Green Anarchy 6
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![FEMINISM: “Lmyself have never been able to find out what feminism is: 1 only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat” “Rebecca West, The Clarion 1913 Most people in the current anarchist milieu — female or male — would disagree, at least in principle, with most of the following statements: here are two immutable and natural categories under which all humans are classified: male and female. A male human being is a man, and a female human being is a woman. Women are inherently inferior tomen. Men are smarter and stronger than women: women are more emotional and delicate. Women exist for the benefit of men. If a man demands sex from his wife, it i her duty to oblige him, whether she wans to or not. A ‘man may force a woman to have sex with him, as long as he has a very good reason for making this demand. ‘Humans are o be conceived of, i the universal sense, s male (“man”), and only referred to as female when one is speaking of particular individuals. Women are a form of property. To demand rights for women is tantamount to demanding rights for animals and just as absurd Asridiculous as most of these statements may seem, every one of them has been considered obvious and natural by most of the West at one point or another, and many are stll more the rule than the exception 10 this day. If most of them seem a little strange, jarring, or just plain wrong, that s not because they contradict some vague notion of justice or common sense that we have all been born with. Tothe contrary, the change in attitude that allows most of us o claim ‘2 more enlightened, seemingly natural viewpoin, is actually the conerete result of an ongoing struggle which has claimed many reputations, relationships. ‘and lives over the last 200 years and which, like all struggles for liberation, has been discredited. slandered, and marginalized since its inception. ‘Although this struggle has been, and sill i, stategically diverse and conceptually mulifarious and hence hard to define, it is not hard to name: I am, of course. referring to feminism, Feminism has changed our culture to the point where it is at least a common idea that women are fully human, If most people today claim to agree with thisidea, this i not because society is becoming more benevolent,or evolving naturally into a more egalitarian stae of affairs. Those who hold power do not simply decide to grant equal status 1o those who do not; rather, they only yield power when they are forced to. ‘Women,like every other oppressed group, have had to take everything they have gotten, through an arduous process of struggle. To deny this struggle is to perpetuate a myth imilar to that of the happy slave. Yet this i preciscly what we do when we spek of feminism a5 somehow perpetuating a gender divide, or hindering our progress away from identity politis. Feminism did not create the conflict between genders: patriarchal society did. It is important not to forget that the aforementioned idea that women are fully human is not common sense but absolutely, emphatically, a feminist notion. To pay lip-service to women’s iberation while denying the historical struggle of women to achieve this for themselves is paternalistic and insulting. Not only has Western society overlly relegated women to a subhuman role throughout its history, but, until recently, most liberatory movements have as well. This has often been partially unconscious, as a reflection of the ‘mores of the dominant culture. Just as often, however,th has been fully conscious and intentional (cf. Stokely Charmichael’s famous quote that the “only position” for women in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Commitce [SNCC] was “prone"). Either way, people who purported 1o be working for the emancipation of all humans were really just working for the emancipation of “man.” which until quite recently, is exactly how it was usually phrased. ‘Women who complained about this state of affairs were (and are) condescendingly told to wait until the more important struggle was won before they demanded their ‘own liberation. This has been true of abolition, civil ights, the anti-war movement, the New Left, the anti-nuke movement, radical environmentalism and, obviously, ‘anarchism. Women have been critcized for pursuing feminist aims as if these were wrong-headed, counterrevolutionary, or unimportant, Anarchistsdid not simply wake up one morning with more enlightened views of women, nor did patriarchy suddenly reveal itself as “just another form of domination.” Green Anarchy #6 A Male Anarchist’s Pel’Spectlve By Pendleton Vandiver Feminist theory and practice brough to light the oppression of women that often manifested itself in otherwise revolutionary milicus. ‘This is not o say that all feminists werefare not anarchists or all anarchists werefare not feminists. But feminism is often criticized within the anarchist milieu, from several different angles. I will try to discuss the most common eriticisms I have heard voiced, both publicly and privately, in anarchist circles. It has been suggested that feminism is essentialist. It has also been suggested that feminism, in keeping with its essentialist views, is a philosophy that asserts the superiority, in one way or another, of women to men. Finally, the charge has been made that feminism perpetuates gender categories, whereas the revolutionary task is o move beyond gender altogether. In other words, feminism is accused of being a kind of identity politics that perpetuates harmful and divisive societal roles that ultimately oppress everyone. “The one thing that all of these allegations have in common is that they posita single, more or less univocal entity named “feminism.” However, anyone who studies feminism soon learns tht there has always been a fair amount of diversity within feminist theory, and this has never been more true than it is now. No single st of ideas about sex and gender represents feminism; rather, feminism is a loose category that encompasses just about all forms of thought and action which are explicitly concerned with the liberation of women. Although feminism has often been accused of essentialism, the critique of essentialism is particularly strong within feminism, and has been for quite some time. Essentialism iis the idea that there is an unchanging substance or essence that constitutes the true identity of people and things. In this view, a woman s somehow truly, deep in her core, identifiable as a woman; being a woman is not simply the result of different attributes and behaviors. This seen as a politically backward stance by many, because itimplies that people are limilted to certain capabilities and behaviors that are somehow dictated by their nature. When we examine the range of ideas that has emerged from second wave (post-1963 or so) femminism, however, a different picture comes into focus. Probably the most famous quote from The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir’s seminal 19405 work,is the following: “One is ‘ot born, but rather becomes, a woman. " The book goes on to argue that gender i a social category, which individuals can reject. The influence of The Second Sex was enormous, ‘and Beauvair wasn’ the only ferninist o question the natural- ess ofthe category of gender. Many feminist writers began to draw a distinction between sex and gender, asserting that the former describes the physical body, while the latteris a cultural category. For instance, having a penis pertains to page 4 sex, whereas how one dresses,and the social ole one il pertains to gender. “This s a distinction that some feminists still make, but others have questioned the use of supposedly pre-cultural categories like sex altogether. Colette Guillamin has suggested that sex (s well as race) is an arbitrary system of “marks” that has no natural status at al, but simply serves the interests of those who hold powwer. Although various physical differences exist between people, it i poliically determined which ones are chosen as important or definitive. Although people are divided into supposedly natural categories on the basis of these marks, there is nothing natural about any category: categories are purely conceptual Building on the work of Beauvoir and Guillamin, among others, Monique Wittg has argued that the feminist goal is o climinate sex andjor gender as acategory entirely Like the proletaiat in Marx’s philosophy. women are o constitute themselves as class for the sake of overthrowing the system that allows classes to exist. One is not born a woman, except n the same sense that one is born a roletarian: being a woman denotes asocial position,and cetain social practices, rather than an essence or true identiy. The ulimate politcal goal of a woman, for Wittg, is o not be one. More recently, Judith Butler has predicated an entire theory of gender based on the radical rejection of essence. Of course, there have been a number of feminists who, disturbed by what they saw as an assimilationist tendency in feminism, asserted a more positive notion of femirinity that was, at times, undoubledly esentiaist. Susan Brownmille, n her important book Against Our Wills, suggested that men may be genetically predisposed (0 rape, a notion that has been echoed by Andrea Dworkin. Marxist feminists like Shulamite Firestone sought the material basis of gender oppression in the female reproductive role, and several feminist thearists — Naney Chodorow, Sherry Ortner. and Juliet Mitchell among others — have examsined the fole of motherhood in creating oppressive gender roles. “Woman-idenified” feminiss like Mary Daly embraced certain traditional notions of femininity and sought 1o give them a positive spin. Although woman-ideniified feminists have, at times, taken essentialist positions, this brand of feminism has redressed some of the imbalances of that train of feminist thought tht rejects femininity altogether as a slaveidentity. This has always been the dichotomy that has troubled feminist thinkers: cither to assert a strong feminine identity and risk legitimizing traditional roles and providing fodder to those who employ the idea of a natural difference in order to oppress women,or o eject th role and the deniity women have been given, and risk eliminating the very ground of a feminist critique. The task of contemporary feminismis to find a balance betsween viewpoints that risk, on the one hand, essentialism, and on the other the climination of women as the subject of politcal struggle altogether. “The goal of feminism, then, i the liberation of women, but what that exactly means is open to dispute. For some feminists, this means that women and men will coexist cqually: for others, that we will no longer see people as women and men. Feminism provides a rich panorama of views on gender problerms. One thing all feminists can agree on, though, s that gender problems exist. Whether as a result of natural differences or culural consiuction, people are oppressed on the basis of gender. To go beyond gender, this situation needs to be redressed; gender cannot simply be declared defunct. Feminism can perhaps be best defined as the attempt 10 get beyond thestte of affairs where people are oppressed because of gender. Thus,itis not possible to 20 beyond gender withoutfeminism; the charge tha feminism ef perpetuats gender categories i paently absurd Since anarchy is opposed to all forms of domination. anarchy without feminism is not anarchy at all. Since anarchy declaresitself opposed o all archy.all rulership, true anarchy is by definition opposed to patriarchy. Le. it . by definition, feminist. But it s not enough (o declare oneself opposed o all domination; one needs to try o understand domination in order o oppose it. Feminist authors should be read by all anarchists who consider them- selves opposed to patiarchy: Feminist critiques are certainly just as relevant as books about govemment oppression. continued on next page](green-anarchy-6-summer-2001 5.png)
