"Even now, we hardly love the Earth or see with eyes or listen any longer with our ears, and we scarcely feel our hearts beat before they break in protest." Stanley Diamond
Peace,
Idzie
Showing posts with label environmentalism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label environmentalism. Show all posts
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Driving Driving Driving
I usually don't shy away from learning about the things that anger me, horrify me, and sometimes break my heart. But with the damn oil spill, I've been avoiding hearing about it as much as I can. I feel so incredibly helpless, and every time I think of it I just want to burst into tears.
But today, I saw this new song on Facebook by Kimya Dawson, an artist I adore, and loved it. So I wanted to share it with you. It's called Driving Driving Driving.
Peace,
Idzie
Peace,
Idzie
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Derrick Jensen Quotes
I offer these quotes not to convince anyone of anything, or to start arguments. I offer them simply as a collection of words from an anti-civilization authour whom I found at an important time in my life, and whose writing has had a profound impact on the way I think and live and look at the world around me.
"So many indigenous people have said to me that the fundamental difference between Western and indigenous ways of being is that even the most open-minded westerners generally view listening to the natural world as a metaphor, as opposed to the way the world really is. Trees and rocks and rivers really do have things to say to us." -Derrick Jensen
"I have heard people suggest that because humans are natural that everything humans do or create is natural. Chainsaws are natural. Nuclear bombs are natural. Our economics is natural. Sex slavery is natural. Asphalt is natural. Cars are natural. Polluted water is natural. A devastated world is natural. A devasted phyche is natural. Unbridled exploitation is natural. Pure objectification is natural. This is, of course, nonsense. We are embedded in the natural world. We evolved as social creatures in this natural world. We require clean water to drink, or we die. We require clean air to breathe, or we die. We require food, or we die. We require love, affection, social contact in order to become our full selves. It is part of our evolutionary legacy as social creatures. Anything that helps us to understand all of this is natural: Any ritual, artifact, process, action is natural, to the degree that it reinforces our understanding of our embeddedness in the natural world, and any ritual, artifact, process, action is unnatural, to the degree that it does not"-Derrick Jensen
"To reverse the effects of civilization would destroy the dreams of a lot of people. There's no way around it. We can talk all we want about sustainability, but there's a sense in which it doesn't matter that these people's dreams are based on, embedded in, intertwined with, and formed by an inherently destructive economic and social system. Their dreams are still their dreams. What right do I -- or does anyone else -- have to destroy them.
At the same time, what right do they have to destroy the world?"-Derrick Jensen
"Grades are a problem. On the most general level, they're an explicit acknowledgment that what you're doing is insufficiently interesting or rewarding for you to do it on your own. Nobody ever gave you a grade for learning how to play, how to ride a bicycle, or how to kiss. One of the best ways to destroy love for any of these activities would be through the use of grades, and the coercion and judgment they represent. Grades are a cudgel to bludgeon the unwilling into doing what they don't want to do, an important instrument in inculcating children into a lifelong subservience to whatever authority happens to be thrust over them."-Derrick Jensen
"That’s one of the great things about everything being so fucked up, that no matter where you look there’s great work to be done." -Derrick Jensen
Peace,
Idzie
"So many indigenous people have said to me that the fundamental difference between Western and indigenous ways of being is that even the most open-minded westerners generally view listening to the natural world as a metaphor, as opposed to the way the world really is. Trees and rocks and rivers really do have things to say to us." -Derrick Jensen
"I have heard people suggest that because humans are natural that everything humans do or create is natural. Chainsaws are natural. Nuclear bombs are natural. Our economics is natural. Sex slavery is natural. Asphalt is natural. Cars are natural. Polluted water is natural. A devastated world is natural. A devasted phyche is natural. Unbridled exploitation is natural. Pure objectification is natural. This is, of course, nonsense. We are embedded in the natural world. We evolved as social creatures in this natural world. We require clean water to drink, or we die. We require clean air to breathe, or we die. We require food, or we die. We require love, affection, social contact in order to become our full selves. It is part of our evolutionary legacy as social creatures. Anything that helps us to understand all of this is natural: Any ritual, artifact, process, action is natural, to the degree that it reinforces our understanding of our embeddedness in the natural world, and any ritual, artifact, process, action is unnatural, to the degree that it does not"-Derrick Jensen
"To reverse the effects of civilization would destroy the dreams of a lot of people. There's no way around it. We can talk all we want about sustainability, but there's a sense in which it doesn't matter that these people's dreams are based on, embedded in, intertwined with, and formed by an inherently destructive economic and social system. Their dreams are still their dreams. What right do I -- or does anyone else -- have to destroy them.
At the same time, what right do they have to destroy the world?"-Derrick Jensen
"Grades are a problem. On the most general level, they're an explicit acknowledgment that what you're doing is insufficiently interesting or rewarding for you to do it on your own. Nobody ever gave you a grade for learning how to play, how to ride a bicycle, or how to kiss. One of the best ways to destroy love for any of these activities would be through the use of grades, and the coercion and judgment they represent. Grades are a cudgel to bludgeon the unwilling into doing what they don't want to do, an important instrument in inculcating children into a lifelong subservience to whatever authority happens to be thrust over them."-Derrick Jensen
"That’s one of the great things about everything being so fucked up, that no matter where you look there’s great work to be done." -Derrick Jensen
Peace,
Idzie
Friday, April 2, 2010
Vegetarianism
When I was six years old, at a summer fair with my mother, I came across a table on animal rights, with photos (maybe a video playing too?) of how animals are treated and killed in slaughterhouses. I don't remember this myself, or at least I don't think I do. It feels like one of these phantom memories, lodged in your head from hearing a story so many times, you can *almost* remember it yourself... And apparently, I instantly decided I would stop eating meat. And I gave almost all meat up instantly. "Almost all" because, well, I was six, so hotdogs and McDonald's chicken mcnuggets were hard for me to give up. However, even the allure of those wore off, and by age eight I was completely vegetarian.
As you can tell, it was originally for ethical reasons. As I got older, I went through various reasons (health, ethical, environment, meat just didn't appeal to me), but whatever the reason I gave when I was asked why I was vegetarian, I have been since age eight.
I got used to all the stupid questions and comments pretty quickly, and just learned to smile vaguely and ignore anything I found insulting.
Recently though, there's been lots of talk I've seen online among more radical people: very anti-vegetarian stuff coming from anti-civ anarchists, that I honestly find slightly hurtful. I think it stems from Lierre Keith, author of The Vegetarian Myth, doing lots of talks recently, bringing up a lot of very interesting things to think about, but also making a lot of people very angry and defensive (even to the extent of harassing and harming her). But, here's the thing: I want to read her book!! I've listened to parts of her talks with interest. I want to learn more. Yet, I'm vegetarian. And I don't plan to stop being vegetarian anytime soon. The anger directed at ALL vegetarians is completely misplaced, as far as I'm concerned. Attack the vegetarians and vegans who have actually been assholes, not ALL vegetarians and vegans!
This goes against something I find very important, and try very hard to do myself, and that is to attack the ideas/beliefs/institutions, not the people. Or if I really do feel a need to condemn individuals, I make sure it's the specific individuals who I feel have done wrong, not others who simply share some of the same beliefs and ideals.
But getting back to the topic of my vegetarianism. If I believe as other anti-civers do, that agriculture (the destruction of all life on a piece of land to plant monocrops) is harmful and unsustainable, why do I have the diet I do? Well, it's been something I've been thinking about a lot lately, and I think I've come up with the basics of it. Firstly, it's both habit at this point, and something I feel good with. I don't feel a lack because I'm not eating meat. When I'm eating healthy vegetarian food I feel healthy! Secondly, if I was ever to eat meat, it would only be meat from animals I knew had been treated well and killed with respect. That's both expensive and often hard to find, unless you hunt yourself. Which brings me to another reason I don't eat meat: I have this feeling that whatever I eat should be something that I myself would be willing to harvest or kill. Pulling up a carrot is just as surely killing as shooting a deer, and I recognize that fact where I think too many others don't. But I can bring myself to kill a carrot where I can't bring myself to kill a deer, so I eat carrots where I don't eat venison. I wouldn't kill a chicken, so I don't eat chicken. My feelings may change at some point, but that's where things are right now.
I try to eat as much organic, locally grown produce as possible, both for health and sustainability reasons (really, the two are the same things! Unsustainable practices means unhealthy or dead humans.), and this year I want to grow more veggies myself. I'm also experimenting with my diet this summer, seeing how I feel cutting out virtually all grains and processed foods from my diet. But for now, meat is not going to be a part of my diet, and I'd really appreciate it if I wasn't made to feel bad about that fact!
