a world where tens of The club has hired a marksman morning. The action cost Berksire was unoccupied the salt water thousands of species disappear to shoot native wood ducks who Furs $75,000-100,000. intake valve was opened un- every year. land on the course.

GREENGREEN ANARCHYANARCHY #25#25 PagePage 4242 Animal Liberation.Net This used to be a he said. “It just doesn’t add up to me.” Instead, he speculated that visitors The Wild Fight Back! regular installment in might have been fooling around and might have taunted the animal and The Wild Fight Back! Green Anarchy, one perhaps even helped it get out by, say, putting a board in the moat. that many folks looked The first attack happened right outside the Siberian’s enclosure — the forward to each issue. victim died at the scene. A group of four cops came across his body Somewhere along the when they entered the dark zoo grounds. The second victim was about way, however, it got 300 yards away, in front of the Terrace Cafe. The man was sitting on the forgotten or lost in the ground, blood running from gashes in his head and Tatiana sitting next shuffle. We were in- to him. After murdering the tiger, they then saw the third victim, who had spired to revive the also been mauled. section this winter by A year earlier, on December 22, 2006, Tatiana reached through the bars a feline feasting in the of her cage and grabbed a keeper, biting and mauling one of the woman’s Bay Area that we as- arms and causing deep lacerations. sume was to celebrate Last February, a 140-pound jaguar named Jorge killed a zookeeper at baby Jebus’s birthday. the Denver Zoo before being fatally shot. December 25: The San Francisco Zoo was closed to visitors after a Zoologist Ron Magill said that wild animals in captivity lose their fear Christmas day tiger attack that may have been provoked by visitors’ of humans and will “take advantage of any possibility” to escape. “You taunting the animal, leaving one man dead and two brothers injured. can take the animal out of the wild; you cannot take the wild out of the One witness said at least one of the victims had irritated the tiger, which animal,” he said. had been out of its cage an estimated 15 to 20 minutes. When police The parents of Carlos Sousa of San Jose, the 17-year-old killed, said arrived after responding to the 911 call, they “saw a tiger sitting next to a the attack has forever ruined Christmas for them. Marilza Sousa put a person who was sitting on the ground,” Police Chief Heather Fong said. photograph of her son on the family Christmas tree and said she’d never They then “yelled at the animal to stop…and as the animal turned toward be able to celebrate the holiday again. “Our Christmas is with him,” she the officers” that’s when they shot the tiger, she said. Fong said the said. “No more Christmas.” department has opened a criminal investigation to “determine if there In January, less than three weeks after the tiger attack, a leopard and a was human involvement in the tiger getting out or if the tiger was able to polar bear came close to escaping get out on its own.” from enclosures at San Francisco The zoo’s director of animal care and conservation, Robert Jenkins, Zoo. The San Francisco Chronicle could not explain how Tatiana escaped the enclosure that is surrounded reported on its website that by a 15-foot-wide moat and 20-foot-high walls. Jenkins said. “The animal zookeepers told the paper a female appears to have climbed or otherwise leaped out of the enclosure.” polar bear climbed the wall of its But Jack Hanna, former director of the Columbus Zoo and a frequent enclosure on January 3, while a snow guest on TV, said such a leap would be an unbelievable feat, and “virtually leopard chewed through a temporary impossible. There’s something going on here. It just doesn’t feel right to me,” enclosure later in the month.

Joyanna Zacher, #36360-086, FCI ANIMAL LIBERATION North American Eco-Defense and Dublin, Federal Correctional Institution, 5701 8th St - Camp Parks - Unit F, Jacob Conroy, #93501-011, FCI Animal Liberation Political Prisoners: Dublin, CA 94568 USA. Serving 7 years Victorville Medium I Federal Correc- & 8 months for an ELF arson against a tional Institution, P.O. Box 5300, Poplar Tree Farm and an ELF arson Adelanto, CA 92301, USA. Serving 48 ECO-DEFENSE against an SUV dealership. Also admitted months imprisonment for helping orga- nize the SHAC-USA campaign. Tre Arrow, CS# 05850722, Vancouver Jeffrey Luers, #1306729, Lane her role in an ELF/ALF conspiracy. Island Regional Correction Center, County Adult Corrections, 101 West Helen Woodson, 03231-045, FMC Lauren Gazzola, #93497-011, FCI 4216 Wilkinson Rd., Victoria, BC, V8Z 5th Ave, Eugene, OR 97401-2695 , Carswell - Admin. Max. Unit, POB Danbury Route #37, 33 1/2 Pembroke 5B2, Canada. On remand accused of USA. Serving 22 years & 8 months for 27137, Ft. Worth, TX 76127, USA. Road, Danbury, CT 06811 USA. Serv- involvement with an arson on logging arson on a car dealership & attempted Serving 8 years & 10 months for a series ing 54 months imprisonment for help- trucks and an arson on vehicles owned arson of an oil truck. (Due to be re- of actions focusing on the interrelation- ing organize the SHAC-USA campaign. by a sand & gravel company. Both arsons sentenced, Jeff will only be at Lane ship of war and the destruction of the Joshua Harper, 29429-086, FCI occurred in the USA. Tre is fighting County temporarily.) natural world. The actions included Sheridan, Federal Correctional Institution, against his extradition to the USA. Daniel McGowan, #63794-053 UNIT destruction of Government property P.O. Box 5000, Sheridan OR 97378, USA. Grant Barnes, #137563, San Carlos I, FCI Sandstone, PO Box 1000, Sand- (pouring a tin of red paint over the Serving 36 months imprisonment for help- Correctional Facility, PO Box 3, Pueblo, stone, MN 55072 USA. Sentenced to security desk of a federal court) and ing organize the SHAC-USA campaign. CO 81002, USA. Serving 12 years for seven years imprisonment for his part making threatening communications. Prior to her arrest Helen had served 20 Kevin Kjonaas, #93502-011, FCI Sand- setting fire to a number of SUV vehicles. in two arsons and his role in an ELF/ stone, PO Box 1000, Sandstone, MN ALF conspiracy. years for actions which included: 1) Nathan Block, #36359-086, FCI Using a hammer to disarm a nuclear 55072 USA. Serving 72 months impris- Lompoc, Federal Correctional Institution, Chris McIntosh, #30512-013, USP missile silo. 2) Burning $25,000 on the onment for helping organize the SHAC- 3600 Guard Road, Lompoc, CA 93436, Hazelton, PO Box 2000, Bruceton floor of a bank whilst denouncing war, USA campaign. environmental destruction and economic USA. Serving 7 years & 8 months for Mills, WV 26525, USA. Sentenced to 8 Jonathan Paul, #07167-085, FCI Phoe- an ELF arson against a Poplar Tree Farm years imprisonment for setting a small injustice. 3) Mailing warning letters nix, Federal Correctional Institution, and an ELF arson against an SUV dealer- fire at a McDonalds claimed on behalf with bullets attached to Government 37910 N 45th Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85086. and corporate officials. ship. Also admitted his role in an ELF/ of the ELF/ALF. Sentenced to 51 months for an ALF arson ALF conspiracy. Fran Thompson, #1090915 HU 1C, *To receive Earth Liberation on a horse meat plant. Also admitted his Ted Kaczynski, #04475-046, US Pen- WERDCC, PO Box 300, Vandalia, MO role in an ELF/ALF conspiracy. Admin Max Facility, PO Box 8500, Florence 63382, USA. Serving Life for killing, Prisoner’s bimonthly Andrew Stepanian, #26399-050, FCI Colorado 81226. Sentenced to multiple in self-defence, a stalker who had broken e-newsletter, Spirit of Freedom, Butner Medium II Federal Correctional lifetimes in prison for the “Unabomber” into her home. Before her imprisonment Institution, PO Box 1500, Butner, NC bombing attacks against some of the Fran was an eco, animal & anti-nuke e-mail 27509 USA. Serving 36 months for help- architects of industrial society. campaigner. [email protected] ing organize the SHAC-USA campaign.

Page 43 SPRING/SUMMER ‘08 ISSUE Reclaiming the Myth-Time: Finding our Place through Story and Song

SEVERAL YEARS HAVE PASSED NOW SINCE I SAW ONE FOR THE FIRST TIME. The stories of the dominant cultures also speak many things of their In the oldest mountains on this continent I sat like a stone beneath an old creators, intentional perpetuators and all of us who repeat the stories. Hemlock, silent and still. A shadow of flickering movement drew my They speak of a need to have all the answers, no matter how absurd or attention and there she was, fluttering by my head, small as a tiny bird but conveniently reinforcing of social mores they happen to be in the end. certainly not at all avian in nature. As my head turned she paused in They speak of alienation, disconnection, objectification and all the fears flight, backing away but turning, and in that short instant our eyes met, inherent in a culture that has moved away from the earth and seeks to shock and wonder reflected simultaneously between two very different control it at all costs. When ethnographers and anthropologists do man- beings. She spun away and flitted on into the trees up the hill, leaving me age to inflict an understanding of the difference between objective stunned and perplexed. “I just saw a “knowledge” and irrational “myth” …” Fairy? Nymph? Sylph? None of on indigenous peoples, many na- the words I knew seemed quite right tives have indicated that, no, of in that moment Ð of course, they are course they don’t literally believe the words used to name the little wild their story of creation, this tale of folk of another continent, of my an- why Raven is black or why Vulture cestors, and in my ignorance I did not is bald. They know that coyote’s tail know the words that the original in- is not perpetually burnt, but they habitants of these hills used for these tell this story anyway because it creatures. I decided that “Wildfolk” tells other people who they are, would have to suffice. what they think, what they value Now honestly, what did I really as a society. The stories of the see? A brief hallucination produced dominant cultures do the same, by my willing mind, anthropomor- though we are all too often ignorant phizing a shadow? A brown bird, of the process. The maintenance after all? Perhaps an insect that I of mundane existence and the don’t know that has a long trailing façade of rational understanding abdomen split into two leglike ap- has become more important than pendages… But that brief glance, the sharing of who we are and the that lock of eyes; hair! She had hair! joyful embracing of Wonder. The Ultimately it does not matter what distinction between mundane and I saw. Being very critical of most wonderous need not exist. Songs things and yet receptive to the mys- of gathering seeds, tales of long tery of the world I came to see that walks, these show us the connec- the impact of that brief connection tion that we have lost with the was all that really mattered. I rhythm of our lives. Mundane changed. I believe that we both existence was created when we as changed, whatever that small creature humans chose to sacrifice sponta- happened to be. Those days in the neity for security. The nature and old forest live with me in a magical value of song is a vivid example of way. The fact that I am willing to this process. Songs bring expression share that story and the way I share it to our actions, bursting into reality speaks more on who I am than on the by Scavenger and connecting thought, action and allegedly objective reality of what I passion together as a seamless whole. saw on that day. Believe, disbelieve, or ponder Ð how you receive the When the world is song we never know boredom, we are never lost. story is how we relate as beings. How we communicate is how we connect, or fail to connect. How do we as domesticated or recovering humans deal with knowing by infliction one set of myths that do not serve us, either collectively or Many indigenous communities have stories of their creation or emer- individually? It seems disturbingly clear that the effects of understanding gence into the world that tell the story of who they are. The dominant the world according to the civilized paradigm will leave us disconnected cultures call these songs and stories “myth”, because they are often and in many ways traumatized. Our sense of Wonder has been stolen “fantastical” and do not correlate with the objective and (constantly from us. Having all the answers in a textbook leaves nothing more to changing) scientific truth. This truth that involves such “facts” as Big discover, and yet leaves whole realms of thought, connection and Bangs, large spinning spheres with immense fields of power called understanding unexplored. I hesitantly pose the question, wrought with gravity and burning balls of gas hanging in vast spaces. So, truth hope and fearful despair alike: Can we change our personal and collective consists of concepts like gravity, where objects are inherently attracted mythic structure? Can we form new identities, like the shapeshifters of to other objects on the basis of their mass Ð a concept reinforcing that old, and leave one set of understanding behind and claim or create size does in fact matter above all. What a convenient scientific rein- another? Could we then go out into the world and share our songs and forcement for a pathologically insecure patriarchal culture! stories as a means or showing who we are? GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 44 A small band lounges around the and pressure or to the story of the warm embers of what was just a time when Magpie insulted the roasting fire and basks beneath a ground beneath his lofty wings? cooling and clear moonless night. Does it really matter if our stories The wisps of smoke rise high and are deemed “True” by others? I fast but the scent of juniper tend to be a very critical person with spreads through the camp and a compulsive attachment to honesty lingers pleasantly amongst the in my connections with others. people. A gentle current of excite- Honestly, what I see in our stories ment and anticipation builds; a is the structure of our psyche stranger is coming to visit, so the reflected on the world as well as scouts are saying. Two of the the world reflected on our minds. younger scouts are guiding her up If we have the understanding that the canyon to the camp just now. allows us to choose healthy rela- When she arrives the visitor walks tionships over unhealthy ones and confidently but respectfully up to ideas that connect us to each other the group and they look at her with and to the place we live instead of interest, trying not to gawk at her clinging to an alienated and op- hairstyle and odd manner of pressive discourse, then the greater clothing. They welcome her closer reality of our health and sanity to the fire, for the desert night is compel me to abandon what a quite chill and she has come far. pathologically minded civilization Once she has been made comfort- calls “truth”. As stated before, the able and warm one of the people point of indigenous stories is to tell asks her, “Would you share with who we are as a people and indi- us who you are, that we may know viduals, not to claim what IS. you?” Speaking slowly and clearly, her voice resonates in the To speak seriously of becoming sandstone shelter as she assents. indigenous, intending to actually She gazes deep into the fire to live in the Place that we inhabit, gather her thoughts, and in the lull we must seek the songs and stories a child of the people steps close to of those places. To be indigenous her, offering a cup of rosehip and is to listen to a place, to let it share juniper needle tea, which she accepts its stories with us and share those graciously. She removes her cloak stories with others who come as the people build the fire higher against the chill and begins, there. The world is ultimately a vast mystery. Our role in the world and all the people lean in to listen carefully. Her story begins is what matters, not the innumerable details of how and why. We all when the world was made and winds through the origin of her know that toxic chemicals can kill us. No healthy or sane person people and the stars, how her people found fire and escaped the can be convinced that it is necessary to experiment by killing animals great beast she calls Machine. Between tales of sorrowful loss or people to see just exactly how much of a chemical it takes to end and witty stories of mischief and joyous play the people sigh and life. The heart beats and blood flows through the body. To know this laugh, not once calling her stories wrong, though none of them is enough; it is not necessary or acceptable to cut into living flesh to have heard these tales before. At last the visitor tells of her People see how or assume why. Such is simply not necessary. The stories as they are now, her parents and her clan family, what sort of things we have been told, likewise, are not worth the effect they have on us. they eat and why they dress as they do. Finally she speaks her (continued on page 51) name, Cota, after a yellow flower from the canyons to the north that she says makes a delightful tea with the flavor of desert rain rising off the rocks in the warm sun that follows the storm (Theslesperma megapotacium). Pausing at the end of her tale, she pulls a small bag out of her larger travel pouch and offers it to the child who brought her tea. The people smile, satisfied by the sharing, and thank Cota with words and embraces for her stories. As the people settle into their sleep places for the night and offer Cota warm blankets and a place near the dimming coals of the firepit they also welcome her to stay with them and rest for some days before continuing her journey to the West. She tells them that she has heard of their people before but does not know them yet. Tomorrow, they promise, they will share with her their stories of how the world came to be, and she will know them as they now know her. The human mind learns by absorbing the experience of its surroundings. Just as sun and clouds, rocks and rivers and trees will shape a mind differently than plastic, metal and boxy indoor spaces, so too will creative and inspired stories that manifest Wonder shape a mind and society differently than boring claims of objectively discovered truth. Does it matter, truly, if we relate the shape of a rock spire to erosion Page 45 SPRING/SUMMER ‘08 ISSUE THETHE GARDGARDENEN OF PECULIAA

According to the above and following the that inhabit it and that constitute totality. FRAGMENT #42 Lacanian dualist model, which opposes Coexistence is only possible through a cor- The bourgeois garden expanded like a plague the imaginary with the symbolic, that is to responding comprehension of the peculiarity under colonialism. It’s pretty, but fake. The say, the non-structured world of a child who of all beings in order to establish a radical scenarios installed by civilization, as artistic as projects images over reality—which is a liber- empathy for the right of all beings to life. they are, lack reality. They require space and ated universe that still hasn’t been structured the eradication of undesireable species, turning by the formal process of repression of symbols— FRAGMENT #44 the living world into a backdrop over which it is possible to distinguish the following the garden can be imposed instantly, like a path. Symbols follow from the symbolic, The image that our interiority projects on Polaroid. whose orbit includes the civilized order—the the world maintains its aesthetic character. The civilizing garden enslaves, torments, partriarchal grammar imposed by society. The image that has been reflected reinforces and sooner or later, will die. This happens Following this parallel, images derive from the process of reification. In and of them- because the bourgeois garden standardizes the the imaginary, the projection of interiority selves, all images that separate us alienate us. land, instead of unfolding it in order to have onto the world. So, images lead to imagina- Each image is an act of reification, given that an open and horizontal space. What’s more, tion, and symbols lead to symbolization, these images represent reality, establishing its objective is luxury, neglecting the comes- which in turn manifests itself in rites. The mediation among human beings and between tible and self-sustainable garden. ritual instrumentalizes nature, in order to the subject and the natural surroundings. This The bourgeois garden is about enclosure. In dominate it via the medium of magic or repre- mediation replaces reality. When the prehistoric addition, through the illusion of illuminating sentation. This instrumentality is functional child saw its own face in the water’s reflection— civilized space, it kills the night. The garden and coercive because it structures and manipu- in a lake, a pool or the ice—it saw nothing of peculiarities deterritorializes and topples lates. In effect, the different instruments of but an image. This equation led it to identify hierarchies. That is its nature. It allows the the symbolic tend to represent reality rather itself with what it was seeing, thus awakening garden to grow, organically, under the concept than allow it to be fully comprehended. Im- the notion of identity. This notion led to the of mutual recognition between the gardener ages, on the other hand, create the perceptions separation between the individual and nature and and garden. It doesn’t try to control the land- of the world that are expressed culturally fed the fracture between the subject and the scape by making it uniform. On the contrary, through the aesthetic and underlie culture. object—the foundation of human conscious- the point is learning to live with nature and in When this occurs, the being is manifested aes- ness. In this way, consciousness gives rise to the midst of nature, orienting the human thetically and unfurls all of its peculiarities. alienation, and becomes meta-consciousness: effect more toward aesthetic practice than However, instrumentalization brings about self-reflection on itself. However, without self- standardization. Such a lesson starts by rec- standardization, which hides in its innards a reflective consciousness, the human being is ognizing the otherness of nature as our own controlling beat that categorizes everything defenseless against the imperial control of otherness. Only in this way is it possible to through the varied methodologies of taxonomic standardization and the propaganda machine dissipate the ego among the ever-growing foli- classification. This process of standardiza- that falsifies reality and manufactures a false age in search of shelter rather than conquest. tion produces fetish, which is nothing more and ideological consciousness. than a false consciousness of reality. FRAGMENT #43 This foundation of false conscious- ness is the spectacularization of life The Garden of Peculiari The notion of peculiarity opposes standard- as well as alienation. The Garden of Peculiari ization and dualism. Standardization flattens There are two distinct types of isis a poetic anti-civiliza- and erases biodiversity. In the words of insanity. One is material and reduces tion collection ofof 47 César Vallejo, it is “Lomismo [sameness] life to economic survival. The other vignettes originally that suffers name.” Dualism in its own right is ideological and generates dehu- written in Spanish by has sustained the genealogy of cognitive manization and roboticization in the Jesús Sepúlveda. GreenGreen thinking that has constructed disciplines and subject. Under the spell of automa- Anarchy regularly methodologies through the opposition of tism, the human being separates prints fragmentsfragments in terms that are apparently contradictory or him/herself from nature and from each issue.issue. TheThe Com- equidistantly opposed from one another: A his/her own natural condition. With plete GG ofof PP isis nownow or B, good or bad, light or dark, concrete peculiarity, consciousness is created, available in English as or abstract, general or particular, bourgeois available in English as comprehensively rehumanizing and a 108-page title from or proletariat, barbarian or civilized, et cetera. a 108-page title from reconnecting human beings with Feral HoHouseuse forfor $12. Indeed, the role of dualism is to simplify, themselves and with nature. Con- although none of its oppositions can be con- sciousness is neither intelligence nor Feral House, POPO BOXBOX 3939910,910, LosLos AAn sidered completely true since they are mere, knowledge. It is the recognition of abstract representations of bits of reality and the other, and the recognition that of nature. In the same way, there are no op- the relationship to the other does not exist solely positions more radical than others, or less in exclusive, Hegelian, dialectic terms of the byby radical, given that the rational procedure itself master and slave. Recognition can also be is an error from the beginning. What do exist inclusive. Consciousness allows coexistence JesúsJesús are oppositions that are clearer than others based on mutual respect and reciprocal recog- because they help us to fully comprehend nition of others, who are nothing less than our certain relatively complex processes. counterparts: the environment and creatures SepúlvedaSepúlveda

GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 46 America’s educated and propertied classes are tolerating the crime of AARITIESRITIES Iraq’s destruction. Any “reasons” for an atrocity that will rank with those by Modern industrial alienation works by of Nazi Germany have denying the present and forcing the subject long since vanished— to live in a kind of virtual reality that goes Dan Todd by the name of “future.” The modern men- and the over-educated, tality is characterized by planning for the overpaid, and under- future. This notion pierces the human mind experienced ciphers like a steel bar running through a line of indi- whose credulity made viduals working on the assembly line. The this outrage possible go horizon of the future is experienced as un- limited time that advances progressively in on talking mostly about a blind race with no meaning or end. For the what their gadgets can premodern, religious mentality, the future is do. Are these people even finite and ends in the final judgment or the human, or are they just ascension of the believer to whatever para- the least interesting part dise happens to be promoted by a particular mythical-religious narrative. In this way, of the cell phones to both the modern and the premodern fix a which they’re invariably temporality that is outside of the perpetual attached? present, thus inscribing the human mentality The habit of force is in the camp of domestication. Experiencing sustained anymore by the present, in the here and now, leads to a predomestic state and rebels against the ideas nothing more than the of planning and development. The notion force of habit. Where ForceForce ofof Habit,Habit, of the future is therefore an image that reflects Comfort and Conve- ideology. And it’s no mystery to anyone that nience are the highest the fruition of the future inhabits the arena values, sitting and watch- of the impossible although its arrival may HabitHabit ofof ForceForce be inevitable. ing become defining activities. Now reality is Translation by Daniel Montero almost always mediated Edited by Janine Sepúlveda & Jesús Sepúlveda TheThe (Screen)(Screen) DoorDoor Proofreading by Bill Rankin by a screen: the car wind- shield through which one watches the world ofof PerceptionPerception pass by in a blur; the computer screen, which iitiesties fills one’s vision with all the meaning that fits; the television screen, which brings stories to “life” and dries up dreams. Consider the camera, so beloved by the common(place) people, and what follows from its form. The camera may be regarded as a mechanical extension of the eye; it enables viewers to “see” what has not been witnessed physically. At the same time, it creates a converse condition in which we are increasingly detached from our surroundings and less likely to see what is right in front of our faces. Accordingly, we are becoming more passive and insular, satisfied with the depiction of reality and increasingly detached from and/or confused by its actual conflicts and contradictions. Given this pattern, it’s hardly surprising that all civilized protests against the very civilized practice of brutally suppressing an entire society have been completely Anngeles,geles, CACA 90039.90039. impotent. For generations we’ve suffered pernicious half-wits, too many of them purporting to be “radical,” who have bored us with their abject devotion to the wonders of technology. They might just as well have praised resignation and compliance, as it’s clear this occupation (and Israel’s of Palestine, which helped inspire it) has yet to inspire any kind of effectual resistance that can overcome the inertia and solipsism attendant on a tech-dependent world. There are no wonders of technology—only consolations prized by the pathetic.

Page 47 SPRING/SUMMER ‘08 ISSUE maybe I’ll live my whole life just getting by maybe I’ll be discovered Indigenous maybe I’ll be colonized Indigenous you could try to train me like a pet you could try to teach me to behave But I’ll tell you, if I haven’t learned it yet you know, Struggles I ain’t gonna sit, I ain’t gonna stay Struggles -Ani Difranco, Cradle and All Guarani Indian Woman to increase military oppression Killed by Gunman against people who normally engage in shifting cultivation a gunman On January 9, 2007, supplemented by hunting and shot dead a 70 year-old Guarani gathering. woman, Kuretê Lopez, in the The evictions were made to Brazilian state of Mato Grosso create room for an artillery training do Sul. Kuretê Lopez was part centre. Bangladesh’s army claims of a group of about 30 Guarani that it purchased the land in families who, several days earlier, 1991-92 and that the Mru failed had returned to claim their land, to leave, despite several notices. Kurusu Mba. Valdecir Ximenez, However, the Mru have consis- a young Guarani man, was shot tently objected to the army’s in the leg and is in the hospital. acquisition of their land, prefer- The Indians’ land has been taken ring to maintain their way of life over by a cattle rancher and it is against centralized impingements. reported that he contracted a Unfortunately, this repression is private security firm to evict the culmination of attempts to them. Gunmen fired on the Indi- Bushmen applicants have the filed the lawsuit would be given remove and/or eliminate the ans whilst forcing them to board right to hunt and gather in the automatic right of return with Jummas for the past 50 years. trucks. They were then dumped reserve, and should not have to their children – short of the Because of the obvious conflicts on the edge of a nearby town. apply for permits to enter it. 2,000 the Bushmen say want to between the civilized societies’ This group of Guarani have been In late December, a group of go home. Anyone else will have notion of land ownership and the living for years on a cramped about 20 had tried to enter the to apply for special permits. more loosely defined living with reservation where hunting and reserve, but only four of them had the land characteristic of Jumma planting crops are very difficult. been able to enter, said the First Repression of Tribes life ways, the Bangladesh govern- They were desperate to return People of the Kalahari’s Jumanda Continues Following ment feels it can move in settlers to their traditional land, the site Gakelebone. “In spite of the ruling, to occupy “empty land.” The of an ancestral burial ground. Evictions in Bangladesh the wildlife scouts would not let Jumma have gone from being the On February 23 Railai Mro was The killing of Kuretê is the latest wives and children of Bushman sole inhabitants of the land to arrested for protesting against of several murders of Guarani applicants, who won the court being almost outnumbered by Indians by gunmen as the Indians the eviction in December of 750 case, go in to the reserve,” he swarms of settlers. As well as Mru families from their land in attempt to recover lands taken said in a statement. “We are all being displaced by the settlers, remote villages of the Bandarban from them by cattle ranchers. angry and surprised that people who are given the best land, the Hill District of the Chittagong Hill were turned away. Why can we Jummas have experienced waves Tracts. The evictions are taking Bushmen Targeted by State not go back to our lands as the of murder, torture and rape, and place in conjunction with re- Despite Court Victory court says? We have been sepa- had their villages burnt down in rated from our land and ancestors’ pression of resistors within the On February 12 six Bushmen a genocidal campaign against graves for too long. How much larger context of a national state were arrested, starved and held them by the Bangladesh military. longer do we have to wait to of emergency declared by the for six days after police and wild- go home?” Bandladesh government in Janu- life guards accused them of Attorney General Athaliah ary. Several Jumma, of which the Penan Persistent with hunting in the Central Kalahari Molokomme set the scene for a Mru are one of eleven tribes, Blockades to Protect Forest Game Reserve in Botswana. The showdown by laying down strict including Balabhadra Chakma On April 17, five new blockades court ruled in mid-December conditions for the government’s and Manubha Ranjan Chakma, were set up by Penan tribal com- that the Botswana government’s implementation of the court order. were arrested and tortured a few munities in the Malaysian province eviction of the Bushmen was “The Central Kalahari Game Re- weeks later in an attempt to of Sarawak in an attempt to stop ‘unlawful and unconstitutional’, serve remains state land,” said the quash any signs of discontent loggers destroying their forest and that they have the right to live statement. “It is owned by the over the steadily worsening situ- homes. On April 4, officers of the on their ancestral land inside the state and subject to the laws of ation. The Jumma believe that the Sarawak Forestry Corporation, Central Kalahari Game Reserve. the republic.” Molokomme said army and police are using the supported by the police, dis- The court also ruled that the that only 189 people who had state of emergency as an excuse mantled another Penan blockade GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 48 for the second time this year. The Hadza’s “Garden of Eden” prison, three others died soon police used chainsaws to destroy Threatened by after being released. the blockades and fired gun shots While they have for thousands North American to intimidate the Penan. Four Imperialist Collusion of years survived the coming of Native Political Penan villages and one nomadic On May 21, Tanzanian police agriculture, metal, guns, dis- group set up the five new block- arrested Richard Baalow, a Hadza eases, missionaries, poachers, Prisoners: ades, in protest at the logging spokesperson and activist who anthropologists, students, gawk- companies Rimbunan Hijau, KTS has been trying to help the ing journalists, steel houses and Byron Shane Chubbuck, Logging and Samling. Police are community express their oppo- encroaching pastoral tribes who #07909051, US Penitentiary, PO reportedly already heading to- sition to the sale of land to a often impersonate them for tour- Box 26030, Beaumont, TX, United Arab Emirates royal 77705. Indigenous activist serving wards one of the blockades, ist money, the resilient Hadza, time for robbing banks to acquire which is on a main logging route family trying to use the land of who still make fire with sticks, funds to support the Zapatista and used by a number of different the Hadza as a “personal safari fear that the safari deal will be rebellion in Chiapas. companies. playground”. Philip Marmo, a their undoing. “If they are going Tanzanian official, said that a Eddie Hatcher, #0173499, Much of the Penan’s forest has to come here, we definitely will Marion Correctional Institute, already been destroyed. The nearby hunting area the royal all perish,” said Kaunda, a Hadza POB 2045, Marion, NC 28752. Penan are entirely dependent on family shared with relatives had man who still hunts with hand- Longtime Native freedom-fighter the forest for all their food and become “too crowded” and that hewn poison arrows. “Our history being framed for a murder he did shelter. According to one Penan, a member of the Abu Dhabi royal will die, and the Hadza will be not commit. ‘If we don’t defy the loggers now, family “indicated that it was in- swept off the face of the world. Leonard Peltier, #89637-132, all the remaining forest in the convenient” and requested his We are very much afraid.” USP Terre Haute, U.S. Penitentiary, Upper Baram area will be gone own parcel. Marmo called the The Hadza are highly mobile, 4700 Bureau Road South, Terre within two years’. The blockade Hadza “backwards” and said living in remote settlements of Haute, IN 47802. American Indian site is in an area certified by the they would benefit from the two or three families scattered Movement (AIM) activist, serving school, roads and other projects two Life sentences, having been Malaysian Timber Certification throughout the valley. They also framed for the murder of two Council (MTCC) for ‘sustainable the UAE company has offered as have no hierarchy or leadership, FBI agents. logging’. However, the certifi- compensation. “We want them leaving them as a good indication cation fails to acknowledge that to go to school,” said Marmo. of the possibilities of Paleolithic Luis V. Rodriguez, #C33000, “We want them to wear clothes. PO Box 7500, Crescent City, CA this ‘sustainable logging’ is on life and future primitive endeavors. 95532-7500. Apache/Chicano the Native Customary Land of We want them to be decent.” Describing the Hadza’s homeland, activist being framed for the the Penan people, murder of two cops. who have never Tewahnee Sahme, #11186353, given their consent SRCI, 777 Stanton Blvd, Ontario, for logging to take OR 97914. Dedicated Native place. Another Penan rights advocate serving additional said, “We tried every time for a prison insurgency. peaceful means, David Scalera (Looks Away), by writing letters, #13405480, TRCI, 82911 Beach petitions, sending Access Rd, Umatilla, OR 97882. native headmen to Dedicated Native rights advocate meet with the prime serving additional time for a minister. They came prison insurgency. back with promises but nothing was enviable life-style of done.” Another said, hunting, gathering, shar- “We are a peace ing, chilling out, getting loving people, but stoned, and chatting when our lives are away in Clicklout, their in danger, we will click-based language. fight back.” Their cupboard was The Penan are well stashed. And the nomadic hunter- tedious concepts of gatherers. Although time, a cash economy, many have now the nuclear family, and been settled, about the Victorian work ethic 300 Penan still had yet to complicate lead a completely the bliss of their simple nomadic life in the existence. Like Adam and Eve, forest. Even the settled Penan A similar agreement with another Adam Levin says, “A few decades I guess. Pre-apple.” “What is the continue to rely heavily on the company resulted in dozens of ago, this Garden of Eden was need for time?” Kaunda asked. forest. Sharing is taken for granted Hadza men being arrested for thick with game. I imagine the “You wake up, you get honey. in Penan society: there is no hunting on their own land. Three Hadza people who lived here What do you need time for?” Penan word for ‘thank you.’ of the men died of illness in the had little trouble sustaining an (continued on next page) Page 49 SPRING/SUMMER ‘08 ISSUE Brazilian Indians Blockade However, a delegate from the Indians and Ranchers came out of the forest in 2004, Highway to Resist Dam indigenous people agreed to halt Clash in Paraguay pleading for water after cattle- the blockade and meet with gov- farming colonists occupied all the the Enawene Nawe a group of Indians On June 1, ernment officials in the Brazilian On June 27, permanent waterholes in their indigenous people of the Amazon capital. By late June what some were on a hunting expedition, territory. blockaded a major highway in the called a “success” occurred. The searching for the large tortoises Brazilian state of Mato Grosso in that form a key part of their diet government’s Indian agency, protest of a series of hydroelectric in the dry season, when they saw String of Actions Unleashed FUNAI, will survey lands claimed by Indigenous of Canada dams that will destroy their vital by the Enawene Nawe and other two bulldozers clearing the for- fishing grounds. Companies led est. A Paraguayan rancher illegally indigenous people in tribes, with the aim of officially On June 29, by the world’s largest soya pro- recognizing the areas as indig- occupying part of the Ayoreo- Guelph, Ontario set up a rail ducers, the Maggi family, are enous, however, reports indicate Totobiegosode Indians’ ancestral blockade in an attempt to stop pushing for a vast complex of territory has destroyed key hunt- trains; however, they claim it the dams still look set to go dams to be built along the ahead, throwing in doubt the ing grounds. The deforestation failed due to a number of com- Juruena river which flows “success.” occurred in the Totobiegosode’s plications. They released a through the tribe’s land. Europe heartland, which they have been communiqué explaining their buys half the soya exported trying to recover since 1993. In actions, stating that even though from Mato Grosso. The Enawene Tibetans Riot Over a brief confrontation, the Indians the attempt was unsuccessful, Nawe, who eat no red meat, fear Exploitation of Mountain attempted to stop the bulldozers Nevertheless, this is the kind of the fish they rely on will no longer On June 11, hundreds of Tibet- from operating, but Cesar Sosa, disruption that we strive to be able to reach their spawning ans rioted in a remote, sparsely the rancher, threatened to have create every day, regardless of grounds. Some of the Indians populated area of southwest them arrested. Despite some at- whether it has been called for have left their village for the first China to stop exploitation of a tempts by governmental officials by sellout collaborators, indi- time to join the protest. The tribe, mountain they consider sacred. to pretend like they care, several viduals or simply for our own who number only 450, are also Angry residents of Bamei town, ranchers have succeeded in get- joy. We want to make it clear protesting over destruction of a home to an ethnic Tibetan ting the injunctions lifted on their that we do not support the AFN crucial area of their land by cattle population, in Sichuan province, ranches, and the whole area being [Assembly of First Nations, the ranchers who are cutting down the attacked government officials claimed by the Totobiegosode is national representative/lobby forests and polluting the rivers with and smashed cars during a pro- under severe pressure of defor- organization of the First Nations pesticides. test outside the local branch of estation. Although most of the in Canada]; the ends that they In a collective statement, the a mining company, the residents Ayoreo tribe, including some mem- seek through bargaining with Enawene Nawe say “As far as the said. They were protesting over bers of the Ayoreo-Totobiegosode the government, that is re- Enawene Nawe are concerned, the exploitation of Yala Mountain sub-group, have had contact with sponsible for the systematic we are completely against the — one of nine mountains con- outsiders for many years, several oppression and exploitation of dams. We do not want a car nor sidered sacred by Tibetans — in groups are known to still live Native people, our land base, do we want money. We are think- the Tagong grasslands for lead uncontacted in the forest. The and pretty much every living ing about fish, and the water.” and zinc. most recent group to emerge thing existing on the remainder Several neighbouring tribes of this planet. joined the protest and about 100 It is important to act at every Indians armed with bows and opportunity we get to build arrows effectively isolated the northwestern part of the state.

GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 50 momentum and community, in Brazil: Landless Farmers order to challenge the powers Occupy Company Property Reclaiming of the State and Capitalism that Over 500 landless farmers, most are incessantly assaulting our the Myth-Time: lives. We do not act on simplistic of them women, from the Via calls to action (for action’s sake), Campesina (Peasant Way) and the Movimento dos Trabalhadores but use these chances to coor- dinate our efforts and add to Rurais sem Terra (Landless Rural the momentum we are building Workers’ Movement) invaded and briefly occupied an iron ore with others, acting together on our desires to redefine the con- mine, a bank, and a sugar mill to ditions under which we live. protest the impact of big com- panies on the poor and President On July 1, another action took place. The resistors explain: Bush’s visit to Brazil. A press release Tonight we hit the office of M.P. issued by Via Campesina said that their protest was meant as a (continued from page 45) Brenda Chamberlain. The locks were glued on the office door and statement “against transnational an anarcho-indigenismo symbol companies and the financial system, which seek control of the was left in the vicinity. We chose Brenda to harass tonight because natural resources in the country.” she is a political embodiment of The Capao Xavier mine, located A titanic heel the size of a whole range of mountains lands dustily, in Nova Lima, Minas Gerais, was the terror and degradation faced lightly on a ring of stardust, touching down ever so gently before rising by many of us that have to live occupied for four hours at which once more to step out the endless cycling reel of an ancient dancer. under a capitalist apathetic point police removed all of the In a delight beyond time the Great Dancer spins and flails comet tailed demonstrators. The mine is democracy. It’s the status quo arms to a rhythm that beats from the heart of a nearby world. Around that allows developers to owned by Brazil’s Companhia and around the shining moon the great one twirls and swings, prancing transform Indigenous land into Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) which on the dusky ring that hangs in the sky around the moon that appears is the largest iron ore miner in suburban wastelands, and the bright and full to the world below. The people on the world cannot see poor and ethnicity exploited the world. CVRD claimed that the this dancer, who is clothed in the same darkness that lies between the peoples of this country get occupation delayed the excavation stars, but the effervescent ring that forms as a vast circle for this of 12,000 tonnes of ore costing gargantuan Being we can see on the nights when those immense feet screwed over every time. While land heavier with the fervor of the dance and dislodge shimmering communities are pushed into them thousands of dollars in lost profits. Last year indigenous pieces of the sky that glimmer in the moonlight as they fall softly to the bureaucratic processes to settle earth below. On these nights, when the ring shines around the moon, their land claims, on a continent protesters occupied and shut down another CVRD mine for the People hold their own dances to accompany the Great Dancer, they inhabited long before this several days. glancing every so often at that magnificent ring of light above to honor deformation of a country called the One whose dancing steps keep time to the pulse of our Earth and Canada moved in, capitalist Simultaneous occupations took place at a sugar and ethanol mill, maintain the spinning of the sky itself. business’ are and have been jumping for joy with every deal owned by U.S. grain trader Cargill’s The stories we tell and the songs we sing reveal who we are. They they have sealed in the grave- Cevasa, in Sao Paulo state and speak of our passions, visions, fears and hopes. Our songs and stories the headquaters of the Banco yards we call cities and the are our interpretation of the world, and the working of the world around wastelands we called forests. Nacional de Desenvolvimento us upon ourselves. This is a relationship to be delved into, not a Replacing an existence abundant Econômico e Social (BNDES problem to solve or a fact to be known. To know a place, person, Bank) in Rio de Janeiro. Being, is to know not only the words, those mere symbols that interpret with possibility and desire with and explain, but the way that eyes shine as a story is told, the tone of an the meek scarcity of a global Police Station Wiped Out excited voice. How much is known by the gleeful croak of a Raven as capitalist monoculture. So tonight she completes a flip on a rising thermal? What do we learn from the we fight back! In Yalata, Australia, unknown arsonists destroyed a police stance of a mountain and the perch of its majestic crags? What contrast Also, July 1 saw over 200 it is to even consider if a story could be devoid of meaning! Can a song station in the southwestern indigenous people and their lack the passion of the singer? Far too many examples abound within non-native supporters take to Aboriginal town of Yalata. Dam- civilization to need reiteration here. Turn on their radios, televisions; the streets and the train tracks age was estimated at about enter their museums and libraries: see for yourself. Better yet, do not on a march and blockade to mark $400,000. Australia’s federal see. Do not accept their stories. In some objective, analytical way their resistance to Canada’s government has a newly legis- perhaps no tale or song can totally lack meaning, as they cannot lack genocidal system. CN rail lines lated policy of intervention in the reflection of their creator. This realization may be even more fright- were occupied and blocked for indigenous communities aimed ening than the idea of a song without passion. Knowing that our songs over an hour. During the blockade at criminalizing poverty and and stories speak so clearly of who we are, I ponder why so many of a Canadian flag was burned on the seizing communal lands. our treasured tales are borrowed or stolen. Where are my stories? For tracks by an indigenous person, that matter, where are my People? I claim, as do many, that I am still and several other Canadian sou- websites: looking for them, perhaps waiting for a song to guide me. As we come venir flags that had been painted www.geocities.com/ to know the stories of the Place that we inhabit and we come to discover with the words “No Justice on insurrectionary_anarchists/ the ancestral songs that lie deep within our hearts we may at last come Stolen Native Land” were burned indigenous.html to know ourselves. The stories that will bring our tribe together are and merely waiting to be shared, waiting to be sung. by about 40 indigenous people. www.bombsandshields.org

Page 51 SPRING/SUMMER ‘08 ISSUE Page 51 SPRING/SUMMER ‘08 ISSUE A culture beyond time. According to ‘Cultural Constraints on Grammar and Cognition in There are also those who are determined to prove that the claims of Piraha by Daniel L Everett’, the reason for the many unique features Daniel Everett and others are false. Like the ‘Piraha Exceptionality: a of the Piraha language and culture are: “the absence of numbers of Reassessment’ by Andrew Ira Nevins, David Pesetsky, Cilene Rodrigues any kind or a concept of counting and of any terms for quantifica- where they use previous material by Everett (1986; 1987b) to prove tion, the absence of color terms, the absence of embedding, the sim- that later material by Everett (2005b) is wrong. Everett himself claims plest pronoun inventory known, the absence of “relative tenses,” in CULTURAL CONSTRAINTS ON GRAMMAR IN PIRAHA: the simplest kinship system yet documented, the absence of creation A reply to Nevins, Pesetsky and Rodrigues, that in those almost twenty myths and fiction, the absence of any individual or collective memory years that have gone between 1986 and 2005 he has continued to study of more than two generations past, the absence of drawing or other the Piraha with the result that he now is a fluent speaker of their art and one of the simplest material cultures documented, and the language and therefore also has a deeper understanding of it. fact that the Piraha are monolingual after more than 200 years of He also claims that the exceptionalities in the language and culture of regular contact with Brazilians and the Tupi-Guarani-speaking the Piraha people are probably not unique; its just that no one has Kawahiv... ultimately derive from a single cultural constraint in thought of the possibility that a language and culture like this could Piraha, namely, the restriction of communication to the immediate actually exist and therefore these exceptionalities would have been experience of the interlocutors.” lost in the translation to a civilized language and culture. If there are cultural constraints to make abstract generalizations A slightly different explanation that is supported by the psycholinguist that go beyond immediate experience, the concept of binary Peter Gordon is based on the SapirÐWhorf hypothesis, “which argues quantification that numerals are built upon becomes impossible to that the nature of a particular language influences the habitual thought grasp. (It would be like trying to understand something that occurs of its speakers” Ð Wikipedia, SapirÐWhorf hypothesis. in a fifth dimension for us). The same thing goes for color terms as they also are beyond an immediate, spatial-temporally bound experience. How one would perceive reality without the concept of a fourth dimension of time could best be described as ‘in experience’ and ‘out of experience’. This explains the Piraha peoples excitement seeing a canoe go around a river bend or why they love watching a flickering match go out as they go from being ‘in experience’ to ‘out of experi- “How one would perceive reality ence’.. Perhaps time is not linear and part of the fundamental without the concept of a fourth structure of the universe, not a dimension in which events occur in sequence but a constructed dimension. And perhaps dimension of time could best be it’s possible that instead of being an objective thing to be described as ‘in experience’ and measured, time is actually part of a mental measuring system ‘out of experience’.” that keeps us from descending into total anarchy. It would be impossible to live a functioning life (if the premise for a functioning life would be Ð for example Ð to get to work in time) without the current level of cognitive displacement, except of course while sleeping, having sex or under the influence of drugs (both chemical and techno- logical) and other forms of acting out to escape the tyranny of the clock. Therefore there has to be other explanations to the exceptionality of the Piraha people according to those who want to defend Eurocentric values and the necessity of a civilized culture. One of the most oversimplified explanations is inbreeding or the use of drugs and thereby explaining the whole thing with mental retardation. This is not only unproven and illogical but also In 1929, Sapir wrote: “Human beings do not live in the objective a demeaning and prejudiced argument towards a people that have world alone, nor alone in the world of social activity as ordinarily intermarried with outsiders for a long time, actually to the point that understood, but are very much at the mercy of the particular language there are no well-defined phenotypes other than posture, which of which has become the medium of expression for their society.” In the course is not a matter of genes but a matter of socialization. 1930s his student Whorf elaborated this idea: “We cut nature up, They live an overall healthy life and the hallucinegenic drug that the organize it into concepts, and ascribe significances as we do, largely Piraha use in their monthly rituals is not exceptional for them but is because we are parties to an agreement to organize it in this way Ð widely used by various groups in wet tropical forests of South America. an agreement that holds throughout our speech community and is It could be argued that the average Piraha person (or basically any codified in the patterns of our language.” member of the various indigenous people living in the rainforest) is Although the theory gives some significant insights for understanding more intelligent than the average civilized westerner since they can the nature of language and cognition it doesn’t explain the Piraha successfully survive in a surrounding where we probably wouldn’t inability to count (other than to the number nine in very rare cases), last very long on our own. GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 52 even when they were taught the words for numbers in Portuguese and Maybe our obsession to keep ourselves alive at any cost is a symptom of it was explained to them what they represent. It seems to be more this ‘death-culture’ and maybe this inexplicable fear of dying is a result of likely that it is cognition that affects language than the other way our time perception. For every second that tics away we are brought closer around when it comes to the Piraha people. A vivid example of this is to death by this relentless machine. In civilization there are always clocks the fact that some of the Piraha people have learned Portuguese words to remind us of our mortality and since so few of us really live, we are and phrases but none of its grammar. subconsciously driven into a state of pathological fear. We can never get “They will “write stories,” just random marks, on paper I give them enough of money, comfort, consumption, religion, in our desperate and then “read” the stories back to me—telling me something random attempt to fill the void that the concept of a fourth dimension of time has about their day, etc. They may even make marks on paper and say created for us. Unfortunately we don’t keep this ‘death-culture’ to our- random Portuguese numbers while holding the paper for me to see. selves but we also see it as our duty to spread it across the world until They do not understand at all that such everyone is infected by this diseased culture. symbols should be precise (for example, Evangelists threaten the tribe’s ancient when I ask them to draw a symbol twice, it is identity by destroying their culture with never replicated) and consider their “writing” “development” projects and evangelism. exactly the same as the marks that I make.” Many believe that the missionaries are paid - Daniel L Everett and supported by the foreign oil companies, Could it be that the Piraha developed their which are clearing rainforest to extract cultural constraints so that they would continue petroleum. (According to Nella Parks “The to be ‘the straight ones’ (as they call themselves) historical connection of the SIL missionaries because they could see in neighboring peoples and the Ecuadorian team with BIG OIL and that something was fundamentally lost in the CIA is quite clear as illustrated in Colby’s the transition to an increasingly mediated book, Thy Will Be Done.”) One of the com- existence and that the result of being in- panies operating in the Amazon is Skanska, a corporated into the dominant culture meant Swedish construction company that together losing ones identity and ending up being with foreign oil companies controls 70 % of second class Brazilians? Yasuni, the most important national park in Ecuador with an incredibly rich biodiversity. According to the studies made on the other They are doing this quite illegally and often languages in the Mura family they didn’t with the aid of military help and thereby show the same exceptional features as the Piraha language do, and threatening the existence of the Huaorani people among others. maybe that’s the reason why they are now extinct. Apparently the Piraha avoided the sad story that has been repeated over and over The missionaries claim that the Huaoranis hve such a violent culture that again with devastating results for native people all over the earth when their “waring ways” are threatening their existence while anthropologists they have lost their language and culture, by separating with the Mura believe that they are some of the oldest groups of people in the Americas. group in the eighteenth century, at the same time Brazilians first Their traditional way of surviving include cycles of war that can best be encountered them. described as gang-fights that serve to maintain the balance in the jungle that cannot sustainably support large populations of people. For this so “It should be underscored here that the Piraha ultimately not only do called “violent behavior” they are called savages and their culture not value Portuguese (or American) knowledge but oppose its coming destructive by members of the most destructive and insanely violent into their lives. They ask questions about outside cultures largely for culture this world has ever known (and hopefully will ever know). the entertainment value of the answers. If one tries to suggest (as we originally did, in a math class, for example) that there is a preferred No wonder that they see white people as carriers of a ‘death-culture’. response to a specific question, they will likely change the subject This is not superstition, its cold hard facts. It’s a reality they face and/or show irritation.” - Daniel Everett everyday as they are “pushed into the deepest parts of the jungle due to the missionary presence. They believe isolation is the only way to “They reacted by saying that if that is what we were trying to teach conserve their way of life, so they have refused all contact with the them [to read and write], they wanted us to stop: “We don’t write our outside world.” - Nella Parks, Missionaries “help” Hurt Tribes People language.”...” - Daniel Everett The future for the Pirahas doesn’t look too bright either. Even if there’s But the Piraha are in no way unique with their rejection of civilization. no risk for them loosing their language and culture, it will die with In 1956, the Huaorani people in Ecuador (also known as Waorani, them as they are slowly facing extinction because of the ecocide that Waodani, or Auca) became famous when they killed five American all the inhabitants of the Amazon are facing. But hopefully the Pirahas missionaries with spears. In 1968 the Tagaeri clan, led by Taga, will continue to stubbornly ignore the “knowledge” from the ‘apagaiso’ separated from other Huaoranis and have since then lived in isolation. (crooked heads) and the Tagaeris stay violent enough to keep swarming According to the Tagaeris, white people are infected by a ‘death- missionaries and other people infected by the ‘death-culture’ at a culture’ and they reject all further contact and even war against those safe distance. Huaoranis that are having contact with civilization since they see them as infected with the same ‘death-culture’ as white people. And hopefully the collapse of civilization will be soon enough, so that there will be undomesticated people left that can heal together As The Piraha, the Huaoranis perception of reality is oriented to the with the rainforest and continue to live the way they have done for present, with few obligations extending backwards or forwards in millennia; in complete equilibrium with their environment. And hope- time. Their one word for future times is “baane” (tomorrow). But fully some day stories of white people and their machines and scribbles they seem to know how to count to at least 5. Their words for on paper and strange beliefs will be nothing more than the stories of numbers are: 1: adoke, 2: mea, 3: mea go adoke (two plus one), 4: evil spirits. But the Piraha will probably have forgotten the whole mea go mea (two plus two), 5: mea go mea go adoke (two plus two thing after a couple of generations; because that is their way. That is plus one), which means that they grasp the concept of recursion but their culture, a culture beyond time. only have words for one and two in their language. What is important to remember is that these studies where made among Huaoranis living in reservations. by Thomas Toivonen Page 53 SPRING/SUMMER ‘08 ISSUE in the headquarters of the Party for Democracy and another in front of the Inspectorate of Labor. In spite of the damage caused, Anti-State and nobody was injured. A communiqué stated: Work never dignifies any person. Nobody who finds themselves Anti-Capitalist obliged to sell their existence like merchandise has managed to dignify their life through this Battles wage-slavery. We will only obtain Freedom by destroying the bindings with which they tie us to this criminal, slave society. The States are built on blood. Three Steel Company Execs Kidnapped May 12, India: guerra Three Indian officials working for a South Korean steel company were taken hostage by rebels who contend interminable that the company’s plan to build a plant in eastern India would displace thousands of people. But they were I John Brown am now quite certain that the crimes of From a communiqué on April 12: released after the villagers re- this guilty land: will never be purged away; but with These incendiary flames are an ceived assurances from Posco that immediate response to the dec- they would not enter their village. Blood. I had as I now think: vainly flattered myself that laration of endorsement given by Posco’s steel plant, which would be without very much bloodshed; it might be done. the Socialist Party to the brutal the largest single foreign investment – John Brown, 1859 police repression against anti- in India, was approved by the Indian authoritarian youths that took government last year as a special Protest Attacked by Cops Insurrectionary Youth place on March 29th, which dem- economic zone, making it eligible March 11, Tacoma, WA: March 29, Santiago, Chile: onstrated, once again, that the for tax breaks and exempt from police are no more than assassins some government duties. Many A protest organized by the Olym- Thousands of students, most of paid by the state that is today pia/Tacoma port militarization whom are of high school age, took residents are strongly opposed to administered and led by this the project because they say it resistance and the Tacoma SDS to the streets in cities across the corrupt party. From the start of ended in violence. Protesters country, rioting and looting marking would require the displacement of this “democratic” and capitalist about 20,000 people. Posco offi- moved from one heavily rein- “The Day of the Young Combatant,” dictatorship, the socialist party forced police barricade (about which is the anniversary of the cials had been warned by residents has been responsible for betraying, not to enter their villages without 250 riot police) to another in the deaths of two young brothers, coercing, imprisoning and assas- hopes of participating in a non- murdered by police while demon- permission, but the three did not sinating the youths who struggled heed the warning. violent act of civil disobedience strating against the Pinochet in the ‘90s and on, becoming by sitting in a street and allowing dictatorship. Youth blocked traffic Later in the year, farmers in heirs of the military dictatorship. Nandigram, angered by govern- themselves to be arrested. The with burning barricades, attacked We make a call to all those that police responded by firing into police, looted stores and according ment plans to build an industrial resist, from direct confrontation park on their land, fought police the group with pepper spray to police some were armed with against capitalism and those who pellets, bean bags and rubber automatic weapons. One cop was with rocks, machetes and pickaxes. protect it. To continue extending At least 11 people were killed, offi- bullets followed by CS (tear) gas shot while trying to stop looters and diversifying the struggle and and pepper spray dispersal gas. who had targeted a supermarket. In cials said. The clashes broke out propaganda to destroy bourgeois when police tried to enter villages in A few protesters returned the all more than 100 pigs were injured society; and to obtain self-deter- canisters back to the police line to and over 800 people were arrested, the Nandigram area for the first mination over our lives. We will time since January, when violence keep them out of the unsuspecting but most of them were under the never conform for the crumbs of crowd who was not participating age of 16 and thus too young to be forced officers to abandon their the state. All who participate or posts in the vicinity. Those distur- in the action. The police then ad- charged. They were quickly released, want to participate in the feast vanced through the cloud of gas but in some cases the government bances prompted the government of the state are our declared to temporarily suspend plans for and opened fire on the fleeing plans to sue their parents. Santiago enemies. To them we send our protesters, chasing them three Governor Marcelo Trivelli said the scores of so-called Special Eco- active hatred. The Insurrectionary nomic Zones, which are meant to blocks and launching at least 20 protests “appear to reflect a general Youth Will Put an End to the Re- canisters of gas. Protests were sensation of social dissatisfaction attract investors with generous tax formist Youth. breaks. Most of the zones are to against the shipment of large ar- in the country. I think people are On May 21, a few hours before a mored military convoys through somehow showing they want be built on farmland. presidential speech, two explosive The violence has ignited a national the town and port. changes and some express that devices detonated in Santiago, one with anger.” debate over whether farms should GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 54 be razed for factories in India, have made said bank deposits Free Trade Zone Heats Up planning to move on to insurance where about two-thirds of the eight times. Eventually, the bank companies when he was arrested. country’s more than 1 billion installed surveillance cameras and June, Halifax, Canada::: Lawyer Jose Mariano Trillo- people live off agriculture. filmed him in action. A bank worker Twenty-one people were arrested Figueroa said Jimenez, who robbed All those killed were farmers, later spotted him boarding a local in Halifax during a protest against the banks disguised in a false beard bringing the death toll in Nandigram bus and alerted the local shit the conference on Atlantica, a and a wig, thinks of himself as since violence first erupted there to authorities. The squatter faces proposal to establish a freer trade Curro Jimenez, a Spanish 1970s 18. Twenty-five people and 14 cops charges of vandalism. We have no zone between Eastern Canada television bandit in the style of Robin were wounded. word on whether or not he is a and New England. The 12 men and Hood. The Loner was arrested in The trouble in Nandigram began member of APOO (see GA #24). nine women arrested are facing Portugal, armed with a submachine on January 7, 2007, after the leak charges that include obstruction, gun in preparation for another of government plans to acquire resisting arrest, causing a distur- bank robbery. Tax Revolt bance, unlawful assembly, mischief, 22,000 acres of land and build a pet- Leads to Standoff rochemical plant and shipyard in a assault, assaulting police and Bank Surveillance Targeted Special Economic Zone. The hastily June, New Hampshire: weapons offenses. Theresa Brien, formed Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh, To avoid serving prison sentences a spokeswoman for Halifax Re- August 18, Canada: or Land Acquisition Resistance for tax evasion, Ed Brown and his gional Police, said those charged In the late hours of the night, a Committee in the region’s Bengali wife, Elaine, have locked them- were among a group of about 60 CIBC (Canadian Imperial Bank of language, organized protests that selves off from the world on their black-clad protesters who donned Commerce) was vandalized and quickly turned violent. After six own terms. From behind the 8-inch disguises, broke away from a stenciled ‘Big Brother is Watching people were killed, West Bengal’s concrete walls of their 110-acre larger, peaceful demonstration You’. Later, two parking lot security government said it would reconsider hilltop compound, the couple and roamed the streets with their cameras were vandalized and a its plans. The federal government taunts police and SWAT teams and minds set on wreaking havoc. third camera destroyed with fire. soon followed suit, temporarily plays to reporters and government- The group that separated from A wall was tagged ‘Fuck the SPP’. suspending the approval of new haters with references to past the main demonstration ignited The actions were taken with the Special Economic Zones. standoffs that turned deadly. Ed smoke bombs, threw paint-filled intention of deepening attacks Meanwhile, police in West Bengal Brown warned authorities they balloons and light bulbs at a police against security hysteria and in effectively abandoned Nandigram to wouldn’t take him alive: “We either car then headed to a branch of TD solidarity with individuals engaging the farmers, who turned their vil- walk out of here free or we die.” Canada Trust to pelt it with rocks in sabotage against the Security lages into bristling little garrisons and paint. and Prosperity Partnership. – digging trenches across roads Attack Against the Pierre Blais of the Anti-Capitalist Coalition said he was happy the pro- ‘Basque Land Not for Sale’ and erecting barricades to keep French Embassy officers out. But the area has since test effort attracted several hundred August, Aussurucq, been plagued by sporadic clashes June 17, Montevideo, people and that they employed a between members of the resistance variety of tactics, including bike Basque Country: Uruguay: rides, pickets, and violence. “We’re An attack in the mountain village committee and supporters of the A Molotov bomb was boldly Communist Party of India, which pretty excited about what happened,” of Aussurucq – or Altzuruku in thrown against the doors of the he said. “It was a huge success.” Basque – is part of an escalating governs West Bengal. French embassy in Montevideo, After a cop was killed nearby in Mr. Blais said he supported the campaign of bombings and arson Uruguay, and in the area some protesters who were arrested. “The directed at elite holiday homes in February, the government an- words were painted reading: “Long nounced it would send officers rage that we saw on the streets the French Basque country. Many live the revolts in France.” They was definitely legitimate,” he said. targets are painted with a warning back into Nandigram in an attempt said, “This action is in solidarity to restore order. “It was definitely a legitimate an- in Basque and French: “The with the rebels who were impris- swer to the everyday violence of Basque Country is not for sale.” oned for protesting against the poverty and environmental destruc- Bombs have been deposited or May 13, electoral circus, with all who partici- tion. We do stand in solidarity detonated at estate agencies, San Salvador, El Salvador: pated, in one way or another, in the with them.” banks, and holiday cottages as revolts. We don’t ask permission, Nobody was hurt seriously in the locals in the poorest areas of the Large crowds of rioters attacked we re-appropriate with pride in police and corporate-owned news melee, Ms. Brien said. One cop suf- mountains complain they are be- their struggle, our struggle, since fered a head injury while another ing priced out of their region by media after a police-initiated crack- we can do no less than see ourselves down on unlicensed street vendors had problems related to either a property speculators and second- reflected in each gesture, in each chemical irritant protesters used or home owners. The current campaign in the downtown area. The vendors action that hurdles in conflict with were selling unlicensed or “pirated” the pepper spray of police. – attacking the villas of French this system of death, we are united outsiders and firebombing cars CDs and DVDs that are protected in the desire for freedom, we are by copyrights. Angry workers Self-Styled with Paris-region number plates a vital force in movement... The – has sparked fears among politi- and their supporters threw stones revolt is contagious!” Robin Hood-like Bandit and other projectiles at riot police cians of a return to the violent Earlier in the year, on April 16, two August, Spain: campaign of 20 years ago. Then and burned at least one corporate- Molotov cocktails exploded at the owned news truck. Spain’s most wanted thief, “The the French Basque movement, Montevideo Circuit Police Head- Loner,” saw himself as a Robin Iparretarrak, carried out hundreds quarters, but caused no casualties. Hood-style figure and said he of attacks against villas and prop- No Shit! One firebomb blew up outside the robbed banks only because they erty firms under the slogans “No May, Eggmuehl, Germany: headquarters building and the stole from the public, his lawyer to tourism” and “Let the Basque An 18-year-old man was detained other one was detonated inside, said. Accused of killing three police- country live”. for repeatedly defecating in front shattering the windows of an office men and holding up more than 30 (continued on next page) of a cash machine in a bank vesti- and causing a fire that burned banks, Jaime Jimenez Arbe was bule, cops said. He is reported to some facilities around the office. Page 55 SPRING/SUMMER ‘08 ISSUE Riots Spread as March: Security was tight in a financial penalties and incentives government buildings, ransacking town in central China following riots than on forced abortions and offices, smashing computers, and Students Revolt that involved as many as 20,000 sterilizations common in the destroying documents. Finally, August 20, Bangladesh: people. Protests began after a local 1980s. Local officials who fail to they set fire to the building itself. A clash on Dhaka University cam- firm took over the town’s bus meet annual population-control August 25: At least one villager pus, when students at a football routes and doubled the fares. targets come under heavy bu- was killed and dozens injured in game were manhandled by soldiers, Vehicles were burned and several reaucratic pressure to reduce a village in Harbin, Heilongjiang escalated into a nationwide student people injured in clashes with births in their area of responsi- province, after residents clashed revolt. Despite apologies for the cops as the protests climaxed on bility or face demotion or removal with armed police and thugs sent assault from the government, their Monday. Reports said one person from office. by developers to take over their withdrawal of troops from Dhaka land. Clashes broke out in the campus, and the promise of an morning in Yutian village be- official enquiry, unrest spread tween farmers and more than and became a more general 100 armed officers after days protest against the government of a standoff between the and its long-running State of residents and people the wit- Emergency. Several cities were nesses said were hired by the placed under indefinite curfew developers, who have been enforced by army and police. All working on a redevelopment universities and colleges closed plan. Armed with basic farming and mobile phone communica- Brendan Walsh, Lasandra Burwell, tools, residents set up road- tions were blocked. Students 12473-052, FCI Allenwood Low, W063658, Ohio Refor- blocks at the edge of the village across the country rioted and Federal Correctional Institution, matory for Women, 1479 to defend their land. When it demonstrated, and were joined PO Box 1000, White Deer, PA Collins Ave. Marysville, became evident that the men by “large numbers of ordinary 17887, USA. Serving 5 years for an OH 43040, USA. Serving they had hired could not scare people” – they “fought running arson on an army recruitment office 5 years for taking part in an away the farmers, the develop- battles with police, damaged in protest of the War on Iraq. anti-fascist demonstration ers – allegedly led by village huge numbers of private and which turned into a riot. party boss Li Peizeng – called public vehicles, and attacked in armed police to disperse the police boxes, banks, public and crowd. Villagers accused the private offices, and shops.” redevelopment plan of being a During clashes demonstrators had been killed, although this was According to villagers and witness thinly disguised land grab under the used bricks, sticks, barricades, denied by the official Xinhua accounts posted on the Internet, pretext of building a “socialist new fire, and petrol and blocked roads news agency, which played down officials in several parts of Guangxi countryside”, a recent party slogan. and rail tracks – while the cops the incident. mobilized their largest effort in December 10: Lan Yuanxian, a 16 used teargas shells, batons, water The firm’s decision to raise the years to roll back population year-old migrant worker from cannon and rubber bullets that bus fare from around 50 cents to growth by instituting mandatory Anhui, was beaten by two or three resulted in injuries of several $1 during the recent Chinese New health checks for women and officials from the municipal man- hundred people. Year brought complaints initially forcing pregnant women who did agement bureau, she said from her The government, worried about from the parents of secondary not have approval to give birth hospital bed. The incident began the political turmoil last year being school children. They began pro- to abort fetuses. According to outside a vegetable market when a a destabilizing influence on the testing on a Friday, and were joined sources, officials imposed fines truck wanted to make a delivery of South Asia region, has followed IMF by others over the weekend – ranging from (US equivalent) $65 oil to a shop there. Lan’s bicycle was policy and imposed privatizations reaching a reported 20,000. to $9,000, on families that had parked in the way for about five on the Chittagong docks and in the May: Rioters smashed and violated birth control measures any minutes, for which local city man- jute mill industry. Pressure is also burned government offices, over- time since 1980. The new tax, agement officials tried to fine her 50 building to open up extraction of turned official vehicles, and called a “social child-raising fee,” yuan. Lan protested and argued energy resources (e.g. open cast clashed with riot police in a series was collected even though the vast with them, and was beaten up. mining) to western companies. of confrontations over four days. majority of violators had already Another woman was beaten with Varying accounts of injuries and paid fines in the past. truncheons when she tried to stop Made in China: Villagers deaths, with some asserting that Many families objected strongly them. More than 1,000 people as many as five people were killed, to the fees and refused to pay. encircled the city officials’ cars, Continue Revolts including three officials respon- Witnesses said in such cases refusing to leave. More than 50 riot Corruption, land grabs, pollution, sible for population control work, villagers were detained, their police were called in to disperse the unpaid wages, and a widening were reported by locals and visiors. homes searched and valuables, crowd, which took about two hours. wealth gap have fueled tens of A local government official in one including electronic items and thousands of incidents of unrest in of the counties affected confirmed motorcycles, confiscated by the Arson Against Steel Plant recent years, many of them occurring the rioting but denied reports of government. in rural areas most adversely affected deaths or serious injuries. “Worst of all, the gangsters Under Construction by the new industrial revolution. The violence is said to stem used hammers and iron rods to Trinidad There are at least 200 protests of from a two-month-long crack- destroy people’s homes, while Foundation work on a new $1.7 differing sizes each day, official down in Guangxi to punish people threatening that the next time it billion steel plant to be set up in figures show, although many do not who violated the country’s birth would be with bulldozers,” said a Trinidad and Tobago by India’s get any publicity. The Chinese control policy. To limit the growth local peasant. Essar group has been delayed fol- government is said to be “highly of its population of 1.3 billion, Villagers responded by break- lowing a suspected case of arson. sensitive to such manifestations many parts of China rely more on ing through a wall surrounding Two vehicles worth $320,000 used of anger”. GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 56 for construction work at the plant’s The deal is the largest free trade after, at the last minute, police Drug Squad Attacked site were destroyed in what police agreement for the US since the North revoked a long since issued permit have confirmed as sabotage as a American Free Trade Agreement more for a trade union demonstration November 23, gasoline tank, two cutlasses, and than a decade ago, and the largest against rising food and fuel prices. Albany, Georgia: a pair of sneakers were found at ever for South Korea. “Farmers would Hundreds of the capital’s poor The Albany Dougherty Police Drug the scene. Julien Subnaik, project be the biggest victim of the free trade residents joined in to vent their Squad compound was firebombed. manager of Namacco Construction deal,” said Lee Young-soo, a farmer frustrations with the government. Investigators believe that two Services, alleged that the vehicles who took part in the rally. A large police presence made an molotov cocktails were thrown were set on fire by those who are effort to disperse rioters with tear- over a fence. Four cars were opposed to the plant being built in Students Fight Police gas and truncheons, but smaller damaged, including one under- the area. ‘Two weeks ago, an Essar Bangladesh outbreaks of violence continued. At cover vehicle that was totaled. A sign was burnt, and there are several least two buildings were burned marked patrol car was also struck Student protests against the military signs protesting the construction of down, and 15 people were arrested by one of the devices, but was government have spread to include the plant,’ he said. Subnaik noted that during the unrest. In an attempt to only singed. Police have no sus- slum dwellers and the exploited last month there was a protest dem- diffuse some of the anger, Dakar pects but plan to dust the remnants classes generally, who fought riot onstration against the project in the Governor Amadou Sy offered the of the two broken bottles for police with sticks and rocks in area and since then there has been a evicted traders space on side streets fingerprints. increasingly violent clashes in sense of uneasiness in the com- away from downtown. However, the several cities. Protestors in the munity. Residents who live in the vendors were not contented by the capital, Dhaka, burned buses, cars High Schoolers Rebel area are mainly Indo-Trinidadians, compromise which they felt was not and at least one military vehicle. descendants of indentured laborers good enough. Over More Hours of Troops have been withdrawn from who came to work in the sugar The violence was on a scale greater Incarceration Dhaka University, where the unrest plantations in this country over a than any seen in the country in at started, which was the students’ November 26, hundred years ago. There are around least the past six years. Senegal is original demand. The 6-month old 520,000 Indo-Trinidadians in a often held up as an example of sta- Netherlands: “emergency” government has also population of a million. Essar Steel bility in West Africa, but tensions Students in Amsterdam pelted responded by indefinitely imposing Caribbean had signed an agreement among the nation’s less well-off have mounted police with apples, curfews and school closures in six in December 2005 to set up the two been growing as the gap between rocks, and bottles and boycotted cities, and a media and communica- million-tone iron and steel plant in rich and poor has widened signifi- classes across the country. The tions blackout through the country. Trinidad and Tobago. The company cantly in recent years and the cost youths, most of whom are of high is a subsidiary of Essar Global, which of living continues to rise dramati- school age though some appeared in turn, is a closely held company of Poor Become a Bit Unruly cally. Discontent with the federal to be even younger, organized India’s Ruia family. November 22, government is widespread and their wildcat protests to voice Dakar, Senegal: primarily stems from issues related their opposition to proposed to economics and poverty. legislation that would add an- Farmers and Workers Rioters ransacked the mayor’s other 26 hours of mandatory office, overturned and burned cars, President Abdoulaye Wade has Clash with Cops been attempting to give Dakar a classroom time to the annual South Korea blocked off streets and clashed school year. Schools are Thousands of South Korean already required to offer farmers and workers clashed 1,040 hours of classroom with riot police at a massive rally time and could be fined for against a free trade agreement we don’t want failing to meet that target. with the United States. The clash Students complain that they began when the protesters tried your fucking will just be forced to sit in to break through a barricade more study halls and that blocking the road to the US crumbs... the extra hours will not be Embassy. Police fired 12 water put to any necessary use. cannons and sprayed fire extin- ...we...we wantwant ourour Organized by email and guishers to halt the protesters, text messaging, some of the a police official said on condi- lives!lives! 1,000 plus students who tion of anonymity, citing policy. gathered in Amsterdam’s Some protesters swung Museum Square hurled bi- sticks and threw stones at the cycles at police, smashed riot police and tried to turn shop windows, lit large fire- over police buses set up to crackers, and vandalized block the protest in central cars even going so far as to Seoul. Police said they ar- overturn one and set fire to rested about 100 protesters it. Riot police dispersed and that more than 10 riot demonstrators with a water police were injured. Organizers facelift in preparation for the 57- cannon and arrested 15 with police as authorities attempted people including one individual said 50,000 people took part in the to remove all the sidewalk vendors, nation Organization of Islamic Con- protest, occupying a 16-lane road ference (OIC) summit planned for who after evading cops with as- blamed for causing traffic con- sistance from the crowd was with about 50 demonstrators hurt, gestion, from the streets early March. Massive amounts of govern- mostly with head injuries. Police ment funds have been sunk into dragged to a waiting police trans- yesterday morning. The throngs of port van by his hair. estimated there were 20,000 dem- angry street fighters swelled soon projects such as new luxury hotels, onstrators. conference rooms, bridges and roads.