![DIRECT ACTION NEWS Anti-Genetix Actions May 17, 2001 Activists Destroy GE Crops at Research Fa Brentwood, CA Communique: Inthe carly morning of May 16th, 2001 a group dedicated 1o he right to good food, untainted by genetic engincering, occupicd and scted against one DNA Plant Technology of Brentwood CA on Balfour Road, 12 mile cast of Highway 4. We prevented further steps in transgenic crop experiments, within his entity, from occuring this season. uprooted and destroyed “Thisis not the first time that peopl have taken direct anti-GE action in the US took place less than a mile from the DNAP facily. Night time gardeners targetd GenTech’s Frostban strawbeny, setting the stage for more than 50 DNA Plan Technology Holdings was recently acquired by ELM, a multnational bioengineering corporation that also owns Seminis Vegetable Seeds,the largest distibutor of fruit and vegetable secds in_the world. DNAP is currenly growing more than 15,000 acres of genctically engincered field crops in Mexico and the US, mostly without the public’s knowledge. DNA has more than 50 introduction, selectable markers, and plant regeneration. One gene silencing technology, trademarked Transwitch, intomatoes. The Favr Savr tomto utlzesthis technology 1o create a tomato with a shelf life of o to three weel. Like most appliations of genetic engincering, this trat benefis neither the workers who grow the tomato nor the people who buy these pale-pink, plastie-wrapped, nutritionaly zapped tomtoss Now DNAP is moving into so-called “second wave™ rescarch which s trying o incorporate drugs intthe issues of food plants. But our rsistance i rooted decp in the land, and as long as they attempt to developithese alerations 10 our food, our resistance will continue, Rescarching his company and it’s faciliies, we discovered an unusual level of sccrecy sumounding it’s operations. DNA Plant Tistings, had no posted signs of any sort n this otherwise neighborly agricultural community,and otherwise went to great lengths to conceal the nefarious nature of their business. We uncarthed a report for DNAP stockholders that bousted ofthe site’s emoteness and inaceessibiliy to public view. Seminis, also owned by ELM, has been a frequent target of ani-biotechnology actions, and the DNAPreportreflected this paranoia. They even reassared the stockholders that the test plots were protected by fed up with corporte sccrecy and lack of accountabilty for the changes they make in commnitis, human health, and the environment. The backlash against the WTO was biotechnology tet plot sabotage actons e another, Upsct by what we were esming of the halth and environmenal ramifications of Roundup Ready technology and of the founded up ourfavorite anima fiends and decided o take On a dark night we slipped through the open ficld 50 fect from a brightlylit house cquipped with motion Sensorfsecuritylight apparenily aimed atthe DNAP fields, we entered the I-acre srawbery test lot. Tru to Roundup Ready test protocol, the plants were enveloped in a dense carpet of weeds, ready for application of the poisonous herbicide. We removed an acre of the enormous, leathery Frankenplants to a short new life- n plastc bags ful of bleach o prevent any possbilty ofsurvivaland replantin. DNAP’s tomato experiments. We took a walk right through the walls, found a 1/4 acre of 4-foot tal rting tomatoes and dispatched them to theirrightful dvelling place inhell. Safely outside on DNAP’s poisoned carth, we turned our Green Anarchy #6 attention to a half acre test plot of mature onion plants that deserved to share the tomatoes’ and strawberries” fate. Our frenzy of uprooting took down another experiment in 5 ‘minutes. A good nights work lying in shreds behind us, we ‘melted into the night the way we had come. May 26,2001 Belgium: Aventis Crop Silenced An Aventis owned genetically modified winter oilsced ‘canola rape farm located in the distrct of Velzeke (Eastern Flanders, Belgium) was destroyed during this week-end. This action is to be seen as a trial to strike a blow to the current GMO’s invasion creeping from our fields 1o the daily food. As a matter of fact, despite all reassuring ‘govermmental and agro-transnational statements, we can draw a more and more accurate picture of GE consequences. Health damages are firmly known today (allergies, inereased antibiotic resistance,..). Spreading GMO’s also resulis in irreversible environmental havoc: biodiversity loss, a much greater pesticides consumption, insects and weeds resistance’s, gene transfer (horizontally as well as vertically) to other species,.. It all combines with a perverse enslavement mechanism providing for an ever growing farmers dependence on GE seeds producing ‘corporations. Farmers are led (0 buy “improved” seeds and adapted herbicides 1o the same company, hence strengthening their total subjection. Facing those threats we necessarily have ourselves to put into practice the precautionary principle, opposed o profit making obsessed structures. June 7, 2001 Activists cast vote in GM field at Munlochy The first votes of clection day were cast not in a ballot box, but ina field of Genetically Manipulated (GM) Oilseed Rape Canola. In the early hours of Election Day, campaigners cut an X’ shaped swathe through the controversial GM crop currently growing at Munlochy on the Black Isle, Inverness. ‘The GM trial has been vociferously opposed by the local ‘community from the Start “People have very real and reasonable fears about the effects of GM on the environment, Scottish biodiversity, and, of course, on human health. The Government has ignored these arguments and sided with transnational corporations, who are only out to make big bucks, over the interests of their people.” One of the campaigners responsible for the action said: “Our action sends a clear message that GM is not welcome in Scotland - nor are any politicians or companies who supporti.” Local organic farmer Donnie Macleod said, “Those people that carried out this action are simply echoing the ‘opinion of the vast majority of the local community. Thope thismeans that no more fields of contamination are planied inthe Highlands.” June 15, 2001 Anti-GE group targets Semi Begin Communiqué: To Whom It May Concernat the Genetix Alert Press Office, ‘We came across your business on the internet. Can your service help get news out about wha’s happening here in Idaho: There’s a company called Seminis Vegetable Seeds in Filer and we would pass it’s research center everyday. We started wondering what kind of research they were doing. There is a lot o agriculture around here but everything is bigger and bigger companies who don’t say what’s being grown or how. Abunch of us around here doing farming and trucking crops decided to find out anything we could about Sem And then the information we got made us take things into our own hands and go out into their field one night and rip out their pea plants. The night was June 10 and we yanked ‘out over 20 small plots of peas, It must have been thousands of plants. These peas weren’t normal. They had their genes changed to make the plants stay alive when sprayed with glyphosate herbicide. That’s like the brand Roundup for people who don’t know. “The internet was how we looked up a lot of information. ‘You can get Addresses there and find out businesses have. ‘going on. We did a search and find Seminis’s web site. We also went to the USDA, that’s the US Dept. of Agriculture, Aninsal and Plant Health Inspection Service [ APHIS] web site: hitp://www.aphis.usda.gov/biotechnology/permits himl page 10 ‘They do permitting for gene-modification research. If you elick on “How Can I Check on an Application to Import Move, or Field Test or a Petition to Deregulate? (Biotechnology Database)” you can find records about who’s testing what kind of altered planis. We found Seminis’s permit # 01-065-01N # 321 for peas, saw the peas in their field and it went from there. These gene-altered plants can cross-breed with regular plants and we don’t know what they will do to people, ‘animals, the soil, or anything. It was really easy work to take them out o the picture and didn’ttake very long, once. we got used to the dark and relaxed into the work. ‘We hope this story will be interesting to people, especially ‘people wondering what’s going on right down the road from them. Why don’t we take things into our own hands at this point and take out these crops? ‘Seminis’s place i right on Highway 30, a the 2300 Rd cormer, next to The highschool. June 18,2001 ELF Claims Responsibility For Acti Engineering At University Of Idaho Communiqué: “Biotech Out of Our Community! ELF claims attack on University of Idaho Biotech Building ‘The University of Idaho Biotechnology building, urrenily under construction, was targeted in the early hours of the morning on June 10th by a cell of the Earth Liberation Front calling themselves the Night Action Kids. Survey stakes were removed and the exterior of the new building painted with such sentiments as “NO GEL" and “Go Organic’ “This is the second action against the Biotechnology building. The first of which individuals entered the building and caused an urknown amount of damage. Ananonymous ELF Night Action Kid compares research inGenetic Engincering and Biotechnology to the scientific studies which lead 10 the creation of the nuclear bomb. “Biotechnological rescarch may be intended for good ends by the scientist, as was nuclear research, but in our free enterprise police state society it will be used almost solely for greed and control. With Genetic Engincering we are ereating another bomb. Monsanto and other large corporations are patenting seeds. ‘and foreing farmers to sign contracts that they will continue buying these GE, and many times pesticide resistant, seeds from the same corporation year after year, effectively taking control over our food sources. Genetically Engineered food on our grocery store shelves is not labeled s such, so the individual does not know what he or she is cating. Genetically Engincered fish are escaping into the wild ‘populations with the chance of killing offthe entire species. Genetic testing for predisposition to certain diseases, such as cancer, may soon keep you and your children from getting insurance or a job. “GE corporations and their supporters have claimed that we fanti-GE activists] are using scare tactics o further our viewpoint, The fact is that Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering are scary prospects when placed in the hands of large corporations who care only about profits and not ‘abou the health and safety of the people, or the effects they are having on the environment. Through the University of Idaho Biotechnology Program we are teaching our children to work in a field which is developing faster than its effects, both physically and ethically, can be monitored and has the potential for causing catastrophic harm to all ‘humans and the planet,”claims another Night Action Kid who continues, *Get Biotech out of Moscow! It is not wanted in our community.” on Against Genetic June 25th 2001 Activists eliminate field tests This is a translation of a report by the Daich action- magazine Ravage (hip:/iwwwantenna nliravage) Amsterdam - In the night of Sunday to Monday June 25 activists calling themselves “Razende Hazen” (Enraged Hares) have sabotaged two field tests of Genetically engincered sugar beets in Brabant, the south of The Netherlands. They made up a test of ‘Roundup-Ready’ sugar beets by agro-multinational Monsanto.”We removed the green of the plants, making the test uncompletable,” says the group ina statement delivered to Ravage. “The purpose of this action is to dircctly stop_ the spreading of genetically modified organisms (GMO’s) in ourenvironment and food,” state the Hares. The Roundup- Ready beets have been genetically altered 1o be able to](green-anarchy-6-summer-2001 11.png)
NO.6 SUMMER 2001
Creggl\ . ==
o, PAnarchy
CONTENTS:
Against Mass Society
Feminism: A Male
Anarchist’s Perspective
|| Women and the Spectacle
Costs of Affluence IT
Resisting Western
Penetration
Thoughts on Subversion
from Two Yippie Elders
Eyewitness Account
from Quebec City
Decolonization of
Colonial Descent
Earth’s Lament
Action Updates
... and much more!
Green Anarchy’s Statement of Solidarity
So.they have aken one of our warriors When we uphe
takes in our ight o protect the Earth and allthat s wid
wexpect hat some of us will ot remain free fo lang.but
itis a wake-up call when it it home 5o hard. It s our
responsibility 10 sec o it tht the
gl in which Free is a part of
‘Al in NewYork the ALFand ELF
have caied ou acts of revolutonary
eroup of Eanh iberaionsts caried
out an action i solidarity with Free
and Criter here in Eugene, in which
36 Sport Urility Vehicles (SUVs) were
torched at the same auto dealership
Free admis Lo targetting one year
carlier, amounting to $1 million
damage.
Here in Eugene, we have leamed
‘many lessons from these trying fimes:
1) There s a vital need for increased solidarity and security
within and among ALL revolutionary communitis.
2) Be assured that the state will mandate the harshest
sentences to those who confront it in a direct and
uncompromising manner.
3) Be equally assured that cooperation with Lw enforcement
or any agents or agencies of the state will endanger you and
other members of your community.
Most important 1o remember is that Free is in there for
all of us, and he needs our unending and unlimited
support. e all need to make sure that the actions Free
took to protect life continue.
NO.6 SUMMER 2001
$2 USA, $3 Can, $4 EU
Free to Prisoners!
Anarchy
Free Sentenced to 22 Years
The following is a statement released by the Free and
Critter Legal Defense Commilte just after sentencing:
On June 11, 2001 Jeff “Free” Luers was sentenced to
nearly 23 years on 11 charges ranging from Arson One to
Atiempied Criminal Mischief stemming from two incidents
last year in Eugene, Oregon. Free had
admitted to criminal mischief regarding
a truck fire at Romania Chevrolet last
summer. Al the sentencing he read a
statement taking accountability for the
Romania fire, and emphasizing the care
he ook toensure no e would be njured.
He said: "It cannot be said that | am
unfeeling o uncaring. My heart s filled
with love and compassion. I fight 1o
protect life..all life. Not 1o take it IV's
not an exaggeration 10 say that we're
experiencing a period of extinction
equal 10 that of the dinosaurs, 40,000
species go extinct each year, yet we
continue 1o pollute and exploit the
natural world.. I will not ask this
court 10 grant me leniency. All L ask s that you believe the
sincerity of mywords, and that you believe that my actions,
whether or not you believe then to be misguided, stem from
the love I have in my heart.