Peace,
Idzie
P.S. I want to make sure, because I'm not sure how what I said about others views on eating meat came across, that all the anti-civers I've ever met (online and in real life) are strongly against factory farming and animal abuse. Most just see eating meat, that's either hunted or raised kindly, as part of a sustainable diet.
As you can tell, it was originally for ethical reasons. As I got older, I went through various reasons (health, ethical, environment, meat just didn't appeal to me), but whatever the reason I gave when I was asked why I was vegetarian, I have been since age eight.
I got used to all the stupid questions and comments pretty quickly, and just learned to smile vaguely and ignore anything I found insulting.
Recently though, there's been lots of talk I've seen online among more radical people: very anti-vegetarian stuff coming from anti-civ anarchists, that I honestly find slightly hurtful. I think it stems from Lierre Keith, author of The Vegetarian Myth, doing lots of talks recently, bringing up a lot of very interesting things to think about, but also making a lot of people very angry and defensive (even to the extent of harassing and harming her). But, here's the thing: I want to read her book!! I've listened to parts of her talks with interest. I want to learn more. Yet, I'm vegetarian. And I don't plan to stop being vegetarian anytime soon. The anger directed at ALL vegetarians is completely misplaced, as far as I'm concerned. Attack the vegetarians and vegans who have actually been assholes, not ALL vegetarians and vegans!
This goes against something I find very important, and try very hard to do myself, and that is to attack the ideas/beliefs/institutions, not the people. Or if I really do feel a need to condemn individuals, I make sure it's the specific individuals who I feel have done wrong, not others who simply share some of the same beliefs and ideals.
But getting back to the topic of my vegetarianism. If I believe as other anti-civers do, that agriculture (the destruction of all life on a piece of land to plant monocrops) is harmful and unsustainable, why do I have the diet I do? Well, it's been something I've been thinking about a lot lately, and I think I've come up with the basics of it. Firstly, it's both habit at this point, and something I feel good with. I don't feel a lack because I'm not eating meat. When I'm eating healthy vegetarian food I feel healthy! Secondly, if I was ever to eat meat, it would only be meat from animals I knew had been treated well and killed with respect. That's both expensive and often hard to find, unless you hunt yourself. Which brings me to another reason I don't eat meat: I have this feeling that whatever I eat should be something that I myself would be willing to harvest or kill. Pulling up a carrot is just as surely killing as shooting a deer, and I recognize that fact where I think too many others don't. But I can bring myself to kill a carrot where I can't bring myself to kill a deer, so I eat carrots where I don't eat venison. I wouldn't kill a chicken, so I don't eat chicken. My feelings may change at some point, but that's where things are right now.
I try to eat as much organic, locally grown produce as possible, both for health and sustainability reasons (really, the two are the same things! Unsustainable practices means unhealthy or dead humans.), and this year I want to grow more veggies myself. I'm also experimenting with my diet this summer, seeing how I feel cutting out virtually all grains and processed foods from my diet. But for now, meat is not going to be a part of my diet, and I'd really appreciate it if I wasn't made to feel bad about that fact!
Peace,
Idzie
P.S. I want to make sure, because I'm not sure how what I said about others views on eating meat came across, that all the anti-civers I've ever met (online and in real life) are strongly against factory farming and animal abuse. Most just see eating meat, that's either hunted or raised kindly, as part of a sustainable diet.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Cool links
The Wisdom of Hunter-Gatherers is a wonderful, short article on how children in hunter-gatherer societies learn.
Whatever Happened to Mother? Is an absolutely WONDERFUL story of the vanished mothers of old. Not wonderful as good, since it's incredibly sad, but wonderfully written. I love how it's literally written as a story. There are actually multiple 'Chapters', but since they seem to repeat a lot of the same material, I'll only link to the first one I read.
Look on the Bright Side is an article on the good things, environmentally speaking, that are happening right now, as well as a call to action.
Atrocious Advice From "Supernanny" The title says it all. It's horrifying to me that people actually watch this crap, and even think that's it's the "right" way to parent! That bothers me on such a deep level, and makes me incredibly sad.
The Hand That Rocks The Cradle Rocks The Boat: Life Learning as the Ultimate Feminist Act Again, the title says it all.
UPDATE:Forget Shorter Showers is the newest Derrick Jensen article from Orion magazine.
Whatever Happened to Mother? Is an absolutely WONDERFUL story of the vanished mothers of old. Not wonderful as good, since it's incredibly sad, but wonderfully written. I love how it's literally written as a story. There are actually multiple 'Chapters', but since they seem to repeat a lot of the same material, I'll only link to the first one I read.
Look on the Bright Side is an article on the good things, environmentally speaking, that are happening right now, as well as a call to action.
Atrocious Advice From "Supernanny" The title says it all. It's horrifying to me that people actually watch this crap, and even think that's it's the "right" way to parent! That bothers me on such a deep level, and makes me incredibly sad.
The Hand That Rocks The Cradle Rocks The Boat: Life Learning as the Ultimate Feminist Act Again, the title says it all.
UPDATE:Forget Shorter Showers is the newest Derrick Jensen article from Orion magazine.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Links on unschooling and radical environmentalism
The Six-Lesson School Teacher is an essay by John Taylor Gatto damning the school system.
Who Needs School? A video interview with Holly and Sandra Dodd
Resist Do Not Comply is a moving video on Arctic wildlife, climate change, and militant action. Link courtesy of Misko (thanks!).
World At Gunpoint is the first installment of a new column in Orion magazine written by Derrick Jensen. Thanks to ps pirro for the link!
Who Needs School? A video interview with Holly and Sandra Dodd
Resist Do Not Comply is a moving video on Arctic wildlife, climate change, and militant action. Link courtesy of Misko (thanks!).
World At Gunpoint is the first installment of a new column in Orion magazine written by Derrick Jensen. Thanks to ps pirro for the link!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Earth Day
Oh, in my last post I said I didn't have anything of my own to say, but that was because I forgot that today was Earth Day. Now, I am most certainly not a fan of Earth Day. One day, out of all the year, to think about conservation, and to honor the Earth, our one and only home, which just happens to be dying. One day? Really? Yeah, that's going to do a lot of good. The only plus I see is that shows, articles, and similar things on environmentalism have been all over the place lately. They're all from a very mainstream perspective, of course, but even mainstream scientists are realizing just how dire our predicament is, and I can't help but hope that maybe, just maybe, all this stuff could cause at least a few people to look into things themselves, and perhaps make them decide to do something about it, something a bit more substantial than buying "green" paper towels... I could write more about environmentalism, but it seems I've already done that in the past, and until I think of something new to add (which I'm sure I will in due time), I don't really want to return to the same subjects. I will, however, leave you with links to a couple of my old posts on environmentalism, green anarchy, etc.
Anti-Civilizationism
Environmental Quotes
On the Interconnectedness of Life
The Problem With "Green"
An Elaboration on the Problem With "Green"
Anyway, just thought I'd add that. :-)
Peace,
Idzie
Friday, February 20, 2009
The interconnectedness of life
I feel a need to write about something, but I'm not sure what...
I wanted to write a lovely 'about me' post like Sheila did, but I'm not sure how to go about that... I know myself very well, but actually putting that knowledge down in an even semi coherent manner seems very difficult, especially considering how tired my brain is right now.
I also wanted to write about how ridiculous homophobia is. But I think I'd do a really lousy job of it at the moment.
Oh, here's something I think I can manage, since it's far from the logical/researched end of things and much more on the emotional/feelings end of the spectrum. And that thing is how much it pisses me off when humans look at (our)themselves as somehow special, and "better" than all other creatures. Unlike many of my opinions, this is something that's bothered me for years! I'd often read books when I was younger that portrayed humans as the only ones with souls or real personalities, and all other creatures as nothing more than animals to be used, eaten, or controlled. This portrayal always bothered me a great deal, and felt amazingly wrong on a fundamental level.
On a personal level, I can simply see the ridiculousness of it. I look at one of the furry family members that share my home, I look at the raccoons that clatter around on the deck, or the squirrels that race around the tops of fences, or the maple tree that rustles in the wind, and I don't see empty bodies blindly going about basic tasks. I see separate individuals who are simply living their life. I don't understand how they can be looked at as worthless by so many. Life is life, and every creature looks different. We're just one of a vast hots of different species that inhabits this planet. What makes the human race believe it's so special?
On a much larger level, I've recently realized how absolutely stupid and destructive this world view is. If humans are intrinsically of more value, and everything else is somehow lesser, than that leads to the belief that the world is here simply for us, and we as humans have the right to use, abuse, and destroy absolutely anything we wish.
As many of you know, this worldview is leading to the destruction of our planet.
