Neue VeranstaltungshinweiseEs wurden keine neuen Veranstaltungshinweise in der letzten Woche veröffentlicht Kommende VeranstaltungenNorth America / Mexico | Environment Keine kommenden Veranstaltungen veröffentlicht AKBELEN FORESTS ARE CALLING EVERYONE FOR RESISTANCE 15:47 Jul 30 15 comments Las llamas de la Amazonía y el avance del capitalismo. 02:04 Sep 10 0 comments How Emissions Trading at Paris Climate Talks Has Set Us Up For Failure 17:04 Dec 17 1 comments Notre Dame des Landes: una Larzac bretone 16:58 Nov 08 4 comments Los verdaderos intereses dentro del Ministerio de Minas y Energía de Colombia 18:15 Mar 06 0 comments mehr >> |
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What is at Stake in North Minneapolis and #Justice4Jamar 0 comments Recent Articles about North America / Mexico EnvironmentGNL Québec : Les gains matériels d'une lutte écologiste May 24 22 A Green New Deal vs. Revolutionary Ecosocialism Jan 02 19 México DF: Con carnaval defienden el maíz contra embates de Monsanto May 28 13 END: CIV—Against Jensen and for a Real Ecological and Working Class Revolution
north america / mexico |
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review
Monday September 12, 2011 11:40 by db
Review of the Derrick Jensen-influenced film END:CIV Derrick Jensen represents the current peak synthesis of primitivist and insurrectionist thought. And while both trends are declining within anarchism thanks to the global upswing of mass struggle against austerity, like in Egypt, Wisconsin, Spain, and so on, such trends are still able to get a good event together in Minneapolis, like the hundred or so people who attended the showing of END: CIV, a movie inspired by Jensen’s writing, and like it, a dead end for any relevant conversation on the present moment. There are deep, insolvable failures in Jensen’s work with regard to revolution, collapse, and militancy, but let us begin with the strengths of Jensen’s approach so we can demolish his politics without losing what value they contain. |
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Spring zu Komment: 1 2 3 4That first line did certainly start out on a ridiculous note: "Derrick Jensen represents the current peak synthesis of primitivist and insurrectionist thought." Uh... no. DJ has always simply represented to most publicly palatable and safe form of both. He's a big name in primitivist and anarchist circles, but he's never represented the pinnacle of thought regarding either. Don't get me wrong, I've generally been in favor of his writings, but let's not make those writings to be something they are not. And yes, the second line is also a bit ridiculous. Beyond insurrections spreading around the globe, it's likely that primitivist ideology will continue to get more nods as incidents like Fukushima continue to occur amidst the broader ecological collapse brought about by techno-industrial civilization. And now... I suppose I'll have to read the rest of this article. Joy.
"Capitalism and the state are massively powerful and adaptive human systems, and they can only be destroyed through the coordinated action of the great majority of people in this society, and world."
No, that isn't true. Like them or not, probably depending on what they actually represent, vanguards often start revolutions by activities which inspire and encourage the masses. A revolution need not get under way with everyone on board and acting in solidarity. If they were already a revolution would arguably be far less necessary in many cases. Eventually, for a sustained revolution, the majority will have to get on board -- but a revolution can be undertaken and fought without them.
"Assuming from the get go that a majority of people are insane and therefore not worth thinking about prevents Jensen and Co from being revolutionary at all, which is why there is so much reliance on collapse as a solution in his work."
Jensen doesn't need to "rely" on collapse as a solution... it's an occurrence well under way that's not really a "solution" so much as a logical and noticeable outcome. And regardless of whether or not you are primitivist, preeminent thinkers in many fields have explicitly stated as much -- collapse is well underway. Mass extinction has already begun and the life supporting systems of the planet have been thoroughly compromised. If you get your head out of the sand and do a wee bit of research you'll see statements confirming this reality coming from all relevant fields.
"But anyone with a thought in their head can see that even if the perfect storm of capitalist transition, peak oil, and climate change comes about, the resulting devastation will not eliminate either capitalism or the state."
Ridiculous. The "perfect storm" which you evoke is bringing about mass extinction -- and likely the extinction of humankind. And without humankind... the state and capitalism will not exist. I'm not saying that's a favorable way to eliminate these things, but it follows the logic of your own statement that they could certainly be eliminated in this way.
"Collapse then is a childishly utopian take on revolution—capitalism and the state will magically disappear!"
Nobody who is at all serious claims that utter collapse would be easy or utopian in the initial stages. Nor is anyone banking on anything magical in these regards. Collapse, if we survive it, will breed widespread discontent with that which led us there. And that is what will likely bring about new forms of social organization -- if we survive the collapse engendered by techno-industrial civilization.