‘The judge responded by saying that he “never doubted
Free's sincerity.” He stated that Free's politcal beliefs would
not influence the sentencing, that he would be sentenced
“solely on the severity of the crimes.” Yet Free received
sentence harsher than that of many murderers and rapists. We
are not so naive as to say we're surprised with the sentence,
but an analogy I shared with Free on the phone after
sentencing is that we’ve had someone with a clenched
fist standing in front of us for a year saying “I'm going to
punch you.” Even though we were expecting it it sill took
our breath away. The judge made many comments during
the trial that indicated he'd already decided the outcome.
He was ofien seen completely ignoring the testimony, typing on
his laptop instead oflisening. An appeal is already underway.
Frustratingly, throughout the past year, Free had been
forced to remain silent about his actions at Romania
Chevrolet, due to the fact that the State insisted on linking
the twoincidents, Romania and Tyree Oil Company, ogether.
‘The judge denied many motions to separate the two. Free
has stated and maintains that he had no involvement in the
attempted arson at Tyree Ol
“The Legal Defense Committee asks for your continuing
support of Free and Critir and other Prisoners of War. Make
awaris being waged on the Earth and allits
ereatures. Do not participate in the State’s campaign to
‘marginalize and incapacitate those who take radical action in
defense of the Earth. Failure to supportour polifical prisoners
is tantamount to sanctioning repression by the State.
Please write to Free (Jeffrey Luers) #13797671, 82911
Beach Access Rd, Umatilla, OR 97882 and Critter (Craig.
Marshall) #13797662, Oregon State Prison, 2605 State
Street, Salem, OR 97310,
You can contact the Free and Critter Legal Defense
Commitice at POB 454 Willamette, Suite 205, Eugene,
‘OR 97401. Checks and money orders to assist with Free’s
appeal can still be sent to FCLDF, ¢/o OUR Credit
Union, PO Bo 1192, Eugene, OR 97440. Our website is
wiww.efnorg/-eugpeacefreccritter
“Thanks to ll our steadfast supporters. Your help has been
inspiring and irreplaceable.
Howl for Free and Critter. Howl for all
al prisoners. They will hear you.
Many people desire an existence fiee of coercive authority,
where all are at liberty o shape their own lives as they choose
for the sake of their own personal needs, values, and
desires. For such freedom to be possible, no individual
person can extend his o her sphere of control upon the
lives of others without their choosing. Many who challenge
‘oppression in the modem worldstive toward their conception
of a “fiee society” by atiempiing to merely reform the most
powerful and coercive institutions of today, or to replace
them with directly democratic” governments, community-
controlled municipalites, worker-owned indusirial federations,
etc. Those who prioritize the values of personal autonomy or
uncontrolled and wild existence have reason to oppose and
reject all large-scale organizations and societies on the
‘grounds that they necessitate imperialism, slavery and
hierarchy, egardless of the purposes they may be designed for.
Humans are naturally sociable, but are selective about
who they wish to associate with. For companionship and
‘mutual support, people naturally develop relationships with
those they share an affinity with. However, only in recent
times have people organized themselves in large-scale
‘groupings composed of strangers who sharelitle of relevance
in common with each other. For over 99 percent of human
history, humans lived within small and egalitarian extended
family arrangements, while drawing their subsistence
directly from the land. The foraging bands and shifting
horticultural communities of past and present are known
tohave enjoyed extensive leisure time, and have rarely required
more than two to four hours daily on average to satisfy
subsistence needs. Famine and war are extremely rare in
Afiainst Mass Societ
these societies. Additionally, physical health, dcnmquduy
and the average life-span of small-scale communities are
‘markedly higher than that of agricultural and carly industrial
societies. Leaders are temporary. and hold o power beyond
theirability to persuade. While hunting/gathering and slash-
‘and-bum gardening do indeed alter local environments and
are sometimes wasteful, they have proven themselves to
be ccologically stable adaptations. Foraging served humanity
for three million years, while horticulture has been utilized in
the Amazon basin for spproximately 9,000 years. The small-
scale cultures that remain today generally prefer their
traditional way of life, and many are currently waging
impressive political resistance against corporations and
governments who wish Lo forcibly assimilate them so
that their land and labor may be exploited. People rarcly
enter mass organizations without being coerced, as they
lead to a decline of freedom and health
“The rise of civilization was made possible through
compulsory mass production. When certain socictics
began o prioritize agricultural productivity as their highest
value, they began to forcibly subject alllfe within reach of
their cities to that purpose. Communitis of people who
wished to forage or garden on the land for subsistence
would be mercilessly slaughtered or enslaved, and the eco-
systems they inhabited would be converted to farmland to
foed the cities. Those engaged in the full-time facilitation
of crop and animal production would reside in the nearby
countryside, while public officials, merchants, engineers,
‘military personnel, servants, and prisoners would inhabit
the citis. The task of creating a surplus to feed a growing.
pagel
specialist class caused the duties of the food producers to
intensify, while simultaneously creating the need for more
land, both for agriculture and for the extraction of materials
for construction and fuel. Humans were forced into servitude
for the benefit o theirculture’s institutions of production as a
prerequisie for continued survival, and non-human life would
cither be hamessed or eliminated for the sake of completing
‘human projects. To oceupy land, one would need to continu-
ously pay tribute inthe form of a tax ortithe (and more recently,
in the form of rent or mortgage), hence requiring one to devote.
‘mostof one’s time and energy to polifially aceepied mode of
employment. Upon being required to satisfy the demands of
landholders or employers in exchange for personal space
‘and commodities, it becomes impossible for people to make
their living through subsistence hunting or gardening. Although
... continued on page §
Green Anarchy #6
Green Anarchy and Classical Anarchism
Having given this subject much thought, some of us have
decided that it is important to provide a critique of what
has dominated anarchist thought since its g
anthropocentrism, the world view in which humans (most
often ruling civilized male humans) are the highest being,
‘While anarchism seems to be inherently against domination,
for most of it history it has been silent in many ways about
the domination of women, animals, and nature. As this
publication is entitled Green Anarchy, we believe it would
be worth an editorial dealing with exactly how the Green
contextualizes the Anarchy.
However relevant the classical anarchists were in their
time, they are certainly not today for several reasons that
will be discussed below. Without an in-depth analysis of
their (Proudhon, Godwin, Bakunin, et) approaches, a general
‘summation can be made. For one, traditionally, anarchism has
focused upon domination within human society. This
approach operates as if humans were the only species
on the planet, their liberation from the shackles of class
oppression the only form of oppression to consider. As
we are all aware today, with an immediacy perhaps unavailible
at the time of the classical anarchists, the biosphere is
collapsing at the hands of
civilization. Anarchism, a
struggle for human liberation,
does not necessarily address
this at all. For the anarchist
vision to be carried to its
end. no consideration of
ecological sustainability is
required. Classically, the
existence of the state and
human hierarchy is all that
needs to be problematized.
The environment is essentially
viewed i the same manner by
anarchists as by the rulers of
civilization, a passive plain
‘upon which to script human
struggle and existence, cither
under states or not.
‘Westem thinkers in industrial
nations of thenineteeth century
ould not have been expected
1o have a holistic ecological
awareness. At this point we
should take from their his
torically contextualized
writings whatever applies, and be willing to abandon all
that is not applicable. 1t should be clear that a workerist
utopia where nature is subservient to human progress is
ecologically impossible and therefore rrelevat, It should
be clear that an anarchist revolutionary program dishonestly
offering a future for whatis now six billion of us o trample
the planet as autonomous sovereign beings is irelevant and
certainly not “green.” It s not green i the context of ending
domination of nature, beyond humans.
‘What anarchists must now consider is the fact that the
is very lttle of nature left to live “harmoniously” within
and the possibility that what nature there is left does not
want us back, nor could it ever sustain us. Consider this:
the only comparatively “biocentric” way humans have lived
is as gatherer-hunters — and in some cases, shifting
horticultural gardeners — which has been the mode of
existence for 99 percent of our collective history. At
the peak of the world population of our foraging ancestors,
there were several million of us, with all global ccosystems
intact and flourishing. Today there are six billion of us with
a significant portion of nature destroyed. This reality
unaddressed by classical anarchists,is undeniable to us,
and hen r be based on the
assumption that a viable subsistence base will always
be there. It can no longer be assumed that we have eternity
todothe impossible — the impossible being (o create a utopian
worker paradise for ix billion people without hicrarchy. What
we also know now that the classical anarchists did not is thal,
historically and prehistorically, all societies of more than
100 to 500 people were based on rulership and
authoritarianismm. Eight hundred billion people experienced
life on Earth prior to agriculture in a way that we would
call anarchy.
It wasn't
our resistance can no lon;
tatelessness alone that allowed this mode of
existence to persist for three million years or to flourish
throughout the entire planet. Itwas musch more. It ncompassed
techniques of extracting energy and nutrients from the
Green Anarchy #6
environment in a sustainable way, one that did not
involve domestication and ecocide. Classical anarchism
oes not provide much nsight with rspeet o popultion and
sustainabilty ssues s it assumes that nature will st forever,
and that human struggle can reproduce itself into ctemity
‘Anarchists radiionaly thought as i we were notorganisms,
ot animals, and ot subject 10 the processes of the global
biosphere and ecological communities. To escape this
incomplete understanding of our species” role on the
planet, it will necessitate an understanding of susainable
and free human existence that is based on the knowledge.
history, successes, and failures of the past. The anarchis.
pipe-dream utopia of a speculative, unholistic visionary
future is of no relevance to our current strugele. Green
Anarchy, in our belief, must take anarchism 1o new leve,
with the incorporation of dimensions dealing with human
subsistence strategies, how they have worked, and under
what conditions
10 is no longer sufficient to assume that humans must
first liberate themselves and that sustainabilty will come
later. We have to assume that sustainability has already
existed, and with universal contexts and patiens. Our first
idenityisGreen, subsequenty
Anarchist. We re reenfis.
because human freedom in
a civilized wasteland is
meaningless to us. Valuing
our history and that of 3.5
billion years of the wild free
chaos of lfe forces us to
privilege that above a pipe-
dream futwre for modern
human society
Like all other entiies
from corporations o co-ops.
“green” approaches to the
future are integrated nto the
anarchism of our ime. The
depth of this coloration is
what his paper questions. I
“nature” is il viewed by
anarchists as the passive
backdrop to our flecting
struggles, we will never
learn tha fcedom, iberaton,
and autonomy arecontextual
and as organisms, thisentails
peaceful co-existence with
the biosphere, Unlike the classical anarchists, we don'thave
the privlege o minimal environmental awareness, I we mke
the clsim tha free humans can choose 1o live in hamony
with ature, we'd better discoverten ccologically flourishing
new planet Earths to move ot or else star to question
our assumption that his single planet can sustan us at our
present population, whether socialist, anarchist, capitals.
or fascist.