Yes, I'm going to talk about something Derrick Jensen said again. I love how his ideas and words make such perfect sense. Instead of saying that it's always wrong to kill a creature for food, or that it's always wrong to cut down a tree, he instead says that as soon as you or I consume the flesh of an animal, we are obligated to ensure that species survival and well being. As soon as we cut down a tree, we are obligated to insure the survival and well being of that forest. To me, this way is the most ethical, simple, and intelligent way we can possibly look at things. He also goes on to say that if you consume the flesh of a factory farmed animal, you are then obligated to do everything in your power to end factory farming. Same goes if you consume the flesh of a factory farmed carrot.
By looking at things that way, it's impossible to not see how inextricably everything is linked.
I've heard people question why they should care about the extinction of a specific species, whether it's animal or plant or tree, and the answer is so amazingly obvious. Even if you believe that humans have some innate something that makes them "better" than other animals (for we are simply another species of animal), our survival is linked with the survival of every other species on the planet. When a forest is cut down, every human and non-human is ensured less oxygen. When the great fish of the ocean are driven extinct, we ensure ourselves, as well as countless other animals, and countless other forests, less food. When we pollute a river, or all rivers (there are toxins in every single river now), we ensure that both humans and non-humans will no longer be able to drink clean water. Everything we do to harm another life, whether it's trees, animals, rivers, it harms us. Karma in it's truest form.
My mind is feeling very tired, so I'll stop here for now. Just a few thoughts and opinions I figured I'd throw out there, since I think they are extremely important.
Peace,
Idzie
I wanted to write a lovely 'about me' post like Sheila did, but I'm not sure how to go about that... I know myself very well, but actually putting that knowledge down in an even semi coherent manner seems very difficult, especially considering how tired my brain is right now.
I also wanted to write about how ridiculous homophobia is. But I think I'd do a really lousy job of it at the moment.
Oh, here's something I think I can manage, since it's far from the logical/researched end of things and much more on the emotional/feelings end of the spectrum. And that thing is how much it pisses me off when humans look at (our)themselves as somehow special, and "better" than all other creatures. Unlike many of my opinions, this is something that's bothered me for years! I'd often read books when I was younger that portrayed humans as the only ones with souls or real personalities, and all other creatures as nothing more than animals to be used, eaten, or controlled. This portrayal always bothered me a great deal, and felt amazingly wrong on a fundamental level.
On a personal level, I can simply see the ridiculousness of it. I look at one of the furry family members that share my home, I look at the raccoons that clatter around on the deck, or the squirrels that race around the tops of fences, or the maple tree that rustles in the wind, and I don't see empty bodies blindly going about basic tasks. I see separate individuals who are simply living their life. I don't understand how they can be looked at as worthless by so many. Life is life, and every creature looks different. We're just one of a vast hots of different species that inhabits this planet. What makes the human race believe it's so special?
On a much larger level, I've recently realized how absolutely stupid and destructive this world view is. If humans are intrinsically of more value, and everything else is somehow lesser, than that leads to the belief that the world is here simply for us, and we as humans have the right to use, abuse, and destroy absolutely anything we wish.
As many of you know, this worldview is leading to the destruction of our planet.
Yes, I'm going to talk about something Derrick Jensen said again. I love how his ideas and words make such perfect sense. Instead of saying that it's always wrong to kill a creature for food, or that it's always wrong to cut down a tree, he instead says that as soon as you or I consume the flesh of an animal, we are obligated to ensure that species survival and well being. As soon as we cut down a tree, we are obligated to insure the survival and well being of that forest. To me, this way is the most ethical, simple, and intelligent way we can possibly look at things. He also goes on to say that if you consume the flesh of a factory farmed animal, you are then obligated to do everything in your power to end factory farming. Same goes if you consume the flesh of a factory farmed carrot.
By looking at things that way, it's impossible to not see how inextricably everything is linked.
I've heard people question why they should care about the extinction of a specific species, whether it's animal or plant or tree, and the answer is so amazingly obvious. Even if you believe that humans have some innate something that makes them "better" than other animals (for we are simply another species of animal), our survival is linked with the survival of every other species on the planet. When a forest is cut down, every human and non-human is ensured less oxygen. When the great fish of the ocean are driven extinct, we ensure ourselves, as well as countless other animals, and countless other forests, less food. When we pollute a river, or all rivers (there are toxins in every single river now), we ensure that both humans and non-humans will no longer be able to drink clean water. Everything we do to harm another life, whether it's trees, animals, rivers, it harms us. Karma in it's truest form.
My mind is feeling very tired, so I'll stop here for now. Just a few thoughts and opinions I figured I'd throw out there, since I think they are extremely important.
Peace,
Idzie
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Why I'm an anarchist
I don't think I've ever really talked on this blog about WHY I'm an anarchist, or what lead me to agree with that particular philosophy. I've only ever said that I am an anarchist! So now I want to explain why. I'm not really sure how to go about this in a logical manner, but I'll try.
I've been vaguely interested in anarchy for at least a year (I think even longer), but I never believed it was a real possibility, a valid opinion. I always just believed the commonly held opinion that anarchy can never work. I thought it was an amazing yet entirely unrealistic ideal. But then, I came across an essay (on deviantART of all places) that was very much anarchist (anarcho-primitivist to be exact), and brought up some very interesting points. I commented on it, not all that positively, and got into an extremely long conversation with the author. Pretty quickly, my arguments melted away. What he had to say made sense, and I was totally drawn to the ideas he expressed. Wanting to find out more, I asked for book suggestions, and he was happy to oblige. His top recommendation was Derrick Jensen, and so I read his book The Culture of Make Believe, and it rocked my world (if you've read any of my early posts, you'll know just how much I love Jensen). That book broke my heart, and made me incredibly angry. But even more then sadness or anger, I felt determination. I couldn't really identify as anything but anarchist after that. Now, you may be thinking I was to fast to change my opinions, or that I didn't research the other side, and I'd say that isn't true. As for changing opinions too fast, I'd believed, in my heart, that anarchy was the right way to do things for a long time, Id just never had that gut feeling backed up by anything definite before. And as for looking at things from the other side, that's impossible not to do in this society. My entire life I've seen the other sides view, and I hate it. That's why anarchy has always appealed to me. Since The Culture of Make Believe, I've read several other books by Jensen, and numerous essays by numerous authors online. I'm still sure that anarchy is the only political view that's right for me (and the earth). I should make it clear that although Jensen is an anarcho-primitivist, I'm not. I'm certainly leaning in that direction, but I don't believe that a complete return to the hunter-gatherer lifestyle is the only sustainable way of life. I'm also not convinced that agriculture and domestication are Bad Things, I just think they need to be completely re-thought. I'm honestly not sure what little sub-group of anarchy my views fit into (there are a LOT), but I'm definitely a collectivist, one who sees a world of sustainable communities and mutual support, not an individualist, which seems like a pretty cut throat every-man/woman-for-themselves type setup. I envision a return to nature, in small, self sustaining communities, communities that love and support each other, and live in freedom and peace. Idealistic? Perhaps. But if you never go for the ideal, and make do with well-things-could-be-worse-this-will-do-I-guess, then things will never change! I don't want a world that "could be worse". I want a world that I'm actually proud to be a part of, one where I can hold my head high, and not be ashamed of everything I do, since everything, from eating to buying cloths to peeing in the toilet harms others. How can that be right?
The main reason I'm anarchist is because I genuinely believe in freedom and respect for all beings, and for the the land itself. No human, creature, tree or plant is a resource, or there simply for their usefulness to us. Each is an individual, and each deserves respect.
I suppose all I've done so far is say why I'm against industrialized civilization, not why I'm against government. So, why I'm against government is simple; although it sounds corny, I really believe the old adage "Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely". I don't think it's possible for someone in a position of power and control over others to not abuse that power in one way or another, even if they're ignorant of that abuse themselves. I believe that people can never be their own bosses until there are no bosses other than themselves.
I always used to scoff when I heard our civilization described as a "machine". I'd roll my eyes and think the people who were saying that were idiots. But now, I really understand the metaphor. Each individual, no matter what position they hold, is in a neatly fitted slot. The people, wether they're in positions of seemingly high importance or not, can change so easily, someone else fitting perfectly into that same slot. Each person really is like a tiny piece of a huge machine, and, just like machines, parts are easily replaceable, and the machine keeps on working.