"Collapse then, is no substitute for revolution because collapse without revolution just means a harsher form of domination then we have currently."
A red herring. The idea isn't that collapse is the same as revolution -- the idea is that collapse will inevitably lead to a radically new way of life. That shouldn't be too hard to follow. And it's not about wanting or idealizing anything... the collapse is well underway and the socio-political consequences are unlikely to be mild or working to uphold the ways which led to the collapse.
Beyond all that... OP's favorable talk of insurrection is far more vague than anything from even Jensen (who isn't particularly insurrectionary). Judging by statements the OP made, they act like any resistance to the state (short of universal solidarity amongst the masses) will only make it stronger. And that's what OP is accusing Jensen of in this text. Are we to wait until everyone is on board before any of us start to revolt?
What DB (and many others) doesn't seem to realize is that this society -- techno-industrial society -- has already been driven over the cliff. And when the crash occurs it is going to effect us all whether or not we want it to. Setting up ways to give it drag and keep it in the air with the temporary psuedo-sustainable solutions (within in it's general context of environmental degradation) won't prevent the collapse. What we need to do is figure out how we are going to crawl out of the wreckage and maintain a free sustainable society afterwards -- if that's possible.
Maybe that's not pretty or ideal, but we don't always get what we want and we should expect things based purely on our hopes.
The message of the film, and Jensen's work, is explicitly NOT to wait for collapse to magically bring about sustainability, but that waiting will lead to mass extinctions and possibly an end to life on the planet. The film is calling for us to organize to resist the atrocities of this system. Further, the new book "Deep Green Resistance" by Jensen, Lierre Keith and Aric McBay promotes and describes how to build a resistance movement. If they were not trying to build broad public support for this idea, they would not be writing books and making films. Frank Lopez, who made End:Civ, would not be traveling around everywhere trying to show it, relying on donations and giving the film away free. So the OP's original argument fails right there.
Also, debate over strategy is a great thing. But adding a tone of insult and arrogance is alienating and doesn't win people over. Argue the points; don't sneer.
I think the author of the first comment basically puts forward a messianic conception of social change where we have faith that collapse is inevitable & faith in the violent acts of small minorities to make change. I don't really see anything positive or progressive in those positions. Collapse is not inevitable. It's possible, but there's other possibilities. It's also not to be welcomed, collapse would be an unfathomable holocaust & people promoting it are either anti-social elements or are not really serious in their politics.
Rather than trying to do small violent acts to bring about world collapse, we need to try and confront the system and put forward an alternative method of change. That's the problem with the primitivist & jensen stuff. The faith in collapse & fears raised around such a messianic concept take rationality out of the equation. What if the collapse takes 200 years? Rather than having faith in the inevitability of collapse, there's long historical evidence of the ability of power to coerce life under horrible conditions. The appeal of these theories is they claim we've entered a new epoch that changes the rules. There's so many assumptions there, if we just question any of them the whole argument crumbles. Is the strategy to just keep taking irresponsible acts of small scale destruction and keep sending young people to prison? Is anti-social violence a better way to confront the system than trying to build positive collective power with our fellow humanity?
It's hard to take this stuff seriously honestly. I don't see anything different from say the Khmer Rouge, who wanted to get back to primitive society of Cambodia & who believed that a minority needed to take acts to destroy civilization. Especially given the willingness to question morality in their acts of bringing about the collapse of civilization, we need to wonder what kind of politics this actually is.
A movement is growing based on the book, co-authored by Derrick Jensen, called Deep Green Resistance: Strategy to Save the Planet. Deep Green Resistance has a plan of action for anyone determined to fight for this planet-and win. If you’ve ever been inspired by Derrick’s work, then here’s where the solutions are. The time for action is now. Now this war has two sides…
98% of the old growth forests are gone. 99% of of the prairies are gone. 80% of the rivers on this planet do not support life anymore. We are out of species, we are out soil, and we are out of time. And what we are being told by most of the environmental movement is that the way to stop all of this is through personal consumer choices. It’s time for a real strategy that truly addresses the scope of our predicament.
Where is your threshold for resistance? To take only one variable out of hundreds: Ninety percent of the large fish in the oceans are already gone. Is it 91 percent? 92? 93? 94? Would you wait till they had killed off 95 percent? 96? 97? 98? 99? How about 100 percent? Would you fight back then?
Good people have stayed silent for too long. We’re tired of ineffective, symbolic acts – piecemeal, reactive, and sad. Now our despair and anger can be matched by an even deeper joy, beyond compare, the joy of beginning to fight back, effectively. We are pleased to announce the formation of DGR Action Groups worldwide. Take the first step and join the resistance.
Learn more about the strategy, find groups that have formed near you, or find out how to start your own group at:
http://deepgreenresistance.org