While we n o way prescribe mass human genocide for the
sake of ecological peservation, we recognize tha civilized
umanity iselis voluntarily (alough maybe uninentionaly)
commiting collctve suicide through its own unsustingble
behavior. The bulk of humanity has already chosen is own
fate, and we don't considr ourselves obligated 1o rescu it
from the impact of ts own decisions. We do support those
who swim upstream i resistance o cvilization's persistent
assault upon ther autonomy and sanity — and we support
those who fight in defense of wild living beings and places
that haven't et been destroyed.
“The ecological impact of civilzation is oy one of many
manifistations of domination. We intend to address in as
much depth i ftureeditorials and ssues other manifestations
of civilizarions domiaton. Because the destnuction of wild
nature i inextricably linked to the destruction of human
inner-nature and th erosion ofegaltarian social elationships,
it s also important o crtique civilzaton on social level
“This must include analyss o lienaton and heirarchy within
the constructs of human society:
Anyway,these are some of our thoughts at the moment.
Read on, and get ready to deconstruct all reminens of
tiberal and leftist pipe-dream illusions of an industrial-
nation.-state-mediated paradise on carth. Fight untl the
Earhisfree! We strongly fedback and submissions.
Our deadline for ur eptember 15th. We greatly
el submissionson a Macintosh discor via email to
y@tao.ca
Hope your summer is incendiary!
page 2
Revolutionary Letter N
By Diane Di Prima
1 what
u wantis jo
Tp—
You have notthoughi thru,clearly
Wha
oot
wwant i
Industey ( GE. o th
—
arfore efigerator
nific
—
ey, you have chosen
e planet I
ficton utopia, if what y
1t what
the AMA
ek or steril
1 cliics whe
ou pills 1ok
Shoot germs into your kids, while Merke & C
chinric help for
hat the shrink
3ps for this decades
Il
1 you sill want 3
Asmllpi
Brinwash your children, have 1
Your dreams
Degrees from univesites which are notbing
Mor than shum landlords,
Ofles,s0 you s
And le 1o thers on som
YOU ARE STILL
MY, you e el
ot emermber
sk
ampu
haty
evecythin
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i an open letier to anyone who has ever considered.
themselves a supporter of,or has sated they were in solidarty
with an imprisoned insurrectionary or saboteur. 'd like to start
by saying that the truest form of solidarity that anyone has
shown me i the continuing ELF/ALF actions and the anti-
authoritarian/anti-capitalist actions (no, not holding signs)
happening throughout the world. Only by continual actions
like these will we ever be able to overcome this dominant
system. Only by hitting corporations and government
establishments where they “feel it” wil they ever collapse
and take this “whole stinking order” with them. Writing
“zines, or letters to congress people or judges has never
changed anything, while destroying all of a coporations
assets, on the other hand, will remove them from their
position of power, and if we're really lucky maybe a CEO
‘may commit suicide or better yet “go postal” after having
“lost it all”. Destroying these pricks where they live, now
that'ssolidarity. Walking around holding signs s a weakness,
a piss-poor excuse for solidarity and support, whose main
function is to pacify the minds of those who are. {00
comfortable to act out in anyway that will ictually
change anything. Writing letters to fallen comrades
raises the spirits of those of us who are incarcerated, but
when someone picks up a bomb, instead of a pen, is when
my spirits really soar.
Comrades of an accused person should never, except by
reprinting a statement written by the accused,
o guilt for them in any manner, because mis
will only destroy their future credibility and possibly take
power away from any message the perpetrators were trying
to convey. It s their and their attomey’s job to deal wil
guiltor innocence. If someone chooses to be a supporter it
is their duty to raise funds for retainifg a competent lawyer,
tomake sure mistreatments of a prisoner be known, o spread
the word that yet another comrade is being held hostage by
the state, and most importanily keep up the fight. In no way
‘am I saying not to write those that are locked up, because
this indeed keep ones spirits up. but what I am saying is
don’t make this the only thing you do. Revoli!
Craig “Crifier” Marshall
Your artile “The EZLN is not anarchist” is serfously lacking
in a couple of respects. Firs,the insinuation that the EZLN
does ot represent is indigenous base is notat all aceurate,
“True, the EZLN regulars (perhaps a few hundred) do generally
live away from the autonomous communitie. This makes a ot
of sense,considering the ntense ammy presence inthe Lacondon
‘and Altos areas actively harassing the locals and looking for
the comandancia. For the comandantes to live out in the
open would be suicidal to themselves and 10 their base-
supporters. Still they are in constant contact and more and
more are spending clandestine time in the communities. |
assume you haven't spent any time in Chiapas, because if
you had actually spoken with the indigenous people in
resistance, you would have found that literally thousands
of folks active in the offensive of 1994 have retumed to
their lives, but sill consider themselves “irregular” forces
of the EZLN. The reference o the comandantes and regulars
as Maoists grasping for power and alicnated from their
supporters is pretty ridiculous and far from the truth,
Second point, you are right about the Zaps not being
anarchist. 1 don’t think they have ever claimed to-be.
Stil, they embrace ideals like autonomy and non-hierarchical/
bottom-up decision making that many anarchists find inspiring
andattractive. have met anarchists cach time [ have been there
who come to learn about a real people’s struggle, not to
impart one’s own anarchist revolutionary project on the
indigenous. That phrase flat-out stinks of imperialism and
first-world egoism. And it is unrealistic to boot. The EZLN
and its supporters have a lot o teach; they are living a real
everyday struggle. You said pretty plainly that all social
struggles cannot be expected to conform t0 some abstract
anarchist ideal. 1 could not agree more. While I wholly
embrace anarchist struggle and principles, anarchism is a
political philosophy born in the west/north/first-world. Tt
is not realistic to expect these indigenous people, who are
struggling daily for their physical and cultural survival, to
be sitting around with their noses buried in Kropotkin or
Proudhon books. They have crafted a response to neoliberal
capitalism that i appropriae for their situation and reality. For
anarchists inthe U.S. to somehow question ther revolutionary
We got
coll
ive. While some responses were critical,
could only print a few, due to our cu
more, so we ask t
‘zealis flat out silly and insulting. Nomatter how disconnected
youare from “Super America,” you sill have access to some.
of the best squats, the biggest pockets of spare change, and
the most resource rich libraries, infoshops, and dumpsters
on the planet. To seriously challenge the tenets and meth-
ods of the EZLN's struggle from where we all sit i pretty
‘damned ironic. Thanks to GREEN ANARCHY for an overall
‘great newspaper with interesting and challenging views.
Keep on struggling.
lavar los platos
Dear Green Anarchy,
As Susan Faludi describes in her awesome book Backlash,
those who defend the status quo of male domination rely on
many tricks in order to undermine ehallenges to power. An
effective tacti s toassign specious beliefs tothose challenging
power and then proceed to demolish these “clains” while never
dealing with the issues raised Wolfi Landstreicher employs
this tactic-effectively in “Stuck in the Mud of Idcolog
More than this, Wolfialso uses another handly tool by focusing
on the messengers rather than the message. It s asier o casti-
‘gate the individuals who are bringing a complaint rather than
question the oppressive behaviors complained about. While
‘Wolfiprobably doesn't view “Stuck” as backlash, I argue that
it becomes 50 by sidestepping the issue of aliensting, macho
behavior and by re-framing the debate as one over “ideology.”
which, in regards to challenging male domination, is
often applied erroneously to feminism.
ASSIGNING BELIEFS: In the firs paragraph of “Stuck.”
Wolfi does exactly what he accuses the RBC of doing: he
assigns belif and motivation of the RBC simply because
they use the word “manarchy.” The authors never claim
that manarchy is an ideology, but Wolfi declares that it is.
then proceeds to belitle them for it: “Such a pathetic way
10,20 about justifying one’s fearful avoidance of revolution.”
“That this interpretation s divorced from anything said in
the “Manarchy" piece clearly doesn't bother Wolfi, who is
100 busy setting up an ideological strawman to notice that
the RBC defined manarchy perfectly: “acting macho, holier-
than-thou, and eltist. Manarchy often results in exclusivity.
Anarchism and direct action are powerful forces, yet we are
still susceptible to taking on some of the appressive cultural
practices of te very system we are challenging Ironically
Wolf proves a part of their point of exclusivity by accusing
the RBC of gfearful avoidance of revolution.” Is Wolfi the
experton what entails revolution? Are revolutionary practices
that perpetuate macho behavior revolutionary? The RBC's
point seems [gbe that some anarchists thatthey ve encountered
exhibitthe same raditional, oppressive behaviors s the people
‘and systems we are fighting against. While Wolfi defily
decorisuuets the RBC's critique of no compromise and calls
for a means egsistent with ends, he doesn't seem to realize.
thatfhis s, in cffect, what the RBC is arguing for as well
that anarchists can't achieve a non-hierarchical, non-
dominating end While acting like hierarchical, dominating
people. Macho behavior and clitism are aspects of this
behavior, and can translate as arrogance: the typical attitude
of those with privilege.
‘The RBC never claims that manarchy is an ideology, as
‘Wolfiays it i, butthat some anarchist men exhibit alienating,
macho beli¥ior which they describe as manarchy. The word
is employed 35 a handy adjective to distll certain behaviors
and adions for the purpose of identification.
‘Wolfirites, “Intelligent anarchists carry out their revolt
in accordance with their capabilities and dao judge those.
whose capabilities differ.” That is exactly what the RBC s
saying: they argue that they have come deross men who do
eriticize others for not matching these men’s capabilites.
More, the RBC postulates that such behavior alienates those
who eannot participate in revolutionary struggle as these
‘more macho men do. Rather than focus on ways to build
on the “intelligent anarchists” statement and expand the
concept of revolutionary struggle to incorporate people who
aren'tmilitant street fighters,or focus on ways of eliminating
macho behavior (real militant srugele should have no place
formacho posturing), Wolfi homes in on the specific examples.
used and the generalizations the RBC makes of them. While
itisimportant o critique extrapolations from a few incidences
(though the RBC mentioned that these were only a few of
many), Wolfi doesn't go beyond this critique to actually
deal with the issue raised, or to wonder why this issue has
been noticed and challenged i other scenes (including Eugene).
page3
lot of feedback from the last issue, which was the first one put out by the current
nost wer
nt size restraints.
people keep them to approximately 300-500 words,
pretty supportive . Unfortunately, we
In the future, we would like to print
nything longer
He finds it casier to move the focus from alienating,
behavior onto dismissals of “empowerment” as some “self-
help bulshit,"to the author s “well-to-do’ status, and o black.
bloc tactics. All these points are worth discussing, but Wolfi
uses them to avoid discussion of alienating, macho behavior
and, consequently, the effects these attitudes have on
revolutionary struggle.
Itis disheartening to see that Wolfi never really deals
with the problems the RBC brings up. Rather, he shifts the
problem onto them by declaring them “ideological” and
attacking who they are as people. By doing this, Wolfi not
only avoids dealing with the main issues introduced, but
appears “right” by framing the debate in terms of ideology.