Page 57 SPRING/SUMMER ‘08 ISSUE Maroons:

Guardians of the flag of by liberation Hadotso Wage Slavery an actual improvement of their condition. Believing that purchasing a luxury SUV Wage-based economic systems are nothing confirms an actual improvement of their short of slavery. The plantations have been condition. But by accepting either the dish replaced largely by the industrial-urban centers. or the SUV, the slave accepts the circum- Strip-malls and service jobs. Modern techno- stances, despite the fact that, in reality, they industrial society, or the misleading label are contributing to their own demise. “post” industrial, is only the most recent mani- Those who stayed on the plantations sur- festation of mass production with gadgets, vived just long enough to work themselves widgets, and information replacing sugarcane to an early death. Can anyone imagine a and cotton as the commodity of choice. The group of slaves ever desiring to master’s bullwhip has been perfectly replaced “collectively-oversee” their own by the instrument of law. The use of violence, bondage? Why would an indi- or more overtly the threat of use, keeps the vidual wish to self-manage wage-slaves in check thereby transforming the chains of syndicalism’s spontaneous, creative individuals into diligent servitude? Those that did worker-bees. The owner’s brand has been not desire to braid replaced by the name brand: the corporate the very rope that Contact the author at: logo. However instead of holding a child down was to eventually [email protected] to sear a glowing iron into her shoulder to hang them escaped. symbolize ownership, they are chained to Those who ran away assembly lines forcing them to sew on designer survived. They ran labels for 13 hours a day. “The Nike Swoosh into the bushes of Brazil. is nothing more than a whip in mid-swing.” They ran into the mountains of Venezuela. brought One is compelled to work because s/he They ran into the swamps of Carolina. They over to the Americas knows that if s/he doesn’t they will be force- ran into the forests of Mexico. They ran into from India and the Middle East fully removed from their home. They will be the open arms of their Indian brothers and among others. Michael Kolhoff gives a brief unable to buy groceries. And yet those that sisters: the natives. Fugitives and Savages. overview of their connection: cringe at the mention of plantation-slavery, no And it was here, among the howling wilder- ...that fugitives would band together for doubt thinking it some relic of a bygone era ness out of civilization’s reach, that they survival isn’t unusual. The runaways would and not a reality in present-day society, are on formed their alliances. Alliances that welcomed have a common enemy, the colonial govern- their knees, hands outstretched begging to all who fought against the colonial ments of the coast and the slave masters of accept the conditions of wage-slavery. But not megamachine. New tribes were founded. the plantations. The plantation fields of the every slave ran into the burning house to save (In America alone, over 200 tri-racial isolate early colonial period also incorporated a wide their master; some ran away, others added fuel. communities existed). New cultures were diversity of forced labor. There would have What exactly happened to those who ran created. Cultures of resistence. been Native Americans of the coastal tribes, away? His-story does not tell us, because in kidnaped Africans, Gypsies (who were doing so, it would be forced to admit it’s Injuns, Niggas, and transported to the “New World” by all the illegitimateness: That while some accepted the colonial powers), and British and Irish prison- terms, others refused. That many resisted and Feral Cattle ers working out their sentences. It’s not hard had to be crushed. That civilization is not the The word Maroon is derived from the Spanish to imagine that all the individuals interested natural climax of human evolution it proudly Cimarron, which originally referred to domestic in escaping would have been drawn to the proclaims itself to be. It would be forced to cattle that had taken to the hills. Later, it was Native Americans, who knew the land and had confess it’s biggest fear: That all civilizations fall. pejoratively used for Indians who, knowing contacts in the wild [Kolhoff]. Out of fear some slaves voluntarily elected the terrain better than the Africans, were the Describing the historical Maroon in Brazil, to stay on the plantations. Believing the few earliest to escape. Ultimately, the term became Roger Bastide hints at the parallel to our scraps thrown at their feet sufficient enough almost exclusively a label for Africans, although present situation, when he states, “The basic to ‘survive.’ Positing that being given a discarded Maroon communities consisted of natives, maroon context is the struggle of an exploited ceramic plate by the slave-owner demonstrated Africans, Europeans, and possibly slaves group against the ruling class” [Bastide]. GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 58 Studying the weather patterns and natural Who will be the next generation of Maroons multiplied, threatening the economic progress cycles of this strange, foreign land, slaves when Western Civilization capsizes? of the colonial government. The Maroons of waited weeks, months, even years for the right the Great Dismal Swamp could no longer be moment to escape. When they did, they opted Quilombos: ignored, eventually leading to, “such a prominent to give themselves fully to the wilderness, figure as George Washington to recommend its rather than face another day of enslavement. The Original draining and conversion to farmland” [Kolhoff]. They abandoned the guarantee of slave quarters, Autonomous Zones Fortunately the task proved too much even tattered clothes, and measly food choosing the for the noble father of this great nation. possibility of dying free in the unknown North America No form of punishment was ever considered jungle. Will we desert our square apartments, too “cruel and unusual” for recaptured slaves. In sweatshop denim, and bio-engineered food for Fighting between colonial powers oftentimes July, 1837 a Maroon leader named Squire, whose even a brief taste of feral freedom? led to a power vacancy that was exploited by tribe had lasted over three years conducting raids Ethnobotanist Mark Plotkin, who has lived and the Maroons in order to establish independent, on plantations and killing slave owners, was studied among contemporary descendants of self-sufficient communities. Three regions in tragically killed in the swamps. His body was these early Maroons, characterizes the observa- North America stand out for both their longevity fished out and exhibited in the public square tion a few Slaves undoubtedly made prior to their and their determination: The Great Dismal of New Orleans for several days [Price]. escape, “Hey, this is Equatorial Rainforest....we’ll Swamp (along the North Carolina and Virginia Locals in South Carolina took it a step further see you white boys later!” [Plotkin]. border), The Neutral Strip (a 500 square mile when, after a Maroon was captured near Sometimes the opportunity for slaves to expanse of impenetrable wilderness among the Pineville, he was subsequently “....decapitated, escape arose purely by chance. During the backwaters of Louisiana), and the Florida and his head stuck on a pole and publicly early 16th century the region of Esmeraldas Everglades (which were interspersed with exposed as ‘a warning to vicious slaves’” [Price]. in Ecuador became a Maroon haven by accident villages populated [both separately and together] Despite the occasional death and all govern- when, “Spanish ships carrying slaves from by Native Americans and Africans). mental attempts to eradicate their settlements, Panama to Guayaquil and Lima were wrecked The Great Dismal Swamp and the Neutral the roving Maroons within these swamps con- along the equatorial coast amidst strong currents Strip were both claimed by competing colonial tinued to survive, the descendants of which and shifting sandbars. A number of slave cast- powers but in the absence of permanently are still there today. In North Carolina, breaking aways consequently dashed to freedom in the stationed imperial authority, were in actuality their backs working on farms owned by unconquered interior, where they allied with governed by neither. The Neutral Strip multinational corporations. In rural towns of indigenous groups and a handful of Spanish emerged in 1806 when the American and Virginia eking out a meager existence as day renegades” [Romero]. Spanish governments could not agree on the laborers. They are the Melungeons of North What opportunity will we take advantage of definite borders. When the British arrived Carolina. The Redbones of Louisiana. The for our chance to race towards freedom? to develop North Carolina as a commercial Seminoles of Florida. Beautiful blends of Slaveships are no longer our carrying vessel, plantation, “...the Maroons retreated to the African, European, and Indian features, each so a shipwreck will present us with little oppor- depths of the Great Dismal Swamp and from with a faint trace of revolution still burning tunity to be sure. Nevertheless, although ships their sanctuary waged a 160-year guerilla war in their eyes. no longer crash (except when they are trans- against slavery” [Koehnline]. porting oil, then they appear to tip over with In the years prior to the Civil War the Great South America alarming frequency), stock markets certainly Dismal Swamp also, “became a major stop on Like their counterparts up north, the Maroon do. Lines of communication crash. (One of the the underground railroad....No doubt many of communities that endured in South America were most effective and certainly one of the easiest the runaway slaves decided to remain in the the ones that were the most isolated and the most forms of resistance among Native Americans swamp. During the war the Great Dismal exhausting to reach. In this respect, South was the chopping down of telegraph poles). Swamp was an area that the Confederate forces America had a definite advantage in the sheer Information superhighways crash. (12 yr old stayed clear of” [Kolhoff]. amount of jungle, mountains, and rainforest. kids have cost multinational corporations Similarly, it is reported that amongst the Successful Maroon communities learned millions of dollars with just a few minutes of “swamp and canebrakes (of the Neutral Strip) quickly to turn the harshness of their immediate hacking). Structures crash. (With a simple shrug that many who went in uninvited never came surroundings to their own advantage for purposes of an earthquake entire cities have disappeared). out again” [Kolhoff]. of concealment and defense. Paths leading to And not just the linear metal and concrete Largely due to their astounding inacces- villages were carefully disguised, and much use type either, but social structures, too. Networks sibility, these three regions were immune to was made of false trails replete with deadly of importing natural resources crash. (In recent colonial, governmental, and state interference booby traps. In the Guianas, villages set in the years sporadic blackouts throughout the and provided inspiration to those who conse- swamps were approachable only by an under- country have left millions without electric- quently revolted. The relationship between water path, with other false paths carefully ity). Financial institutions crash. Foundations free slaves and plantation slaves continued to mined with pointed spikes or leading only to of exploitation crash. Civilizations crash. induce leading citizens to complain that their, fatal quagmires or quicksand [Price]. “....slaves are becoming almost uncontrollable. The Maroon villages of the Carribean and South They go and come when and where they America were referred to variously as Quilombos please, and if an attempt is made to correct (free towns), Palenques (slang for the palisades them they immediately fly into the woods and surrounding most Maroon encampments), or there continue for months and years committing Mocambos (a variation of Mu-kambo which grievous depredations on our cattle, hogs, and means ‘hideout’ in Ambundu). Unquestionably sheep” [Price]. the largest Quilombo was the triumphant village So long as there was only the infrequent run- of Palmares, “a federation of Maroon communities away, the outlaw villages were small, and whose population was estimated by contem- raiding of plantations was a rarity, the Great porary sources, variously, to be 11,000, 16,000, Dismal Swamp could be tolerated, albeit 20, 000, and even 30,000 people” [Reis]. grudgingly. When more and more slaves began to taste freedom however, slave rebellions (continued on next page) Page 59 SPRING/SUMMER ‘08 ISSUE Likewise the fierce fighting spirit of their Interestingly enough, there exists no evidence ancestors is being rediscovered, as well. that slaves ever achieved freedom through sign- In the late 80’s, when the great-grand- ing a petition, participating in letter-writing children of slaves were clashing against campaigns, or holding candlelight vigils. the government of Suriname, medicine Perhaps these illiterate, unlearned savages bundles from Africa that had lain buried were wise enough to see the futility of it all. for 200 years were unearthed and carried They fully understood the context of their into battle [Price]. bondage. It was not a condition that could be eradicated through reform. Nothing short of Slave Rebellions: insurrection would suffice. “One of the most violent of the uprisings The Earliest Resistance occurred in Tado in 1728. The rebels, made to G l ob al izatio n up mostly of African-born slaves, but also some Creoles, killed 14 white mine owners America. In honor of Amerigo Vespucci, and administrators before retreating into the who, upon arriving in South Carolina in forest. Two of the principal leaders, remained 1497, began routine enslavement of the at large...seeking refuge in neighboring free Native Americans to transport back to communities” [Romero]. Spain. Ultimately this was abandoned, In North America the Seminole were an out- “for they chose to die rather than work standing Maroon force, due to geographic and as slaves” [Sivad]. What is it that causes political reasons, and were a major impedi- a person to make that decision? What is ment on the colonial governments march to- it that urges one to fight for absolute free- ward global imperialism. Troop after troop of dom; especially when outnumbered and U.S. soldiers were defeated amidst the swamps up against superior firepower (advanced and waterways of the Everglades. On Sep- technology) and against a mentality that tember 11, 1812, a train carrying troops under manifests it’s destiny via domestication, the command of Captain Williams thrust deep The saga of Palmares are still celebrated enslavement, oppression, rape, and unmatched into the region known as Florida. Williams was today in song and folklore. brutality? Could it be generations of com- headed to support Colonel Smith whose own In addition to Brazil, other countries including munal, egalitarian upbringings immersed in battalion was taking a beating. Along the route Peru, Colombia, Suriname, Venezuela, unadulterated wildness that compelled Indian Seminole sprang forth from bushes, trees, and French Guiana can boast a strong tradition mothers to suffocate their own newborns rather undergrowth charging the iron beast that stole of Maroon havens. In Bolivia “communities than have them grow up in bondage? [Sivad] upon their land, tearing through their mothers’ of Tupinamba Indians and escaped Indians, Africans, and poor whites that did flesh and belching blackened clouds of slow slaves...existed in Jaguaripe for over forty manage to escape returned to help free others. death into their father’s skies. Inside the belly years” [Schwartz]. Fugitives, in collaboration with plantation slaves of this iron beast sat dozens of colonial soldiers, In Colombia the community of Sombrerillo and freed slaves working in urban centers, pale and deranged, determined to kill every numbered over 200 inhabitants including constantly organized revolts and uprisings Seminole brother, rape every sister, burn ev- Maroons, free blacks, whites, Mulattos, and throughout history. While acknowledging that ery village, steal every item, and finally to Zambos (Afro-Indians) [Romero]. slave rebellions “were contemporaneous with the kidnap every last child (the ones not killed for Unlike their fugitive brothers and sisters in beginning of the slave trade”, Richard Price sport that is) and convert them to the dignified North America, who were subject to a full traces back the first major insurrection to ways of Christianity. The Seminoles had seen onslaught of Empire demanding acculturation December 26, 1522 in Santo Domingo [Price]. these actions before firsthand; indeed it was and assimilation, a large number of Central It is perfectly reasonable to assume that tens of this psychotic civilized mentality that had and South American slaves were able to survive thousands of years earlier, the first attempts made originally pushed the Creeks into Florida, thanks to the same challenging terrain that by an individual to exercise authority over other passing rows of plantations along the way. helped them escape. Today along the Amazon tribal members was met with the same fierce They were forced into a corner and, listening remains several villages which originated as opposition. Maroons engaged in various forms to instinct and not pleas for “moral purity,” Quilombos, whose “inhabitants managed for of resistance ranging from property damage: they lashed out. The train was attacked and generations to pass on the secrets of the rivers -In 1692 a group of runaway slaves began to routed. A number of invading soldiers perished and jungle, from which they had been collecting plunder farmlands near the town of Camamu. at the spear point, including Captain Williams fish, wood, wild fruits, medicinal leaves, When their Mocambo finally fell their battle himself [Price]. and so on” [Reis]. cry was, “Death to the whites and long live Tragically as the rainforest around them liberty” [Price] Cultures disappears, these tri-racial communities are being systematically exposed and re-colonized. to direct action: of Resistance Individuals whose ancestors were bought and - In 1876, in the village of Viana runaways sold in the market are finding their own lives came down from a Quilombo and occupied Over several decades of creating free societ- bought and sold in the free market. several nearby farms, demanding the end of ies, the Maroon community became an They are also finding new battles to fight: slavery [Reis] amalgamation of African, European, and cultural survival, globalization, genocide. They to insurgency: Native American cultures. These new cul- are discovering that they are viewed as pawns -In the forests and hills on the outskirts of tures, birthed amidst a continuous outlaw in the game played between both leftist and Salvador, the region of Bahia “hid numerous environment, became suffused with varying rightist governments where the grand prize is small Quilombos that served as temporary characteristics and traits of fugitive lifestyle. their natural resources. The sugar plantation respite for the large urban slave population, Rebellion and resistence defined every aspect owner is reincarnated in the CEO. The master’s which from time to time became involved in of their life. This tradition continues to the house is re-established in the hydro-electric dams. slave conspiracies and insurrections.” [Reis] present. GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 60 Maroons in Jamaica today, notes Kenneth Allies Conclusion Bibly, continue to possess their own religious beliefs, pharmacopeia, oral historical traditions, The temporary coalitions of oppressed In a society where the very air we breathe is music, dance, esoteric languages, and other (African/Native/European) were invaluable polluted, the water we drink is poisoned, and the distinct forms of expressive cultures [Bibly]. for the magnitude of armed struggle under- soil we dig is contaminated there can be few Perhaps the best description of what charac- taken and resultant degree of liberation options other than to escape to outside of the ever- terizes their defiant culture, in this case the achieved. Equally crucial was the collaboration expanding suicidal techno-industrial apparatus, Maroon communities throughout the Pacific with the fortunate, privileged individuals and since it must “expand or die” any life forged Lowlands, is that their music, religion, poetry, etc. within civilized society. Citizens aiding on the periphery must be nomadic. “reflects not a shared sense of past or present and abetting ex-slaves via food, clothing, When our existence is threatened by the subjugation, but rather of past and present or ammunition. very system that is designed to protect us our autonomy” [Romero]. They are the towns folk covertly supplying only hope lies in a life outside that system. Immediately following a slaveships arrival, weapons. The merchants secretly re-supply- Physically, spiritually, and mentally. the cargo was quickly divided and separated ing caches. They are the villagers providing And as the indigenous populations dealt with so as to more effectively exercise control over underground shelter. They are the Culture the encroachment of the techno-industrial em- them. Subjected to such an atrocity as enslave- traitors. pire of standardization by an organic ebbing and ment, a transatlantic voyage covered in urine, Near Dover, North Carolina a citizens militia flowing tactic that embraced African slaves and feces and vomit, all so one could see their searching for runaways came across a child lower class Europeans into a unified fight, they family members dragged away screaming, playing in the woods who confessed that his have left us a legacy of resistance. individuals attempted every method to try to mother provided food rations for half a dozen We can honor that legacy by continuing and maintain some stable social coherence. runaways daily. After investigating the expanding their struggle. Both inside and Fictitious kinship ties and their associated womyn’s house the militia found additional outside of civilization. rituals provided one means of making sense stores of meat, as well as arms and ammuni- of the world, or at least maintaining spiritual tion for the Maroon insurrectionists [Price]. well-being, despite the omnipresence of Also in North Carolina, a 1864 newspaper Bibliography slavery [Romero]. article mentions the fact that, “white deserters Bastide, Roger “The Other Quilombos” The extension of family links between both from the Confederate Army were fighting Bibly, Kenneth M. “Maroon Autonomy in Jamaica” plantation-based and free slaves also served shoulder to shoulder with the self-emancipated Cultural Survival Quarterly. Winter 2002 the purpose of solidifying unity “so tight that Negroes” [Price]. Worth noting here is the Koenline, James “Legend of the Great Dismal Maroons: slaveowners could never break it”[Romero]. story of a particular Ex-Confederate soldier Swamp Rats of the World Unite! A Secret History of These newly-formed ties strengthened the who married a descendant of the Yanga ‘The Other America’” fabric of relationship passed on generation Kolhoff, Michael “Fugitive Nation”. Anarchy: A people (the “Black Mexicans”) whose ancestors Journal of Desire Armed. Fall/Winter 2001-2002 after generation. If our children are to survive were rebel slaves that established a Maroon Plotkin, Mark “Tales of a Shamans Apprentice”. in a post-collapse world, egalitarian tribes based community in Veracruz on the Gulf Coast Bullfrog Video. upon invented kinship ties need to be established. in 1609. After receiving one too many death Price, Richard (ed.) “Maroon Societies: Rebel Slave Then our children can look back upon us as threats based on their interracial union, Lucy Communities in the Americas” the Maroons of the 1960’s looked upon their and Albert Parsons moved to Chicago where Price, Richard and Sally Price “Maroons Under forebears and, “felt tremendous pride in the Assault in Suriname and french Guiana” they became prominent anarchist organizers. Reis, Joao Jose and Flavio dos Santos Gomes accomplishments of their heroic ancestors and, on Unquestionably there were thousands of “Quilombo: Brazilian Maroons During Slavery” the whole, remained masters of the forest” [Price]. instances where individual residents assisted Romero, Mario Diego and Kris Lane “Miners & In Alagoas, Brazil rural poor blacks still escapees; clearly there existed entire villages Maroons: Freedom on the Pacific Coast of celebrate the indomitable Maroon fortress that supported fugitives. These “free towns” Colombia and Ecuador” Palmares in folklore through poetry and songs: or autonomous zones were built alongside Sakolsky, Ron and James Koehnline (ed.) “Gone governed ones “with the express purpose of to Croatan: Origins of North American Dropout Enjoy yourself, Negro Culture” The white man doesn’t come here assaulting their structures of domination” Schwartz, Stuart B. “The Mocambo: Slave Resistance And if he does [Romero]. in Colonial Bahia” The devil will carry him off During the 18th century in the upper Patia Sivad, Doug “African Seminoles” [Bastide] Valley a “Maroon aid society” developed, acting as a passageway to freedom among the Further Reading Solidarity extended beyond racial and ethnic Andean mountains. Through associations Maroon Societies - Richard Price boundaries to include class-based perspectives such as this, it was capable of protecting and Runaway Slaves - John Hope Franklin of insurgence. During the Balaiada Revolt, absorbing slaves escaping both highland Hidden Americans: Maroons of Virginia and Carolina slaves joined forces with Brazilian peasants haciendas and lowland mines whose descen- - Hugo Leaming Prosper “against an oppressive social and economic dants are still found there today practicing Breaking the Chains - William Loren Katz order” of both state and national governments, Africans and Native Americans: The Language of Race small-scale agriculture [Romero]. and the Evolution of Red-Black Peoples - Jack Forbes and were aided by bandits and political In his account of the Maroons from the Great The Mother of Us All: A History of Queen Nanny, dissidents [Schwartz]. Dismal Swamp, James Koehnline ventures to Leader of the Windward,Jamaican Maroons Maroon historian Mario Diego Romero say that, “perhaps, four hundred years ago, - Karla Gottlieb divulges an effective argument for analyzing these Maroons of four continents held a big Maroon cultures to further advance ideas for pow-wow, dedicating themselves to fight Audio/Video a post-collapse community when he states that against slavery even then” [Koehnline]. Tales of a Shaman’s Apprentice (Bullfrog Films) the Maroon forms of social organizations, It’s time for another pow-wow; this time Black Indians: An American Story (Rich-Heape Films) “though sometimes dismissed as chaotic Ð dedicated to attacking not just (wage) slavery, Quilombo (New Yorker Films) constitute peaceful enclaves of mutual respect. but the very source of alienation, domestica- Drums of Defiance: Maroon Music from the Certainly they could serve as models for other tion, and domination. Earliest Free Black Communities of Jamaica societies” [Romero]. (Smithsonian/Folkways)