Since I became anarchist, or more realized that I was an anarchist, I really do feel like my eyes have been opened, and like I'm seeing things for the first time. I no longer look at things the same way the mainstream does. I see so many things, commonly accepted, almost never questioned things, that are so WRONG! There is so much irony, and so much insanity in our culture it never ceases to astound me. What's even more astounding is that so few people see it. But then again, it took me 17 years to start to realize, so I suppose it's not all that surprising. It's hard seeing things in a way that's so very far from the commonly accepted "normal" views, and I think I'd go crazy if not for reassurance from books, people online, and my sister that I'm not the only one to see the fallacy of our entire civilization... Also, something that really helps when I get overwhelmed with all the negative stuff people think and say about anarchy, when I start to question whether I might be wrong on this one, even though I believe it whole heartedly, I just have to think about the fact that EVERYONE "knows" that you can't learn anything without school. Then I laugh. And the doubt goes away.
Wow, that's long (and rather abrupt and disjointed, I'm afraid). I thank you very much if you got this far! I hope that made sense, and wasn't to all over the map... As always, comments and opinions are much appreciated!
Peace,
Idzie
I've been vaguely interested in anarchy for at least a year (I think even longer), but I never believed it was a real possibility, a valid opinion. I always just believed the commonly held opinion that anarchy can never work. I thought it was an amazing yet entirely unrealistic ideal. But then, I came across an essay (on deviantART of all places) that was very much anarchist (anarcho-primitivist to be exact), and brought up some very interesting points. I commented on it, not all that positively, and got into an extremely long conversation with the author. Pretty quickly, my arguments melted away. What he had to say made sense, and I was totally drawn to the ideas he expressed. Wanting to find out more, I asked for book suggestions, and he was happy to oblige. His top recommendation was Derrick Jensen, and so I read his book The Culture of Make Believe, and it rocked my world (if you've read any of my early posts, you'll know just how much I love Jensen). That book broke my heart, and made me incredibly angry. But even more then sadness or anger, I felt determination. I couldn't really identify as anything but anarchist after that. Now, you may be thinking I was to fast to change my opinions, or that I didn't research the other side, and I'd say that isn't true. As for changing opinions too fast, I'd believed, in my heart, that anarchy was the right way to do things for a long time, Id just never had that gut feeling backed up by anything definite before. And as for looking at things from the other side, that's impossible not to do in this society. My entire life I've seen the other sides view, and I hate it. That's why anarchy has always appealed to me. Since The Culture of Make Believe, I've read several other books by Jensen, and numerous essays by numerous authors online. I'm still sure that anarchy is the only political view that's right for me (and the earth). I should make it clear that although Jensen is an anarcho-primitivist, I'm not. I'm certainly leaning in that direction, but I don't believe that a complete return to the hunter-gatherer lifestyle is the only sustainable way of life. I'm also not convinced that agriculture and domestication are Bad Things, I just think they need to be completely re-thought. I'm honestly not sure what little sub-group of anarchy my views fit into (there are a LOT), but I'm definitely a collectivist, one who sees a world of sustainable communities and mutual support, not an individualist, which seems like a pretty cut throat every-man/woman-for-themselves type setup. I envision a return to nature, in small, self sustaining communities, communities that love and support each other, and live in freedom and peace. Idealistic? Perhaps. But if you never go for the ideal, and make do with well-things-could-be-worse-this-will-do-I-guess, then things will never change! I don't want a world that "could be worse". I want a world that I'm actually proud to be a part of, one where I can hold my head high, and not be ashamed of everything I do, since everything, from eating to buying cloths to peeing in the toilet harms others. How can that be right?
The main reason I'm anarchist is because I genuinely believe in freedom and respect for all beings, and for the the land itself. No human, creature, tree or plant is a resource, or there simply for their usefulness to us. Each is an individual, and each deserves respect.
I suppose all I've done so far is say why I'm against industrialized civilization, not why I'm against government. So, why I'm against government is simple; although it sounds corny, I really believe the old adage "Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely". I don't think it's possible for someone in a position of power and control over others to not abuse that power in one way or another, even if they're ignorant of that abuse themselves. I believe that people can never be their own bosses until there are no bosses other than themselves.
I always used to scoff when I heard our civilization described as a "machine". I'd roll my eyes and think the people who were saying that were idiots. But now, I really understand the metaphor. Each individual, no matter what position they hold, is in a neatly fitted slot. The people, wether they're in positions of seemingly high importance or not, can change so easily, someone else fitting perfectly into that same slot. Each person really is like a tiny piece of a huge machine, and, just like machines, parts are easily replaceable, and the machine keeps on working.
Since I became anarchist, or more realized that I was an anarchist, I really do feel like my eyes have been opened, and like I'm seeing things for the first time. I no longer look at things the same way the mainstream does. I see so many things, commonly accepted, almost never questioned things, that are so WRONG! There is so much irony, and so much insanity in our culture it never ceases to astound me. What's even more astounding is that so few people see it. But then again, it took me 17 years to start to realize, so I suppose it's not all that surprising. It's hard seeing things in a way that's so very far from the commonly accepted "normal" views, and I think I'd go crazy if not for reassurance from books, people online, and my sister that I'm not the only one to see the fallacy of our entire civilization... Also, something that really helps when I get overwhelmed with all the negative stuff people think and say about anarchy, when I start to question whether I might be wrong on this one, even though I believe it whole heartedly, I just have to think about the fact that EVERYONE "knows" that you can't learn anything without school. Then I laugh. And the doubt goes away.
Wow, that's long (and rather abrupt and disjointed, I'm afraid). I thank you very much if you got this far! I hope that made sense, and wasn't to all over the map... As always, comments and opinions are much appreciated!
Peace,
Idzie
Friday, December 12, 2008
RISE AGAINST
So, I don't even know if I've mentioned it previously on this blog, although I've certainly thought a lot about it, but about a month ago I bought tickets to a show by one of my ABSOLUTE favorite bands, and that is, of course, Rise Against. Well, last night was the concert. And it was great. I love that band soooo much. Their message, the fact that they're all vegetarians, and most importantly (of course) their music. The passion, enthusiasm, and energy I get from it is just amazing. I was really excited seeing them live, with my sister and our friends Nick and Tim, and of course we watched from the floor (this is only the second concert I've been too, and I was on the floor for both. I can't help but think you'd miss out by sitting in the stands). Traffic was AWFUL getting there, so we missed the first opening band, but the second opening act, Thursday, wasn't bad. I didn't really like the singers voice, but the music was cool. Rise Against supports PETA (I don't like PETA but I figure the band has good intentions by supporting them) so during the break before RA came on, Nick and I wandered over to their table, signed a petition requesting all meat be labeled with it's environmental impact, and got these awesome Meat's Not Green buttons. I was so shocked when Nick said he wanted to go vegetarian, his parents just won't let him! When I think of what he was like when I first met him, I can see his opinions have changed so much! We've certainly dragged him away from the mainstream (MWUAHAHA). Anyway, when Rise Against finally came on, the crowd went wild! And I was thrilled that they opened with one of my favorite songs, Drones, and played nearly all of my favorites by them. The only complaints I have, and the first one is pretty major, is that the volume ratio between voice and instruments was off. I could hardly hear his voice at times! Another thing that wasn't so great was getting shoved by a couple dozen people as they pushed through the crowd (can't you just find a spot and stick with it, dammit!) and getting stuck with an extremely drunk guy beside me, who bashed into me multiple times. Luckily, Nick was kind and took that spot, then the guy went away, most likely to find more beer. But back on topic, I'm really glad I went. Crowd enthusiasm was great. At one point Tim (lead singer) had everyone chant RISE while pumping their fists in the air (I don't remember if it was Nick or Emi who called it a communist moment, but both agreed it was really cool :-P), when the crowd was urged to sing certain bits themselves, everyone sung loud and clear, and for Hero of War, a very sad folksy anti-war song, the whole crown sung along to the entire song. It was beautiful. As always seems to happen with things, it was over too soon. When we were talking about it afterward, I was saying to Emi how the crowd seemed more enthusiastic here then for the Linkin Park concert we went to last year, and she disagreed. We finally realized that the difference was that for Linkin Park, the crowd liked the music. They got exited for certain songs, but weren't great for crowd participation. Whereas for Rise Against, the crowd loved THEM as a band, and loved their very political message.
We were supposed to get picked up by my mom at 11:00, but the concert ended a bit before 10:30, so we called to let her know then wandered off to find a warm place that served food. Sadly, the concert was at a university building, surrounded by other university building, and lots of residential streets beyond that, so finding anywhere to go took lots of walking (in what felt like at least -15c, with lots of ice on the sidewalks, and snow). We discovered that Subway closes early, much to our unhappiness, and the only open coffee shop we saw was packed. We finally bought some food from a grocery store and then headed back to the coffee shop, which had thankfully become less crowded. I should mention why my mom hadn't arrived at this point, and the reason she hadn't was traffic. How can there be awful traffic at past 11:00 at night? She finally arrived at a bit past 11:30, with hot chocolate and chai waiting in the car (I love my mom!), which made our cold selves happy. I was saying later on to Emi how awful it must be to be homeless. Spending an hour outside in the Winter, finding anyplace warm we can to stay, getting suspicious look when we try and hang out in the warm grocery store... Can you imagine knowing that no one was coming to get you?? O_o Emi and I both agreed it made us want to donate large amounts of money to homeless shelters.