‘Thus, most anarchists can agree with Wolfi, who never steps
out ofthe bounds of accepted anarchist discourse, and never
woniders whether macho behavior is a problem at all. Wolfi
‘can have his opinion, of course, but I wish he had dealt
with the ideas and arguments actually presented in
“Manarchy” instead of muddling the picture with false
‘aceusations of ideology. Inmy opinion, Wolfi Landstriecher
has already made up his mind and has no tolerance for
those who would challenge male domination,
‘Why does a lot of militant anarchist behavior mirror tough
‘guy rhetoric and action? Because it is or because we are
taught 0 associate anger and militancy with macho men?
What are ways to militant without being macho? Why are
many women’s liberationist castigated as militant feminists?
Are street protests a relatively safe (and ineffective) space
1o get all het wp and wave your ists? Or are they something
more? As 10 striking against the state, given our few
numbers, aren't underground, guerilla style actions
more effective? Is our talk around sireet protests and
daily revolt honest and open or alienating and elitist? Are
anarchists eaching out 1o oppressed groups in solidarity
orknow-it-all dominance? Are we truly committed o non-
domination? What is revolutionary struggle? How many
ways are there to participate in it? What is male privilege?
How does it connect to racism, sexism, heterosexism, gender
oles, bleism, and the state?
I there is no serious effort to understand and eliminate
male dominatign, macho behavior, sexism, and male
violence against wimmin, what does that say about our
1o compramising means to an end?
Ryan Mishap
PO. Box 5841
Eugene, OR 97405
Editors Note: Thisletter, “Ideological Constructs
response to the articley “Stuck in the Mud of Ideology” by
Wolfi Landstreicher, which appeared in Green Anarchy #5.
Wolfi's article was itself a response o an article called
“Stick it to the Manareliy” by the Rock Block Collective
(RBC) which had been published a few months earlier in
several movement publications, including The Insurgent
Botharticles, “Stuck in the Mud of Ideology” and “Stick it
10 the Manarchy,” have generated a lot of controversy and
debate, and anyone wishing o take part in the ongoing
discussion that's occurting on the Internet over the issues
raised by these articles should visitthe following websites:
www:venomousbutterfly.com (where “Stuck in the Mud of
Ideology” is found) and wwwinfoshop.org (where the REC
missive can be found in the Opinions and Editorials
archive).
Green Anarchy Comrades,
Thank you for putting me on your mailing list; yesterday
Lgot Green Anarchy No. 5. 1 have 1o tll you that you put
outa great zine, What you did in your article is something
that should have been said a long time ago. (“EZLN is not
Anarchist”) Me as a Mexican Peace Punk Activist have
been saying this for the longest time and have gotten in
some serious debate over this, I do support the EZLN
though. I will not deny i, honestly think Subcommandante.
Marcos is trying to change the situation in Chiapas, but I
don’t consider him an anarchist at all. They don't even
consider themselves anarchists. When I went to Mexico
City to visit my father I saw a lot of Che t-shirts with the
Zapatista name on the back. I think that this was a really
‘goodissue you touched. Lalso want to thark you for reviewing
the Defiant zine. APLAN Yes, ABCF No! I also like that
you hit issues that affect Wommin. I made copies for my
girlfriend. She runs a feminist collective in Yale College.
... continued on page 15
Green Anarchy #6
FEMINISM:
“Lmyself have never been able to find out what feminism
is: 1 only know that people call me a feminist whenever I
express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat”
“Rebecca West, The Clarion 1913
Most people in the current anarchist milieu — female or
male — would disagree, at least in principle, with most of
the following statements: here are two immutable and natural
categories under which all humans are classified: male and
female. A male human being is a man, and a female
human being is a woman. Women are inherently inferior
tomen. Men are smarter and stronger than women: women
are more emotional and delicate. Women exist for the
benefit of men. If a man demands sex from his wife,
it i her duty to oblige him, whether she wans to or not. A
‘man may force a woman to have sex with him, as long as
he has a very good reason for making this demand.
‘Humans are o be conceived of, i the universal sense,
s male (“man”), and only referred to as female when
one is speaking of particular individuals. Women are
a form of property. To demand rights for women is
tantamount to demanding rights for animals and
just as absurd
Asridiculous as most of these statements may seem,
every one of them has been considered obvious and
natural by most of the West at one point or another,
and many are stll more the rule than the exception
10 this day. If most of them seem a little strange,
jarring, or just plain wrong, that s not because they
contradict some vague notion of justice or common
sense that we have all been born with. Tothe contrary,
the change in attitude that allows most of us o claim
‘2 more enlightened, seemingly natural viewpoin, is
actually the conerete result of an ongoing struggle
which has claimed many reputations, relationships.
‘and lives over the last 200 years and which, like all
struggles for liberation, has been discredited.
slandered, and marginalized since its inception.
‘Although this struggle has been, and sill i, stategically
diverse and conceptually mulifarious and hence hard
to define, it is not hard to name: I am, of course.
referring to feminism,
Feminism has changed our culture to the point
where it is at least a common idea that women are
fully human, If most people today claim to agree with
thisidea, this i not because society is becoming more
benevolent,or evolving naturally into a more egalitarian
stae of affairs. Those who hold power do not simply
decide to grant equal status 1o those who do not;
rather, they only yield power when they are forced to.
‘Women,like every other oppressed group, have had to take
everything they have gotten, through an arduous process
of struggle. To deny this struggle is to perpetuate a myth
imilar to that of the happy slave. Yet this i preciscly what
we do when we spek of feminism a5 somehow perpetuating
a gender divide, or hindering our progress away from identity
politis. Feminism did not create the conflict between genders:
patriarchal society did. It is important not to forget that
the aforementioned idea that women are fully human
is not common sense but absolutely, emphatically, a
feminist notion. To pay lip-service to women’s iberation
while denying the historical struggle of women to achieve
this for themselves is paternalistic and insulting.
Not only has Western society overlly relegated women
to a subhuman role throughout its history, but, until
recently, most liberatory movements have as well. This
has often been partially unconscious, as a reflection of the
‘mores of the dominant culture. Just as often, however,th
has been fully conscious and intentional (cf. Stokely
Charmichael's famous quote that the “only position” for
women in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Commitce
[SNCC] was “prone"). Either way, people who purported
1o be working for the emancipation of all humans were
really just working for the emancipation of “man.” which
until quite recently, is exactly how it was usually phrased.
‘Women who complained about this state of affairs were
(and are) condescendingly told to wait until the more
important struggle was won before they demanded their
‘own liberation. This has been true of abolition, civil ights,
the anti-war movement, the New Left, the anti-nuke
movement, radical environmentalism and, obviously,
‘anarchism. Women have been critcized for pursuing feminist
aims as if these were wrong-headed, counterrevolutionary, or
unimportant, Anarchistsdid not simply wake up one morning
with more enlightened views of women, nor did patriarchy
suddenly reveal itself as “just another form of domination.”
Green Anarchy #6
A Male Anarchist’s
Pel’Spectlve By Pendleton Vandiver
Feminist theory and practice brough to light the oppression
of women that often manifested itself in otherwise
revolutionary milicus.
‘This is not o say that all feminists werefare not anarchists
or all anarchists werefare not feminists. But feminism is
often criticized within the anarchist milieu, from several
different angles. I will try to discuss the most common
eriticisms I have heard voiced, both publicly and privately,
in anarchist circles. It has been suggested that feminism is
essentialist. It has also been suggested that feminism, in
keeping with its essentialist views, is a philosophy that
asserts the superiority, in one way or another, of women
to men. Finally, the charge has been made that feminism
perpetuates gender categories, whereas the revolutionary
task is o move beyond gender altogether. In other words,
feminism is accused of being a kind of identity politics
that perpetuates harmful and divisive societal roles that
ultimately oppress everyone.
“The one thing that all of these allegations have in common
is that they posita single, more or less univocal entity named
“feminism.” However, anyone who studies feminism soon
learns tht there has always been a fair amount of diversity
within feminist theory, and this has never been more true
than it is now. No single st of ideas about sex and gender
represents feminism; rather, feminism is a loose category
that encompasses just about all forms of thought and
action which are explicitly concerned with the
liberation of women.
Although feminism has often been accused of essentialism,
the critique of essentialism is particularly strong within
feminism, and has been for quite some time. Essentialism
iis the idea that there is an unchanging substance or
essence that constitutes the true identity of people and
things. In this view, a woman s somehow truly, deep in
her core, identifiable as a woman; being a woman is not
simply the result of different attributes and behaviors. This
seen as a politically backward stance by many, because
itimplies that people are limilted to certain capabilities and
behaviors that are somehow dictated by their nature.
When we examine the range of ideas that has emerged
from second wave (post-1963 or so) femminism, however, a
different picture comes into focus. Probably the most
famous quote from The Second Sex, Simone de
Beauvoir’s seminal 19405 work,is the following: “One is
‘ot born, but rather becomes, a woman. " The book goes on
to argue that gender i a social category, which individuals
can reject. The influence of The Second Sex was enormous,
‘and Beauvair wasn' the only ferninist o question the natural-
ess ofthe category of gender. Many feminist writers began to
draw a distinction between sex and gender, asserting that
the former describes the physical body, while the latteris a
cultural category. For instance, having a penis pertains to
page 4
sex, whereas how one dresses,and the social ole one il
pertains to gender.
“This s a distinction that some feminists still make, but
others have questioned the use of supposedly pre-cultural
categories like sex altogether. Colette Guillamin has
suggested that sex (s well as race) is an arbitrary system of
“marks” that has no natural status at al, but simply serves
the interests of those who hold powwer. Although various
physical differences exist between people, it i poliically
determined which ones are chosen as important or definitive.
Although people are divided into supposedly natural
categories on the basis of these marks, there is nothing
natural about any category: categories are purely conceptual
Building on the work of Beauvoir and Guillamin, among
others, Monique Wittg has argued that the feminist goal is
o climinate sex andjor gender as acategory entirely
Like the proletaiat in Marx's philosophy. women
are o constitute themselves as class for the sake
of overthrowing the system that allows classes to
exist. One is not born a woman, except n the same
sense that one is born a roletarian: being a woman
denotes asocial position,and cetain social practices,
rather than an essence or true identiy. The ulimate
politcal goal of a woman, for Wittg, is o not be
one. More recently, Judith Butler has predicated an
entire theory of gender based on the radical
rejection of essence.
Of course, there have been a number of feminists
who, disturbed by what they saw as an
assimilationist tendency in feminism, asserted a
more positive notion of femirinity that was, at times,
undoubledly esentiaist. Susan Brownmille, n her
important book Against Our Wills, suggested that
men may be genetically predisposed (0 rape, a
notion that has been echoed by Andrea Dworkin.
Marxist feminists like Shulamite Firestone sought
the material basis of gender oppression in the
female reproductive role, and several feminist
thearists — Naney Chodorow, Sherry Ortner. and
Juliet Mitchell among others — have examsined the
fole of motherhood in creating oppressive gender
roles. “Woman-idenified” feminiss like Mary Daly
embraced certain traditional notions of femininity
and sought 1o give them a positive spin.