Page 61 SPRING/SUMMER ‘08 ISSUE were defectors that were caught in authorities reduce prison overcrowd- China while attempting to flee to South ing and further relax parole rules, and Korea and then forcibly repatriated that judges show greater clemency Breaks in the back to North Korea. They were in the in sentencing. A spokesman for the midst of awaiting a trial.” Escapes are Malandrinos inmates said police unusual as the punishment when were “welcome” to take on the pro- found is severe and the camps diffi- testers. “We will kill for our dignity,” Halls of Doom cult to escape; hindering obstacles convicted murderer Yiannis Palis abound and neighboring residents are said. “We will take this all the way.” trained to alert authorities upon sight of escaped prisoners. Full-Scale Riot at Private Prison The Fight Marches On Two prison staff members were Nairobi, Kenya - Prisoners rioted injured when inmates rioted at a following the escape of five inmates prison near New Castle, Indiana on at Nakuru Prison. The five, four from April 24, setting at least one fire in death row, cut the bars to their cell the prison yard and prompting the with a hacksaw before using a blanket state to mobilize emergency squads. to climb the outer wall. When the Several people who claimed they prison guards decided to lock down were in contact with prison staff said the remaining prisoners and search that many of the Arizona inmates for a rumored gun, the prisoners have been dissatisfied with circum- reacted by throwing stones and in- stances there and played a major role juring at least two guards. They then in starting the riot. The facility is a sang in Swahili “Bado mapambano” for-profit private prison owned by the (the struggle continues) before the state but managed by a private riot was put down with tear gas and company called the GEO group in reinforcement. A recent report shows Florida. The prisoners, sent great dis- there were 141 escapes last year tance from family and friends, now by suspects. That number does not get a half hour video conference and include the escapes by convicts or once a week with loved ones. Prisoner Escapes Uprisings those held in remand such as the Actually, I love going out in bad weather. It amazes me break last year at the Embu GK prison how we learn to call a rainstorm “bad.” There’s nothing in which the prison was stormed Prisoner Uprising in more beautiful then a storm – something you rarely get to and three people and a prison war- Jefferson City, Missouri experience in here other than vaguely hearing the thunder den, were killed. On April 25, inmates at the Jefferson shuddering through the thick stone walls as you lie in your City Correctional Center protested cell without even a window to the world outside. Prisoners Revolt the overcrowding and administrative Ð Leonard Peltier, Prison Writings: My Life Is My Sun Dance Throughout Greece segregation policies at the prison. On the morning of April 23, inmates The general population is currently in the prison of Malandrino revolted. full and inmates are being held in ad- rations and the frustration of those Unusual Escape by The spark igniting the revolt was the ministrative segregation longer than who already knew their fate [death- beating of anarchist prisoner Yiannis their conduct violation sentences Prisoner in Norway row convicts],” said Maj Magnat Dimitrakis and the violent response mandate. Inmates on the adminis- In early January, in a strange case Tchani, head of the police, who led the of the guards to the protests staged trative segregation unit – known as of jailbreak, a Lithuanian prisoner in operation to quash the mutiny. Eighteen by his co-prisoners. Riot police 7-house have refused additional cell an Arctic Norway jail literally slipped pigs were seriously injured during the sufficiently repressed the uprising mates causing a housing crisis in the out of custody by stripping naked, operation, according to Magnat. It in Greece’s largest prison late the prison. They are now being shackled smearing his body with vegetable was the third time in four months that next day. Another 10 facilities were to steel benches without food or oil and sliding through the prison prisoners in Ituri rioted. in a state of unrest sparked by the adequate clothing. Additionally, 60 bars. According to reports, another inmates are reported to be on a “food Lithuanian failed to escape by the alleged beating of yet another inmate Prisoners Escape in by guards. A justice ministry spokes- strike” until the policies are changed same technique as he was too big. by the prison administration. Another convict managed to bend the North Korea man said “order has been fully restored” bars slightly to gain more space, but On February 6, 120 prisoners es- at the high security Korydallos Prison New Brunswick Prison in only his head and part of his shoulder caped a political concentration in Athens, where police fired tear gas made it through the bars. camp, the Camp 16 in Hwasung, North and stun grenades after some inmates Lockdown after Riot Hamkyung province. Authorities tried to escape during the unrest. A maximum security prison in New Prison Riot over Conditions responded by mobilizing the National Protests also occurred at peniten- Brunswick remained under lock Safety Agency, the People’s Protection tiaries near the cities of Larissa and down June 17, after a melee started Leaves Two Dead in Ituri Agency, and the military in an effort Trikala in central Greece, Patras the previous night when more than Two prisoners were killed and 25 to capture the fugitives. An outsider and Nafplio in the south, Diavata 50 inmates refused to return to others wounded when cops moved is reported to have assisted the get near Thessaloniki, Komotini and their cells. Stéphane Breau, an assis- into a jail in the restive Ituri District, in away by cutting the barbed wire and Corfu in northern Greece, as well as tant warden, said the riot started eastern Democratic Republic of Congo striking a guard with a club. “In order Alikarnassos and Hania on Crete. after one inmate complained about in late January to quell a riot sparked to assist the escape, the outside Riot police surrounded some 200 health services at the Atlantic Insti- by frustration over poor conditions. collaborator not only provided the protesting inmates armed with metal tute in Renous, about 30 kilometers “There were several reasons for the metal saw but also had a vehicle on bars and stones at a high security from Miramichi. Fifty-six of the revolt, including allegations of pro- standby” said the source, adding prison on a third day of unrest. prison’s more than 200 inmates longed detention, complaints over food “Most of the people that escaped Prisoners were demanding that refused to go back to their cells. GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 62 They damaged appliances, tried to inspector sustained a head wound. “There was very serious fear for the Sao Paulo Escape start a fire, threw chairs, shattered The rioters then climbed the roof and warden’s lives,” said Gavison. Wardens lights and windows, and broke waved linen that other inmates suppressed the riot within 40 minutes, Triggers Battle sprinklers, Breau said. Guards put passed them from the cells. They and the prison was back to normal At least 7 people were killed and out the fire, but the inmates continued demanded permission to play soccer, within about two hours. more than 70 injured when prison- to resist. have dumb-bells and barbells in their ers fought with armed guards after cells, and receive unchecked parcels Prisoner Escapes in a jailbreak attempt in Maceio, the Off With the Clothes with cigarettes. New authorities have capital of Brazil’s northeastern state tightened the center’s regime since Suitcase of Alagoas. The November 19 up- in Texas Prison the incident. During the three weeks An 18-year-old woman escaped from rising started after guards tried to A private prison facility in Palo Pinto following, officers seized about 200 a German prison in late October by prevent a massive escape. The police, County was on lock down after an mobile phones from parcels contain- hiding in the suitcase of another supported by its Special Operation inmate uprising erupted on August ing canned food, according to prison inmate when she was released. Steffi Battalion, was called in to put down 14. About two dozen prisoners began authorities. Krause escaped when her 19-year- the riot when the number of rioters protesting the rule requiring them to old accomplice was released from swelled and spread to other parts of wear shirts in the recreation yard on Fifteen Wardens the youth prison in Neustadt am the jail. The jail administration said the steaming summer night. They set Ruebenberge. the inmates set fire to the prison fires in trash cans, broke windows, Wounded The prison wardens only noticed buildings and destroyed furniture and threw rocks and trash at jailers. About 1,000 prisoners rioted – many later in the evening when the other and other items. Inmates turned About 400 inmates refused to leave of them Palestinian – before dawn girl was not in her cell. A spokesman their weapons on prison guards the recreation yard and return to their at Ketziot Prison in southern Israel, has revealed that the only thing the when they were discovered and cells. A spokesperson said it took in response to a massive search for wardens noticed during the 19-year- ordered to stop. The firefight trig- about three-and-a-half hours and the concealed weapons that wardens old’s official leaving check from the gered a prison riot by other inmates use of “approved, non-lethal chemical were conducting at the time. One prison was ‘that the suitcase was at the facility that lasted two hours agents” to bring the situation under prisoner was mortally injured by a unusually heavy’. Police are still and required the help of militarized control. “non-lethal” weapon. Fifteen other looking for the two teenagers. police to put it down. prisoners were lightly wounded, Inmates Killed and Injured along with 15 wardens according to several reports. The Massada Unit, in Nigerian Prison Riots which is considered one of Israel’s At least two prison inmates were leading riot dispersal and hostage killed and at least 20 injured in the rescue units – the army and police northern Nigerian city of Kano fol- have often borrowed its services – lowing violent clashes with wardens quelled the uprising. Major General and police over a foiled jail break on Eli Gavison, head of the prison September 1. “There was an attempt system’s southern district, confirmed by inmates of the central prison to that jailers had fired “nonlethal scale the walls and escape but war- objects” at the crowd, and that dens were able to crush the attempt,” caused the prisoner’s injury. He refused said Baba Mohammed, Kano police to specify the exact “nonlethal spokesman. When they were means” the wardens had used, brought out of their cells they started explaining that the nature of the rioting and pelting wardens with equipment used by their specialized stones and other objects. riot dispersal unit is classified. How- ever, he did say that the mortally A Test of Strength wounded prisoner was hit in the head In mid-September, a riot of teenage by a small bag filled with pellets of inmates in a St Petersburg, Russia some kind. Regulations state that remand center was labeled a “test of wardens are only allowed to fire “I suppose the people here are against the prison. But let us imagine strength” for new authorities at the these missiles at the prisoners’ legs, that the prison is the enemy. That it is a monster with teeth, claws, a center, known colloquially as Kresty, and Gavison insisted that all the war- mouth to devour you, a stomach to digest you and an arse to shit you the city’s Federal Correctional Service dens had obeyed this rule. However, out. A threatening, shapeless colossus that you can curse, that you Department (FCSD) said. “Criminal he said, the prisoner in question was can throw stones against without changing anything, something structures wanted to check the new bending down at the time; hence the head of Kresty for strength,” Interfax against which you can’t do anything. And yet, this is not true. It is a sachet struck his head. The raid, in wrenched vision, a product of the suggestion. The monster doesn’t quoted Eduard Petrukhin, deputy which 535 wardens participated, have any nails, no teeth, it has nothing. It is a specific social head of FCSD, as saying. He said the began as the wardens were searching FCSD managed “to calm down teen- the prison’s security wing for weap- machinery that functions in a certain way, according to some mecha- agers with the help of words” because ons and information about possible nisms, but it has its cracks and weaknesses that you can attack. the FCSD doesn’t have the right to escape plans by prisoners. However, There is a big difference between attacking the prison in a symbolic use weapons against them. The riot when the jailers entered the ward, the way – verbally, a bit desperately, some sort of light despair. There is began unexpectedly when a group of prisoners began rioting, throwing a big difference between this and the real attack on the prison, modest teenage inmates went for a walk. vegetables and other objects at the as it may be, even if it is not decisive, even if it turns out to be a little Suddenly two young men began wardens, and took apart their beds guerilla war that bothers an enemy that you can’t really destroy. But breaking the locks in the yard. Others and used them as clubs with which without always letting the initiative to be taken by the enemy, without followed their example and also began to attack the IPS officials. Some of letting it to take control of your life; on the contrary, it is taking your breaking locks in other yards. Two the prisoners also set fire to the tents life in your own hands to ban the domination. inspectors tried to calm down the in which they are housed, destroy- teenagers. However, stones and ing 10 of them before the blaze was Ð from an interview with comrades of Autonomous Groups from Spain in the seventies, pieces of bricks were thrown and an extinguished. Coppel, tunnels and other contributions of Autonomous Groups, 2004. Page 63 SPRING/SUMMER ‘08 ISSUE Laughing in the Face of Power by a disgruntled animal with a sense of humor Comedy is a complex phenomenon, always shifting with the such as Bill Hicks and Dave Chappelle. Hicks, a libertarian socialist tides of individual lives and the momentum of societies. I wonder who described his style as “Chomsky with dick jokes,” struggled to gain sometimes if the Upper Paleolithic language users relished the spon- exposure with wider audiences beyond the college indoctrinated taneous expression of comedic communication. Maybe a joke was anarcho-activists and postmodernists salivating in their dreams of freely given for a piece of gathered fruit or a portion of hunted meat. techno-utopias. Maybe Cro-Magnon jesters mocked the emergent specialized role of All the while Uncle Tom comedian extraordinaire Bill Cosby, along the shaman, quipping about the imaginary people in the sky our priest with a host of zombifying sitcoms, kept the comedy of the “good old claimed to comprehend, or maybe they playfully pointed out the days” alive and well, pandering to the feelings of family disintegration loss of connection and wholeness creeping into the crevices of life and moral subordination felt by somnambulists while feeding the through the symbolic realm of language. It is conceived from anthro- corporate coffers with profits from recycled rubbish. The end of the pological studies that modern day foragers, for example the Kung millennium saw the advent of the tame and uninspiring Daily Show, San of Southern Africa, often keep hierarchies minimal or non-existent essentially a conduit for her majesty’s loyal opposition to voice piece- by poking fun at those who seek power meal grievances over such cutting edge over autonomous beings.1. Did our concerns as, “Is Bush a bad person?” sense of humor as a perpetual leveling and “Should I drive a hybrid or ride a mechanism directed towards the bicycle to my lame ass job?” Although Machiavellis of the forest and savannah I have gotten an occasional chuckle diminish during the preceding period from some performers, the bleak abyss before the beginning of civilization, that is civilized comedy leaves me won- creating an aura of seriousness around dering if Waldorf and Statler are the lone the actions and pronouncements of time torch carriers of a radical humor that as keepers, domesticators, and architects? they say, will “bite you good,” even if Although it may never be revealed with false teeth. what role comedy played in the mainte- If the dynamic duo ever pondered the nance of the Pleistocene wilderness life possibility of becoming the misfit three or what role its demise may have played musketeers, George Carlin may be the in moving us into the emotionally and only comedian with enough pizzazz physically distancing dance of death we and critique to handle the cuddly now inhabit, the second half of the 20th curmudgeon’s unique recipe for hot century saw the appearance of numer- sauce. Originating in the suit and tie ous “square” and “hip” comedians who atmosphere of business as usual, Carlin each play their role in propping up the began his odyssey to the outer limits of electrified Frankenstein monster con- jovial observation, anarchistic anger, suming the biosphere. The squares, and misanthropic indictment when the aided by those lovely inventions of clean cut image of acceptability was human ingenuity such as the radio and abandoned for the dark satire and witty television, assaulted our senses with a musings of a man on a mission to shatter barrage of calculated catharsis designed the illusions of a fool’s paradise and to stand us up against a wall of concoct such catchy sayings as “Fuck productionist domination. Flocking in hope.” Digging deep beneath the web droves to the good shepherds of conser- of manipulation spun by a broad vative comedy, worker and boss alike spectrum of megalomaniacal authority could experience the brief relief from industrial alienation by unleashing figures, such as political demagogues, corporate scoundrels, religious a few hearty laughs in reaction to unoffending offerings unable to bamboozlers, imperialist prick wavers, racist persecutors, homophobic threaten, in even a minimal way, deeply ingrained ideologies. The wife beaters, education enthusiasts, obsessed parents, pigs on the beat, hipsters, often associated with various counter-cultural movements antiseptic medical aficionados, scientific planet hoppers, liberal and lifestyles, arose as the backlash to staid and respectable comedy. feminists, yuppie environmentalists, and bipedal sympathizers Challenging certain elements of the status quo while leaving even enthralled with creativity, one would be hard-pressed to find an more unexamined, comedians from Lenny Bruce to Richard Pryor set aspect of the Brave New World left unscathed from Carlin’s 70-year the tone for future dabblers in reformist political and social comedy long romp through the wasteland. GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 64 With a vast array of material that constantly stays fresh without weak immune system!” Oh I bet that one’s gonna piss off a bunch of catering to expectations or standards, his analysis of contemporary soap fiends and shampoo addicts who yearn for universal healthcare problems is done with zest and relevance to those concerned with and maybe even ruffle a few feathers amongst some eco-villagers feral praxis. It seems to me, however, that Carlin has either become who want to keep immunizations and medical research. I say let the more radical with age or decided that starting in 1990 he would bring b.o. flow and nature run rampant! to fruition the thoughts he always felt but less frequently disseminated Ascending the scale of cellular complexity, we come to children and on stage in earlier decades. The past 17 years of his output are the best parenting. In the tradition of ancient cynics and animaltarians,2. Carlin source for aspiring insurrectionary wisecrackers who may be looking suggests that if we truly want to help children, the best way has always for jocular euphoria, intriguing been to “leave them the fuck theoretical investigations, or alone!” Not put more money into practical strategic proposals. education or develop alternative Engaging a career long exami- schools or tote them around town nation of language, especially the in search of meaningless struc- connection between its euphe- ture like baseball teams or have mistic characteristics and the them signed up for college while construction of belief systems, they’re still shitting in their has been a mainstay of Carlin’s diapers or have the kids run out attempt to strip us of the veneers of the indoctrination factories placed over our eyes by disci- and onto the streets for a ritual- plinarian institutions. In a 1982 ized protest against the problem interview, he stated, “language is of the week. Some say we need a tool for concealing the truth.” to motivate kids. But as Carlin There are way too many classic points out, the motivated ones examples of Carlin demonstrating are sowing seeds of havoc like the ridiculousness of our every- genocide, ecocide, and the day uses of language that will immiseration of daily life. Carlin have you in tears of laughter, feels that the more in touch we are however, his segment on political with our sexuality as youngsters, the parlance in relation to war induced more we grow into cooperative death and suffering of others and games naturally through personal the reality concealing way in experiences that will have meaning which we use words to evade our in adult life. The less interference own mortality, although not his we have from neurotic parents funniest, cuts right through the who construct child fetishes where heart of two core methods of toddlers become cult objects, we mystification. He also scrutinizes will be more in tune with our- another machination of language selves and nature. Doesn’t sound mongers enthroned on a pedestal too different then the child of deceit, the Sanctity of Life. Fusing an interrogation of anti-abortion growth/parental interaction described by Colin Turnbull who studied proponents and anthropocentric myth makers, I’ll let the man speak the Mbuti foragers of the Congo rainforest.3. A green-anarchist for himself. “People say life begins at conception, I say life began parenting philosophy would best be served by not only exploring the about three billion years ago and it’s a continuous process. It’s one of widest possible range of peoples who lived wild existences and how these things we tell ourselves so we’ll feel noble. Life is sacred. Makes they interacted with their children, but also by a desire to skillfully you feel noble. Even with all this stuff we preach about the sanctity of combine the love impulse with the anti-authoritarian passion that life, we don’t practice it. Look at what we’d kill: Mosquitos and flies. allows us to laugh at our overbearance when the line between care ‘Cuz they’re pests. Lions and tigers. ‘Cuz it’s fun! And you might and control blurs. have noticed something else. The sanctity of life doesn’t seem to The final two facets of Carlin’s creed I will discuss are both related apply to cancer cells, does it? You rarely see a bumper sticker that to agency in the collapse of civilization, the first of which continues says ‘Save the tumors.’. Or ‘I brake for advanced melanoma.’. No, looking at the problem of care and control dangerously mixing. Part viruses, mold, mildew, maggots, fungus, weeds, E. Coli bacteria, the of the problem is the training in agency we’ve received from crabs. Nothing sacred about those things. So at best the sanctity of imprisoners of ecosystems in the form of not only destruction but life is kind of a selective thing. We get to choose which forms of life management. If it is true, as some have suggested for thousands of we feel are sacred, and we get to kill the rest. Pretty neat deal, huh?” years throughout civilization’s suicide march, that creation in general Indeed…. is an entaglement of estrangement, representation and loss of sensual Going along with the theme of microorganisms, Carlin dares us to relationship with unmediated life, Carlin also admonishes us to quell reject the health establishment’s monopoly on our perceptions. “Where our tendency to bestow a god-like importance on homo sapiens did this sudden fear of germs come from in this country? Where’s concerning supervision and intervention in uncultivated land. Although your sense of adventure? Take a fuckin’ chance will you? Besides, most people seem content “turning the beauty of nature into a fucking what d’ya think you have an immune system for? It’s for killing germs! shopping mall,” as Carlin comically points out, it is fashionable in But it needs practice, it needs germs to practice on. So if you kill all some circles to try to save individual species from extinction. But as the germs around you, and live a completely sterile life, then when Carlin warns, “don’t you see that this arrogant meddling with nature germs do come along, you’re not gonna be prepared. And never mind is what got us in trouble in the first place?” ordinary germs, what are you gonna do when some super virus comes Recognizing the ravaging that nature has taken from our 10,000 year along that turns your vital organs into liquid shit?! I’ll tell you what long hallucination and the ongoing onslaught of “sustainable energy” your gonna do ... you’re gonna get sick. You’re gonna die and you’re so we can continue paving roads to drive to the mall to buy cell phones, gonna deserve it because you’re fucking weak and you got a fuckin’ (continued on next page) Page 65 SPRING/SUMMER ‘08 ISSUE Carlin urges us to throw off the blinders. “The planet is fine. The for too long, maybe such monumental acts of rage arising from the PEOPLE are fucked. Difference. Compared to the people, the planet bowels of instinct would prompt some of us to a more penetrating is doing great. Been here four and a half billion years. The planet isn’t level of fighting back against the cyber-matrix bent on worldwide going anywhere. WE ARE! Pack your shit, folks. We’re going away. termination. But do we really need such unlikely events to occur for And we won’t leave much of a trace, either. Thank God for that. Maybe our scarred psyches to realize that although nature might in some form a little styrofoam. Maybe. The planet’ll be here and we’ll be long strike furiously as the catalyst for global collapse, our collective agency gone. Just another failed mutation. Just another closed-end biological is a force for change underutilized and diverted towards relatively mistake. An evolutionary cul-de-sac. The planet’ll shake us off like a minor achievements? As Utah Phillips once said, “The earth is dying, bad case of fleas. A surface nuisance. The planet will be here for a or more accurately being killed, and the people doing the killing have long, long, LONG time after we’re gone, and it will heal itself, it will names and addresses.” As well as key infrastructural targets without cleanse itself, ‘cause that’s what it does. It’s a self-correcting system. which the whole fucking thing would bleed to death. See I don’t worry about the little things: bees, trees, whales, snails. Do we have the courage to pull the plug, eradicate the life-support I think we’re part of a greater wisdom than we will ever understand. system that is predicated on eliminating life? As Carlin reminds us, A higher order. Call it what you want. Know what I call it? The Big “Did you ever stop and think how fragile this civilization of ours is Electron. The Big Electron...whoooa. Whoooa. Whoooa. It doesn’t that we’re so proud of? It could all probably break down within two punish, it doesn’t reward, years. It would take the it doesn’t judge at all. It complete elimination of just is. And so are we. For electricity.” The primal a little while.” anarchy that we learn Now I don’t mean to about from social scien- lambast people who have tists, our own experiences attacked the physical and speculations would manifestations of annihi- not automatically fill the lation or those who risked void; however, the estab- incarceration to liberate lishment of a void may be confined animals awaiting a sensible way of initiating torture. Hell, they’re already the conditions in which a dealing with the praetorian revival of pre-domesticated guards who protect carved and pre-symbolic life could up minds sacrificed on flourish without the scourge the altar of docility from of the machine.4. In light absorbing the poetic rhap- of current Gestapo tac- sodizing that screams hey tics, including both green Office Space cog, assembly scares and red, white and line corpse and faceless blue ones, I’d like to leave burger flipper, cast off the you with a choice that divison of labor, come comes from a heavy heart outside and revel in the with a penchant for humor. orgasmic pleasure of lush, We can participate in the unprocessed diversity. If I primal war of rewilding/ had to guess, I’d say Carlin resistance Kevin Tucker would also feel affinity speaks of 5. by learning with the nightowls frolick- the primitive skills needed ing with friendly fire and for self-sufficiency while daring rescues. After all, simultaneously turning he did recently say, “All the empire into a pile of these natural disasters ashes and debris, or we that’ve been going on, I can passively accept fucking love ‘em. I can’t Baudrillard’s simulation get enough of them. Ah, spectacle until The Day when nature’s going crazy, After Tomorrow when the throwing things around, scaring people and destroying property, I’m eco-apocalypse finally sends us packing, condemned to, as Carlin a happy fucking guy. I look at it this way... For centuries now, man puts it “float around the north atlantic for the rest of our lives on has done everything he can to destroy, defile, and interfere with beer fart contaminated couches.” nature: clear-cutting forests, strip-mining mountains, poisoning the atmosphere, over-fishing the oceans, polluting the rivers and lakes, Notes: Carlin shows can be found for free at youtube.com. Some destroying wetlands and aquifers... so when nature strikes back, and recommended titles are Doin’ It Again, Jammin In New York, Back In smacks me in the head and kicks me in the nuts, I enjoy that. I have Town, You Are All Diseased, Complaints and Grievances and Life is Worth Losing. 1.Species Traitor-An Insurrectionary Anarcho Primitivist Journal, absolutely no sympathy for human beings whatsoever. None. And no No.4, pg. 28 2.Lovejoy, Arthur and Boas, George. Primitivism and matter what kind of problem humans are facing, whether it’s natural Related Ideas in Antiquity, John Hopkins University Press, 1935 or man-made, I always hope it gets worse.” 3.Turnbull, Colin. The Forest People. Simon and Schuster, 1961. Also I find it difficult to not embrace the truth of these sentiments. If a see Species Traitor No. 4, pgs. 21-22 “Case Files in Anarcho-Ethnography grizzly bear blew up a dam, if a wolf attacked the power grid, or if 4: Games and Cooperation” 4. For a theoretical and historical look at past a shark hacked into the computer system causing massive ruptures, examples of collapse and how civilizations were re-established by elites even though servants of legality would continue to speak of “the see Schwartz, Glenn and Nichols, John. After Collapse: The Regeneration encroachment of the beasts” that has been frightening us into submission of Complex Societies, University of Arizona Press, 2006 5. Pgs. 70-110 of Species Traitor No. 4 GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 66 Oh, the pillars of the world were shaking like the legs of a drunk hot wind blew the hats off all the ladies all about town that day. Then they caught us, ran us ragged, beat us bloody, put us in a dirty cage Now we’re screaming bloody murder, we are starving Won’t see the oceanside again… …But someday this will all be gone, fast as a match can be struck, take warning for the veil is very thin. The signs aren’t difficult to read, we tread so heavy on the ground, one day the ground it may give way. –blackbird RAUM, from Coal June: Seamen Airport di Roma also manages Rome’s low-cost flights airport, Ciampino, May Be to Blame! where seven luggage handlers working (No, This Is Not a for a contracted handling firm were Feminist Conspiracy) arrested in April on charges of auction- Saint Lucia Electricity Services ing jewelry, cameras and mobile Limited (Lucelec) reported phones they had pilfered from passing several acts of sabotage on luggage, often belonging to tourists FurtherFurther SymptomsSymptoms company infrastructure. A se- arriving from the UK. ries of incidents which began on June 17, the effective date of planned strike action by the September: Natural Gas ofof thethe System’sSystem’s Seamen, Waterfront and Gen- Pipelines Sabotaged eral Workers Trade Union, A fired utility company welder accused continued throughout June. of sabotaging dozens of natural gas Several high voltage power pipelines in Arizona, at one point MeltdownMeltdown stations were set ablaze, causing a blowout and that required disrupting power to nearby evacuations, was sentenced to five areas. The saboteurs also years in prison. Thomas Lee Young tampered with locks on vari- was also ordered by a federal judge ous switching devices. to pay more than $245,000 resti- tution to Southwest Gas and undergo WORKPLACE August: Slackers and three years of supervised release. Cox technicians reportedly restored Federal authorities accused him of SABOTAGE service within hours. Thieves Handling Baggage sabotage 30 times from 2000 to 2003. “Hacking – intruding into and Travelers were stuck for hours waiting He tampered with valves and other May: Hacker Knocks Out causing damage to a computer for their luggage at Rome’s Fiumicino pipeline components. An incident on system – is a serious crime,” said airport. Italy’s civil aviation chief, Vito Nov. 6, 2000, caused pipes to blow Telecommunication U.S. Attorney David E. Nahmias. Riggio, accused handling staff of sabo- out of the ground, damaged gas A Cox Communications employee “Such electronic attacks threaten taging the luggage belts up to 10 times meters in thousands of homes and pleaded guilty to hacking into the our nation’s technological infra- a day to ease the fast pace of their forced evacuations the company said. telecom company’s computer system, structure, and we will aggressively working day and to win some valuable Young pleaded guilty earlier this knocking out service in several parts investigate and prosecute them.” overtime. He is demanding a police year in a deal with prosecutors to of the country. William Bryant, of According to the government, investigation based on video evidence destruction of an energy facility. Norcross, GA., faces a maximum sen- Bryant’s manager asked him to resign which showed chewing gum stuck on Prosecutors also said Young wrote tence of 10 years in prison and a his position and leave the company. luggage bar code readers and con- threatening letters to Southwest Gas $250,000 fine for the May 6 incident. After that, the disgruntled employee veyor belts deliberately immobilized and the Arizona Corporation Com- The US Attorney’s Office reported that attacked the Cox network. He pleaded with suitcases, nails, or plastic bags. mission, which oversees utilities, and his attack crashed sections of the guilty in federal district court to one “How is it possible that at an inter- said he would sabotage pipelines if company’s system, causing the loss count of knowingly causing the national airport like Rome there are the company did not reinstate retire- of computer and telecommunications transmission of information to a delinquents who, in order to work ment benefits for all employees fired services for Cox customers through- computer used in interstate commerce, less or perhaps put in some over- since 1994 and provide two months’ out Dallas, Las Vegas, New Orleans, and as a result intentionally and time, send the whole airport into severance pay. and Baton Rouge. The outage in- without authorization causing dam- crisis, inconveniencing passengers cluded emergency 911 services. age to that computer. around the world?” he asked. (continued on next page)

