Now
Is Time For Non-Violent
Earth Revolution
By Glen Barry
25 September, 2007
Earth Meanders
Blog
Now
is time for non-violent Earth Revolution.That begins by stopping ancient
forest logging, ending burning of coal and reducing aviation.
There are times in human
history where obligations to truth, humanity and being take precedent
over personal safety, consumption and comfort. Now is one such moment.
The time has come for non-violent, direct societal and personal revolutionary
action to save the Earth.
For the Earth, humanity and
our sister species to survive and flourish; awareness raising and reformist
greenwashing must give way to wide scale civil disobedience adequate
to peacefully bring about sufficient social change to save the Earth
and all being. This meander calls for all bright green environmentalists
to emphasize aggressive ecological truth telling, non-violent direct
action and a life of rich voluntary simplicity.
These are not new ideas.
The world is rife with small groups strategically placing their minds
and bodies between faltering ecosystems and predatory Earth destroyers
-- sitting in trees, occupying and shutting down coal plants, aggressively
and truthfully petitioning and confronting governments, and taking other
meaningful and effective direct actions. These must be built upon and
intensified to actually end Earth destroying activities with long and
damaging histories.
I propose that an initial
revolutionary strategy to save the Earth, and maintain ecological patterns
and processes required for all life, should focus upon protecting and
restoring ancient natural ecosystems, ending the use of coal, and stopping
the growth in aviation. These actions are needed as a minimum urgent
response to avoid cataclysmic global ecological collapse.
Tactics at this point should
be based upon non-violent direct mass action. More specifically, the
Earth revolution must initially seek with all haste to stop all ancient
forest logging, prevent the construction of new coal plants that emit
into the atmosphere, and close down the private jet business. This is
not to suggest that there are not other shifts in policy required to
live sustainably within the biosphere’s constraints, or that these
alone are sufficient. However, use of coal and loss of forests are the
two greatest historical causes of climate change and ecological decline,
and aviation the fastest growing.
As you peacefully battle
for the Earth, prepare yourselves and loved ones for the difficult times
of ecological collapse and desired regeneration ahead. Even as you commit
your being physically to defending Gaia, buy a remote piece of land
to love and be one with. Educate yourself and begin to practice homesteading,
permaculture, animal husbandry, composting, organic gardening, ecological
restoration, agrarian democracy and more.
Oh Goracle, lead us into
action. Oh Titanic play actor, demonstrate sacrifice. I am speaking
truthfully to you in a manner that these well informed leaders ensconced
in climate changing luxury will not: to the streets in disciplined direct
action, as you live well and simply, sacrificing for the Earth!
As the pendulum naturally
swings and the climate and forest destruction apologists temporarily
regain the upper hand, now is the time to re-intensify our efforts.
Tremendous inroads have been made by Mr. Gore, Greenpeace and other
establishment reformists; yet the momentum has stalled because they
are unwilling to fully speak and personally act upon inconvenient truths.
There are too many of us, consuming too much, that will need to sacrifice
and dramatically change our ways of living if there is to be a future
Earth for our children.
This personal essayist has
previously considered and rejected revolutionary violence at this time
in the struggle for Earth being. Upon reflection, I do not believe that
such an approach would now be effective and indeed may be counter-productive.
Mass non-violent action must first be given a real chance. Should this
fail, other options may later be necessary.
Our era lacks meaning beyond
oneself, close family and friends, and our immediate experiences and
consumption. I believe this is why we see such high levels of personal
and Earth destructive activities. How much stuff is enough? Virtuous
global citizens that truly understand and incorporate into their life
the urgency of the global ecological crisis are called upon to make
sacrifices including living more simply and risking their physical selves
to resist ecocide.
Let the media remain impartial
in the face of planetary death. Let the politicians putz and whine as
they feed themselves from the fossil fuel industry’s trough. Given
the failure of existing institutions and leaders to sufficiently respond
to the ginormous global ecological crisis, let’s you and I and
our brothers and sisters join together to do what must be done to stop
the Earth destroying growth machine and return to oneness with the Earth’s
land, air, water and sea. I implore you to be the change required for
planetary survival.
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