Although woman-ideniified feminists have, at
times, taken essentialist positions, this brand of
feminism has redressed some of the imbalances of
that train of feminist thought tht rejects femininity
altogether as a slaveidentity. This has always been the
dichotomy that has troubled feminist thinkers: cither to
assert a strong feminine identity and risk legitimizing
traditional roles and providing fodder to those who
employ the idea of a natural difference in order to
oppress women,or o eject th role and the deniity women
have been given, and risk eliminating the very ground of a
feminist critique. The task of contemporary feminismis to
find a balance betsween viewpoints that risk, on the one
hand, essentialism, and on the other the climination of
women as the subject of politcal struggle altogether.
“The goal of feminism, then, i the liberation of women,
but what that exactly means is open to dispute. For some
feminists, this means that women and men will coexist
cqually: for others, that we will no longer see people as
women and men. Feminism provides a rich panorama of
views on gender problerms. One thing all feminists can agree
on, though, s that gender problems exist. Whether as a
result of natural differences or culural consiuction, people
are oppressed on the basis of gender. To go beyond gender,
this situation needs to be redressed; gender cannot simply
be declared defunct. Feminism can perhaps be best defined
as the attempt 10 get beyond thestte of affairs where people
are oppressed because of gender. Thus,itis not possible to
20 beyond gender withoutfeminism; the charge tha feminism
ef perpetuats gender categories i paently absurd
Since anarchy is opposed to all forms of domination.
anarchy without feminism is not anarchy at all. Since
anarchy declaresitself opposed o all archy.all rulership,
true anarchy is by definition opposed to patriarchy. Le. it
. by definition, feminist. But it s not enough (o declare
oneself opposed o all domination; one needs to try o
understand domination in order o oppose it. Feminist
authors should be read by all anarchists who consider them-
selves opposed to patiarchy: Feminist critiques are certainly
just as relevant as books about govemment oppression.
continued on next page
tinued from last page
‘Ward Churchill’s excellent Agents of Repression is considered
essential reading by many anarchists, even though Churchill
is notan anarchist. Many feminist works, on the other hand,
are neglected, even by those who pay lipservice to feminism.
Yet, while FBI repression is a real threat to anarchists, the
way we inhabit our gender-oles must be dealt with every
day of our lives. Thus, feminist literature is more relevant
to the daily fight against oppression than much of the
literature that anarchists read regularly.
If anarchism needs feminism, feminism certainly needs
anarchism as well. The failure of some radical feminist
theorists to address domination beyond the narrow frame-
work of women being victimized by men has prevented
them from developing an adequate critique of oppression,
‘As a prominent anarchist writer has correctly pointed ou,
a political agenda based on asking men to give up their
privilege (as f that were even possible)is absurd. Feminists
like Irigaray, MacKinnon and Dworkin advocate leg
reforms, without criticizing the oppressive nature of the state.
Female separatism (particularly as enunciated by Marilyn
Frye) is a practical, and perhaps necessary, strategy, but
only within the framework of a larger society tha is
assumed to be stratified on the basis of gender. Feminism
is truly radical when it secks to eliminate the conditions
that make gender oppression inevitable.
Anarchism and feminism clearly need one another. It s
all well and good to say that once the primary source of
oppression (whatever that s) i removed, all other oppressions
will wither away, but what evidence i therefor that? And how
does that keep us from oppressing one another now, while
we're waiting for this great revolution? Conversely, it is
important to recognize that the oppression of women is
not the only oppression. Arguments about which forms of
oppression are more important, or more primary, are
unresolvable and sill: The value, and the danger,of anarchism
isthis; it seeks to liminate all forms of domination. This goal
is valuable because it does not lose sight of the forest for
the trees, getting caught up in distracting reformist battles
and forgetting its trajectory toward total liberation. But it
is also dangerous because anarchism continually runs the
risk of ignoring real-life situations in favor of abstractions,
‘and underemphasizing or dismissing movements that seck
to address specific issues. Let’s have an anarchist
feminism and a feminist anarchism!
"The GA Collective s hoping (o Include more anarch.|
eminist and eco-feminist perspectives i the future, as we
el it csential o roaden th traditional anarchist
of the state into a eritique of pa tself of which the
state i just one manifestation. We welcome and encourage,
articles essays, and poetry written by anti-authoritarian
vimmin and radical feminists, and would love to recieve
Women ELl|
TE 7 QHcull 10 Comsume people who put up a fight, who.
resist the cannibalizing of their bodies, their minds, their
daily lives. A few people manage 10 resst, but most don't
resist ffectively, because they can't. It is hard to locate
our tormentor, because it is so pervasive, so fomiliar, We
have known it all our lives. It s our culture.
Situationists characterize our culture as a spectacle. The
spectacle treais u all as passive spectators of what we are
told are our lives. And the culture-as-spectacle covers
everything: we are born into it,socialized by it, £0 o
school ni, work and elax and relate o other people i i
Even when we rebel againt i the rebellionis ofen defincd
by the spectacle, Would anyone care to estimate the number
of sensiive, alienated adolescent males who gencration
g0 molded their behavior on James Dean in Rebel Wilout
A Causé? I'm talking about a movic, whose capitalist
producers and whose star made a great deal of money
from this Spectacular
Rebellious acts, then, tend to be acts of pposition 6 the:
spectacle, but seldom are so different that they ranscend.
the spectacle. Women have a set of behaviors that show
dissatisfaction by being the opposite of what is expected.
At the same time these acts ae clichés of rebellion, and
thus are almost prescribed safety valves that don'alte the
theater of our lives. Whatis a rebellious women supposed
1o do? We can name all the behaviors -- they appear in
everynewspaper,on prime time tclevision, on the best-seler
lists, in popular magazines -~ and, of course, in everyday
Jie. In a seting that values perfection housckeeping. she
can beaslob: in a subeultur that values Lage families. she
canrefuse to have children. Other predictable nsurgencies?
‘She can defy the sexual double standard for married women
by having an affai (o several);she can drink; o use what
is termed “locker room” language; o have a nervous
breakdown; or - if she is an adolescent -- she can “act
out” (arevealing phrasel) by running away from home and
having sex with a ot of men.
Any of these things may make an individual woman's
life more tolerable (often, they make it lss s0); and all of
them are guaranteed to make conservatives rant thatsociety
is crumbling. But these kinds of scripted insurrections
haven't made it crumble yet, and, by themselves they aren't
likely to. Anything less than a direct atack upon all the
conditions of our lives i not enough
‘When women talk about changing destructive sex role
socialization of females, they pick one of these possible
Solutions: 1) girls should be socialized more or less like
boys to be independent, competitve, agaressive, and so
forth Inshort, it is a man's world, 50 a woman who wans
the Spectacle
1o ftin has Lo be “one of e boys,” 2) we should glorify
the female ole, and reliz that what we have called weakness
is really strength. We should be proud that e are maternal,
nurturant, sensitive, emotional, and so on; 3) the only.
healthy person s an androgynous person: we must eradicate
the artificial division of humanity into “masculine” and
eminine,”and help both sexes become a mix of the best
wraits of cach.
Within these three modes, personal solutions (0 problems
of sexist oppression cover a wide range. Stay single; live
communally (with men and wormen, or with woren orly).
Don't have children; don't have male children; have any
kind of children you want, but get parent and worker-
controlled child care. Get job: get a better job: push for
affirmative action. B an informed consumer: ile lawsuit
Tean Karate:take assetiveness training, Develop the lesbian
within you. Develop your proletarian identity. All of these
make sense in partcular situations, for partcular women.
Butal of them are partial solutions to much broader problems
and none of them necessarily requires sceing the world in @
qualitatively different way.
So.we move from the partcular o more generalsolutions.
Destroy capitalism. End patriarchy. Smash heterosexism. All
arc obviously essential tasks in the building of a new and
truly human world Marxists,othr socialists,social anarchists,
feminists —all would agree. But wha the socalst, and even
some feminiss, leave out s this: we must smash all orms
of domination, That's not just a slogan. and it is the
hardest task of all. It means that we have to see through
the spectacle, destroy the stage sets, know that there are
other ways of doing things. It means that we have to do
‘more than react in programmed rebellions - we must act.
And our actions will be collectively taken, when cach
person acts autonomously: Does that seem contradictory?
Ttisn't - but it will be very difficult to do. The individual
cannot change anything very much; fo that eason, we have
10 work together. But that work must be withoutleaders as
we know them, and without delegating any control over
‘what we do and what we want to build
Can the socialists do that? Or the matriarchs? O the
spirituality-trippers? You know the answer to that, Work
with them when it makes sense to do o, b give up nothing.
‘Concede nothing to them, o to anyone else: The past leads
10 usif we force it to Otherwise it contains usin its asylum
with no gates. We make history or it makes us
This article was respectfully reprinted from “Reinventing
Anarchy, Again” an excellent anthology edited by
Howard J. Ehrlich, which is available from AK Press
akpress@akpress.org; www.akpress.or
Against Mass Society (continued trom page one)
small-scale self-sufficient communities would resist or flee
the intrusion of military and commercial forces, those that
failed would be assimilated. Subsequently, they would
quickly forget their cultural practices, causing them to
become dependent upon their oppressors for survival.
Capitalism s cvilization’s current dominant manifestation.
The capitalist economy is controlled mainly by state-
chartered corporations; these organizations are owned
by stockholders who are free to make business decisions
without being held personally accountablefor the consequences.
Legally,corporations enjoy the satus of individuals, and thus
an injured party can only target the assets ofthe company in a
courtcase, not the possessions or property of the individual
shareholders. Those employed by corporations e legally
required to pursue profit above all other possible concerns
(e.g., ecological sustainability, worker safety, community
health, etc.), and can be fired, sued, or prosecuted if they
do otherwise. As a technologically advanced form of
civilization, capitalism encroaches upon and utilizes
even greater territory, causing further reduction of the space
available for lfe to freely flourish for its own sake. Like
lization, capitalism conscripts both human and non-human
life into servitude if regarded as useful, and disposes of it if
regarded as otherwise. Under capitalism, most people spend
the majority of each conscious day (ypically eightto twelve
hours) engaged in meaningless, monotonous, regimented.
and often physically and mentally injurious labor to obtain
basic necessities. Privileged individuals also tend to work
intensively and extensively, but typically for the purpose
of cither responding to social pressure or satisfying an
addiction to commodified goods and services. Because
of the dullness, alienation, and disempowerment that
characterizes the average daily experience, our culture
exhibits high rates of depression, mental illness, suicide,
drug addiction, and dysfunctional and sbusive relationships,
along with numerous vicarious modes of existence (c.g.
through television, movies, pormography, video games, etc ).
Civilization, not capitalism per se, was the genesis of
systemic authoritarianism, compulsory servitude and
social isolation. Hence, an attack upon capitalism that
failstotarget civilization can never abolish the institutionalized.
coercion tha fels society. To attempt o collectvize industry
for the purpose of democratizing it is to fail to recognize
that all large-scale organizations adopta direction and form
that is independent of the intentions of the members. If an
association is 100 large for a face-to-face relationship
between members to be possible, it becomes necessary
1o delegate decision-making responsibilitis 1o representatives.
and specialists in order to achieve the organization's goals.
Evenif delogates are elected by consensus or by majority
Vote, the group's members cannot supervise every action
of the delegates unless the organization is small enough
for everybody to monitor cach other on a regular basis.