Page 67 SPRING/SUMMER ‘08 ISSUE unidentified individuals stole many as eight ball bearings – as large several devices of electrical as golf balls – were intentionally put equipment, including 18 bat- in the tracks. They were first noticed teries, a machine for battery by one of the streetcar drivers. testing, and two air condition- “Would it have caused any damage? ers among other appliances. Maybe not. In a straight section of According to EDM, should track, the car might be able to just severe breakdowns occur in crush it,” said Ethan Melone, of the Maquinino substation, the entire Seattle Department of Transportation. network could crash, forcing a “But it has some potential to cause a general power cut throwing its minor derailment.” 600,000 inhabitants into com- Many bicyclists say they are plete darkness. against the new system. They pro- EDM’s distribution director tested against the streetcar last night in Beira, Vaz Goba Calenco, de- – especially the rails in the road that scribed the situation as extremely can be tricky on bike tires. Since the worrying, as the entire protection streetcar is operated by Metro, the was amputated, rendering the King County Sheriff’s Department is whole system inoperative. Ac- handling the case. They say the person cording to Calenco, the thieves or people who did this could face “reck- also removed five spares of less endangerment” charges if caught brand new circuit breakers and – and that’s a felony. The city says, coverings of the electrical ca- because of this incident, they’ll be in- bling, leaving them exposed to specting the tracks more closely now. the elements. This is the third substation that Guwahati: Optical Fiber has fallen victim to the thieves in the current year. Two others Sabotage On the Rise that were also vandalized are Sabotage of optical fiber cables is located in the neighborhood of proving to be a major concern for Macuti and downtown of Beira. BSNL telecom provider, even as it The town of Beira has five inter- was rapidly expanding its facilities in mediate substations. the state. Mr Rajaram said, ‘’Sabotage of our optical fibers is emerging as the biggest headache for the Assam Mexico: circle. ‘’ He said as many as 499 Gas Pipelines Attacked cases were recorded, but none of In early July, Mexico’s govern- the miscreants could be nabbed so ment called a series of gas far. ‘’ If the cuts are due to some INFRASTRUCTURE Vancouver, Canada: pipeline explosions a threat to the construction works, we have nothing Traffic Lights Hacked nation’s democratic institutions and to complain. But there has been a vowed to step up security after a regular sabotage and it has become SABOTAGE Police are now looking at the possibility guerrilla group claimed responsibil- a major concern now, ‘’ he said. sabotage may be to blame for the traf- ity for the blasts. The Interior Depart- Chicago, IL: fic chaos in Vancouver on September ment said it would take measures to Train Tracks Undermined 28. Someone claiming to be a mem- protect “strategic installations” ber of CUPE is taking responsibility for across Mexico after an explosion at a COLLAPSES Chicago Metra called in the FBI and causing the problems. The city says notified the US Department of Home- pipeline run by the state-owned the computer that controls traffic lights Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, and Late July, Barcelona, Spain: land Security when a track repair across town was somehow set back crew found 12 spikes missing from two other blasts that rocked gas Electricity Outage Stops City seven hours. As a result, there were ducts. The rebel statement said a 14-foot section of the northbound The collapse of a single power cable shorter green lights and no advance “three combined squads of urban and express track. Metra has stepped up left 350,000 homes without electricity, left turns. Police still haven’t confirmed rural units ... have carried out surgical inspection and monitoring of its entire paralyzed the metro system and road anything suspicious, and union leaders harassment actions by placing eight six-county rail system, but three days traffic, forced hospitals to cancel op- are denying their members hacked into explosive packs on the Pemex pipe- of heightened inspections have turned erations, trapped people in elevators, the system. lines.” Posted on a Web site that up no problems elsewhere. Metra forced shops and restaurants to serves as a clearinghouse for bulle- spokesperson, Judy Pardonnet, said close when lights, stoves, and cash Mozambique: tins from armed groups, the state- the tracks had been checked and were machines failed, silenced mobile ment demanded the release of two normal the day before. Substation Damaged phones, and prompted police to double men detained in southern Oaxaca FBI spokesperson, Ross Rice, said The town of Beira, capital of the central street patrols to discourage looting. State in May, and others it identified “nothing has been ruled in or out,” province of Sofala of Mozambique, has Electricity authorities explained that as political prisoners. and said no one has claimed respon- fallen victim to sabotage of electrical the collapsed cable produced an over- sibility or called in a threat to either systems in the suburb of Maquinino. load that created “a very strong short Metra or federal officials. According to the publicly owned com- Seattle,WA: Streetcar circuit” in neighboring substations. They Pardonnet said gunshots were pany EDM huge damages have been Tracks Compromised ruled out a surge in demand, sabotage inflicted to their substation in that area. fired June 6 and 8 at two Electric Someone may have tried to sabotage or poor maintenance as causes of the The substation sustained severe dam- District trains on the same tracks the South Lake Union Streetcar on failure. Luis Atienza, the chairman of the ages, disabling the whole protection two miles to the south, near the its first day in service in mid-December. Electrical Network, said he did not know system against breakdowns, when Stewart Ridge station. City transportation officials say as why the cable collapsed. GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 68 August, Briaud, a civil engineer with the Texas suburbs as he crashed through fences German Farmer Attacks Transportation Institute. “It’s the and into mobile phone towers, tele- Minneapolis, MN: number one killer of bridges,” he communication relay sheds, and an Police with Muck Spreader Oh, the Bridges Falling said. “If you create a hole around the electrical sub-station. It is believed On August 8, a German farmer angry bridge support, then the foundation Patterson used to be a telecommu- with police for trying to confiscate Down! Falling Down! cannot carry the load of the deck.” nications worker and he thought he his tractor wrecked three patrol cars The bridge that lies crumpled in the Jerome F. Hajjar, professor of had been damaged by mobile phone and evaded capture for seven hours Mississippi River is the latest link to structural engineering at the Univer- radio waves. before an elite unit managed to arrest fail in a national highway system sity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, The Australian Mobile Telecommu- him. The farmer, 53, was pulled rapidly deteriorating under the strain said the American Society of Civil nications Association has said the over by police for driving his trac- of ever-increasing traffic volume and Engineers has been warning for electromagnetic radiation emitted tor without a license. The officers inadequate upkeep, transportation years that the nation needs to devote from mobile phone towers didn’t pose called in three patrol cars for help experts said. Once the sturdy pride of more attention to its aging bridges. a health risk. “The emissions from before asking the farmer to get out post-war America, the federal inter- “Each bridge is different, and each towers are incredibly low...well below of his vehicle. He refused, and pro- state system is now a vast network of bridge needs to stand up,” he said. the Australian standard,” association ceeded to ram the cars with his tractor, aging roads and bridges, including “Collapsing is not an option.” chief executive Chris Althaus said. making full use of its attached muck many – such as the span that collapsed Althaus said the World Health spreader and hydraulic fork. Officers in Minneapolis – that engineers con- Organisation and “countless interna- were only just able to scramble out sider deficient or obsolete. tional bodies” had all concluded there of harm’s way. The farmer then drove Despite record spending on high- Misc. Meltdown was no link between mobile towers into a forest, where he eluded a ways, experts and engineers said and “adverse health outcomes”. manhunt involving two helicopters federal funds aren’t enough to save The Not-so-Friendly Skies The owner of the tank, Greg Morris, and an armored car for seven hours. the interstate system’s half-century A British Airways pilot made an said his Armoured Personnel Carrier He was finally found by an elite old bridges and 47,000 miles of high- emergency landing an hour before (APC) is “trashed” – but he has police team in a barn on his farm in way from further decay, as a network the plane was due to land in Heathrow. vowed to repair it. He said Patterson Lauterbach, in central Germany. “In designed to connect the nation teeters A passenger on the Boeing 747, car- was a “great guy” who had helped the countryside we’re used to people under a crush of commuter traffic. rying 290 passengers from Lagos in restore the tank last year. “The prob- going at police with muck spreaders, “We’re falling further and further Nigeria, reclined his seat, which lem he had wasn’t with me. It’s just but this was something else,” a police behind,” said Robert Poole, director annoyed another passenger. When that [the tank] was what he needed spokesman said. The farmer faces of transportation studies at Reason the recliner refused to put the seat to do what he’s done.” charges of assault and resisting police. Foundation and an adviser to the back up the complainer punched him Federal Highway Administration. and sparked a mid-air riot. Twenty According to a 2005 Highway people were caught up in the mass Administration report, more than brawl at 30,000ft, using fists, 75,000 of the nation’s roughly bottles, and belts. 600,000 bridges – 13.1 percent – Earlier this month a drunken were rated “structurally deficient,” bridegroom on a flight home from meaning some components of the his honeymoon in Mexico forced a bridges’ decks or support structures jet to be diverted from Manchester were rated poor or worse. While not to Ireland after he became unruly. necessarily unsafe, the structurally And another air rage drunk, a pas- deficient designation often requires senger was jailed for a year this speed and weight restrictions to month after admitting affray follow- lessen the risk of collapse. don’tdon’t letlet itit bringbring ing a romp in the bathroom with Senate Majority Leader Harry M. his fiancé. That flight had to be di- Reid (D-Nev.) called the Minneapolis youyou down,down, verted from its course to Jamaica. bridge collapse a “wake-up call...We have all over the country crumbling it’sit’s onlyonly castlescastles infrastructure – highways, bridges, Bus Accident Sparks Riot burning . . . dams – and we really need to take a Indian authorities say riot police in burningburning ...... hard look at this,” Reid said in a New Delhi fired tear gas to disperse television interview. an angry crowd after a bus crashed “A majority of the interstate bridges into a group of pedestrians, killing in this country are [at the end of] seven people. Crowds of angry service life,” said Ronaldo T. “Nick” people blocked streets and beat up Nicholson, the Virginia Department the driver of the Blue Line bus. The of Transportation’s manager for the privately operated Blue Line buses Woodrow Wilson Bridge project. “In can often be seen speeding and Minnesota, they were trying to extend breaking traffic laws to beat their the life rather than replace it.” competitors to pick up passengers. Though engineers have not yet The buses have killed more than determined why the Minneapolis 85 people this year. bridge failed, bridge experts said its collapse was not necessarily the Stolen Tank Used to result of a physical breakdown. Of the 1,502 recorded bridge failures Destroy Infrastructure between 1966 and 2005, almost 60 John Robert Patterson, of Dharruk, percent were caused by soil erosion allegedly stole a 1967 British tank around the underwater bridge leading officers for a 90 minute supports, according to Jean-Louis tromp through six western Sydney

Page 6969 SPRING/SUMMERSPRING/SUMMER ‘‘0808 ISSUEISSUE “terrorism” enhancement. Her ruling stated that a federal crime of terrorism “does not require a substantial risk of injury.” While the Note: terrorism enhancement was ruled to be This information is generally applicable, each defendant could always changing, so check present arguments about his or her individual “Operation situation at sentencing. During the following the websites provided for hearings, all defendants apart from Kendall the most up-to-date news. Backfire” Tankersley, Darren Thurston and Jonathan Paul received terrorism sentencing enhancements. The individual sentencing hearings began Update with sentencing for those who had cooperated with the government and informed on others. These snitches’ sentences were as follows: and Other Related Stanislas Meyerhoff: 156 months (formally charged for conspiracy, counts of arson/ State attempted arson from seven different incidents, when the Swine plus one count of destruction of an energy facility.); Kevin Tubbs: 151 months (conspiracy start to squeal, Repression plus eight incidents involving arson/attempted arson.); Chelsea Gerlach: 108 months (conspiracy, five incidents involving arson/attempted arson, you better run News plus one count of destruction of an energy facility.); Darren Thurston: 37 months (conspiracy Introduction face a mandatory minimum sentence of 35 plus one count arson.); Suzanne Savoie: 51 Over two years have passed since the first years in prison if convicted on all charges. months (conspiracy plus two incidents arrests of “Operation Backfire”, a nationwide Similar to the defendants in the District of involving arson/attempted arson.); Kendall roundup by the federal government against Oregon, Waters is being faced with the Tankersley: initially, 46 months (conspiracy individuals considered to be environmental testimony of those taking “full cooperation” plus one incident involving arson/attempted and animal liberation radicals. On December deals with the government. Unlike any of the arson.). Tankersley’s sentence was reduced a 7, 2005, the FBI arrested seven people in four Oregon federal defendants, she has not entered further five months, to 41 months, at a hearing different states, accusing them of various acts into any plea deal, and will assert a vigorous on August 3, 2007. of sabotage, most of which were claimed defense at trial. Waters maintains her absolute The four District of Oregon defendants under the names of the Animal Liberation innocence on all charges. In addition to this who entered into plea deals but who refused Front (ALF) or the Earth Liberation Front Washington federal case, there is evidence of to implicate or give testimony against others (ELF). The “Backfire” cases were originally the federal government continuing its “Backfire” were sentenced next:Exile (Nathan Block) and based on allegations as well as body-wire campaign with investigations into the so-called Sadie (Joyanna Zacher): 92 months each recordings supplied by Jacob Ferguson of “Midwest ELF”. The authorities appear to be (conspiracy plus two incidents involving Eugene, Oregon. Government prosecution assisted in this latest campaign by an informant arson/attempted arson.); Daniel McGowan: 84 efforts were strengthened and arrests increased named Ian Wallace. Although we cannot months (conspiracy plus two incidents involving when several other targeted individuals assumed provide specifics on the nature of Wallace’s arson/attempted arson.); Jonathan Paul: 51 snitch roles under the threat of lengthy sentences. claims to investigators, it should be noted that months (conspiracy plus one count of arson.). One of those arrested on December 7, 2005— informant testimony is in general highly un- Paul’s lawyer disputed this sentence, but it Bill Rogers (AKA “Avalon”) of Prescott, reliable, as informants are prone to making was upheld by Judge Aiken at a hearing on Arizona—refused to cooperate with the gov- up stories in order to assure the government August 1, 2007. ernment and instead committed a “jail that they are indeed being helpful. Anybody All those sentenced are now in federal break” suicide two weeks following his arrest. approached by government investigators in prison (Paul was the last to enter prison, Responsibility for this death lies with the Fed- this latest phase of “Backfire” is encouraged self-surrendering at FCI Phoenix on October eral Bureau of Investigation, all cooperating to seek out not only legal assistance, but also 31, 2007.) Meanwhile, Jacob Ferguson, government agencies, as well as informants solid community support. whose informant activity enabled the entire such as Ferguson and Stanislas Meyerhoff (who “Backfire” roundup—and who was involved has the dishonor of being the first Oregon District of Oregon Sentencings in a large number of the fires prosecuted federal defendant to begin blabbering to the under this government campaign—finally Formal sentencings for the District of Oregon Feds following his December 7 arrest). entered a plea deal on October 26, 2007 for defendants began on May 15, 2007, with a The “Backfire” cases in Eugene’s District just one count of arson and one count of hearing on the issue of “terrorism enhance- of Oregon court have now resulted in plea attempted arson. During this hearing, it was ments”, designed to label the defendants as deals for all of those arrested. Ten defendants revealed that Ferguson signed a plea deal “terrorists” despite the fact that their sabotage were formally sentenced last year, and are now with the authorities on September 17, 2004. exclusively targeted property. During this serving their prison terms. Four of these ten Prosecutors have recommended that hearing, federal prosecutors went so far as defendants took plea deals which did not Ferguson not serve prison time, and that he to compare the eco-sabotage defendants to involve incriminating or providing informa- not be required to pay any restitution white supremacists and members of the Klan. tion against anyone else. They now deserve (which will allow him to hang on to his Judge Ann Aiken ruled on May 21 that acts our firm support. In a different venue, Briana reward money.) Ferguson’s formal sentencing committed within the eco-sabotage conspiracy Waters is currently set to begin trial in early has been pushed back several times. It is at attempted to influence or affect the conduct February at the federal Western District of present scheduled for April 1, but may certainly of government, or to retaliate against the Washington court at Tacoma. Waters could be delayed again. government, and thus could qualify for the GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 70 We encourage support for the four non- cooperating defendants. Their addresses are First Epistle: listed on page 43 and their support groups may be contacted as follows: Phoenix From the Flames Solidarity with Sadie and Exile: [email protected] Family and Friends of Daniel McGowan PO Box 106, New York NY 10156-106l. org www.supportdaniel.org Friends of Jonathan Paul: PMB 267, 2305 Ashland St. Ste. C, by Sadie and Exile Ashland, OR 97520 (prosecuted by the state as Joyanna Zacher and Nathan Block) www.supportjonathan.org Now that we have been sentenced we have the Those who have signed their cowardly alle- opportunity to ease our reticence concerning our giance to the state and through the state to those situation and would like to candidly address a powers that seek to prostitute and obliterate the Briana Waters Trial few points. natural world, as well as strip-mine our souls, Briana Waters was arrested on March 30, 2006, Firstly, we would like to offer our sincere and clearcut our minds and pollute our very being, and charged with participation in an arson at heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has offered are not only directly responsible for our im- the University of Washington Center for Urban support and solidarity with us since we were kid- prisonment, having given the state our physical Horticulture in 2001. Waters, a young mother, napped by the state and held prisoner for these description, names and legal names, along with was released from custody soon afterwards, past sixteen months. To each and every individual statements on our involvement in Direct Action, and has consistently asserted her innocence. who has offered material support through mon- both witnessed and in conjecture. etary, postal or other means, and also to those No, they hold not only that burden of responsi- In May 2006, the government issued a super- who through their voice or in their hearts have bility. Some of them hold responsibility, and the seding indictment which added a “destructive stood in alignment with us, and in opposition to others a deep dishonor, for the death of a dear device” charge for Waters. This charge carries cooperation with or apology to the state—we friend and one of the most gentle and pure- a mandatory minimum sentence of 35 years if would extend a most honest thanks. Your flame hearted beings ever to be found, namely Avalon she is convicted of all charges at trial.) Waters’ burns bright. (or Bill Rodgers). trial is currently set to begin on February 11 It has been extremely heartening to know that Most importantly, those who now work in collabo- in the Western District of Washington federal there are those who stand with us when it seems ration (under the innocuous term ‘cooperation’) court at Tacoma. that so many whose strength we once consid- with the same powers which they once felt com- On January 7, 2008, US District Judge ered unassailable have had their roots dislodged pelled to raise themselves in opposition to, have Franklin Burgess denied a request by Waters’ and their honor torn asunder. Those who hear in their wicked apostasy, desecrated the sacred the call of Direct Action should not fear the pros- covenant that exists between nature and those lawyer to have a hearing on evidence of pro- pect of imprisonment if those, or those similar who align themselves with the very Element of secutorial misconduct in this case. Members of to, who have supported us continue to act in such Fire and the very Essence of Destruction in the the public were barred from attending Waters’ a responsible and dignified manner in support defense of the Wild. subsequent pretrial hearing on January 29. and solidarity with those of us who have attracted Perhaps these vile turncoats deserve compas- Twelve days before, government prosecutors the wrath of the state. Again, a great thanks to sion, in the same way that all creatures deserve filed a list of 47 witnesses which they intend all who have assisted us and continue to do so. compassion, and indeed they once deserved to call at trial—mostly people such as federal That said, it has come to our attention that acclaim for their physical deeds, but now they investigators and fire experts, but also including perhaps through naivete and perhaps through the deserve neither praise nor forgiveness, for in the Jennifer Kolar and Lacey Phillabaum, who deliberate spreading of misinformation, there hour when the struggle returned for them, when has been some confusion over who amongst the the predator had once again become the prey, agreed to testify against Waters as part of their indictees is worthy of prisoner support; meaning they failed in spirit and resolve cowardly breaking own Western District of Washington federal to us: who has NOT made statements implicating long held oaths and begging for mercy from their plea deals, plus District of Oregon informants others, as the purpose of such statements is the captors, hoping to gain leniency by offering as a Stanislas Meyerhoff and Suzanne Savoie. further prosecution and imprisonment of others. sacrifice to the alter of a perverted ‘justice’ their (Another familiar name on the government’s Let us make this clear: all those amongst the former friends, trusted colleagues and any dignity list is Heather Moore of Olympia, Washington, indictees who have been apprehended, other they once held. who earlier assisted the government after than Ms. Waters, Mr. McGowen, Mr. Paul, Let the spirits of imprisonment, treason and receiving a grand jury subpoena in 2006.) obviously the authors of this piece; the so-called weak delusion haunt the atrophied vision of those As stated previously, informant testimony is Ms. Zacher and Mr. Block, and sadly Mr. who would turn their backs to the flame of Green notoriously unreliable, as informants often feel Rodgers, have dishonored themselves, their Fire that burns in all our beings; and let those of families and the very lineage of struggle which us who heed the calls so often ignored stand motivated to invent stories so as to appease they themselves were once an integral part of, upright, with clear vision, whether illuminated the government. No direct physical evidence by becoming vicious traitors and handmaids of by the great Sun or by a more obscure Light, appears to link Waters to the University of the state. To actively support these indictees who which rides with the night terror with all crea- Washington fire. have been apprehended but not aforementioned tures of the hidden hours: the clawed, the It is crucial that Waters and her family receive is to support not only our incarceration but to winged, the hoofed, and also with those beings support during this difficult time. For more wish that same fate upon many others currently referred to by the euphemisms of ‘the ancestors’, information or to make an electronic donation, living as fugitives or being sought similarly. If ‘the fair folk’, or indeed, the ‘elves’. there are those amongst you reading this who see www.supportbriana.org. Donations may air trees water animals also be made payable to Eric Waters and sent feel the need to make excuses for those respon- sible for our imprisonment, we would ask you to Sadie: Joyanna Zacher #36360-086, FCI Dublin, to PO Box 1689, Old Chelsea Station, New refrain from offering a Janus-faced ‘support’ to 5701 8th St - Camp Parks - Unit F, Dublin, CA 94568 York, NY 10113. us also, as it is completely antithetical to the Exile: Nathan Block #36359-086, FCI Lompoc, 3600 Guard Road, Lompoc, CA 93436 (continued on next page) reasons for our captivity. Page 71 SPRING/SUMMER ‘08 ISSUE never talk to pigs never talk to pigs from his FBI visit in Chicago states that The following has been recently circulated never talk to pigs agents were looking into “acts of arson and by Rod’s support campaign. Green Anarchy never talk to pigs vandalism that happened several years ago in has always pledged our support to Rod and never talk to pigs never talk to pigs Minnesota state”, while Wong’s account stated we urge others to support him: that the Minnesota police Sergeant/Joint never talk to pigs As many of you have already heard, it is Terrorism Task Force member who visited him never talk to pigs true that Rod did take a plea in the San Diego started throwing around the names of District never talk to pigs case. Of course, there are many, many of Oregon informants Kevin Tubbs and Stanislas never talk to pigs emotions equated with this, but for the most never talk to pigs Meyerhoff for no apparent reason.) The Twin part you can all guess how we feel. Up until er talk to pigs Cities Eco-Prisoner Support Committee has the very end, we were wavering, but it is now r talk to pigs reported that there was a third person subpoenaed after the fact and we are resolved to make r talk to pigs for the September 6 grand jury, but that the peace with the upcoming journey we face. talk to pigs identity of this other person has not yet been This was not a victory by any means, but a talk to pigs revealed. Both Wong and Elder made it clear talk . . . way to move on with our lives and give our through their lawyers that they intended to kids the time they need and deserve with a invoke their 5th Amendment rights at the grand present dad. We could have gone on fighting, jury, and their appearances were then called but in the end our little ones would have off. The FBI appears to be paid the biggest price….. It is, so they say, continuing with visits to an achilles heal. others across the country Below is a open letter from Rod that he in relation to the Midwest released to the public to share why he made investigation. While this his decision: campaign continues, we should be ready to stand up for Dear friends and supporters: anyone who meets harassment On December 14th, before Judge Jeffery Miller in the future. in Federal Court in San Diego, I entered a guilty plea to one count of distribution of information Rod Coronado Takes related to the assembly of explosives and weapons of mass destruction. This was the Non-Cooperating one count I have fought for almost two years now and for which I faced approximately five Plea Agreement to ten years in prison if found guilty at trial. In December, 2007, Rod Coranado’s seem- In September of 2007, a jury instead voted ingly unending legal battles ended with a plea 8-4 for acquittal and in the ensuing weeks, agreement. Back in August, 2006, Rod, along prosecutors in the case informed us that they with Matt Crozier, were sentenced for dis- would seek an additional indictment in rupting a 2004 mountain lion hunt in Sabino Washington D.C., for a speech I delivered at Grand Jury Subpoenas and Canyon. The pair were convicted in December American University in January, 2003. In 2005 for spreading false scents and pulling exchange for a guilty plea in the San Diego Ongoing Investigations up a sensor and a trap set by forest rangers. case, the U.S. government has agreed to ask The FBI seems to be continuing its eco-sabo- The charges are conspiracy to impede or injure only for a one year prison sentence, drop tage investigations. During the June 4, 2007 an officer of the United States (a felony) and pending charges in Tucson for my possession sentencing hearing for District of Oregon misdemeanor counts of interfering with a of raptor feathers and not to indict me in D.C. non-cooperating defendant Daniel McGowan, forest officer and depredation of government I am not required to testify against anyone the prosecution made references to an alleged property. Coronado, who served four years else in any other investigations, and hopefully “Midwest cell” of the ELF. Daniel McGowan, in prison in 1995 for another sabotage and this plea agreement will once and for all grant who apparently took part in an action against arson case, was sentenced to eight months in me closure in a well-known campaign of experimental trees in Rhinelander, Wisconsin prison, three years supervised probation, and repression against me for my past involvement, in 2000, has refused to name names in regards was ordered to pay restitution. Following the association and support for covert campaigns to the Midwest investigation. The government 2006 conviction Coronado was indicted on against environmental destroyers and animal named Ian Wallace as an informant in their other charges including a felony charge of abusers. It has long been my desire to put my investigations of sabotage in the Midwest. demonstrating how to use a destructive device past behind me and instead build a sustainable During this hearing, they also made a passing during a presentation he gave in San Diego a existence for myself, my wife, Chrysta, and reference to the November 5, 2001 placing of couple years back that covered how he had two children, Anheles and Maya. This decision incendiary devices (which were disarmed) at set fire to a laboratory in 1992 and more recently to take a plea bargain comes only after much the Houghton, Michigan U.J. Noblet Forestry he was charged with violating the US Fish careful consideration and a sincere desire to Building plus a U.S. Forest Service laboratory and Wildlife Service’s Bald and Golden Eagle do what is best for my family. Such uncon- at Michigan Tech University. On August 20, Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty stitutional assaults on my free speech beg for 2007, one individual in Seattle (Tony Wong) Act by possessing eagle feathers (Coronado a continued legal battle and defense, but I and one in Chicago (Brandon Elder) received is a Native-American member of the Pasqua am instead choosing to reach a settlement subpoenas to appear before a grand jury on Yaqui tribe who see eagle feathers as reli- that will allow me to move on with my life September 6 in Minneapolis, MN. Joint Ter- gious symbols. Tribal members are legally rather than face years of litigation that might rorism Task Force and FBI agents mentioned allowed to possess feathers but Coronado lead to many years in prison. Ian Wallace’s name while delivering the sub- apparently did not first obtain a necessary My children need me. I am a father first poenas in both cities, but the exact nature of permit). For more info check out the website: and foremost, and have given 20 plus years the investigation is unclear. (Elder’s account supportrod.org to the battle against corporate and government

GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 72 policies which destroy our Earth. Now it is One of the two activists, Nick Cooney, faces a charges, for both of us). Janice’s situation time to give of myself to the purpose of raising mandatory minimum of 3 years if convicted. isn’t quite as bad in that there’s no mandatory a family in these troubling times. Funds are needed to provide competent legal minimum, but both of us are facing jail time For the Earth, and all of her Children, defense. Please do what you can to help. and desperately need money for our attorneys Rod Coronado PayPal all donations to: usababylon at ASAP. We need to raise about $3,500 each hotmail dot com or mail to: 720 North 38th for the case, and very quickly. After being Thank you for all you have done for us, and Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104. released on bail back in 2005, we never set continue to do! To everyone who has been From Nick: up any support websites or put out calls for there with us, know that our hearts have assistance since the SHAC-7 trial was going continually been put at peace with your Hi, on and support was much needed there; support and kindness. There is no doubt In July of 2005 my friend Janice and I were and, because our case was for some reason that love and truth are the strongest powers, arrested and charged with a variety of not going forward. Now, we really are in need we are constantly reminded! charges in connections with two vandalisms of help from the animal rights community in New Jersey. The alleged actions were in UPDATE: We have received news that Rod’s to help us fight these charges with competent relation to the HLS campaign. For reasons lawyer from the Sabino Mountain Lion case counsel. unknown to us, the case has sat for about will be giving oral arguments to the 9th circuit If anyone can help out in any way Ð two years but now is proceeding forward. on February 11 in San Francisco, regarding organizing fundraisers, donating your- the appeal that was submitted over a self, or letting any well-off animal year and a half ago (not a fast process). rights supporters know, it would be There is a chance that the guilty verdict very much appreciated. in the mountain lion case may get over- Thanks, turned. Since Rod has already served Nick the eight-month sentence, his current probation could be lifted. Jeff “Free” Luers Eric McDavid Update As we go to print, we have still yet to Found Guilty receive word on the re-sentencing of Eric McDavid was found guilty of his Jeff. Last February (’07), the State of role in planning to destroy property of Oregon Court of Appeals unanimously the US Forestry Service, etc. He is due ruled that Free’s case will be reversed to be sentenced on December 6. He and remanded back to the Circuit faces a minimum sentence of 5 years Court for re-sentencing as a result of and a maximum sentence of 20 years. Judge Velure’s legal errors in imposing Hearing the jury deliver a guilty verdict the original sentence. It is possible he always comes as a shock to the system. could potentially get as much as 15 Therefore please send urgent letters of years taken off his 22-year sentence! support to: Eric McDavid X-2972521 Luers was convicted in 2001 for an 4E231A, Sacramento County Main arson at the Romania car dealership Jail, 651 “I” Street, Sacramento, CA and an attempted arson of Tyree Oil, 95814. both in Eugene, OR. Below is the latest mailout from his The hearing scheduled for January 8, support campaign team at: 2008, was postponed and has been [email protected]: rescheduled for February 21st in Lane This evening the jury returned a County Circuit Court in Eugene, Oregon. verdict of guilty in the case of United The date could very well change, but this States vs. Eric McDavid. Eric faces is what we have been told so far. For 5-20 years in federal prison. His updates, check out: www.cldc.org or sentencing will be on December 6 www.freefreenow.org at 9am before Judge England. Please continue to call the jail and Some Useful Websites: request that Eric be given vegan www.spiritoffreedom.org.uk/ food. Contact info can be found on www.ecoprisoners.org www.supporteric.org It is difficult to write now. More will come later. www.fbiwitchhunt.com/ Thank you all for your support. Informants.html The struggle is not over. Janice and I were indicted last week (meaning, www.bombsandshields.blogspot.com/ SPS a grand jury in NJ [not the scary kind of www.portland.indymedia.org/ grand jury] found there to be enough evidence that we should be put on trial), so there will www.cldc.org Two Arrested In Attacks Against be upcoming appearance dates and court www.security.resist.ca/ Huntingdon Life Sciences dates relatively soon. If this goes to trial and www.midnightspecial.net/ Two activists from Philadelphia have been I’m found guilty of the main charge (3rd www.nlg.org/resources/ charged with acts of sabotage against HLS degree criminal mischief), there’s a 3 year resources.htm www.nlg.org/ (Huntingdon Life Sciences) targets in New Jersey. mandatory minimum for me because of my prior convictions (6 1/2 year max for all resources/resources.htm Page 73 SPRING/SUMMER ‘08 ISSUE eviews RReviewsThe following reviews are the individual opinions of Felonious Skunk (FS) and A.Bone Obo (ABO).

