And all for what?
To serve authoritarian technics, to serve an obsession to validate and re-validate a self-perceived superiority that is so fragile that each new other we encounter must be violated, and then violated, and then violated, till there is nothing left and we move on to violate another.
This is not the future I want. This is not the future I will accept.
•••
What I want from this book is for readers to begin to remember what it is to be human, to begin to remember what it is to be a member of a larger biotic community. What I want is for you—and me, and all of us—to fall back into the world into which you—and me, and all of us—were born, before you, too, like all of us were taught to become a bigot, before you, too, like all of us were taught to become a human supremacist, before you, too, like all of us were turned into a servant of this machine culture like your and my parents and their parents before them. I want for you—and me, and all of us—to fall into a world where you—like all of us—are one among many, a world of speaking subjects, a world of infinite complexity, a world where we each depend on the others, all of us understanding that the health of the real world is primary.
The world is being murdered. It is being murdered by actions that are perpetrated to support and perpetuate a worldview. Those actions must be stopped. Given what is at stake, failure is no longer an option. The truth is that it never was an option.
So where do we begin? We begin by questioning the unquestioned beliefs that are the real authorities of this culture, and then we move out from there. And once you’ve begun that questioning, my job is done, because once those questions start they never stop. From that point on, what you do is up to you.
* * *
159 Charles J. Hanley, “As Climate Talks Drag On, United Nations Scientists Ponder Use of Climate Engineering,” AP, December 5, 2010.
160 I like this last phrase.
161 Erin Biba, “Science to the Rescue: Rebooting the Planet,” Newsweek, December 4, 2014, http://www.newsweek.com/2014/12/12/can-geoengineering-save-earth-289124.html (accessed December 15, 2014).
162 Joe Romm, “Geoengineering Gone Wild: Newsweek Touts Turning Humans Into Hobbits To Save Climate,” Climate Progress, December 5, 2014, http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/12/05/3599762/geoengineering-newsweek-hobbits/?mc_cid=a078a37b9b&mc_eid=83a5da071d (accessed December 15, 2014).
163 That energy efficiency leads not to energy savings, but increased consumption, was first described in the 1860s by British economist William Stanley Jevons. It is now called the Jevons Paradox.
164 And of course, coming up with this theory or model in the first place involved, ahem, speculating. Oh, the unscientific horror!
165 Between the time I wrote this book and the final edits before going to press, the number declined from five to three.
Epilogue
An acquaintance read this manuscript, then said, “So much of what you say here makes sense, but I still have a big problem with it.”
“What’s that?” I responded.
“If agriculture and other authoritarian technics lead to overshoot and drawdown, which then lead to a choice of either collapse or conquest (and we know which this culture chooses); and if converting a land base to weapons of war leads to a short-term competitive advantage over cooperative and sustainable cultures; how do we stop them?”
I said, “Congratulations, and thank you.”
He looked at me blankly.
I said, “You understood the point of the book far better than I could have dreamed.”
He thought a moment, then asked the next question: “And what now?”
I responded, “Welcome to the war.”
He looked at me for the longest time, then gave the barest—barest—hint of a smile. He nodded and said, “I’ll see you on the front lines.”
About the Author
An activist, philosopher, farmer, teacher, and leading voice of uncompromising dissent, DERRICK JENSEN is the author or co-author of many books, including Dreams, Endgame, A Language Older Than Words, What We Leave Behind, Deep Green Resistance, and As the World Burns. He holds degrees in creative writing and mineral engineering physics, and lives in California.
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