Delegated leaders or specialists cannot be held accountable.
1o mandates, nor can they be recalled for irresponsible or
coercive behavior, unless held subject o frequent supervision
by a broad cross-section of the group. Such is impossible in
an cconomy based upon a highly stratified division of
labor where no given individual can focus upon or even
view the actions of the rest. Additionally, elected delegates.
are allotted more time and resources o prepare and present
a case for their objectives, and are thus more likely 1o gain
further power through deception and manipulation. Even
if the group atlarge determines all policies and procedures.
(which s tself impossible when specialized knowledge is
required), and delegates are only assigned the duties of
enforcing them, they willsill act independently when they
disagree with the rules and are confident that they can
page s
escape punishment for ignoring them. Demoeracy is
necessarily representative, not direct, when practiced on a
large scale -- it is incapable of creating organization
without hicrarchy and control
Because mass organizations must increase production o
maintain their existence and o expand, they tend to
imperialistically extend their scope of influcnce. Because
cities and industries rely upon outside inputs, they aim to
seize the surrounding arcas for agricultural and industrial
use, rendering it inhospitable to both non-human ecosystems.
and self-sufficient human communitis. This area will expand.
in relation to any increase in population or specialization
of labor that the city experiences. One could argue that
industrial production could be maintained and yet scaled
down, leaving ecosystems and non-industrial peoples some
room 10 co-exist. Firstly, ths proposal invites the question
of why civilization should determine its own boundari
instead of the victims of it predation. Secondly. there are
no historical examples of production economies that do
ot expand, mainly because they must expand afer depleting
the resources available to them at any given time.
“The structural complexity and hierarchy of civilization
mast be refused, along with the political and ecological
imperialism that it propagates across the globe. Hierarchical
institutions, teritorial expansion, and the mechanization of
life are all required for the administration and process of
mass production to occur. Only small communities of
self-sufficient individuals can coexist with other beings,
human or not, without imposing their authority upon them.
Contact the author at chrswlsn@yahoo.com.
“Against Mass Society” is included in the pamphlet
Our Enemy Civilization, anew anthology of essays against
modern life. To receive this pamphlet, send $2to OEC, PO
Box 11331, Eugene, OR 97440.
Green Anarchy #6
The name U'wa means “the thinking people” because of
the factthat for thousands of years they have avoided conflict
with neighboring tribes with the use of communication,
Today, 5,000 U'wa exist in the cloud forests of the
Colombian Andes. They were once a tribe of around
20,000 which occupied territory from southern Venezuela
all the way into northeastern Columbia, an expanse of
approximately three million acres. The Colombian
government has since seized 85 percent of the U'wa
tribe’s traditional land. In 2000, only about 247,700 acres
were officially recognized by the Colombian government
(Raintorst Action Network 2000).
At the time of the arrival of Conguistadors in Columbia,
the U'wa migrated far into the hill to avoid being enslaved
and forced to dig for gold. When they were found by the
conquistadors, according to the oral history of the iribe,
they committed mass suicide in an effor to die with dignity
and avoid the fate of the tribes that had been enslaved.
According to myth, thousands of tribespeople committed
collective suicide by walking off of a 1.400-foot cliff. The
U'wa say that so many people were piled in the river
below that its course was changed forever (RAN 2000).
After the Spaniards abandoned the area, the remaining
U'wa lived unaffected by civilization until the 19405 and
50s when roads were bult that allowed for the settlement
of displaced Colombian nationals during Colombian civil
conflict. The settlers brought diseases that lowered the
defenses of the indigenous population, making them more
susceptible to cooperation with the medicine-offering
‘Western missionaries (RAN 2000,
Oil exploration has oceurred since then in teriories ouside:
thatofthe U'was they have only recently been directly affected.
In 2000 Oceidental Oil planned to extract 1.5 billion
barrels of oil from the fields below U'wa land. Their
plan to drill has been halted by global resistance and outery.
The Uwa have heen aware of the existence of oil for
‘millennia. For them it represents something far different from
what it has come to mean for indusirialized nations. To the
U'wa, oilis one ofthe five cosmological elements that make
up their universe. These include earth, sky, water, mountains
‘and oil.In their mythology. oil s the blood of the carth. I is
called Ruiria, and it sustains lfe on Earth, which is the
‘mother of life. To the U"wa, the extraction of the blood of
the mother is a desecration that can only lead to the death
o their people e, The U'wa have promised to commit
collective suicide once again if the oil project currently
proposed occurs. They would ke death over the acceptance
of the loss of their sacred land and culture (RAN 2000).
I s clear that in this case the resource being targeted s
oil. Though slavery — in the typical sense — is not imminent,
as it was 500 years ago for these people, the same threat exists
in the form of assimilation into civilization and the wage
slavery that would inevitably follov their being forced into
cities. Here the cost of creating the affluent society would
mean, for the U'wa, the abandonment of all they hold
sacred: their land, their traditions, their ability to live as
they have for millennia, These are the costs being incurred
So fist world consumers can continue in their path of waste,
“The reasons oil is being extracted from the region are
‘much more complex than those that brought explorers here
in the first place t0 seek gold. Five hundred years ago, the
sole purpose was the bolstering of the economic power of
individual nations and the elites within them; now every
endeavor s tied to a world-wide economic network of debt
and investment. The recent protests agains! the World Bank
and International Monetary Fund in Washington, DC shed
ight on this system. Now there are several layers of nterests
that are involved in the creation of the affluent society. The
pressure to exploit the people and resources of Columbia
Green Anarchy #6
is many times greater under the
institutions and corporations of
‘modern capitalism than it was in a
time when Europe was only beginning
10 shed its backwater marginality by
beting on the riches of the New World
(Ponsing 1993 ¢ 117). What oil drilling
in Columbia represents today is
profit for the government, for the oil
companies, for the markets into
‘whichthe ol flows, and for the investors.
that fund not only the “development” of
the country, butthe projects themselves
Lwill discuss some of the details of this
system in a moment, but firs, a brief
overview of oil drilling in Columbia
and the effects it has had.
Since 1984, Occidental Oil has been
operating in Colombia (outside of
U'wa territory). In 2000 it claimed
that there are approximaely 1.5 billion
barrels of oil to which it must have access. Because U'wa
land is legally protected, Oceidental Oil is basing their
interpretation of U'wa land on a narrow definition that
excludes the protection of their greater traditional land. As
‘mentioned sbove, the pressure (o start extracting oil from
this teritory is great,
Right now oil is Columbia’s largest export commodity,
generating one fourth of its official export revenue,
Colombia is the fourth largest and fastest growing oil
exporter in South America; in 1995, Columbia increased
its il output by 30 percent. The United States s the largest
importer of Colombian oil and, ofall of the oil exported, the.
US. takes about 260,000 barrels a day (RAN 2000)
The reasons for these developments are not solely based
on Columbia’s voluntary expansion of oil extraction,
Rather, what's pushing these advancements is Columbia’s
need to satisfy debsto the United States and international
financial institutions. International financial institutions
(IFIs) are organizations such as the World Bank (WB) and
the International Monetary Fund (IMF). These organizations
are publicly funded, and though uite powerful, they pale in
‘comparison to private financial institutions. One such private
institution involved in Columbia’s oil cconomy is Citigroup.
Citigroup is the
world's third largest
financial insttution.
To put this into
scope, a comparison
canbe made between
the currency exchange
of public versus private:
financial insttutions
(RANPrescatation 2000)
Four days of private
financial institution
currency exchange is
equal to anentire year
of public financial
insitution exchange.
The money is truly in
the hands of private
investors.
Thestrengthof these:
lending institutions
exerted over small S 3
“developing” countries forces them to accelerate alrcady
unsustainable industrial practices. The real losers in this
equation are the indigenous cultures and ccosystems that
stand in the way. The real costs of creating the affluent
Society are incurred at this level.
Perhaps this might be a good time to address the concept
of the affluent society again. It is clear that ccosystems
and cultures are destroyed to create affluence for some. It
is important to consider exactly who the affluent of the
world now are. To an extent, all first world consumers
should consider themselves the beneficiaries of the affluent
society, but really, the affluence is funneling straight into
the hands of monstrous global corporations and financial
institutions. Though, as first world consumers, we may feel
helpless i this situation, we can do a Iot o protect the rest
of the world from the costs of the affluence that exists in
our countries. Consumers can, at the very least, boycott
Occidental Oil,or if 5o inclined, take direct action, violent
or non-violent, They can also organize awareness and
opposition to drilling on U'wa land. What must be
learned is that our affluence does not come cheap for the
rest of the world on whose back we stand., blind to the
costs we creale.
Itis the same old story of conquest. The differences between
Ppage 6
what's going on today and what occurred 500 years ago
are few. Though the methodology of the expansion of
resource extraction may involve less outright bloodshed.
it has only become more efficient as technological
advancements have allowed for the expedient extraction and
transport of raw materials from anywhere in the world,
‘Though the names of economic systems have changed from
colonialism, to imperialism, to neo-liberalism, the underlying
‘paradigm has remained unchanged. In essence, what guides
these endeavors is the deep-rooted belief that all of the
universe, living and nonliving. s atthe disposal of not only
‘mankind, but the masters of mankind, the white capitalist.
Christianity need no longer be the intellectual justification
for genocide, rather all that s required now it the “botton-line'
defense. We all are expected to aceept the notion that
corporations have no obligation to be moral or ethical;
their only obligation is to make money for sharcholders.
‘The bottom line equals profit.
The motivation for infliting costs to create affluence is
ot new. Again the motivation i the same: power and profit.
All that has changed is the methodology and the expression
of ideology. The fact is, that though the conguest of
indigenous cultures, to create civilized affluence, is no
longer guided by outwardly racist religious doctrines, the
blatant disparity in worth and rights between the “civilized”
andthe “savage” is as present as ever. First peoples are still
viewed as valueless obstacles to be managed and overcome
in order to secure the resources they negligently refuse to
exploit. The logic of industrialization and corporate
globalization is rooted in Aristotle’s Great Chain of
Being. To states and corporations, indigenous people are
impoverished savages who are stuck at the lower end of
the spectrum of cultural evolution. Implicit o this logic is
the assumption that civilizations — more specifically,
‘modem industrial capitalist societies — are superior to all
other “less developed” societics. This “View from
Olympus” has been at the heartof the ideological framework
that has justified the subjugation of simple societes for all of
history (Hubhard: 200,
Unil this ideology is recognized, questioned, and destroyed.,
the affluent societies will continue to expand, exploit, and
‘conquer. Furthermore, the rapidly diminishing indigenous
peoples and ecosystems of the planet will continually
Suffer the costs incurred. Without the mobilization of 3
‘movement to end the intensification
and further expansion of natural
resource exploitation, we can
reasonably expect tolose foreverall
cultures that have evolved free of
civilized and material affluence.
As awareness of the costs of frst
‘world lifestyle and consumption has.