2nd Maine Militia and is not shy about her feelings on self-preservation and No Hope sovereignty. In general, she has a basic by Sam Bain class analysis of the system, with Hope is often the last refuge for those who strong anarchistic, ecological, and live in times of great despair. It allows people defiant tones, but her down-to- to endure horrendous circumstances and surpass earthiness is what stuck me most. tremendous odds. But what do you do when The only phone interview, done with you live in a time when hope appears to be Derrick Jensen, was slightly moralistic at animals in order to survive global climatic nothing but a severely delusional distraction times. Yet it has some really insightful things changes. He states that this created an “Other” from an abysmal reality? I would say, take a to say about the situation we face, the brutality dynamic and a preoccupation with domination, good strong dose of some nihilistic spirits of the system, and about moving from a leading to hierarchy, etc., and civilization. mixed with the nectar of your unimpeded place without much hope, but still moving This is all interesting as a thesis, speculation, desires and live your dreams anyway, ‘cause in resistance. However, if you have already or one possibility of many factors, but when what else ya gonna do, call it quits? When one read much by Derrick, it won’t be too notable Sam challenges him on generalizing primitive sets aside the baggage of hope, and looks at or unique. people, discrepancies in his theory and research, their situation squarely and honestly, perhaps In the letters with neo-Luddite Kirpatrick and the potential problems with the “where through the eyes of a deranged lunatic (i.e. Sale, author of Rebels Against the Future and did we go wrong?” question, Sales’ ideology square peg-round hole/dreamer/instinctual After Eden: The Evolution of Human and blatant arrogance is revealed. Sale: fighter), many new possibilities open up. One Domination, “What can I say? I’ve spent three years may then find the hidden backdoors, writing a book on the evolution of human fractures and weak spots, and situa- domination that proves conclusively that tions that were there all along. Also, it was when Sapiens began hunting, some- without the burdensome framework of time in the 70,000 year ago range, that they hope, one tends to be less ideological began “modern” culture and began to live in the framing of potential outcomes. in nature in a completely new way.” Wow! No Hope is a handsome little booklet All it took was three years of library published by Portland’s Eberthardt research for him to conclusively decide Press. It is basically three interviews how it all went down. Arrogant Prick are conducted by Sam Bain with Carolyn the only words that come to mind here Chute, Derrick Jensen, and Kirpatrick (not my favorite flavor of AP). I mean, Sale. The method for two of the three I share with Sale much of the same are back-and-forth letters, adding a analysis of what civilization is doing unique twist to an often sterile format. (and has done) to the planet and us, and Sam’s intro states, “This book is without am curious as to people’s guesses as to hope, but hopefully not without inspiration.” the ways it may have become so (possibly He suggests that “questions, speculations, Sale declares his predic- useful for strategizing on how to live differ- and possibilities” might be of more use tion that the world will collapse around 2020 ently), but a mindset that can declare with than “starry-eyed proclamations”. Overall, the [I think on a Thursday at 3pm]. He suggests any sort of absolute certainty as to how it all concept, while raw and somewhat inconsistent, some noteworthy analysis of the global situ- happened or how we can move from it needs is a candid and engaging method at approaching ation and how collapse might unfold, along to be rejected along with any other dogma or a discourse. with the ideas of separatism and secession to pretension. Just one reason we might want to Carolyn Chute, author of The Beans of help break down empire and possibly create spend more time as anarchists, and less as Egypt, Maine and Snow Man is probably the self-reliant communities to better deal with anthropologists. most interesting of the three correspondences. upcoming crisis. Sam challenges all three authors, especially Chute writes plainly of her views on society In the last section he talks about the origins Sale, throughout the booklet, and offers up a and her criticisms of the left (the anti-war of civilization, the “wrong turn”, so to speak. fine selection of subjects to ponder. Looking movement in particular), as one who has been Interestingly, he finds it at 70,000 years ago, forward to another volume. (FS) constantly pushed out from it for her thoughts when he claims that humans moved from their Eberhardt Press, 3527 NE 15th #127, on militant resistance. She is involved in the role as scavengers and took to hunting large Portland, OR 97212 GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 74 emotion, and the desire to act, can be remark- Flaming Arrows ably dangerous. The state has long seen Rod purse-seine A compilation of the as a significant threat, for his alleged activities, by blackbird RAUM his words, and the calm connectedness he has works of Rod Coronado On the surface one might describe blackbird with many communities of resistance, from RAUM’s new cd, purse-seine, as a rough and by IEF Press environmentalists to anarchists to animal folky political album. I’m not a huge fan of For some of us coming into the world of liberationists to indigenous communities “political music” or so-called “music with a “radical environmentalism” (Earth First!, etc) (Rod is Yaqui). message”. Not that I like superficial bubble in the nineties, Rod Coronado was the almost Flaming Arrows begins with an assortment gum crap either. I prefer depth, cleverness, mythical eco-warrior and animal liberator of of more recent unaffiliated texts from various emotion, and passion in lyrics and in playing. our time, inspiring us to go beyond activism periodicals, including: “The ‘Case’ Against Most “political music”, however, usually falls and civil disobedience and towards a clan- Rod” (background on his legal situation), short in this regard. I can appreciate extraor- destine world of liberation “Dzil Nchaan Si An: A Warrior’s Story of dinary hip-hop (the Coup, Dead Prez, Talib and focused destruction. the Underground”, Kweli, etc) for its sound, rage, and uplifting By far the most public and “High Price of elements, but even at its most interesting, it outspoken of those who Pacifism”, and typically comes from a communistic and transformed words into “When the Weak militant black nationalist angle, one which I action, Rod has rarely Link Breaks: Deal- find hard to applaud. Punk has become too shied away from contro- ing with Snitches clichéd and sophomoric in its “message”, versy or battle. I first read and Informants”. usually limited to identity politics or liberal the descriptions of his Also included in activist-type lyrics, if there is any point to it at heartening felonious this section is his all other than self-centered indulgence, self- activities and the moti- heartbreaking Au- pity, or debauchery. The eco-activist folk vations behind them, in gust 2006 prison music genre is often even more pathetic with Strong Hearts, a zine he statement in which Earth First! sappy standards by egomaniacs produced while serving he declares himself like Daryl Cherney (who thinks he’s a lot more time in prison in the no longer a proponent clever, funny, and talented than he really is) mid-nineties. While I of so-called violent or drunken buffoons like Danny Dollenger (we did not agree with means of resistance. could print 10,000 more copies an issue just some of his moralizing Written while serving from the deposits on his emptied beer bottles). and anthropomor- close to a year for a Ok, I admit it, I am pretty discerning when it phizing, it was hard to mountain lion hunt comes to music, and the scenes I ramble be- deny his love for the sabotage, Rod, without tween do not leave me too musically inspired. earth and its creatures denouncing others who Where are the Bob Dylans or Leonard Cohens and his ceaseless have divergent views of the eco-anarchist world? People who can determination to act and without relegating move us to feel and think, not necessarily in a to protect them, and his past as a series of specific direction, but to spark self-directed more importantly, to fight mistakes, explains his inquiry and action, through song. with them. I first met Rod while he was finish- philosophical transfor- With abysmally subterranean depth, fright- ing a sentence at a half-way house in Eugene, mation towards what might loosely be described eningly moving passion, nebulous but pointed and found him just as inspiring and caring as as pacifist. There have been various specu- relevance, and caustic yet beautifully personal a person. These characteristics have always lations as to the reason for this change in emotion, blackbird RAUM, a lively gang been clear in his writing, words not of empty heart, from pre-trial public relations to of Santa Cruz rhetoric or abstract philosophising, but words fatherhhood to resigna- minstrels, sing of passion and of practice. At this point in time, tion and exhaustion after about the ten- when the particular wave of resistance of years of being one of the sions of the hu- which Rod was very much part, seems to have few on the front lines. man condition all but perished, we look desperately for sparks Regardless of the reason, and their per- to reignite our hearts. We look forward into to me, it was a disappoint- sonal conjunc- imagination and possibility, but we also look ing twist, but one that ture engulfed back for motivation and wisdom. If there is does not take away from within the in- anything in the short history and memoirs of his over twenty years of stitutions and eco-warriors and animal liberators that can be resistance. morality of a a helpful catalyst for our kind, Flaming Arrows, The majority of the book bankrupt soci- is one very likely possibility. is divided into two main ety, themes that Flaming Arrows is a compilation of writings sections, Book One: Strong politics cannot by Rod, and some not necessarily written by Hearts, and Book Two: fucking touch. him, but often attributed or pertaining to an Memories of Freedom, This place to underground cell of which he was allegedly a both offer a plethora of create from is part. It was collected, edited, and printed as a stories, ideas, emotional a catalyst for fundraiser for Rod’s ongoing legal hardships release and tales of nighttime music of inspiration and beauty, of ugliness (see State Repression section for details). action to keep one interested and inspired. (FS) and corrosively raw emotion, of open-eyed Ironically, for someone whose life has been IEF Press, PO BOX 0372 joyous destruction, and of cerebral and bodily about action, they recently attempted to Chapel Hill, NC 27514, dance. Its not music which asks us to remove convict him as a terrorist for a talk he gave. flamingarrows.mountainrebel.net certain politicians from office (either through Sometimes words, when expressed with insight, (continued on next page) Page 75 SPRING/SUMMER ‘08 ISSUE ballot or bullet), or to stop a certain oppres- The problem for some who espouse a biocentric sion or to act in a certain manner, but instead, “Thank You for perspective is that they have resigned humans to put a magnanimous question mark on the ” as no longer worthy of this status with life. whole fucking thing, to consider the brilliance Not Breeding Their “solution” is a world without humans. and horrific repulsiveness of the details, as it and Now this reaction, given the track record of attempts to scrape from its gears something Voluntary civilization and the lack of much faith in which may at least closely resemble a life. Human Extinction humans as a whole to change is somewhat Just when you were sick to death of more We are living in a time of unprecedented global understandable, but it misses some key elements anarcho-traveler hobo-types playing old-time destruction on the planet at the hands of the and offers really no solution other than global music, RAUM takes the overplayed and stale majority of one species (although, in my mind, genocidal extermination of humans, some- format and implodes it, twists it, and sharpies there is a disproportionate level of responsibility, thing which is not only difficult to achieve, it up, combining it with jug-band, punk, gypsy, determined politically and economically, but also pretty fucking deplorable. carnival, pirate, throat-scraping drinking weighing heavily on the various positions of Thank You for Not Breeding (TYFNB) and music, weirdness, fiery enthusiasm, and depth. institutional power). It is hard to imagine that Voluntary Human Extinction (VHEM), are Not to mention they are exceptionally fun. everyone doesn’t already understand this, two projects which espouse a deep ecologist With accordion, banjo, singing saw, washtub no matter what their particular response position with an interesting twist. bass, washboard, and an assortment of odd may be. Some attempt to put forth They are both extras, not to mention a cacophony of scratchy evidence and reactions steeped in very articulate and scrappy voices singing at the top of their denial and continuation of the status and convincing lungs (they told me their recent tour was fueled quo because they can think in no other of the extensive by slippery elm throat lozenges), RAUM is a terms or because of their own short-term havoc caused by pure delight to experience. Live, I couldn’t gains, others offer a technological the industrial ma- help but dance, something I am certainly not “solution” to the problem (from cyborgs terialist culture known to do (despite the revisionist quote by and genetic engineering to “green” we live in and are Emma). They have a whimsical and sponta- technologies), and some offer reac- well-constructed neous feel, a whirlwind of energy which one tionary ideological positions with projects of propa- can’t help but throw themselves into. When virtually no real praxis. Deep Ecolo- ganda with high they played on a friends farm in the little rural gists, while typically espousing an comedic value, but hippie town I live in, people I would never understanding of profound connec- both contain funda- have guessed were cheering to choruses of tions and patterns in life, tend to mental flaws and “one day this will all come down!” and smiling fall into the last category. Generally virtually no practice. at lyrics like “I look down on the city, its burning, misanthropic in their outlook, they Thank You for Not its burning, everything’s prettier at night. The tend to see humans as either no Breeding (TYFNB) flames they’re all leaping, they’re eating the longer capable of being part of is a video produced buildings, Orion laughs ‘ guerre a outrance’”. the “web of life”, or never really several years ago, and When they gave me a copy of their new cd, quite belonging. A reaction to the contains numerous purse-seine, I had the chance to listen to them anthropocentric (human-centered) brief vignettes and more earnestly and read some of the lyrics world-view, many tend to be Voluntary Human that I missed when I have heard them play aligned with a skewed version Extinction (VHEM) (my one criticism of their live show is at of biocentricism (life-centered). is a group (although it times the words are seems to be mostly this difficult to hear guy named Les U Knight) clearly). All original which tables at events, tunes, the cd is filled does speaking gigs, has a with fresh and en- website and newsletter, thusiastic playing and produces some funny bumper stickers. and poetry. These Their motto is “May we live long and die out.” folks are not shy The two projects overlap and their politics about their loathing and propaganda are basically identical and use of civilization and what they term as “facts” and humor to solve their longing for an the world’s problems by promoting an anti- authentic existence, breeding agenda. and the impolite, Both the TYFNB video and VHEM literature jagged, barbarous, acutely and amusingly describe the horrific and euphoric path devastation that modern humans are un- there, one politics leashing on the planet and themselves, but can never take. I’m the problem they miss is essentially cultural, delighted to be not biological. I do not believe, nor have I zigzagging similar ever seen anything that might lead me to terrain and look forward to more tales, Biocentrism, I believe, can be part of an believe, that humans are inherently flawed, tunes, and cavorting from blackbird engaging way of approaching relationships, intrinsically and solely self-referential, or RAUM. (FS) and is similar to the approach seen in various naturally destructive to their environment RAUM c/o Quiver Distro: PO BOX 993, uncivilized and less ritualizing indigenous (although we are capable of it, as we can over- Santa Cruz, CA 95061. perspectives, and from an anarchist per- whelmingly witness). It is how we think and anti-politics.net/raum spective, places humans in an egalitarian and how we organize ourselves, or more precisely, symbiotic relationship with all other beings. how we are organized, which creates most GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 76 of our problems (overpopulation, war, domi- Those who would criticize this nation, species extinction, environmental choice are criticizing life itself destruction, etc.). To uncritically equate humans and the beauty of creation. Obvi- to cancer cells (as both projects do) which need ously, bringing children into the to be eradicated is a frightening thought and world is just one of many ways line of reasoning, and one that does not get to to go about connecting to the the root problem, how we view the world. webs of life, but it is a significant To project how modern civilized humans one that many environmentalists act onto the history of humanity is a mistake are willing to discard and criticize and a discredit to those who did/do not live in a knee-jerk reactionary fashion. this way for so long. To equate civilization Looking around the world, I do to a cancer cell makes more sense (this is wish a lot more people had not hair splitting in the least), because of its decided to have an abortion, but structure and logic, and because there are still looking around our scenes, I wish healthy human cells that civilization has not more were open to the possi- metastasized to, and because there is still the bility of having kids, rather then giving up Thought to Exist possibility for cells to become healthy again on ourselves. (going feral). If the TYFNB and VHEM folks (and those In The Wild: Breeding (the utilitarian description these who agree with their analysis and rhetoric) ammeter scientists like to use to describe actually believe what they are saying, why Awakening from the conceiving, giving birth, and nurturing young are they still around? Why are they immune Nightmare of Zoos ones) is seen as a crime against the planet by to their final solution? Why do they see another these folks, or at least an ignorant error in 50 or so years of their self-described cancerous by Derrick Jensen and judgement. These people must pay a shrink a life as acceptable? Is it because it is just a Karen Tweedy-Holmes lot to get over the loathing and antipathy they naive and catchy project? If they believe we It appears Derrick is still grappling with the hold towards their parents for bringing their are fundamentally flawed, then what good age old question haunting certain segments of vile and depraved bodies into this world, not are they? Why don’t they follow out their the domesticated from Mesopotamia to to mention their self-hatred for staying around. logic? Think Globally Act Locally: Voluntary McDonald’s: should I blow up a dam or start Last year, when tabling at an environmental Human Extinction begins at home, but writing another book? Sometimes I think I give conference with my 3 month-old little girl, maybe they’re just not the volunteering too much credit to the anti-civ current by I was arrogantly informed by Les (VHEM’s type… (FS) assuming that many of the discussion board figurehead) that he had no aversion to either addicts, garden gurus and primitive skills her or me, and that “we all make mistakes”. Disclaimer: If it was enthusiasts seriously engage the question of He came pretty fucking somehow indisput- strategic industrial sabotage and are not just close to ably revealed to me creating another specialization saturated scene reducing that humans are not where the majority idly consumes direct action the human actually of this reports on the sidelines. It seems that not only population planet and are in is Kevin Tucker’s assessment correct that by one that fact an invasive Kaczynski’s Revolution Against Technology day. Any- species from an- does not have many volunteers enlisting to way, the ab- other celestial struggle for the narrow goals Ted outlines in stract separa- body, then I might Industrial Society and its Future, the larger tion and dis- be down with a green anarchist milieu also shows a dearth of connection more vigorous tangible efforts aimed at hastening collapse. from life that and less volun- Maybe there are packs of insurrectionary projects like tary version of feral foragers out there plotting to unleash their these, and the their project, rage on Dracula’s vital organs. I have my Deep Ecolo- but since it is doubts. For those who are serious, I also have gist tendency in impossible to my doubts about focusing on an “at the right general, exhibit prove such a time” approach that very well could be too more clearly the thing, and a little too late. reason the world very doubtful After pouring out lengthy critiques of pacifism is in this mess to prospect, I will and poetic denunciations of cities in his 931 begin with. They continue to attempt to destroy pg. Endgame, Jensen quickly delivers his 9th view the world the cultural aspects of the dominant varieties exploration of civilization’s death culture with as an economist views the stock market, of our species, and persist in my attempt to the 143 pg. Thought to Exist in the Wild: removed from and materialist in their outlook, connect to my wild self and others with such Awakening from the Nightmare of Zoos. Before it comes down for them to resources and con- dreams. discussing his latest effort, I have a comment sumption rather then beings and behavior. Thank You for Not Breeding (TYFNB) about the two volume beast. My favorite part The old number game will never change our Nina Paley (producer/director/animator) of the book was his dedication of it to situation, no matter how you crunch them. I 415-285-1295 Tecumseh. In these times of hyper-specialization prefer to deepen my connection with the [email protected] and passive nihilism, it is helpful to see world and the life that inhabits it rather then www.ninapaley.com Tecumseh as the antithesis of fragmentation. draw arbitrary and absolute lines. I begin this By weaving together the difficult yet joyous Voluntary Human Extinction (VHEM), exploration and activity in my daily life. pursuits of theorist, orator, strategist, resistor www.vhemt.org (continued on next page) Page 77 SPRING/SUMMER ‘08 ISSUE (and I don’t mean that 3 pound producer of symbolic thought The Earth many radicals, including Paul Shepard who Jensen frequently Liberation quotes, can’t seem to get over 1997-2002 praising). On pg. 86 Derrick lays Front: bare the connection between why Edited by Leslie James zoos exist and the effects they Pickering have on human and non-human Former press officer for the North American freedom. “We learn [from zoos] Earth Liberation Front Press Office (NAELFPO) that humans are not animals.” Leslie James Pickering has compiled an Also, we learn that “the provision assortment of communiqués, congressional of bad food and concrete shelter testimony, ideological smatterings and more within a cage is more important in his The Earth Liberation Front: 1997-2002. than freedom (the importance of Having been aware of the ELF for a few years having humans internalize this now, I began to read this somber primer as lesson for their own lives cannot someone who has had ambivalent feelings be overstated).” However, Derrick about the clandestine cells pretty much from misses opportunities throughout the start. While steering clear of the swarm of the book to make a deeper connec- bullshitters masquerading as defenders of tion between the domestication freedom who denounce the ELF as the Devil process itself, which includes in a Green Dress, I have often felt a compat- symbolic power over life, and the ibility with those who claim “we don’t sleep” power inherent in zoos. He writes while never really clicking with their holy convincingly of the latter but, as trinity of guidelines and having serious bouts usual, avoids a more complex of insomnia cured from reading their often analysis of indigenous cultures repetitive and sometimes shallow philosophical and agriculture. pronouncements. After breaking away from On pg. 13 Derrick mentions in the bureaucratically inclined careerists of Earth Contemplating passing the possibility that we First! in the mid 90’s the ELF crossed the Non-Violence, could blow up zoos in an attempt Atlantic and began a string of sabotage that perhaps? to help free the jailbreak eager stumped agents of repression for years. inmates. But by the time one However, with the recent intensification of gets to the final chapter, which legislation directed against those resisting and a life lived close to nature, Tecumseh simultaneously critiques working in the sys- objectification and arrests of numerous indi- defied the chains of despair and diversion, tem while embracing it (does this somehow viduals thought to have participated in actions choosing to break down the barriers of sepa- allow what Michael Albert would call “non- causing millions of dollars in damage to earth ration that continue to plague many of us today. reformist reforms” to make sense or even destroying industries, Craig Rosebraugh and This separation is so basic to the functioning be worth the effort?) we are left with his the Arissa media group’s motivations for re- of civilized society it seeps into our own problematic “we need it all” tactical outline. leasing this look at the first 5 years of the ELF liberation strategies, a point I will return to at I don’t feel attacking infrastructure is the are clearly associated with a call for us to know the end of the review. panacea for all existing problems, however, ELF history and maintain a fiery tenacity that Karen Tweedy-Holmes’ pictures encompass I think there is a division of labor in Derrick’s is often given the hose when shit hits the fan. about 2/3 of the book. Ranging from the heart strategy that resembles, to borrow a phrase Chapter 1 is an extensive reprint of ELF wrenching depictions of monkeys desperately from Bob Black, a you sign my petition and communiqués that followed a particular action clinging to the bars imprisoning them to the I’ll sign yours mentality. While not necessarily taken against targets ranging from ritzy ski re- solitary lion patiently preparing for a sapien based on signing petitions and although en- sorts to clear cutters’ headquarters to university snack, her images add a visual element to compassing important encouragements to dungeons genetically engineering the planet. Jensen’s concise analysis. As for the writing, reconnect with the land and dismantle globally, Capitalism, or the profit motive, is identified although I find myself frequently saying Derrick is persistent in not only presenting page after page as the culprit. Sure, capitalism “Right on!” coupled with the occasional “What rationalizations (which I find weak) for not has been a major player on the scene of civi- a load of malarkey!” no matter which of his personally putting into practice his own lization for the past few hundred years, teaming books I’m reading, my favorites being A advice to the ELF and similar groups/indi- together with its partner in crime the nation- Language Older Than Words and Welcome to viduals to “up the infrastructure,” but also for state to pillage without remorse, however, the Machine, Derrick always takes us on a the rest of us to “do what we can,” i.e. every- after going through the communiqués one gets vivid journey even if his most recent effort thing short of actually putting our asses on the impression that there is an over-fixation doesn’t quite match the power of his earlier the line and posing a serious threat. I doubt on money making as the prime factor causing books. Thought to Exist in the Wild highlights the anti-civ momentum will ever reach its species extinction and general ecological the underlying paradigm leading to zoos and potential unless we are able to overcome the decay. Hints are occasionally made in the the repression of wild beings, including human feeling that we are “doing something” and communiqués that anthropocentrism, which animals. Jensen combines a historical look at instead begin to pursue the path of whole- can infect more then just greedy CEO’s, are a zoos in ancient empires and a deconstruction ness and direct involvement with all spheres big part of the problem, however, I don’t see a of the self-serving language of modern pro-zoo of the primal war whether they are theoretical, concerted effort on the part of these anti- lackeys whose ridiculous arguments in favor experiential or explosive. (ABO) authoritarians to delve deeper into the roots of confinement are easily rejected by anyone with www.derrickjensen.org of alienation and carnage unleashed upon a strong bullshit detector between their eyes nature either in the communiqués or throughout GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 78 the entire book. Some probably think this has focus mainly on the lives of individuals facing to do with a desire to communicate ideas the state repression and ostracization from certain general public supposedly can relate to better mainstream environmental groups. Rosebraugh WILD DESTRUCTION without getting into “masturbatory” theory, creates a lifeless picture of his harassment by however, I think it revolves more around a the pigs. Reports on Josh Harper and Frank paucity of liberatory vision that fails to break Ambrose give a glimpse of the The burning fuse–a quiet away from a boring extent to which the FBI will attachment to domes- go to “get their man.” Chapter hiss in this world in tication and “Revolu- 6, by far the longest, is filled which everything is tion” that at least de- largely with the bullshit of scribes Pickering and various politicians and in- talked to death and Rosebraugh’s ideol- dustry reps reprimanding nothing is done. ogy, if not significant lawbreakers while pleading parts of the ELF itself. for people to play by the The general thrust of rules. By far the best part of Individuals who rise out of the book borders on the book was the boisterous the mass and define what being delusional in the laughs I got over Boise feeling that nature and Cascade’s Michael Hicks we will do with our lives humanity will be fine in sobbing over a corporate and why for ourselves. a post-profit motive, office being burned on rurally based anarchist Christmas. He reminisces Self-determination which society that appears to how his “string of early take quite a few cues awakenings on Christ- can break out of the circle from social ecology and mas morning remained of delegation and rules. doesn’t call into question intact. This time, how- many of the defining insti- ever, it wasn’t because tutions of civilization such of kids or grandkids Passion takes pleasure as cities, specialization, running around to see in the virtue of wild sedentariness, etc. I should what Santa and his elves had brought. As add, however, there is inspiration to be found in we found out a few days later, it was elves of a destruction, announcing the FAQ comprising chapter 2. For example, different stripe. The evil and cowardly elves of the battle against all on pg. 44 they say “It doesn’t take a trained the ELF had brought their gift of terror to our expert to become involved in the ELF, just lives.” You can’t teach that kind of uninten- oppression and authority. individuals who really care about life on the tional humor. planet to the degree that they want to take Chapter 7 is an interview with Pickering, most Uncertainty and the lust actions to protect it.” This is something help- of which is a rehashing of ideas and information ful to remember as feelings of paralysis in found earlier in the book. The concluding chapter for adventure against the face of massive violence and star struck is Pickering’s statement of resignation from dogma and guarantee. A awe/inadequacy in the face of perceived NAELFPO which, although calling for a re- super-luddite action heroes can easily crush jection of obedience to non-violence, otherwise dream of freedom for our desire to resist. But this call to get “involved leaves me uninspired to join his Revolution. If people and animals. in the ELF” is something, as alluded to earlier, I you are unfamiliar with the ELF and NAELFPO have always declined. Anyone interested in a I’d recommend this book. However, if you Sustaining free spirits in more detailed explanation beyond the fact I don’t already have a good understanding of them, I’d agree with any of the ELF’s three guidelines, can recommend not listening to sabotage guidelines permanent insurrection check out pgs. 28-31 of Green Anarchy #23 or revolutionary programs if you want to throw (although I did not write either article, I gener- off civilization’s shackles of alienation and slay against control, war, ally agree with the critique in both pieces.) the techno-monster. (ABO) racism, cages and religion. Chapters 3, 4 and 5 are excerpts from Resistance, Contact: Arissa Publications a NAELFPO publication. These three chapters PO Box 232, South Wales, NY 14139 Death to symbols, the gods, the compulsion of survival, the flags and NeverNever letlet themthem telltell youyou thatthat aa smallsmall hierarchies. groupgroup ofof people,people, somesome gasoline,gasoline, andand somesome timerstimers can’tcan’t makemake aa difference.difference. Unity only as the individual –Vail,–Vail, 1997 desires, not in a preexistent (Just(Just don’tdon’t snitch out youryour friends.)friends.) group or collective reality.

– from Die Lunte (German insurrectionary anarchist publication)

PagePage 7979 SPRING/SUMMERSPRING/SUMMER ‘08‘08 ISSUEISSUE (talk radio commentary in a magazine) News from with Waldorf the Balcony Giving culture an even worse name… Recently at the old folks’ home Waldorf and I were subjected to a cultural program. These programs are held once a month and are supposed to help us keep our wits sharp, but the only thing they end up keeping sharp are our tongues. This month we had a young bearded lad who did some sort of rap about his enticing and new form of anarchy. He mashed together ancient Celtic tra- Statler dition, the internet, and AK Press-style anarchism into a House of Pain. After his long ballad/rant about his website Case in point? AK Press (who, as we have mentioned before, (www.celticanarchy.org) he gave a “shout out” to David Rovics. still believe in the working class as long as the workers aren’t Evidentally Rovics, some sort of hippy with a guitar, likes North- the unpaid authors of their books) is publishing the so-called ern Europe too. In a recent interview he stated: “I think if we had “Anarchist FAQ;” printing of hundreds (if not thousands) of pages a lot more Democrats like Maxine Waters, Barbara Lee, and of questions no one asked but answered by workerists with an Dennis Kucinich, then the face of politics in the United States agenda. This book has been threatened for years as their “final would look a lot more like, you know, Denmark, which I think solution” to all things Anarchist. If this book actually gets pub- works, or Sweden or wherever .” Wishy-washy leftist dreamers lished, and if anyone actually thinks that it answers anything of of Northern Europe have little to do with anarchism other than substance about anarchism or anarchists, we will know that providing the soundtrack to picking up some young NGO cutie. the end has come. Give the trees a break! Let what happens on Boo Hiss! Quit giving white people guitars! the Internet stay on the Internet. Another case in point? Tired of the cesspool of Crimethincers and Primitivists, the acronym crew have created yet another Shit 2.0 online format by which they hope to seed “serious anarchism” which, as we imagine, will be filled with petticoats and frowns. The internet is horse-pucky. Even worse, the young’ins who use What in the hell does serious mean? If you go to their site (called it, who may very well have been half-way decent people before Anarchist Black Cat – Isn’t that a blast from the past!) the first they learned to type, don’t take any time at all before they thing we notice is that the motif that they have chosen for their become total idiots while using the internet. site is one of coal powered trains. Their serious discussions The Internet is our Czolgosz. Instead of killing our enemies it is include categories such as Central Station and The Sealed Train killing us. And the people who actually think the Internet is help- (an ironic send up to Lenin’s famed ride we suppose). Choo ing their “organizing” or “community” might as well be packing choo to the 19th century! us into boats to Russia. They are collaborators. Even worse, they The Internet is objectively counter-revolutionary! do it in our name, and export their pathetic revolution.

TEXAS WOLF CHILD Apaches told several times of finding a child’s Les Enfants Savages! According to legend, in the early part of the 19th footprints among those of wolves in that country. century, a wolf girl roamed the banks of the Devil’s A hunt commenced and on the third day the girl Stories of Feral Children River near Del Rio in what is even now the sparsely- was cornered in a canyon. The girl was bound and (part one) populated wilderness of south-west Texas. The taken to the nearest ranch, where she was untied Stories of children disappearing into the wilder- girl’s mother died in childbirth, and her father, John and locked in a room. That evening, a large number ness have for centuries inspired awe, fascination, Dent, was killed in a thunderstorm while riding of wolves, apparently attracted by the girl’s loud, and disbelief. Tales of children being adopted and for help. “The child was never found, and the pre- mournful and incessant howling, came around the nurtured by wolves, bears, monkeys, and other sumption was that she had been eaten by wolves ranch. The domestic stock panicked, and in the animals crop up in folklore and news reports with near the Dents’ isolated cabin”, wrote the aptly confusion the girl escaped. remarkable regularity. Some feral children were named Barry Lopez in his book Of Wolves and Men. According to Lopez, the girl was not seen again abandoned for percieved mental or physical Lopez said a boy living at San Felipe Springs for seven years. In 1852, a surveying crew explor- handicaps, while others had escaped from abusive in 1845 reported seeing several wolves and “a ing a new route to El Paso saw her on a sand bar on parents or were lost by accident or in the chaos creature, with long hair covering its features, that the Rio Grande, far above its confluence with of war. Surviving without human help required looked like a naked girl” attacking a herd of goats. Devil’s River. “She was with two pups. After that, considerable adaptability and instinct. Others made similar reports the following year. she was never seen again.”

GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 80 made us welcome at their social roots of the growing crisis. In fact, it was clear center, site of another film Ð that Stocklholm is home to many committed Zerzan and plus remarks Ð plus discussion primitivists. Their Wilderness Camp not very far Zerzan in this sunny seaside town. It from the city is part of a strong presence, as well was a warm sojourn featuring as the late July anti-civ “Urfest” they were Marko Breceli, Balkan rock planning south of Stockholm. The 12-hour drive ZerzanZerzan star of the 70s, a well-loved seemed nothing at all given this great connec- uncontrollable whose recent tion. Teemu, Aki and I caught an overnight ferry antics included hitting the ride to Finland (big cruise-ship variety, favored Slovenian president with blow by those seeking duty-free drinking), and had a gun darts, muffling cathedral rare night off in Tampere. The event there took bells with carpet when the place in a public building that was a restored Pope visited, and firing off tin- power house for a dam that once powered mills can “cannons” at the passing in the city center. It was a bit ironic to be standing U.S. 6th Fleet! An overnight before people in front of a wall covered with Anti- train took us to Zurich for the various industrial dials and gauges! The large Anti- first of two Swiss public meet- room was full, and very stimulating exchanges ings. Fabian was our “arranger’, were on tap. I also worked in an afternoon visit and Dock 18, an arts media to the weight room of a local gym, much needed CivCiv space, was our May 31 location. to keep fit on the road. Aki bid adieu to Teemu A mixed crowd included a and me in Tampere. He was last seen partying in couple of arrogant profs, but the park with other anarchists! But Marja and Mad- also very open young people. Sevan joined us as we drove to Helsinki for Mad- The evening was videotaped; another ferry ride, to Estonia. That same after- most of the dates on the trip noon (June 7), the four of us met with about 30 were at least audiorecorded. at a modern multimedia center in the old part of nessness From the German north to the port city Tallinn. An anarchist zine, Alternativ, Italian south, Lugano rounded had devoted an entire recent issue to some essays out Switzerland; the venue was of mine, but denouncing civilization was apparently Tour the large and lively El Molino new to most of those in attendance. Our host was Tour squat. Biggest turnout so far, extremely helpful, providing a mini-theater space decidedly anarchist in full for our use, and the mainly young folks there flavor, women prominent, ably warmed to the discussion. It felt good to open 20072007 translated by Claudio; another the topic where it had only begun to be broached. enjoyable evening. Driven in The following a.m. kicked off a 14-hour drive the morning to a Milan airport, south, through Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and half we were in Belgium by early afternoon, in the of Poland to Warsaw. After a Polish taxi driver bike-friendly city of Ghent. Didn’t screen Ljubo’s almost clocked us by sailing through a stop sign, Ten countries, film, but did greatly appreciate our night’s I found myself in agreement with warnings we’d 14 sessions destination, a packed house at a squatted bar/ heard that Poles’ driving verges on the suicidal! infoshop. A great mix of people and very ener- This territory seemed even less aware of per- in 19 days! getic, protracted dialogue. We were in the middle spectives that refuse domesticated existence, This May-June trip covered so much European of the kind of engaged exploration that’s very mass production, etc. (viz. that which diverges ground in about the briefest imaginable time. hard to beat! Early June, and the G8 summit from the Left), and the couple who arranged Early in 2007 this odyssey started coming together, protests were in the air, especially in northern things and put us up Ð and were very warmly with the help of several who were unstinting in Europe. At this point Kathan headed off to Vienna hospitable Ð are staunchly syndicalist. For their initiative and assistance, folks who in fact and I drove to Hamburg with two very excellent whatever reason, few people turned up on the made the whole thing possible. And as the tour young Finnish primitivists, Teemu and Aki. second floor of a bar on a Sunday afternoon; the was being finalized, my remarkable cousin Rote Flora is an imposing building, HQ of anti- dialogue was pursued at length, nonetheless. Kathan Ð Portland, Oregon anarchist and artist Ð authoritarian Hamburg; it had been raided in May Bidding farewell to my four marvelous new signed on and added enormously to its quality. We by German security forces as part of pre-emptive (continued on page 83) began sanely enough in Belgrade. A wonderful, strikes against anti-G8 militants. relaxing weekend with the Blok 45 publishing When we arrived in late afternoon it family: Aleksa, Nesha, Srdjan. Completely un- exhibited its own security, folks at the structured times with these fine characters and door trying to screen out cops and others, along the banks of the Seva and the Danube, media. But most people, it seemed, mainly. Then the “events” began, after a short were up on the Baltic preparing for flight northwestward to Slovenia’s capital, action at the summit location near Ljubljana. Gorazd hosted us and the first day Rostock. It also seemed that pretty included presentations at the university and at much no publicity had been done for the big, colorful Metalkova squat complex. At us, with the small turnout at least this early point we’d already decided to kick somewhat made up for by very long- things off, as often as possible, with the screening running conversations. Very early the of Ljubo Starovlah’s provocative six-minute next day we moved on, north and east, film, Adventure of a Speck of Dust (link at: a 12-hour drive to Stockholm. We three johnzerzan.net), and to emphasize time for showed up with minutes to spare for a extended discussion. It was also becoming clear late afternoon gig at the university. that Kathan’s role would be essential. From About 150 were on hand, and in gen- Ljubljana we took the train to Koper, on the eral receptive to a critique of the whole Adriatic, just south of Trieste. Arijana and Marko barren technoculture and the deep Page 81 SPRING/SUMMER ‘08 ISSUE G8, GERMANY: THE AFTERMATH FROM THE MILITANT CAMPAIGN TOWARDS THE UNKNOWN... The concept of this campaign was As for the days of the summit, enough reports for all of us was a path constellated with mis- to move away from the usual countersummit have already been written from different sides, takes, learning, defeats, critics, and small mobilization and instead spread widely the mythologizing, criticizing, or simply dismiss- moments of insurgent satisfaction. uncompromised attack against society both on ing the large Black Bloc in Rostock. The same I reckon those days were a good moment time as in space: therefore militant actions as for the following blockades and the so- for many others to begin this very path. involving arsons, property damage, destruction called Plan B (causing rupture in Berlin after Here I must spend one good word for such of GMO crops, paintbombs and so on, show the blockades). events, which considering the state of ex- that what we question is not the legitimacy of I will just say that those days quite changed ception characterizing them, contribute in the “undemocratic G8” (in the words of many the approach of many people regarding militancy offering to many people the possibility to experi- protesters), but the existence of this ment riotous moments society. This campaign encountered probably unknown (or a very high resonance at least difficult to pro- within the anarchist/ voke in most western autonomous spectrum, countries) during the and went off well for rest of the year. two years, increasing as On the other side, the summit was getting the ones that are quite closer. through this initial mo- Anarchists and ment, proved to be ex- autonomen were not tremely active. Militant the only ones ready to actions rose drastically listen, but also the other during the month of side of the barricade – May, which saw more cops, politicians, and than thirty actions. journalists, who found The days of the sum- our insurgent melody mit offered different rather grating for their flames in Rostock, Ber- ears. That translated itself lin, and Hamburg. But, into a big campaign led by Jacob above all, the actions did primarily by the media, not stop following the on how things constantly end of the summit: things burn and neither politi- Duval kept on happening after- cians, nor their lackeys, wards, whereas most of are able to put an end to the past events concluded all this. the “summit-momentum” with a long and To respond to this situation, the repressive in the streets: it is well worth to note, that in disempowering hiatus. apparatus played its usual intimidation card, different ways, several thousand people got And here I’d like to reconnect to one of the well known during these tense moments, creat- radicalized from their involvement either in the questions I asked myself within a previous ing a frame-up against the autonomous riots or in the blockades. And that was reflected article (see: “Overcoming the spectacle of the movement: on the 9th of May, 1000 cops raided within the numerous discussions that occurred usual counter-summit banality” in GA #24): will autonomous spaces and private living spaces in every spectrum, from the autonomous to the people be able to propagate further this attack in northern Germany, with Berlin and Hamburg Attac group of Berlin (which astonishingly took against the present, beyond the days of the feeling the brunt. a position against its own leadership and refused spectacle? They alleged participation within several attacks to distance itself from the happenings in the Declaring beforehand how times are still fresh (arsons), related both to the Militant Campaign streets – speaking against a division among for closing such a judgement, still I see the wind and the Militante Gruppe (a clandestine autono- “bad” and “good” protesters). blowing in the right direction. Moreover, people mous-marxist group active in Berlin since 2001), The usual process of disassociation from did not resign themselves in being confined leading to the use of terrorist association militancy was generally lower in comparison within the schemes given from our enemies, charges against 21 people. to past countersummits, as many new people but rather learned the lessons and kept on Scaring people off before the summit (and felt inspired from the battle of Rostock: maybe struggling forward. People tried to become during the Campaign), as well as offering in seeing that even the famous Berlin robocops less predictable, being the idea behind Plan something to feed the media and civil soci- can run away if we only want it, maybe in walking B, to bring an unexpected attack inside one ety, were the main objectives. But they failed with over 5,000 masked-up people unchained of the many heads of the capitalist hydra. De- miserably. and ready to fight, or maybe from being confronted centralizing the attack was one of the acted On the same night, spontaneous demon- for their very first time with the true face of words that circulated during those days strations and clashes took place all over the “our beloved democracy”. (and before). And even though many things country, with 6,000 people in Berlin and 3,000 It is a fact that this was an occasion for many (like always, and especially when we try to in Hamburg. An unexpected reaction for an to get in touch with radical theories and prac- overcome the old for the new) did not work expected measure. And things kept on burning tices, and I do not feel to undervalue this at all. as expected, many appreciated fires heated for days after, increasing rather then diminishing. We are not born as insurrectionists or radicals, the warm night of the 8th of June in Berlin. GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 82 we all, expropriated by the The tigers of wrath are wiser actual relationships of domi- Zerzan and Zerzan than the horses of instruction. nation of our capacity of be- (continued from page 81) than the horses of instruction. ing able to use a language Finnish friends, I went by train next day to Vienna (W.(W. Blake)Blake) which would be still capable and a reunion with Kathan. Our thing there was to be effective and give held in a squatted drama department building at words a real meaning, must the university, promoted by what K designated confront ourselves too often as “the best poster of the tour.” The setting was with people, within our same friendly and the questioning intelligent. We circles, who pretend to speak experienced only a bit of the tendency of German- the same one as us, but sadly speaking leftists to smear anything remotely having to recognize how eco-oriented as somehow Nazi-related (!) The encounter was impressive overall, I’d say. Another, theirs are merely nice but briefer train ride east to Budapest as we neared empty words. the end of our crazed-pace jaunt around Europe. It has been an interesting We traveled there with a Greek anarchist who’d and inspiring thing having the been speaking in the area about struggles in As on the one side, insurrectionist praxis still possibility of living these last intense two years Greece. His computer files of street clashes, enflames the hearts (as the targets) of many of within all these events; also for reconsidering mostly in Athens, were riveting entertainment us, theory is slowly following. a few anarchist dogmas I had fixed in myself, during the short trip to Hungary. A squatted But theory not in the mere sense of reading and overcome them for good. Of course, I do downtown bar, noisy and crowded, proved to be this or that author from the sacred insurrection- not want to propagate the idea of how the situ- one of the liveliest times of all. A kind of art and ist pantheon, but in asking radical questions ation in Germany would be a success, the best politics crowd where women’s voices had no such as about ways of organizing to gain the place to move for the happy insurrectionist. I trouble at all being heard, and anti-civ ideas were success lived in Rostock (and doin’ it better...), am offering only a few thoughts about lived warmly, if critically evaluated. A positive atmo- drastically reconsidering the relation to the experiences and moments which I hope might sphere into which we were welcomed by excellent, media (a lot of people here still have a rather motivate all readers to critical thought and radi- open people. An early morning flight across the fluffy approach to this theme), revitalizing cal action, whichever place they feel is the most continent to Amsterdam; our last day and night important forums of discussion for all appropriate for themselves, and possibly im- in Europe. And virtually the only few hours of (autonomen, anarchists, and rebels) who are proving this fight. straight-up sightseeing in three weeks, winding interested in developing a discourse towards Life offers everyday the endless opportunity things up at a jammed bar/restaurant (a squat, of to the abolition and destruction of State and of putting yourself, your own ideas, your envi- course). Our final bit was one of superb food and Capital. A lived theory made up of people dis- ronment into question, confronting yourself conversation, and a session (our usual film plus talks plus open discussion) marked by high cussing again certain things, meeting up, with new situations, people, ways of struggling. levels of energy and participation. Not to men- radicalizing, and beginning again to firmly To make the mistake of feeling satisfied with tion hospitality, a constant wherever we went. I refuse old dynamics that long ago created a wide- your small, probably very arduously collected hope we never took this for granted! Well, this spread sense of impotence and impassivity luggage of convictions, and closing yourself account barely scratches the surface of a hugely (among others, the feeling repression is too to the arrival of new, undefined and fruitful stimulating experience, but I hope it conveys strong to be combated, cops are well too orga- territories for insurrection, might be all in all something of what it was all about. Deepest nized and invincible, the institutionalization of a regrettable decision... thanks to the various individuals whose freely some radical antifa groups, a large sense of given time and energy made the tour happen, and impotence, the lack of perspectives as of any Author’s Note: As I am about to send this article, of course for some enabling funds Ð begged, common discussion and praxis among autono- four people were arrested in Berlin (7/31/07), borrowed, or stolen! We made copies of Green mous groups and people). accused of terrorist association for belonging Anarchy and a few of my books available, we Well, that is changing for good. to the “Militante Gruppe” (MG). Three of them slept on floors and even, twice, were quartered I consider this development (and more) alto- are accused of having placed several incendiary in hotels (how soft and bourgeois, I know), and gether being well more worthy and inspiring devices under at least three military trucks. half a dozen interviews took place here and there. than the possibility of chatting about the last A forth, for having contact with them and for So many wonderful people Ð whose names I essay of any well-known radical author. Which being considered by the cops as the writer of characteristically cannot recall; curses! And does not have to mean that we should not be the group, simply because of leaflets and overall, a great sense of serious, active engagement interested in reading this or that, criticizing it, documents he is said to have written (he is a with ideas, a questioning that I think is determined and being inspired from it. This is and will al- sociologue in the local university) containing to keep finding ways be a very important contribution in our some of the same political concepts as the its way in so many places. daily revolution. But at the end of the day this Militante Gruppe. As of now, several acts of - John can not be used anymore as the only point of solidarity have taken place in Berlin – includ- Zerzan evaluation within the scale of “how radical/in- ing the torching of a car belonging to the surrectionist/anti-civ and so on” one is. justice department and an arson attempt – The will of liberating ourselves and our de- against one of the main Berlin justice building. sires towards the fullness of life and its infinite For more details: http://soli.blogsport.de perspectives seems to have influenced many people here, although this might have not come GA Note: Because of last minute space re- through the usual theoretical path, and I feel to strictions and for clarity, we decided to respect this, criticize it when necessary, and moderately edit this account and analysis. help to improve it, considering my limit (as one To see the original text, including an ex- of many around this earth strongly conditioned tensive two-year chronology of “Militant from the miserable situation called life under Campaign against G8” actions, check our capitalism). And considering also the fact that website.

Page 83 SPRING/SUMMER ‘08 ISSUE A Reportback isions: from the 2007 Feral V Gathering

by Allie ht? Mo C at Flight or Fig

After not flying for about 10 years, I was eagerly anticipating however, some attendee’s tendency to answer seemingly harmless the chance to hop aboard one of society’s techno-birds to zip questions most likely contributed in various ways to the coming across the country. Not for the pure experience of flight, saturated repression. Without justifying talking to pigs, on the other hand as it is with pacified drones compactly situated in a lifeless cocoon, it was apparent that the pervasive presence and short-tempered but to attend my first Feral Visions gathering. Having been tied behavior of the forest service cogs was a sign they were there to by college obligations I have since severed myself from, I was intimidate/shut us down by any means possible with or without unable to attend last year’s gathering in Arizona. I was deter- our verbal compliance. A series of interruptions were unleashed, mined not to miss the 2007 version of this weeklong rewilding starting with a thorough questioning of individuals engaged in a adventure. The mixed reviews of previous fv gatherings were a hide-tanning project with numerous threats made regarding the good source of inspiration and questioning that ultimately supposed illegality of the activity because of a lack of proper encouraged me to see for myself what exactly these restless, documentation. This was followed the next day by a confiscation budding nomads were cooking up. A national forest setting, one of various forms of literature (according to a supposed law no that very much is the opposite of the industrialized city I was one had heard of) people had brought to the infoshop that until born, raised and lived my entire life in, was appealing on many that point was a busy place for after dinner discussions. Then the levels including a fitting starting place for participating in hands kitchen really started to heat up. on primitive skills. Immersed in the theoretical realm for quite Numerous warning tickets and fines were forced onto anyone some time, I have focused more on writing and limited mental in the immediate area on Monday. Ranging from $350 fines for rewilding in an urban context to the detriment of other compo- smoking to $170 fines for facilitating a discussion and passing nents of the primal war. As a friend of mine recently said, my out literature at what was deemed an illegal gathering; the pigs attitude towards material possessions and embracing the wild in were obviously not playing mind games with the naïve anymore. a non-mediated manner is already a key psychological element The refusal of anyone to sign a permit really ticked them off, of a broader transformation towards being. But without a deeper inducing them to make further threats that since it was now an connection to place and synthesis with resistance we are confined illegal gathering fines of up to $5,000 and prison time of up to 6 to a sphere of intellectual understanding that while valuable, will months were possibilities for anyone who chose to stay into the never by itself be a catalyst for happiness/collapse. next morning (although there was concern that later that night Returning to the land has become a somewhat diluted cliché they were going to come back ready to round us up.) This culmina- invoking images of sixties hippies prancing about in flowery tion of a wave of intrusions, after only 3 days of skills shares and meadows, however, as Sal Insieme points out, the pathological discussions, prompted a short, spontaneous meeting of anyone distorted nomadism indicative of postmodern fads and entrenched who hadn’t already started to leave. I didn’t want to leave, but civilized mindsets is a temporary quasi-fix at best and a perpetu- unlike some others at the gathering who I thought were being ation of perceptual/existential anomie at worst. The question of extremely naïve as to what was in store for us, most people seemed what a more authentic return to the land would look like was to decide it was best to head on out. It looked like some people briefly discussed by some of us in the waning moments of a were going to stick it out and call the state’s bluff, maybe even gathering cut short by the heavy influence and force of forest willing to physically resist forced evacuation. I don’t think most pigs most likely, at least in my and some others’ opinion, aided felt it was a worthy fight, and I know I sure as hell didn’t come by the direction of FBI vermin. Before the gathering began, the that far to face the newest intensification of repression directed comical questions were pouring in from authorities such as What towards those associated with anti-civ thought and action. Call organization is this? and Who is in charge? Most people wisely me a feral pussy, but some fights are not worth it. The Paliyan of chose to converse minimally or not at all with the inquisitors, southern India would understand. GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 84 As for the 3 days of the actual gathering, there were many the media and worthwhile targets that lean more towards infra- highlights. Flint-knapping was one of the more pertinent skills structure and less towards more defensive, localized ELF style demonstrated. Like many skills, it requires patience and practice, actions. The highlight of the discussions was about Radical Mental but according to some people I’ve met recently during my travels, Health. There were more people at this talk then any other and starting as a beginner one could within a few months attain a its anti-structure was conducive to enthusiastic participation. degree of high quality knapping. Paleolithic humans seemingly People spoke of emotionally charged personal experiences and acquired a high skill level at making arrow heads, knives and shared ideas on how to cope with and overcome depressive other stone tools considering how the archaeological record shows feelings that can be overwhelming in the face of alienation. how “carelessly” these tools were abandoned at certain sites and I offered my own thoughts and experiences, which included a made in abundance at other sites. The lack of tool specialization critique of creativity as an answer to disconnection as well as an that lasted for a million years during the time of Homo Erectus, embrace of the non-symbolic as not only theoretical or speculative Homo Neanderthalensis and early Homo Sapiens may be impor- but as a method of healing that can be beneficial now, as it has been tant for us to remember in the present considering how novelty in my own life through interaction with non-humans, particularly oriented many of us can be. I also participated in a sling making with other animals. skill-share. Although I found it to be a joyous experience to make Various people expressed that there shouldn’t be future fv gather- a primitive tool, it may not fit into my “tool-kit” in the future. ings, but that a more localized approach, which has already been The plant walks were interesting, however, as someone pointed going on from Portland to Pittsburgh, should be emphasized in out, these were a good example of how a “centralized” gathering the future, possibly even without using the internet as a mode of like feral visions is limited because many people are coming from communication. This may be less appealing for some; however, outside the Sierra Nevada mountains so many of those plants I think it is a step in the right direction if we are serious about will not be available in their home bioregion. I think it’s question- the aforementioned connecting to place. Our resistance can stem able to focus a lot on identifying plant names, although some from global concerns, but it may never be maximized unless we think it is good for beginners although enmeshing us further in can envelop ourselves in localities that provide a basis for deeper the symbolic. emotional understanding and subsequent targeting of significant I also found the shelter walk/demonstrations by two people structures decimating and threatening on all spatial levels. I’m previously associated with Teaching Drum to be one of the more not sure whether I’d add feral visions to the list of corpses along relevant skills shown. Emphasis was placed on finding natural with the Left, domestication and symbolic thought. However, it areas that can serve as shelter, for example, a fallen tree propped is obvious there is a growing atmosphere of attack on those on rocks in such a way that it can provide dryness from rain rewilding and resisting who have overtly anti-political mentalities. without an ounce of effort to manipulate the surrounding area for Flight is a tactic we can embrace when it feels right, but a strategic shelter construction. The point overall was that even debris-huts resistance will ultimately be the only way we can freely enjoy may require unnecessary time that keeps us attached to problematic nature in any kind of permanent way without the harassment of ways of living and that more animalistic alternatives such as power mongers whose favorite pastime is disrupting and destroying digging a small hole in the ground may be more indicative of hunter gatherer people and their modern descendants looking Thomas Elpel’s (and pre-domesticated humans’) The Art of Nothing to go feral. method. I’d highly recommend this essay for people at any stage of learning skills. For the novice “Our“Our resistanceresistance cancan stemstem fromfrom it could save you a lot of time by globalglobal concerns,concerns, butbut itit maymay nevernever casting off civilized baggage and bebe maximizedmaximized unlessunless wewe cancan for the more experienced it may enenvelopvelop ourselvesourselves inin localitieslocalities induce a shift in relating to nature thatthat provideprovide aa basisbasis forfor deeperdeeper that more fully puts us in tune eemotionalmotional understandingunderstanding andand with the non-mediated and break our dependence on division of subsubsequentsequent targetingtargeting ofof labor eager experts. significantsignificant structuresstructures Discussions not directly related decimatingdecimating andand to skills never had a chance to get threateningthreatening onon into the range of topics I would allall spatialspatial have liked to have seen tackled, however, there were some emotion- levels.”levels.” ally powerful moments and in depth strategic talks about taking on the machine. There seemed to be openness towards speaking about sabotage that from what I’ve heard was more absent in previous gatherings. I’m sure some think any such talk is either provoked by undercover agents or is hopelessly delusional, but for me it seemed to be a healthy debate concerning the usage of

Page 85 SPRING/SUMMER ‘08 ISSUE Letters Write or email us your thoughts on the magazine or the general anti- civilization discourse and practice, or to air your dirty laundry.

Send them AttN: Letter to Editor, don’’t give ‘‘um a confusing SPAM-like subject title (i.g. “We Can Increase the Size of Your Johnson” or “Hello”),), and please keep them under 500 words.

Is There Anybody I’m still interested in meeting any thing with the word industrial comes from a tyrannical and authori- Out There? with Green Anarchists. Are there burn in hell. I live in west coast tarian position, as most communist any in the Minneapolis area that Canada, and honestly am glad that agendas have played out. While GA, would meet with me? I’m not a cop some people actually have the guts some have argued that the concept To all, I just got back from Cali- or part of any law enforcement to stand up to these business slime. of communism pre-dates the statist fornia. I had traveled there from agency. I’m someone who is deeply I like to know though If this Whole regimes and at its core is anarchistic, Minnesota to attend your gathering. concerned about what is happen- shit hole was to go up in flames especially in so-called primitive- Needless to say, I was very disap- ing to our planet and wants to do tomorrow and you had to go back communism, we are typically skep- pointed to be informed by a single something about it before it’s too to being truly self sufficient would tical here, and feel the need to get cardboard sign, that by chance I late. I’m interested in rewilding and you be able to kill a deer or bear so beyond the baggage of the concept. happened to see as I was driving want to meet others that have the that you could eat or stay warm. Or As far as what green anarchists are down the road at 50 mph, that the same interest. I don’t have regular are you more against industrial for or against, that is up to the in- gathering had been canceled. At access to a computer but will get farming and so on and the atroci- dividual, as well as what they are first I thought that the gathering back ASAP. ties that come with it and not the and are not willing to do, but this had been canceled because of the Take care, Steve eating of animals itself. I am sorry magazine has never promoted an bone-dry conditions, but I later I’m newly informed in your fight anti-hunting perspective, as most found that the Freddies had stopped Is There Red In to bring back real civilization not humans living with the earth seem the event by intimidation. I had Green? this artificial concrete prison, I just to recognize the need for some hoped to find kindred spirits that I want to know if you are solid in amount of animal protein and that could connect with and form some To Whom it may Concern! what you stand for...... soy farms in the Midwest might not type of community. I honestly I am for giving any corporation Anyway this may be naive but for be the answer. wanted to learn what you people what they deserve and any mind- what I know so far, to you the ELF, were about and see Green Anarchists less, selfish fool that supports it. I and the like keep up the good fight Where Are You? in person. understand why you are anti capi- and get them where they hurt at the On the way back home I thought talist, but what I am not clear about roots, don’t waste time knocking off Green Anarchy: about giving up on the whole idea is that I hope you are not pro- a car dealership, hit the manufac- Where are you? I don’t mean to be of rewilding and community. I was communist, because that won’t turing plant etc. pushy. I know y’all have consistently discouraged to say the least until I solve the rape and exploitation of Morning Star put out what I (and many of my learned about the bridge collapse on mother earth and the enslavement [email protected] friends) think is the most impor- 35W in Minneapolis. This bridge is of humanity. As well I find it ironic tant publication in the anarchist near my home and I had traveled on that the ADL tries to end hate by GA: The short answer would be, world (and beyond). I just want you it many times. I realized just how defaming everything and everyone NO, we are not pro-communist or to know that you are very appreci- vulnerable we are and how much we else but its Zionist-American any other flavor of leftism that ated and very, very missed. If this is depend on our civilized technology agenda. Anyway back on topic I merely attempts to re-organize this the end for you, so be it. I know, based for our survival. would love to see any factory, or nightmare, and especially when it on your track record, that whatever

GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 86 you do, it will be highly relevant and for all those involved and continue these ‘terrorist’ incidents occurred is a starting point. It involves the insightful, even if we never know to provide the things we all love. just a day after he came to unelected same recognition/rejection of about it. Twenty-four issues, most Humans left the jungle for a reason. power. mainstream ideology that many of which have been solid and pro- Let’s not bite off more then we can Anyway keep up the good work. (all?) anarchies share. And since we, voking, is a mighty feat, one that chew. I won’t trade my sushi and Really enjoyed the site. curious as many of us anarch(y)ists even your biggest neigh-sayers can’t crepes for roadkill and fungus! Michael tend to be, find ourselves reading touch. But I hope it is not the end. Sincerely, HEURISTICfilms such thinkers as Jensen, Deleuze, You are needed now more then ever. Jonathon Drake Leeds Marcuse, etc., as well as the chronicles The situation we face gets more dire of other radical/revolutionary move- by the day, and resistance to it gets The Floods Are Accepting ments, we eventually come to learn more pathetic by the minute. Green Coming ‘anarchyism’ about how capital mediates radical Anarchy is part of a serious opposi- identity and radpol and proceed to tion to that. There are tons of kids Hi there, GA: seek productive solutions to this getting sucked into the spinning Found your website tonight. Very I was troubled for a number of problem. Is this not political action? wheels of pointless activism or fall- interesting to see John Zerzan’s reasons upon reading jamil’s letter You seem hopelessly nihilistic and ing into an apathetic ego-centric essay. I agree. Things are becoming “understanding anarchyism” in the cynical about the whole thing, not stupor. Your venue offers something emptier and emptier while the spring/summer 07 issue. It is this because you, with holier than thou different. There are always a lot merry technotrance carries on. dismissive, cynical attitude towards clairvoyance, see the irony of more people who have never even As you probably know the UK fellow/emerging radicals that under- anarchyism, but because you see it thought about challenging civiliza- has had massive flooding over the mines solidarity, cooperation and a purely as irony, disregarding the tion, then there are those who have. last month in the north where I live diversity of perspectives in what importance and possibilities of a I’ll say it again, Green Anarchy is – estimated 30,000 people moved might be broadly termed ‘anti-au- growing radicalized populous. It is this needed. Please come back! out of their homes and 7000 busi- thoritarian struggle.’ I agree with you, defeatist and disengaged attitude with love and rage, nesses affected. They expect a bill jamil, when you draw a distinction that reeks of postmodern cynicism Ann E. Oakleaf of about £1.5 billion for the insur- between early 20th century anarchists and fails to seek hope, kindness, and ance ‘industry’. Noone yet is talking and contemporary american punk/ mutual healing as a solution to these Let’s Just Keep about the massive displacement squatter/crimethincer- ‘anarchyists.’ problems it so loves to call out. If and the linkage to an increasingly And I agree that our dumpster-div- Chugging Along writing such diatribes to GA is your stochastic climate system. Maybe ing, screen-printing, city-dwelling idea of ‘radpol,’ i want nothing to Dear Comrades, these discontinuities might start a comrades might take a more radical do with it. I have never been one to color my debate about the reality of ecological approach if they want to develop a Anarchyists are our allies. Let’s anarchy. Black is good enough for change. Flooding events are now lifestyle that doesn’t have industrial open up to them, seek them out to me. I feel that the ideas of anar- becoming increasingly common capitalism as a (the) necessary pre- share, exchange, teach/learn and chism are pretty basic and people here now. Previous to the end of the condition. develop healthy communities and will fill out the adjectives or per- 20th century 1 in 100 year rainfall The problem is this: such attitudes. If we can’t do this, what sonal meanings themselves. I don’t, events were very rare, and that is ‘anarchyists’ are our comrades. In hope do we have?! however, tend to get a lot from your across the world. Sheffield was hit days gone by, I would have fallen into Vincent magazine. I like the action and there with at at least a 150 year event. this category. And many of them/us Ashland, OR are some good articles from time to Business as usual to carry on, accept might be picking up GA for the first time which get me thinking. But I for the poorest who are the most time, as I did, curious about the anti- Semantics Perhaps? don’t see myself as a “rewilder” and likely to have had their homes civ perspective, and what do they wouldn’t go as far as saying civiliza- wrecked. And to top it off Prime find? Arrogance, cynicism, and a dis- Greetings: tion is the problem. Don’t we have Minister Brown has finally made his missal of the culture they’ve found I really liked the series on Camatte enough to deal with concerning the statement after last weeks ‘terrorist to provide the community, meaning, published in 2005 and I understand more impending oppressors like attacks’ in regards to push for bio- and inspiration that we all desper- the need for the Editors’ Note at the capitalism and the state? And I metric id cards. Funny timing how ately need in this world. Anarchyism end clarifying the sense of “com- think the language, culture, and munist”. For readers of Pannekoek time stuff is way off the deep end. po box 11331 and just about everyone else to the But the articles about cities in the po box 11331 left of Lenin it means what it meant last issue really bugged me. I live in eugene,eugene, oror 9744097440 for Kropotkin and all the other New York, where every ethnicity on great anarchist thinkers who used the planet is represented, not to it: the association of free and equal mention every political and artistic [email protected]@greenanarchy.org producers. For just about everyone perspective. Sure, there’s some else it connotes all the horrors of negative stuff, like the pollution and state-capitalism, so should perhaps interpersonal crimes, but to see this be avoided. Maybe “libertarian-com- all gone would be a waste. I think munism” or “anarcho-communism” anarchists would be taken more clarifies the sense sufficiently. I’m not seriously and actually have an convinced of that. But “anarchist” impact if they focused on and carries overt baggage that is even radicalized the beautiful and free worse for the ill-informed: it con- things in our society as they tore notes nihilistic terrorism – the down those that didn’t work. I bomb thrower. That sense was not value libraries, museums, cafes, at all clarified by the “anarchists” and restaurants. Collectively run who trashed the city centre here organizations can provide equality in Geneva at the time of the G8 (continued on next page) Page 87 SPRING/SUMMER ‘08 ISSUE ringing, the t.v. was telling me: the strength lying in wait behind “Don’t fret, this malaise is the these walls; if we only had the IN- natural concomitant of existence. FORMATION! Because, I assure The wise man sets his jaw in de- you, though these men around me termination to ignore it. Just keep are dissatisfied, though searching, going to work, just keep buying once these minister and evangelists stuff. “ Then a miraculous things get their hooks in and start propa- happened: after my first year on gating their myths and fables (read: Max, locked in my one-man psycho- rules to follow), at that time these sis-incubator with no external convicts will stop asking questions stimulation besides the aforemen- about why suffering and subjugation tioned t.v. set, consoling my grief must be; they settle for mysticism, and suspicion like Orwell’s whis- superstition, and living for the pering piglet; I received some free “next life”. For, it is so that the books at mail-call from a prison Christians are in here everyday, book program, as well as a resource walking around, handing out litera- list of other publishers and groups. ture and hard candy; for the same With that initial volume of Zinn, reasons there’s a t.v. in every cell a metamorphosis began. That (and if you can’t afford one, the prop- was in 2003. Since then I have erty room at the prison will issue you progressed through Zinn to a t.v. set!), there is also a chaplain Chomsky, Churchill, Bookchin; on the payroll and chapel services through Goldman and Debs, to the daily. If only the truth about power- Situationists and Crimethinc; always structures and civilization were so questioning, always arguing with accessible! Until the truth becomes myself about what’s true. Recently more available than distractions and John Zerzan’s Running on Emptiness lies; if at all, friends, take heart that found my hands and I haven’t quite some among us continue to challenge recovered. (I’m hoping some Derrick our captors, and your work helps Jensen follows shortly.) Anyway, in make that meaningful. Thanks for this monumental work is made your time. I look forward to reply. summit a few years ago. A Challenge mention of your journal, GA, as Respectfully-Chris This semantic issue presents a To Our Captors practicable manual of what’s what (PS Sorry I got so long-winded) real problem for communication. Dear Friends: within the primitivist field of study. Chris Early #299765 Attempts to avoid it by using a new Then, too I remembered the zine NECX-P.O. Box 5000 or neutral word (eg., “Parecon”) Greetings, I hope this finds you well-fed and well read. My name is review in Maximum Rock and Roll, Mountain City, TN 37683 with no historical associations is a and the information you’re willing poor solution. At worst it suggests Chris and I’m a maximum-security prisoner. In a recent review of GA to share with prisoners gratis bring Warrior For some sort of new-age religion one us to the point. Now, I don’t have does not wish to know about. in a punk zine, I read that you will Mother Earth send copies of your publication to any money. It’s a damn good month I have to say that editors of com- that stamps and coffee needs can be Dear Green Anarchy, munist websites tend not to be as prisoners without charge. If this I wrote you about a month and a policy stills holds true; notwith- met, and a rare one! However, I scrupulous and generous as you would like to know more about half-ago asking you to set me up have been when they refer to anar- standing the recent postal-rate with a subscription, for I am a upheavals aimed at destroying the what you do; I could perhaps be a chism. That needs attention. correspondent with GA. In any prisoner. I am an anarchist as well. Best regards, small press; then I would enjoy very I am also a warrior for Mother much receiving a copy and being case, I’m intrigued. So I hope your Xenophon resources permit you to send me GA Earth. I’m in prison for bank robbery, placed on your mailing-list for convicted on six counts. My purpose GA: Agreed that Parecon is a poor future issues. Anarcho-primitivism as well as any other information of direction, and that communism value to an inspiring activist for was to fund my cause and what I is rather new to me. During all these planed to do in defense of our (even with prefixes) is a bankrupt years of solitary, a slow radicalization freedom and pleasure. (I get out of idea, and at its most horrific, a prison sometime in 2010 after 12 Mother. I was turned in by what I has taken shape, along the “tradi- thought was a friend, only to find deadly “solution” (as in final), but tional” (I suppose?) lines. Whereas years inside; I’ll be 33.) Also one last we fail to see the issue with the word before I close. So that your out it was a rat. I was reading your my prior goals included getting out spring/summer 2007 issue last bomb-throwing anarchists as part of prison, finding a job, buying a staff, your readers and comrades of what an anarchist praxis might know: your efforts on behalf of month and ever since I wanted to car and a house, filling said house write you in hopes that you may look like. The systems of control with the standard techno-chattels; prisoners, however large of small, will not concede to argumentation are not in vain. I won’t tell the lie print what I have to say. yet, somewhere in all of that, some- To all the warriors, thanks you… and they certainly will not whither thing I couldn’t articulate was miss- that everyone incarcerated will end away. So, while we could never up coming to terms with the ideas Know in the end, no matter what, ing. Where was the love or satisfac- you will be blessed. Hold your head endorse such a tactic, cheers to the tion? Where joy? You see, my goals; you promote, as I mostly do. But anarchists with the courage to please keep trying to reach out to high and be proud. I love each and the American Dream; were hollow, everyone of you sisters and broth- challenge authority with not just a pre-designed obsolescence of the us! In myself as well as those around words, but with bricks and cock- me, so much ignorance and dissat- ers. To all of you people that may be human soul intended to create a open-minded and maybe have been tails. It seems that this is one part more efficient work or a more per- isfaction exists. We are the poor and of anarchist tradition we can all oppressed that the State would have exposed to the Truth and think that fect consumer. And what’s more, as it is cool to fight for our planet….. be proud of. this hollow became ever more all of you next become. Just imagine GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 88 I say to you before you jump out concept is already a central aspect “nature” and all that has arisen from I imagine bioanarchy therefore there, know what you are getting of anti-civ/anarcho-primitivist/ believing we’re separate from it starting as an internal sequence or into. Know that as a radical, you green anarchy critique and prac- (such as its subjugation, exploitation, process leading to an action, con- very well may get hurt possibly even tice. But I think there remains an and destruction, ad infinitum), the sequence, an event. To do so requires killed. You may lose your freedom, emphasis on human political free- ability to bring the wild closer to us using nihilistic skill against all pre- possibly for the rest of your life. dom from rule, generally, across all as our relation, place of our belong- vious concepts; our new perspective Your are fighting the government, anarchist thought. Therefore it ing, our place of being, our home, would be, metaphorically, not to which is the longest gang in the may serve to have this concept not just an objective concept. This plant a tree but to ‘deconstruct’ any- world. Is it really worth to you? articulated for specific inclusion reclaiming of our home, its reclama- thing that would stand in the way To all the fuckin rats that broke in pan-anarchistic study. tion of itself, would be at the heart of a tree growing. To stand back, weak and peed all over themselves There have been many of the experience and practice of acting only to protect the inherent when shit hit the fan…. How can “bioanarchists” one could say: lib- bioanarchy. wisdom of life from those who you live with yourselves knowing erators of life. But the study of this While rejecting the external would fuck with it, and to not ham- you helped the enemy lock away our practice could use development: a manifestations of the ego and west- per what will happen on its own. brothers and sisters. I hope every plan for the post-industrial and ern concepts, we can begin within This practice would be, to reit- time you look in the mirror you post-civilization era emerging, e.g. us to deconstruct “the other” in our erate: the unlearning of human know death awaits your soul. If there how is wilderness, the biosphere in perspectives towards life and form external manipulation in all is a hell I hope you burn….. its entirety, to be reclaimed? This a foundation for the outward ex- forms, the unlearning of our own To everyone else… Know this, I am statement presupposes a human pression and action of freeing life. seen and unseen mindsets from a warrior of our Mother and I’m solid ‘doer,’ whereas the practice would Not a simple change in semantics, the hideous constructs that have and I’ll be free, someday and I’ll con- be more correctly focused, not on a diction, or lingo, but a genuine an- made us so self-important, and tinue my walk on this hard path. I’ll human act of restoration, but human nihilation of archaic systems of allow the ever present force of the continue to defend our Mother no action towards dismantling what thought. This can be an action biosphere to manifest in its non- matter what the price. I love you would stand in the way of the wild that one takes on individually: to anthropocentric, irrational, beyond Earth First! I love you ELF! I love you reclaiming itself. So, is bioanarchism be responsible for one’s self-libera- understanding, beautiful, and ALF! I’m a KID! I’m a warrior! And then the practice of deconstruction tion will in turn give rise to this mysterious ways. This is the per- I got love for the planet! of any mechanism that would impede new paradigm of the liberation of sonal and communal practice that Love ya, life from restoring itself? I think all life, most likely in ways that we leads to the true liberation of life, James Anderson this is the essence of what makes may not yet conceive. This would one we can do constantly, every #67394-065 this concept important. That shift be a true evolution, an epigenesis, day, every moment. Now, as the Aka Coyote in perspective on our part takes not simply another revolution momentum builds, when critical more of the human ego out of the couched in the same old paradigm mass shifts, and the death of the ps: I’m begging for GA, print this. equation and begins the annihilation of thought. That would be per- archaic world view peaks, we will It really bothered me how many of interior and exterior western petuating illusion. That is not to be ready to assist the biosphere, people rolled when the heat got concepts of “wilderness,” etc. The say there won’t be more layers of the wild, life, in reclaiming and burned up. It hurt my heart. Some mind-body-environment Cartesian illusion, but what exactly is one thriving in its infinite manifesta- of these KIDZ like Jeffrey Luers are split that dominates western think- going to peel away using the same tions; not in our own design but my people. Some of the other Oregon ing has so much to do, as many of way of thinking that has en- in a much greater and unknowable, KIDZ your magazine mentioned that us know, with identifying and trenched us and those recently incredibly powerful way, that we rolled (ratted out), I once thought giving definitions to life as sepa- before us into this quagmire? We belong to. they were solid too. Apparently I was rate phenomena. To begin this must cut off the baggage that So that all our relations may wrong. I want all the other prisoners deconstruction, even just in thought, doesn’t serve us and get that much thrive, that need this to know I love them is a huge step in dissolving these closer to the source. Even with one Istaqa and they aren’t doing time for nothing. dualistic concepts. Yet, this shift step at a time, the quality of these Their cause is important. gives what we would objectify as steps would be irretractable. ...and that is that. (Thank You GA)

Bioanarchology? Bioanarchology Oh great, another term. Is it neces- sary? Is it relevant? What is it? Well the basic ety- mology of the term would go something like this: bio: life + anarch(y): without/ before rule (over) + -logy: the study of. I haven’t heard this term before, but it dawned on me and I pieced together this defini- tion: the study of life (all life) as it would exist without rulers, government, the state; without societal, cultural, constructs/abstractions. One might see that this Page 89 SPRING/SUMMER ‘‘08 ISSUE GREEN ANARCHY DISTRIBUTION An Anti-Civilization Journal of Theory and Action Go Light $3 Pamphlets: Thoughts on primal parenting and the wild child, Single issues of Green Anarchy can be mailed to you for: $4 in the U.S., $6 in Abolition Of Work & Primitive Affluence focusing on teaching kids ways of relating to the Canada, $7 in Europe, $8 around the world. Back issues (#9-24) are still Bob Black $2 world outside, or on the edge of, the civilized available for $4 each, or $60 for the set. Most of the previous issues (since A great post-left critique of work. context. (Re)introducing children to edible and we shifted to a magazine format) have been focused along certain themes, A Child’s Guide to Nihilism $2 medicinal plants, building shelters, hunting although each issue does go beyond the specific focus. This “Coloring and Activity Book” offers a unique, and gathering, planting, singing and dancing, yet concise, introduction to the general outlook and more! Issue #15 (Winter 2004): “The Problem Issue #20 (Summer 2005): “Spirituality, and historical framework, including interactive Grand Juries: Tools Of Political Repression exercises, word searches, crossword puzzles, and Craig Rosebraugh $2 of the Left” Ideology, and Worldviews” an assortment of clever and humorous lessons. Analysis of grand juries by someone who’s been Issue #16 (Spring 2004): “Rewilding” Issue #21 (Fall/Winter 2005-06) was Against the Engineering of Life $3 through many of them. an eclectic issue. Lucid analysis of biotechnology and techno-sci- If an Agent Knocks Anonymous $2 Issue #17 (Summer 2004): “Introduction entific society by former Situationist, Rene Riesel. All you need to know about visits by the feds. to Green Anarchy” Issue #22 (Spring 2006): Technology. A Map Chellis Glendinning $3 Industrial Domestication: Industry As The Issue #18 (Fall/Winter 2004-05): Issue #23 (Summer/Fall 2006): The contents of a speech delivered by Chellis. Origins Of Modern Domination Leopold Roc $1 “Class Struggle” Tactics and Strategy. Anti-Mass: Methods Of Organization For This essay shows why the struggle for workers’ Collectives $2 autonomy must be one to destroy industrialism. Issue #19 (Spring 2005): Issue #24 (Spring/Summer 2007): Arguments against mass organization and in Industrial Society & Its Future: The Unabomber’s “Indigenous Resistance” Culture, Cities, and more! favor of more autonomous action. Manifesto F.C. (Unambomber) $4 Armed Joy Alfredo M. Bonanno $3 An in-depth manifesto against industrialism. An insurrectional anarchist classic! Insurrectionary Anarchy: Organizing Attack! $1 HOW TO SUBSCRIBE TO GREEN ANARCHY At Daggers Drawn Elephant Editions $3 A short excerpt from Do Or Die, focusing on Beautifully poetic insurrectionalist pamphlet insurrectionalist ideas and practice. Argues for a Here are the rates for a 4 Issue Subscription (about 2 years): that convincingly demonstrates that our dreams new strategic orientation, one completely severed can only be realized through revolutionary from liberal and reformist thought patterns. U.S. - $15, Canada - $22, Europe - $24, struggle and that revolutionary struggle itself InTERRORgation: The CIA’s Secret Manual on is already the realization of many of our goals. Coercive Questioning $5 and the rest of the planet - $28 Attacking Prisons at the Point of Production $2 56-page reprint of the CIA’s interrogation manual. Subscriptions are FREE for U.S. Prisoners! A brief look at militant actions against the Describes methods of physical and mental torture prison-industrial complex. to “induce compliance” from “unwilling subjects.” Note to Prisoners: Beyond Agriculture $3 An Introduction to Critical Theory: The Dialectic Due to our mailing costs, we are asking that prisoners now re-subscribe every four Debunks agriculture and organic gardening, in of Everyday Life $2 issues (for free) so we know that you would like to continue receiving our magazine. favor of a foraging existence. Originally published in 1980 by the Columbia We will let you know when your subscription has run out with your fourth issue. We Colonization Is Always War Zig Zag $2 Anarchist League, this short text is a powerful also ask prisoners to share copies if possible, rather than sign up all of their friends, Modern resistance to the forces of colonialism. attack on ideological non-thought. as it is quite expensive to continue the 1000+ free prisoner subscriptions. Consent Or Coercion Ed Stamm $2 Lessons Of Easter Island Clive Ponting $1 An accessible introduction to anarchism. Taken from A Green History of the World. Send well-concealed cash, postal money orders or checks Disgust Of Daily Life Kevin Tucker $3 Let’s Get Free! $3 in U.S. currency made out to Green Anarchy. And, let us know A creative piece furthering the critique of 28-page zine by and about Jeff “Free” Luers, earth civilization and its totality. defender, anarchist, and political prisoner currently what issue you would like to start your subscription at (the Down With Empire, Up With Spring $3 serving 23 years for a politically-motivated arson. current or next issue). If domestic subscribers would like A contribution to the dialogue on social revolution Libres y Salvajes: la diversidad insurreccion $3 their subscription in an envelope, please note and add an and ecological defense, this pamphlet contains A compilation of insurrectionary and green additional $4 per subscription ($1 per issue). excerpts from an excellent essay in the final issue anarchist writings, including Feral Faun, John of the U.K. eco-anarchist periodical/book Do Or Die. Moore, Robin Terranova, Willful Disobedience, Earth Liberation Front: Frequently Asked and Killing King Abacus. Translated into Spanish PO Box 11331, Eugene, OR 97440 Questions ELF Press Office $3 by Llavor d’ Anarquia in Barcelona, Spain. What is the ELF? Why did they burn down Vail? Listening To The Land: An Interview With email us at: [email protected] Electric Funeral Havoc Mass $3 Ward Churchill by Derrick Jensen $1 with any questions or orders. Originally appearing in GA #15, this essay is A great interview with American Indian Move- “an in-depth examination of the mega-machine’s ment revolutionary and author, Ward Churchill. circuitry”. It gives historical precedents and Native Resistance To Canada $2 HOW TO DISTRIBUTE GREEN ANARCHY eloquently advocates for infrastructural targeting Modern Native struggles against colonialism. in actions against industrial society. Network of Domination Wolfi Landstreicher $3 Here are the rates for distribution: Enemy Of The State: An Interview With John Anarchist analysis of the institutions, structures, Zerzan by Derrick Jensen $1 and systems of domination and exploitation to U.$. Brief, but informative conversation with J.Z. be debated, developed and acted upon. Quantity under 49 copies - $2 per copy False Promises Ward Churchill $3 Nihilism, Anarchy, and the 21st Century $3 Quantity over 50 copies - $1.50 per copy This essay, subtitled, An Indigenist Examination Intended to expose anarchists to the breadth of Marxist Theory and Practice, from Ward’s of the nihilist contribution to anarchy. book, Since Predator Came, is a thorough and Nihilist’s Dictionary $2 John Zerzan Canada scholarly look at the theoretical and practical Originally a regularly running column Anarchy: Sending Green Anarchy to Canada costs extra. We ask that people pay conflicts between an indigenous world-view A Journal of Desire Armed and published in its the same rates as above but add about 30% more money for postage. and practice and that of Marxism. entirety in John’s book, Future Primitive. Fawda Venomous Butterfly Publications $3 Non-Violence & Its Violent Consequences Analyzes the struggle in Palestine from an William Meyers $2 International insurrectional anarchist perspective. Pacifist absurdity debunked. Sending large quantities of Green Anarchy overseas costs a lot of money Feral Forager $3 On Organization by Jaques Camatte $3 and takes time. We ask that people add about 50% more money for post- A guide to living off nature’s bounty in urban, This pamphlet collects Camatte’s major writings rural, and wilderness areas. Contains wild foods on the predictable, repetitive and anti-liberatory age. We will send packages out as cheap as possible (usually surface) and medicines, how to use roadkill, and more. organizational mindset of leftist political rackets. unless specifically requested by you to send it air mail. Feral Revolution Feral Faun $5 On the Poverty of Student Life $2 A collection of critical, inspirational, and insightful Classic and scandalous Situationist tract from 1966 anti-civilization anarchist writings by Feral Faun. that thoroughly trashes the university system. *Now you can order and subscribe online Future Primitive John Zerzan $2 On The Road Again: Direct Action Underground $2 with our new PayPal account. Taken from the book, this essay presents a Some basics you need to know about the nature scathing critique of civilization and technology. of underground and clandestine resistance. GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 90 Our Enemy, Civilization $3 Listening to the Land $18 Essays against civilization, industrialism, mass The Fredy Perlman Series: Books: Choosing the dialogue form instead of the single- society, and modernity. The Continuing Appeal of Nationalism $3 Anarchy After Leftism Bob Black $5 voice narrative, Jensen’s hope was that the reader Primitivist Primer John Moore $1 A concise and critical look at national liberation A scathing critique of Murray Bookchin and his could experience “the communal effort at working An interesting and very accessible introduction struggles from an anarchist perspective particular form of social anarchism from the through some of the greatest and most difficult to the movement against civilization. Anti-Semitism and the Beirut Pogrom $2 bad-boy of the Post-Left. questions ever faced by human beings.” This book Quiet Rumours: An Anarcha-Feminist Reader, A look at the inherent racism of Zionism, and Fire and Ice by Laurel Luddite and Skunkly is a collection of over two dozen provocative the Dark Star Collective (not entire book) $3 the condition of an oppressed people becoming Monkly $10 conversations with environmentalists, theologians, A compilation of some major anarcha-feminist an oppressor. An emotionally poignant and extremely lucid Native Americans, psychologists, and feminists. articles of the past century. Ten Theses on the Proliferation of Egocrats $1 book. Subtitled, “Disturbing the Comfortable and Highlights include interviews with Paul Shepard, Rebel’s Dark Laughter: Writings Of Bruno A brief look at the rationality and development Comforting the Disturbed while Tracking Our Ward Churchill, and Susan Griffin. Filippi Venomous Butterfly Publications $3 of the ego-leader/dictator. Wildest Dreams,” the personal approach of their Selected writings and poetry by this late Italian Progress and Nuclear Power $1 stream-of-consciousness writing is often miss- insurrectionary anarchist. This essay traces the systematic colonization of ing in the either over-simplistic rhetorical or John Zerzan: Revolution And/Or Insurrection Kevin Tucker $4 North America, and links it to the mind-set which hyper-intellectual writings of the anarchist milieu. Against Civilization Edited by Zerzan $15 “Some Thoughts on Tearing this Muthafucka perpetuates industry and nuclear power. Fighting for Freedom by Edgey and Esperanza $14 This long-awaited newly expanded addition of the Down”. It is an accumulation of some of Kevin (Get all four Fredy Perlman essays for $6) This handsome paperback is a collection of 12 classic collection of essays against civilization has Tucker’s best writings on the subject of resistance short essays taking on domination/civilization. been released!. Recently unavailable, it includes to civilization. Species Traitor #4 $10 writings by Kirkpatrick Sale, Chellis Glendinning, The Revolutionary Pleasure of Thinking for Primitive Skills Series: The awsome new issue focuses on the conse- Barbra Mor, Marshall Sahlins, and more! Yourself $2 Primitive Tools $3 quences of domestication and agriculture, the Elements Of Refusal $15 A situationist tract translated into plain English, Stones, bones, shells, antlers, horns, wood; you collapse of civilization, and on the primal war. Johnny Z’s extensive research attempts to trace this essay was originally published in the U.S. can make simple tools from them all! It is in a new format: 200 pages, book binding. the roots of domination. From time, agriculture, in 1975 by The Spectacle. It takes dead aim at Primitive Fire and Cordage $3 language, and so on to the various other forms one of the most serious scourges stunting the Making fire from bow and hand drills, and Derrick Jensen: of social control that domesticate and dominate all life. growth of the anarchist movement: ideology. simple techniques to make rope and string. A Language Older Than Words $20 Running On Emptiness $15 Security Culture Free! Primitive Containers $3 Brilliant, disturbing, and original, this deeply personal John’s most recent book includes “Time & Its Basic precautions for direct action. Learn how to make baskets, bags, and what-nots. book gets to the core of humanity’s internal and Discontents,” “Whose Unabomber,” “Abstract Society Against The State Pierre Clastres $1 Primitive/Semi-Permanent Shelters $3 external conflicts. From domestic abuse to silence Expressionism,” John’s memoir “So, How Did You Analysis of the anti-authoritarian nature of many Learn four different methods of primitive building. and control to clearcuts, the omnicidal composition Become An Anarchist” and other great essays. indigenous peoples by this French anarchist Deer from Field to Freezer $3 of our culture is bleakly illustrated. But through this, anthropologist. So, now you’ve found or killed a deer. What next! Derrick successfully composes an inspiring guide Stopping The Industrial Hydra: Revolution Brain Tan Buckskin $3 to self-discovery, personal healing, interpersonal Videos/DVD’s: Against The Megamachine George Bradford $2 Raw deer skin to finished buckskin in as little relationships and planetary survival. Anarchy In Spain Rottin’/Johnny Productions $12/$15 Looks at the ecological disasters perpetuated by as 10 hours! The Culture of Make-Believe $22 An account of two green anarchists’ 2001 tour of industrial capitalism and technological civilization. Primitive Wilderness Cooking $3 Interweaving political, historical, philosophical, Spain, including visits to squats, CNT museums, This Is What Democracy Looks Like VBP $3 Boiling, baking, roasting, frying and more! and deeply personal perspectives, Derrick argues and interviews with contemporary anarchists. Essays criticizing the anti-globalization move- (Get all seven pamphlets of this useful series by that only by understanding past horrors can we Fuck The System and Takin’ It Down! $15/$18 ment and the paltry ideal of democracy. Prairie Wolf for $18.) hope to prevent future ones (and heal from and FTS is a 60-minute music-documentary of anar- Towards The Creative Nothing: Selected escape the current set-up). Researching and chist uprisings in Eugene and around the world, Writings Of Renzo Novatore VBP $3 critically examining the atrocities that characterize including various inciteful music videos! TID!, A great compilation of rants by this obscure Zines: our culture–lynchings, slavery, manufactured the long-awaited sequel, is an additional 60 anarcho-individualist revolutionary. Disorderly Conduct Issues #1 and #2 are $2 disasters, deathsquads–he arrives at some minutes of anti-civilization music and videos. UnCivilized $3 each, #3 and #4 are $3 each, #5 and #6 are $5 shocking and thought-provoking conclusions in U.S. Off The Planet: An Evening With Ward This “Primer on Civilization, Domestication, and each, (sorry, they kept getting bigger) and $18 this 700-page literary bombshell that will shatter Churchill And Chellis Glendinning $12/$15 Anarchy” combines a deeply radical overview for the complete set. No longer published. your illusions and rattle your bones. A wonderful documentation of two speeches of civilization with compelling personal voices The legendary insurrectionary green-anarchist Strangely Like War delivered by Ward and Chellis on June 17th, 2001. of yearning and resistance. publication, brought to you by the “Bring On (co-written with George Draffan) $16 Society of the Spectacle: The Film! $12/$15 Undesirables VBP $3 The Ruckus” Society. Sorry, it almost never Civilizations have always been founded on a dis- The hard-to-find filmatic interpretation of the Essays on technology and class struggle makes it into prisons. Not for the timid. connection from the earth, and this separation Situationist classic by Guy Debord that turns the translated from Greek and Italian anarchist Green Anarchist (U.K.) Current issue only $2 is also what is basic to their eventual collapse. Spectacle on its head! publications. This uncompromising predecessor of Green This can be illustrated in no clearer terms than Surplus $12/$15 We All Live In Bhopal David Watson $1 Anarchy was one of the earliest primitivist zines. in the legacy of deforestation, from ancient Collage/commentary by Italian filmmaker, Erik In the technological society, we are all subjected Still offering many action reports and strong Mesopotamia to the Pacific Northwest. Jensen Gandini takes a hard look at the grotesque to poisonous chemicals and contaminations. anti-civilization analysis. and Draffan document this stark scenario of nature of civilization and the multifaceted resistance Weeping Willow Coalition Against Civilization $3 Killing King Abacus (#1 and 2) $3 each ecological breakdown, while inspiring us to act. to it. Tackling weighty themes like consumption, Contains herbal remedies, wild foods and Cutting-edge journal of insurrectional anarchist theory. Welcome to the Machine technology, objectification, and domination. medicines, and some basic primitive skills Lugnut (issue #4) $2 (co-written with George Draffan) $18 Without A Trace: A Forensic Manual for You An engaging, concise overview of (anti)civilization From tiny ID chips tracking everything we and Me $3 from Ireland. Revealing – and fun! purchase to governmental/corporate entities * GA Special Offer: An Absolutely indispensable guide to attacking Species Traitor (issue #3) $4 gathering and recording every last detail of Every order over $50, add two additional the system and getting away with it! A must Thick anarcho-primitivist zine from the east- our lives to the hyper-militarism of the all- zines or pamphlets for free, and every for anyone with felonious plans. coast’s Coalition Against Civilization, focusing encompassing police state, Jensen and order over $100 entitles you to a free Woman and Nature Susan Griffin $3 on theory and insurrection.(See our book Draffan reveal the horrific modern surveillance 4-issue subscription! (Sorry, only in the U.S.) This compilation from Griffin’s most powerful section for the newly released issue #4) and control culture of the machine. and incisive book features some of the most provocative eco-feminist writings out there. The cost of the items is for printing, postage, Writings Of The Vancouver Five $4 NEW: and a little extra to keep this project going. Writings by members of the eco-anarcho-feminist Out of Control #1 David Drexler $3 How to order: urban guerrillas from Canada, known as the Subtitled: Technophobic Delusions in Schizo- - Please send well-concealed cash, checks, or postal money orders made out to Wimmin’s Fire Brigade and Direct Action. phrenia. Explores Electromagnetic Harassment “Green Anarchy” in U.S. Currency only (no loose change). and the Influencing Machine. - Mail orders to: PO BOX 11331, Eugene, OR 97440. Back to Basics Series: Out of Control #2 David Drexler $3 Subtitled: Compulsive Hoarding and Prodigious - We try to fill orders quickly, but we’re very busy and delays often do occur. Please volume one: The Origins of Civilization $1 Amassments of Crap Some basic anarcho-primitivist assumptions be patient. Email us at: [email protected] if it is taking a long time or if Arson #1 and #2 $3 each you have any questions about availability. and questions about the origins of civilization. Passionate anti-civ zine from Australia. Analysis, volume two: The Problem of the Left $1 humor, and more. - International orders can take longer because we do not tend to ship airmail, as it Leftism 101 for anarchists All Out War $3 is quite expensive. Please add about 50% to your total price for the high cost of volume three: The Rewilding Primer $1 Subtitled: Chess and Its Relevance to Strategic international mail (except when noted). We can now only send airmail rates. An intro to various rewilding ideas and practices. Insurgency. Excellent, provocative anti-civ volume four: What Is Green Anarchy $1 insurrection from Australia. An overview of green anarchist ideas. * Check-out: www.greenanarchy.org Page 91 SPRING/SUMMER ‘08 ISSUE Longing for Collapse Press Tarantula for total destruction, for total liberation Publishing, Distribution, Benefit, and News Distribution visit our catalog and Insurrectionary Action/Prisoner Awareness Blog at: 818 SW www.myspace.com/ 3rd Ave alongingforcollapsepress (our blog and page are accessible to non-myspace members.) PMB#1237 All profits from zines or books sold go to the Portland, benefit of misc. political prisoners. OR 97204 email: [email protected] [email protected] A Longing for Collapse Press c/o Shoelacetown ABC P.O Box 8085, Paramus, NJ 07652 Fire to the Prisons Always keep #2 Out Now! Black and Green Bombs and your shield moved southwards between you Fire to the Prisons is an insurrectionary anarchist Here’s the new contact for Black and Green, Shields and your bomb! quarterly focusing on anti-prison and prisoner Primal War, and Species Traitor: up-to-date news, direct action, support content, but also includes articles to inspire PO Box 81303, Athens, GA 30608 state repression, interesting You can still email : info, and more! opposition to this cold world. blackandgreenpress @gmail.com primalwar @gmail.com www.bombsandshields.org Link to http://www.mediafire.com/ ?4v711uxjwm0 to download the pdf “The crisis deepens. Everyday life is plundered as 2008 Or contact us directly at: much as the physical environment. Our predicament [email protected]. points us toward a solution. The voluntary abandon- Anarcho- ment of the industrial mode of existence is not PLEASE feel free to print and distribute this zine to your self-renunciation, but a healing return.” Primitivist full capability, or forward the file to someone who will. Anarchist This is a longing for collapse press project. WILIGHT Visit our site and blog at: T Gathering myspace.com/alongingforcollapsepress To start green OF THE anarchist commu- nities in forests around the world MACHINES get together, skillshares, By discussions July 2008, John Zerzan NW Poland for more details, $12 available April 2008 e-mail: www.FeralHouse.com [email protected]

Somewhere, Around each corner There’s a rebel Ready to yell Fire! In a crowded theatre Just ‘cuz

GREEN ANARCHY #25 Page 92 lifelife isis allall aroundaround usus lifelife isis outout therethere