I think I've rambled on enough now. Since no camera's were allowed at the concert, I'll leave you with these photo's taken off of Rise Against's website.
Peace,
Idzie
We were supposed to get picked up by my mom at 11:00, but the concert ended a bit before 10:30, so we called to let her know then wandered off to find a warm place that served food. Sadly, the concert was at a university building, surrounded by other university building, and lots of residential streets beyond that, so finding anywhere to go took lots of walking (in what felt like at least -15c, with lots of ice on the sidewalks, and snow). We discovered that Subway closes early, much to our unhappiness, and the only open coffee shop we saw was packed. We finally bought some food from a grocery store and then headed back to the coffee shop, which had thankfully become less crowded. I should mention why my mom hadn't arrived at this point, and the reason she hadn't was traffic. How can there be awful traffic at past 11:00 at night? She finally arrived at a bit past 11:30, with hot chocolate and chai waiting in the car (I love my mom!), which made our cold selves happy. I was saying later on to Emi how awful it must be to be homeless. Spending an hour outside in the Winter, finding anyplace warm we can to stay, getting suspicious look when we try and hang out in the warm grocery store... Can you imagine knowing that no one was coming to get you?? O_o Emi and I both agreed it made us want to donate large amounts of money to homeless shelters.
I think I've rambled on enough now. Since no camera's were allowed at the concert, I'll leave you with these photo's taken off of Rise Against's website.
Peace,
Idzie
Thursday, December 4, 2008
More problems with "Green"
I was just thinking about something that I think a lot about, and that is the whole problem with environmental destruction, and green living, and environmentalism and all that. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you'll most likely know that I have real issues with the whole "Green" thing. And I finally thought of a good way to articulate why I do just a little while ago. My problem is that all mainstream environmental activists talk about is how to live sustainably in an industrialized, capitalist, hierarchical, patriarchal society. Basically EXACTLY how things are now. My problem with that is that I think it is absolutely impossible to live sustainably in that type of system. It just doesn't work. Our current economy is built on growth. There MUST be growth for the economy to be "doing well". But when the economy is doing well, the earth suffers. The forest suffers. The creatures who live on land and sea and everywhere else suffer. And poor people the world over suffer. Whenever the numbers in the stock exchange go up, many, many creatures both human and otherwise either lose their lives or are otherwise greatly harmed. An economy and society that values money far above life, and an economy that works on infinite growth with finite resources, do not by any means foster sustainable living. Therefor, by my logic, we cannot live sustainably in such a system. As the Infoshop.org slogan so charmingly puts it: "Kill capitalism before it kills you!"
Peace,
Idzie
Peace,
Idzie
Friday, November 28, 2008
Quotes, quotes, and more QUOTES!
I love quotes. Period. Words are beautiful, and when a particular sentence or paragraph stands out to me, I try and write it down somewhere so I'll remember. Sadly, there are many, many quotes that have simply been forgotten before I got a chance to save them. So this is now my official quote collecting page. I'll put a link to it in the sidebar, and I'll add new ones here whenever I find them. I hope you like at least one or two of these amazing, funny, ironic, profound, or just plain (to me) awesome quotes. :-) Please do tell me any cool quotes you know of, as I'm constantly collecting new ones! Oh, and don't worry, I don't expect anyone to read them all. It's just a general quote repository for me, that you're welcome to browse! :-P
"The death of one man is a tragedy. The death of millions is a statistic." Joe Stalin, comment to Churchill at Potsdam, 1945
"Join the Army, see the world, meet interesting people - and kill them." Pacifist Badge, 1978
"And I have seen better men fight to the bitter end, following orders form you, and I don't think it's treason to ask for a reason when nothing you've told us it true."
Jason Fisher (from the song Dear Mr. President)
"The world has achieved brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war that we know about peace, more about killing than we know about living." Omar Bradley
"If we let people see that kind of thing, there would never again be any war." Pentagon official explaining why the U.S. military censored graphic footage from the Gulf War
“There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.”
-Howard Zinn
“A terrorist is someone who has a bomb but doesn’t have an air force.”
-William Blum
“Naturally the common people don’t want war. But after all, it is the leaders of a country who determine the policy, and it’s always a simple matter to drag people along whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. This is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and for exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every country.”
-Hermann Goering, Hitler’s Reich Marshall
“War is God’s way of teaching Americans geography.”
-Ambrose Bierce
"It always gives me a shiver when I see a cat seeing what I can't see." Eleanor Farjeon
"If humans died in a healthy culture, they would not lock out the earth in metal coffins and carve their names on stone monuments, but would instead place the naked body in the earth and plant a tree above the silent heart."
-William Irwin Thompson
"I hope life isn't a big joke, because I don't get it." Jack Handey
"I hate intolerant people." Gloria Steinem
"The first step to getting what you want out of life is this: Decide what you want." Ben Stein
"With lies you may get ahead in the world - but you can never go back." Russian proverb
"For those who understand, no explanation is needed. And for those who don't, no explanation will ever be enough." Unknown (at least to me!)
"When injustice becomes law, rebellion becomes duty."
"The hardest battle in life is to be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing it's best, night and day, to make you like everybody else." E. E. Cummings
"I should really like to think there's something wrong with me —
Because, if there isn't then there's something wrong,
Or at least, very different from what it seemed to be,
With the world itself — and that's much more frightening!" T.S.Eliot
"Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round heads in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules and they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify them, or vilify them. But the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do." -Jack Kerouac
"1492. As children we were taught to memorize this year with pride and joy as the year people began living full and imaginative lives on the continent of North America. Actually, people had been living full and imaginative lives on the continent of North America for hundreds of years before that. 1492 was simply the year sea pirates began to rob, cheat, and kill them."
-Kurt Vonnegut
"Just look at us. Everything is backwards. Doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, schools destroy knowledge, governments destroy freedom, the mainstream media destroys information, and religions destroy spirituality."
-Anonymous
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
-Martin Luther King Jr.
"The opposite of bravery is not cowardice but conformity."
-Dr. Robert Anthony
“Find out just what the people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.”
-Frederick Douglas
“Flags are bits of colored cloth that governments use first to shrink-wrap people’s brains and then as ceremonial shrouds to bury the dead.”
-Arundhati Roy
“There’s room at the top they are telling you still,
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill,
If you want to be like the folks on the hill,”
-John Lennon
“The point of public relations slogans like ‘Support our troops’ is that they don’t mean anything… That’s the whole point of good propaganda. You want to create a slogan that nobody’s going to be against, and everybody’s going to be for. Nobody knows what it means, because it doesn’t mean anything. Its crucial value is that it diverts your attention from a question that does mean something: Do you support our policy? That’s the one you’re not allowed to talk about.”
-Noam Chompsky
“The corporations don’t have to lobby the government any more. They are the government.”
-Jim Hightower
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”
-Joseph Goebbels, German Minister of Propaganda, 1933-1945
“Expecting FOX News to report real news is about as silly as waiting for George Bush and Dick Cheney to tell the truth… Americans care, but it’s tough to care when you don’t know what’s going on. That ignorance is what the warmakers count on and what the corporate media delivers.”
-Amy Goodman
“Cowardice asks the question, ‘Is it safe?’
Expediency asks the question, ‘Is it politic?’
Vanity asks the question, ‘Is it popular?’
But conscience asks the question, ‘Is it right?’
And there comes a point when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because one’s conscience tells one that it is right.”
-Martin Luther King Jr.
“The truth hurts, but denial is what will kill you.”
-Anonymous
“What’s public opinion? It’s the education system plus the media.”
-Mark Green (President of Air America radio)
“Those who cast the votes decide nothing; those who count the votes decide everything.”
-Stalin
“Economic hit men (EHMs) are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. They funnel money from the World Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and other foreign “aid” organizations into the coffers of huge corporations and the pockets of a few wealthy families who control the planet’s natural resources. Their tools include fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, sex, and murder. They play a game as old as empire, but one that has taken on new and terrifying dimensions during this time of globalization. I should know; I was an EHM.”
-John Perkins, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
“Fascism - A system of government that exercises a dictatorship of the extreme right, typically through the merging of state and business leadership, together with belligerent nationalism.”
-The American Heritage Dictionary, 1983
“We are on the verge of a global transformation. All we need is the right major crisis and the nations will accept the New World Order.”
-David Rockefeller, September 14, 1994
“The individual is handicapped by coming face to face with a conspiracy so monstrous he cannot believe it exists.”
-Edgar J. Hoover
“The most dangerous man, to any government, is the man who Is able to think things out for himself, without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost invariably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane and intolerable.”
-Henry Louis Mencken
“Government cripples you, then hands you a crutch and says, ‘See, if it wasn’t for us, you couldn’t walk.’”
-Harry Browne
“As a rule of thumb, if the government wants you to know it, it probably isn’t true.”
-Craig Murray
“Violence can only be concealed by a lie, and the lie can only be maintained by violence.”
-Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
“The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.”
-Albert Einstein
“Terrorism has replaced Communism as the rationale for the militarization of the country, for military adventures abroad, and for the suppression of civil liberties at home. It serves the same purpose, serving to create hysteria.”
-Howard Zinn
“If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don’t have to worry about answers.”
-Thomas Pynchon, Jr.
“It does not matter if the war is not real, or when it is, victory is not possible. The war is not meant to be won, it is meant to be continous, the essential act of modern warfare is the destruction of the produce of human labor. A hierarchal society is only possible on the basis of poverty and ignorance. The war is waged by the ruling group against its subjects, and its object is not victory, but to keep the very structure of society in tact.”
-George Orwell
“Those who manipulate the organized habits and opinions of the masses constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country”
-Edward Bernays, assistant to William Paley, founder of CBS
“…ironically, perhaps, the best organized dissenters in the world today are anarchists, who are busily undermining capitalism while the rest of the left is still trying to form committees.”
-Jeremy Hardy, The Guardian (UK)
"You’ve got to rattle your cage door. You’ve got to let them know that you’re in there, and that you want out. Make noise. Cause trouble. You may not win right away, but you’ll sure have a lot more fun."
-Florynce Kennedy
"The music in my heart I bore, long after it was heard no more." Wordsworth
"You could move." Abigail Van Buren, "Dear Abby," in response to a reader who complained that a gay couple was moving in across the street and wanted to know what he could do to improve the quality of the neighborhood
"The structure of American schooling, 20th century style, began in 1806 when Napoleon's amateur soldiers beat the professional soldiers of Prussia at the battle of Jena. When your business is selling soldiers, losing a battle like that is serious. Almost immediately afterwards a German philosopher named Fichte delivered his famous "Address to the German Nation" which became one of the most influential documents in modern history. In effect he told the Prussian people that the party was over, that the nation would have to shape up through a new Utopian institution of forced schooling in which everyone would learn to take orders.
So the world got compulsion schooling at the end of a state bayonet for the first time in human history; modern forced schooling started in Prussia in 1819 with a clear vision of what centralized schools could deliver:
1.Obedient soldiers to the army;
2.Obedient workers to the mines;
3.Well subordinated civil servants to government;
4.Well subordinated clerks to industry
5.Citizens who thought alike about major issues. " John Taylor Gatto
"In the end, the secret to learning is so simple: Think only about whatever you love. Follow it, do it, dream about it...and it will hit you: learning was there all the time, happening by itself."
Grace Llewellyn
"Just as eating contrary to the inclination is injurious to the health, so study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in." Leonardo da Vinci
"It is absurd and anti-life to be a part of a system that compels you to listen to a stranger reading poetry when you want to learn to construct buildings, or to sit with a stranger discussing the construction of buildings when you want to read poetry." John Taylor Gatto
"What we want to see is the child in pursuit of knowledge, not knowledge in pursuit of the child."
George Bernard Shaw
“School is the advertising agency which makes you believe that you need the society as it is.” Ivan Illich in his book Deschooling Society
“Schools are designed on the assumption that there is a secret to everything in life; that the quality of life depends upon knowing that secret; that secrets can only be known in orderly successions; and that only teachers can properly reveal these secrets. An individual with a schooled mind concieves of the world as a pyramid of classified packages accessable only to those who carry the proper tags.” Ivan Illich
“Nothing enrages me more than when people criticize my criticism of school by telling me that schools are not just places to learn maths and spelling, they are places where children learn a vaguely defined thing called socialization. I know. I think schools generally do an effective and terribly damaging job of teaching children to be infantile, dependent, intellectually dishonest, passive and disrespectful to their own developmental capacities.” Seymour Papert
“It is much easier to condemn a child than to understand a child.” Jiddu Krishnamurti
“Drop out of school before your mind rots from exposure to our mundane educational system. Forget about the Senior Prom, go to the library and educate yourself if you’ve got any guts.” Frank Zappa
WAR
"You can build a throne with bayonets, but you can't sit on it for long" Boris Yeltsin"The death of one man is a tragedy. The death of millions is a statistic." Joe Stalin, comment to Churchill at Potsdam, 1945
"Join the Army, see the world, meet interesting people - and kill them." Pacifist Badge, 1978
"And I have seen better men fight to the bitter end, following orders form you, and I don't think it's treason to ask for a reason when nothing you've told us it true."
Jason Fisher (from the song Dear Mr. President)
"The world has achieved brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war that we know about peace, more about killing than we know about living." Omar Bradley
"If we let people see that kind of thing, there would never again be any war." Pentagon official explaining why the U.S. military censored graphic footage from the Gulf War
"It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in
large numbers and to the sound of trumpets." Voltaire, War
-Howard Zinn
“A terrorist is someone who has a bomb but doesn’t have an air force.”
-William Blum
“Naturally the common people don’t want war. But after all, it is the leaders of a country who determine the policy, and it’s always a simple matter to drag people along whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. This is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and for exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every country.”
-Hermann Goering, Hitler’s Reich Marshall
“War is God’s way of teaching Americans geography.”
-Ambrose Bierce
CATS
"In ancient times cats were worshiped as gods; they have not forgotten this." Terry Pratchett"It always gives me a shiver when I see a cat seeing what I can't see." Eleanor Farjeon
"Purring would seem to be, in her case, an automatic safety valve device for dealing with happiness overflow." Monica Edwards
"To bathe a cat takes brute force, perseverance, courage of conviction - and a cat. The last ingredient is usually hardest to come by." Stephen Baker
"Of all the toys available, none is better designed than the owner himself. A large multipurpose plaything, its parts can be made to move in almost any direction. It comes completely assembled, and it makes a sound when you jump on it." Stephen Baker
"A catless writer is almost inconceivable. It's a perverse taste, really, since it would be easier to write with a herd of buffalo in the room than even one cat; they make nests in the notes and bite the end of the pen and walk on the typewriter keys." Barbara Holland
RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY
"If you take [a copy of] the Christian Bible and put it out in the wind and the rain, soon the paper on which the words are printed will disintegrate and the words will be gone. Our bible IS the wind and the rain." Herbalist Carol McGrath as told to her by a Native-American woman."If humans died in a healthy culture, they would not lock out the earth in metal coffins and carve their names on stone monuments, but would instead place the naked body in the earth and plant a tree above the silent heart."
-William Irwin Thompson
FUNNY AND IRONIC
"Yield gracefully when someone pushes in front of you. You can then stab them in the back." Ka'a Orto'o Gnomic Utterances, X xx (from The Tough Guide to Fantasyland by Diana Wynne Jones)"I hope life isn't a big joke, because I don't get it." Jack Handey
"I hate intolerant people." Gloria Steinem
DOESN'T FIT INTO ANY OTHER CATEGORY
"We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives.""The first step to getting what you want out of life is this: Decide what you want." Ben Stein
"With lies you may get ahead in the world - but you can never go back." Russian proverb
"For those who understand, no explanation is needed. And for those who don't, no explanation will ever be enough." Unknown (at least to me!)
"If you are ashamed to stand by your colors, you had better seek another flag." Author Unknown
“Contemplation often makes life miserable. We should act more, think less, and stop watching ourselves live.”-Chamfort
Racism, Sexism, Ageism, Prejudice
"A racist will state many reasons as to why a certain race is undeserving of equal treatment and respect. A misogynist can list a myriad of reasons as to why women are inferior to men as a gender. As with other forms of irrational group prejudice, the ageist will provide you with many excuses for treating children with... less regard and respect than they themselves deserve to be treated." - James C. Talbot
REVOLUTION AND FREEDOM
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable" JFK"To think deeply in our culture is to grow angry and to anger others; and if you cannot tolerate this anger, you are wasting the time you spend thinking deeply. One of the rewards of deep thought is the hot glow of anger at discovering a wrong, but if anger is taboo, thought will starve to death." -Jules Henry
“War is when the government tells you who the bad guy is. Revolution is when you decide that for yourself.” -Unknown to me!
"When injustice becomes law, rebellion becomes duty."
“Kill Capitalism before it kills you!” Infoshop slogan
"None are so hopelessly enslaved as those who falsely believe they are free." Goethe
"I should really like to think there's something wrong with me —
Because, if there isn't then there's something wrong,
Or at least, very different from what it seemed to be,
With the world itself — and that's much more frightening!" T.S.Eliot
"Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round heads in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules and they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify them, or vilify them. But the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do." -Jack Kerouac
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
-Margaret Mead
-Margaret Mead
-Kurt Vonnegut
"Just look at us. Everything is backwards. Doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, schools destroy knowledge, governments destroy freedom, the mainstream media destroys information, and religions destroy spirituality."
-Anonymous
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
-Martin Luther King Jr.
"The opposite of bravery is not cowardice but conformity."
-Dr. Robert Anthony
“Find out just what the people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.”
-Frederick Douglas
“Flags are bits of colored cloth that governments use first to shrink-wrap people’s brains and then as ceremonial shrouds to bury the dead.”
-Arundhati Roy
“There’s room at the top they are telling you still,
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill,
If you want to be like the folks on the hill,”
-John Lennon
“The point of public relations slogans like ‘Support our troops’ is that they don’t mean anything… That’s the whole point of good propaganda. You want to create a slogan that nobody’s going to be against, and everybody’s going to be for. Nobody knows what it means, because it doesn’t mean anything. Its crucial value is that it diverts your attention from a question that does mean something: Do you support our policy? That’s the one you’re not allowed to talk about.”
-Noam Chompsky
“The corporations don’t have to lobby the government any more. They are the government.”
-Jim Hightower
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”
-Joseph Goebbels, German Minister of Propaganda, 1933-1945
“Expecting FOX News to report real news is about as silly as waiting for George Bush and Dick Cheney to tell the truth… Americans care, but it’s tough to care when you don’t know what’s going on. That ignorance is what the warmakers count on and what the corporate media delivers.”
-Amy Goodman
“Cowardice asks the question, ‘Is it safe?’
Expediency asks the question, ‘Is it politic?’
Vanity asks the question, ‘Is it popular?’
But conscience asks the question, ‘Is it right?’
And there comes a point when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because one’s conscience tells one that it is right.”
-Martin Luther King Jr.
“The truth hurts, but denial is what will kill you.”
-Anonymous
“What’s public opinion? It’s the education system plus the media.”
-Mark Green (President of Air America radio)
“Those who cast the votes decide nothing; those who count the votes decide everything.”
-Stalin
“Economic hit men (EHMs) are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. They funnel money from the World Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and other foreign “aid” organizations into the coffers of huge corporations and the pockets of a few wealthy families who control the planet’s natural resources. Their tools include fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, sex, and murder. They play a game as old as empire, but one that has taken on new and terrifying dimensions during this time of globalization. I should know; I was an EHM.”
-John Perkins, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
“Fascism - A system of government that exercises a dictatorship of the extreme right, typically through the merging of state and business leadership, together with belligerent nationalism.”
-The American Heritage Dictionary, 1983
“We are on the verge of a global transformation. All we need is the right major crisis and the nations will accept the New World Order.”
-David Rockefeller, September 14, 1994
“The individual is handicapped by coming face to face with a conspiracy so monstrous he cannot believe it exists.”
-Edgar J. Hoover
“The most dangerous man, to any government, is the man who Is able to think things out for himself, without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost invariably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane and intolerable.”
-Henry Louis Mencken
“Government cripples you, then hands you a crutch and says, ‘See, if it wasn’t for us, you couldn’t walk.’”
-Harry Browne
“As a rule of thumb, if the government wants you to know it, it probably isn’t true.”
-Craig Murray
“Violence can only be concealed by a lie, and the lie can only be maintained by violence.”
-Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
“The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.”
-Albert Einstein
“Terrorism has replaced Communism as the rationale for the militarization of the country, for military adventures abroad, and for the suppression of civil liberties at home. It serves the same purpose, serving to create hysteria.”
-Howard Zinn
“If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don’t have to worry about answers.”
-Thomas Pynchon, Jr.
“It does not matter if the war is not real, or when it is, victory is not possible. The war is not meant to be won, it is meant to be continous, the essential act of modern warfare is the destruction of the produce of human labor. A hierarchal society is only possible on the basis of poverty and ignorance. The war is waged by the ruling group against its subjects, and its object is not victory, but to keep the very structure of society in tact.”
-George Orwell
“Those who manipulate the organized habits and opinions of the masses constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country”
-Edward Bernays, assistant to William Paley, founder of CBS
“…ironically, perhaps, the best organized dissenters in the world today are anarchists, who are busily undermining capitalism while the rest of the left is still trying to form committees.”
-Jeremy Hardy, The Guardian (UK)
"You’ve got to rattle your cage door. You’ve got to let them know that you’re in there, and that you want out. Make noise. Cause trouble. You may not win right away, but you’ll sure have a lot more fun."
-Florynce Kennedy
MUSIC
"A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence." Leopold Stokowski
"And the night shall be filled with music,
And the cares that infest the day
Shall fold their tents like the Arabs
And as silently steal away."
HenryWadsworth
And the cares that infest the day
Shall fold their tents like the Arabs
And as silently steal away."
Henry
"Music is what feelings sound like." Author Unknown
HOMOSEXUALITY
"If time and space are curved, where do all of the straight people come from?" Author Unknown"You could move." Abigail Van Buren, "Dear Abby," in response to a reader who complained that a gay couple was moving in across the street and wanted to know what he could do to improve the quality of the neighborhood
EDUCATION AND LEARNING
“There is no neutral education. Education is either for domestication or for freedom.” -Joao Coutinho
“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” -Albert Einstein
"It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education." Albert Einstein
"The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity." Dorothy Parker
"Men are born ignorant, not stupid. They are made stupid by education." Bertrand Russell
"Education is the period in which you are being instructed by somebody you do not know, about something you do not want to know." G. K. Chesterton
"Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school." Albert Einstein
"Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself." John Dewey
"The whole educational and professional training system is a very elaborate filter, which just weeds out people who are too independent, and who think for themselves, and who don't know how to be submissive, and so on -- because they're dysfunctional to the institutions."
- Noam Chomsky
- Noam Chomsky
So the world got compulsion schooling at the end of a state bayonet for the first time in human history; modern forced schooling started in Prussia in 1819 with a clear vision of what centralized schools could deliver:
1.Obedient soldiers to the army;
2.Obedient workers to the mines;
3.Well subordinated civil servants to government;
4.Well subordinated clerks to industry
5.Citizens who thought alike about major issues. " John Taylor Gatto
"In the end, the secret to learning is so simple: Think only about whatever you love. Follow it, do it, dream about it...and it will hit you: learning was there all the time, happening by itself."
Grace Llewellyn
"Just as eating contrary to the inclination is injurious to the health, so study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in." Leonardo da Vinci
"The trouble with talk about 'learning experiences' is that it implies that all experiences can be divided into two kinds, those from which we learn something, and those from which we learn nothing. But there are no experiences from which we learn nothing. We learn from everything we do, and everything that happens to us or is done to us." John Holt, Instead of Education
"What we want to see is the child in pursuit of knowledge, not knowledge in pursuit of the child."
George Bernard Shaw
“School is the advertising agency which makes you believe that you need the society as it is.” Ivan Illich in his book Deschooling Society
“Schools are designed on the assumption that there is a secret to everything in life; that the quality of life depends upon knowing that secret; that secrets can only be known in orderly successions; and that only teachers can properly reveal these secrets. An individual with a schooled mind concieves of the world as a pyramid of classified packages accessable only to those who carry the proper tags.” Ivan Illich
“Nothing enrages me more than when people criticize my criticism of school by telling me that schools are not just places to learn maths and spelling, they are places where children learn a vaguely defined thing called socialization. I know. I think schools generally do an effective and terribly damaging job of teaching children to be infantile, dependent, intellectually dishonest, passive and disrespectful to their own developmental capacities.” Seymour Papert
“It is much easier to condemn a child than to understand a child.” Jiddu Krishnamurti
“Drop out of school before your mind rots from exposure to our mundane educational system. Forget about the Senior Prom, go to the library and educate yourself if you’ve got any guts.” Frank Zappa
ENVIRONMENTALISM AND GREEN ANARCHY
"We have been too kind to those who are destroying the planet. We have been inexcusably, unforgivably, insanely kind." Derrick Jensen
"As a longtime grassroots environmental activist, and as a creature living in the thrashing endgame of civilization, I am intimately acquainted with the landscape of loss, and have grown accustomed to carrying the daily weight of despair. I have walked clearcuts that wrap around mountains, drop into valleys, then climb ridges to fragment watershed after watershed, and I’ve sat silent near empty streams that two generations ago were “lashed into whiteness” by uncountable salmon coming home to spawn and die." Derrick Jensen
"The people of your culture cling with fanatical tenacity to the specialness of man. They want desperately to perceive a vast gulf between man and the rest of creation. This mythology of human superiority justifies their doing whatever they please with the world, just the way Hitler’s mythology of Aryan superiority justified his doing whatever he pleased with Europe. But in the end this mythology is not deeply satisfying. The Takers are a profoundly lonely people. The world for them is enemy territory, and they live in it like an army of occupation, alienated and isolated by their extraordinary specialness.” Daniel Quinn
“For us to maintain our way of living, we must tell lies to each other and especially to ourselves. The lies are necessary because, without them, many deplorable acts would become impossibilities.” Derrick Jensen
"Having long laid waste our own sanity, and having long forgotten what it feels like to be free, most of us too have no idea what it’s like to live in the real world. Seeing four salmon spawn causes me to burst into tears. I have never seen a river full of fish. I have never seen a sky darkened for days by a single flock of birds (I have, however, seen skies perpetually darkened by smog). As with freedom, so too the extraordinary beauty and fecundity of the world itself: It’s hard to love something you’ve never known. It’s hard to convince yourself to fight for something you may not believe has ever existed." Derrick Jensen
"Even now, we hardly love the Earth or see with eyes or listen any longer with our ears, and we scarcely feel our hearts beat before they break in protest." Stanley Diamond
"The only measure by which we will be judged by the people who come after is the health of the land base, because that is what is going to support them. They are not going to give a shit whether or not we were pacifists; they are not going to give a shit if we supported Israel or we didn't support Israel; whether we voted green or democrat or republican or not at all. What they are going to care about is whether they can drink the water, whether they can breathe the air, whether the land can support them. One of the important questions is to ask what does the land need from you." Derrick Jensen
"How is it conceivable that all our lauded technological progress--our very civilization--is like the axe in the hand of the pathological criminal?" Albert Einstein
"Imagine,” Tyler said, “stalking elk past department store windows and stinking racks of beautiful rotting dresses and tuxedos on hangers; you’ll wear leather clothes that will last you the rest of your life, and you’ll climb the wrist-thick kudzu vines that wrap the Sears Tower. Jack and the beanstalk, you’ll climb up through the dripping forest canopy and the air will be so clean you’ll see tiny figures pounding corn and laying strips of venison to dry in the empty car pool lane of an abandoned superhighway stretching eight-lanes-wide and August-hot for a thousand miles."
-The book Fight Club
"We have been too kind to those who are destroying the planet. We have been inexcusably, unforgivably, insanely kind." Derrick Jensen
"As a longtime grassroots environmental activist, and as a creature living in the thrashing endgame of civilization, I am intimately acquainted with the landscape of loss, and have grown accustomed to carrying the daily weight of despair. I have walked clearcuts that wrap around mountains, drop into valleys, then climb ridges to fragment watershed after watershed, and I’ve sat silent near empty streams that two generations ago were “lashed into whiteness” by uncountable salmon coming home to spawn and die." Derrick Jensen
"The people of your culture cling with fanatical tenacity to the specialness of man. They want desperately to perceive a vast gulf between man and the rest of creation. This mythology of human superiority justifies their doing whatever they please with the world, just the way Hitler’s mythology of Aryan superiority justified his doing whatever he pleased with Europe. But in the end this mythology is not deeply satisfying. The Takers are a profoundly lonely people. The world for them is enemy territory, and they live in it like an army of occupation, alienated and isolated by their extraordinary specialness.” Daniel Quinn
“For us to maintain our way of living, we must tell lies to each other and especially to ourselves. The lies are necessary because, without them, many deplorable acts would become impossibilities.” Derrick Jensen
"Having long laid waste our own sanity, and having long forgotten what it feels like to be free, most of us too have no idea what it’s like to live in the real world. Seeing four salmon spawn causes me to burst into tears. I have never seen a river full of fish. I have never seen a sky darkened for days by a single flock of birds (I have, however, seen skies perpetually darkened by smog). As with freedom, so too the extraordinary beauty and fecundity of the world itself: It’s hard to love something you’ve never known. It’s hard to convince yourself to fight for something you may not believe has ever existed." Derrick Jensen
"Even now, we hardly love the Earth or see with eyes or listen any longer with our ears, and we scarcely feel our hearts beat before they break in protest." Stanley Diamond
"The only measure by which we will be judged by the people who come after is the health of the land base, because that is what is going to support them. They are not going to give a shit whether or not we were pacifists; they are not going to give a shit if we supported Israel or we didn't support Israel; whether we voted green or democrat or republican or not at all. What they are going to care about is whether they can drink the water, whether they can breathe the air, whether the land can support them. One of the important questions is to ask what does the land need from you." Derrick Jensen
"How is it conceivable that all our lauded technological progress--our very civilization--is like the axe in the hand of the pathological criminal?" Albert Einstein
"Imagine,” Tyler said, “stalking elk past department store windows and stinking racks of beautiful rotting dresses and tuxedos on hangers; you’ll wear leather clothes that will last you the rest of your life, and you’ll climb the wrist-thick kudzu vines that wrap the Sears Tower. Jack and the beanstalk, you’ll climb up through the dripping forest canopy and the air will be so clean you’ll see tiny figures pounding corn and laying strips of venison to dry in the empty car pool lane of an abandoned superhighway stretching eight-lanes-wide and August-hot for a thousand miles."
-The book Fight Club
BOOKS AND READING
"The love of learning, the sequestered nooks,
And all the sweet serenity of books."
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
And all the sweet serenity of books."
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
"Books let us into their souls and lay open to us the secrets of our own." William Hazlitt
Monday, July 7, 2008
Fun with 'environmental studies'
My mother brought home a very interesting magazine today. On finding Veg News at the health food store, she was sure I would enjoy it! And I have. I've been a vegetarian for nine years and counting, having decided I would no longer eat meat at age six (except for hot dogs and chicken nuggets), and having been completely vegetarian since age eight. With magazine in hand, I sat outside in the sunlight reading about animal cruelty, health problems associated with the consumption of meat, and most worrying of all the environmental impact of the meat and dairy industry. The animal-agriculture industry puts out more green house gas emissions than ALL of the cars, trucks, trains and airplanes in the ENTIRE world. That's a ridiculous price to pay for a burger. All was not so heavy reading, however. I also enjoyed the section on vegetarian musicians, listing people from many obscure bands, but also quite a few more well known ones (Death Cab For Cutie, Black Sabbath, Fall Out Boy). I now have lots of cool sounding bands to look up. Yay! Along with just reading Veg Times, I also had an extensive conversation with my mom on the environment and how we can help to protect it, the deplorable animal cruelty that is a regular part of our mass production food system, activism, and how people who are activists or concerned with one of these problems, are usually also concerned with helping society as a whole. Being strong proponents of social freedom and global responsibility as well as working for animal rights etc. I'm going to try very hard to lead a responsible life in every way, and not to add any more nasty stuff to our world if I can possibly avoid it. The more I learn, the more I'm convinced that everyone must change their lifestyles considerably if we wish to survive as a species. On that note, I decided recently that I want to get involved in some form of activism, to try and help change things for the better.
After reading for a while, I happened to step into the backyard, just to find that things had gotten beautifully wild since I last explored it! Here are a few pictures I took that show just how much of a jungle it is back there...
The jungle between my shed and house.
I have no clue what this plant is, but it sure did grow tall!
The plants are taking over the compost bin!
After photography and supper, I walked down to the dock with some local friends, hung around at one of their houses for a bit, then headed home. I think I'll make tomorrow more interesting...
Listening to today: I Kissed A Girl by Katy Perry, Land Of Confusion cover by Disturbed
Reading: Veg Times August 2008 issue
After reading for a while, I happened to step into the backyard, just to find that things had gotten beautifully wild since I last explored it! Here are a few pictures I took that show just how much of a jungle it is back there...
The jungle between my shed and house.
I have no clue what this plant is, but it sure did grow tall!
A field of mint...
Our gorgeous grape vine.
The plants are taking over the compost bin!
After photography and supper, I walked down to the dock with some local friends, hung around at one of their houses for a bit, then headed home. I think I'll make tomorrow more interesting...
Listening to today: I Kissed A Girl by Katy Perry, Land Of Confusion cover by Disturbed
Reading: Veg Times August 2008 issue
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