‘become more inescapable, movements.
have arisen. However,at this point in
history,reforms will simply continue
sustaining an inherently destructive
and unsustainable system. Move-
‘ments of the future must attack the
systemic and ideological foundations.
of civilization itself, as well as the
costs that its ever-changing,
symptomatic leaders, nations, and
corporations incur upon the carth,
Literature Cited:
Busger, Julian. 1990. The Gaia Atlas of
Firs Peoples. New York: Anchor Books.
Heinberg, Richard. 1997.Was Civilization a Mistake? Green
Anarchist, Fall,
Hubbard, Lyl 2000, Anthropology 102, Inro to Archeology and
Prebistoy. Lecture 1/410. Porland: Portand Community Colege.
Jennings, Francis. 1975. The Invasion of America. Chapel Hill
of North Caroling Press
. Clive. 1993¢. A Green History o the World. New York
Books.
Rainforest Action Network. 2000, htp:/fwwwige.org/ran/
ran_campaigns/beyond_oilfoxy/index himl
Rainforest Action Network Presentaton. 2000 Oil and Indigenous
Cultures. End Corporate Dominance Conference. 5/20/00.
Portland. Portland State University.
Sale, Kirkpatsick. 1991d. The Conquest of Paradise. New York:
Alfred A Knopf .
Stannard, David. 1992 American Holocaust. New York, Oxford
University Press.
Zinn, Howard. 1997c. A Peaple History ofhe United States. New
York! The New Press
For more information on the U'wa campaign,
contact:
Amazon Watch 115 South Topanga Topanga
Canyon, CA 90290 Earmarked: U'wa Defense
RESISTING WESTERN PENETRATION
(Notes on the Zapatista Army of National Liberation: EZLN)
A month ago, my compaiera Janine and I were having
breakfast while discussing the situation of the Zapatistas
in México and we had a realization: Anarchy is a western
response (o westem systems, and the Zapatista movement
i the current indigenous response to wester penetration.
Ineffect, when people grow upina rotten system that absorbs
everything, there is no other way for emancipation than
smashing the legal-political structure that justifies control
and repression: .. the state,the ideology and ts ramifications.
But when people are bom outside of that rotten
system, they try to keep themselves outside and
not get contaminated by it rottenness. This seems
10 be an act of common sense: people try to not get
sick. This impulse i cither instnctive or a conscious
act. Butitis real.
‘The Zapatista guerrilla movement is a conscious
response organized in the form of resistance to
westem “civilized” penetration in the region of
Chiapas and the Chigpancco people’s everyday lfe.
“The movement broke through the media suppression
in 1994 when a group of armed indigenous people,
wearing balaclavas, assaulted the small town of San
Crist6bal de las Casas. This occurred the moming
after New Year's Eve (maybe emulating the example
of Cuban Revolution; the assault of La Havana also
happened the morning after New Year's Eve, in
1959.) Beyond the tremendous impact on the media
that the balaclava of Zapatista spokesman Marcos had,
there was a tactic of survival. The paramilitary —
composed mainly at the time of ranchers and land
owners and supported by the Army — were harass-
ing, repressing and murdering anyone who was in-
volved in any particular activity of protest against
‘zenocide and ccocide. Balaclavas and “paliacates™
(bandannas) were a way tomot be idenified by the para-
‘military in the first lace, but with the development of
the fight they became the symbol of Zapatista
struggle. There was another emblematic aspect
of tha first assault on San Cristbal de las Casas. Jamuary 1
1994 was exactly the same day that Mexico became a member
of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement). Thus,
that day a guerilla group of masked and armed people
appeared in the southern part of Mexico to combat
neliberalismo just at a moment of bankruptey of ideological
resistance, postmodem justifications of the commodification
process. and new tactics of imperialist aggression in
Latin America.
Seven years later, the Zapatistas have managed o survive
and to ot be wiped out by the Mexican army. nor by the
American army. The Pentagon has plans to install 12,000
American soldiers in Guatemala. Carlos Fazio thinks that
the militarization and paramilitarization of the sates of
Chiapas, Oaxaca and Guerrero, plus this provision of the
Pentagon, are par ofthe “Plan Pucbla-Panam” (PPP). This
plan s part of the national security interests of the US and
s tactcs of re-establishing geographically and srategically
the role of the Pentagon in Latin America before the
increasing popular discontent against neoliberal politics
(www lainsignia.org/2001 fmarzofibe_L 13 him). This plan
i the antithesis of the San Andrés accords and it is a
further step towards uprooting indigenous peoples from
their communal ways and orienting them towards an
individualistic monetarised economy. For the World Bank,
Chiapas s an experimental field to invest in biotechnology
and monoculture. In the 1.9 million hectares of the
Lacandon rainforest, parlly controlled by the Zapatistas,
there is 25 percent of the surface water of Mexico (which
‘generates 45 percent of its hydroelectric power). more than
half of the species of Mexican tropical trees, 3,500 plant
species, 114 of mammals, and 345 birds. Oil reserves are
equally located under key areas of Zapatista influence, as
are plans for further hydroelectric dams and privatization
of water supplies (www.ainfos.ca/01 flebjainfos00480.imi).
Between February and March of 2001, the Zapatista
comandancia marched from Chiapas to Mexico City,
following the route of the revolutionary Emiliano Zapata,
1o demand the ratfication of the San Andrés accords signed
between the EZLN (Zapatista Army of National Liberation)
and the Mexican government i 1996, The march culminated
inthe Zocalo, the main square of Mexico City. I the Zécalo
and its sumoundings were approximately 200.000 people
(four times more than the number of people who gathered
in Seattle in November of 1999) to receive the Zapatista
caravan. The means that the Zapatistas planned to use in
ordertoachieve their goal —the ratifcation o the San Andirés
accords — were the mobilization of the whole country and
the support o intemational groups of anti-authoritarian and
radical people, like the Iialian anarchists, social rebels from
South America, and North American activists. The three
poinis of the San Andrés accords were: 1) to release all
political prisoners, 2) to dismantle seven military bases
located in Chizpas, and 3) to recognize indigenous righs
‘The government released political prisoners and dismantled
the seven military bases, but it did not pass a law to
constitutionally compromise iself o respect the autonomy
of indigenous population of the southeast of Mexico. Of
course, this would go against the interests of the Plan
Pucbla-Panam. The Congress voted for a legal packet
called “indigenous rights” that instead recognizes and
legalizes private property in Chiapas and defends the privileges
that land owners and ranchers — some of whom are also
‘members of the paranilitary — had already taken by force,
When the 24 comandantes, among them subcomandante
Marcos, found out what the legal packet of “indigenous
rights” was, they decided to g0 back to Chiapas and continue
the military struggle — but this time, they went back with
the whole country mobilized, a strong network of inter-
national attention and support, and seven military bases
dismantled. That was a victory over the state and capital:
the tools that the system uses to perpetute civilization
throughitself. The name they give to that “civilizing” process
is “modernization.” What the EZLN is actually resisting
the action of modernization — in other words, the action
of western penetration in the southeast of México.
In the fifth issue of Green Anarchy somebody accused
the EZLN of being a reformist movement with a reformist
‘agenda, which is the EZLN capitulation of the war against
“the state and capita... the institutions by which civilization
controls our existence.” When I read this statement, | was
reminded how important it s 1o avoid sectarianism. A sect
always has a strong rhetoric and a strong tendency to
isolate itself and misunderstand reality. Perhaps it is the
effect of alienation. What the EZLN is actually doing
resisting the penetration of the state and capital in the
region of Chiapas. This penetration is carried out through
the Plan Pucbla-Panam. The people who run the US want
1o accelerate this plan in order to pass the FTAA (Free Trade
Area for the Americas). Vicente Fox and George Bush —
the Mexican and the American spokesmen of transnational
corporations, and both ranchers as well — have an agreement
1o carry out the Plan Puebla-Panama as soon as possible,
“This plan entails the construction of a railroad and a h
freeway from Pucbla (south of Mexico City) to Panama.
‘Oneither side of the railroad there will be sweatshops called
‘maquilas running along both sides of the freeways. Of
course, the plan for this “modern” form of penetration is
also to impose a concrete highway in the middle of the
jungle from the Caribbean Se to the Pacific Ocean. This.
‘will destroy the ecosystem and will increase slavery
practices, forcing native people to sweat labor in the
‘maquilas which already exist n the northern part of Mexico
along the border.
‘We already know what industrialization means: poverty,
Ppage
By Jesus Sepulveda
alienation, environmental and social destruction, and
domestication. The maquilas and the freeway will bring
paid enslavement and repression to the region. In Juirez
City, for example, on the border with the US, people have
tolive in shanty towns, with cubicles and cardboard houses,
and work from eight to twelve hours a day to make
between US $0.75 and US $1 an hour. They buy TV, and
radio-stereos and other plastic articles of consumption.
‘They suffer alienation. In four years, 260 women have been
raped and murdered. Indeed, wester penetration is a
generalized form of social and ecological rape. If
the Plan Pucbla-Panam succeeds, it will bring o
Chiapas and Central America all the industrial
consequences that produce death in people, flora
fauna, and soil. DuPont, Pulsar, Monsanto, Novartis
‘and Diversa are companies expecting to install sweat-
shops and monoculture factories of transgenic products.
This imperialistic penetration will displace local
farmers and indigenous communities from their land
to cities like Judrez City. However, as long as the
Zapatistas keep fighting this plan — which is the
materialization of the state and capital, the insitutions
by which ivilization controls our existence — soldiers
and paramilitary won't be able to guard the state
sovercignty and the rich interests in the area.
Social struggle s not only a matter of ends but also
of means. Neither one is more important than the
other, but both have 1o align in order for people to
have a coherent vision of what they want and how to
fight for it. 1 believe that the Zapatistas have that
vision. The Zapatista struggle is a fight against the
neoliberal model and the global standardization of
human lfe through the corporate agenda. Domestication
is based on standardization, and that is an innate
practice of civilization. The ultimate goal of the
Zapatistas is o fight civilization. Indigenous people
of Chiapas want their autonomy back. It is painful
for them to adopt the western lifestyle. They called
themselves Zapatisas and they oughtthe wester penetration
intheir teritory. Their tactis went from assaulting a city lo
‘marching to the capital. Anarchism fights western systems in
another teriory. ts means re diverse. In indigenous teritory,
western modemity materializes itself inthe form of an army
with “civilizing” tanks and soldiers. I remember seeing the
tanks drive around. I was being controlled by the military
check points when my compaiera & I went to Chiapas
two years ago. I remember also seeing the national guard
deployed in Seattle when the mayor declared the state of
emergency and imposed a curfew. Any victory against the
state and capital is a victory for autonomy and freedom. It
is @ victory against civilization. When the state becomes
deterritorialized, the henchmen of the rotten system have
10 step back and abandon the occupied territories, leaving
people alone. That is what the Mexican army had to do
‘when the government dismantled the seven military bases.
“This was also a vietory for indigenous people across the
hemisphere. Indigenous people are rising up in Ecuador,
Bolivia, Colombia, northern Argentina and now in Chile.
with the renaissance of Mapuche resistance. Someday,
indigenous people from all eservations will march together
with Black and Chicano people from the ghettos and anti-
authoritarian folks across the United States to Washington,
DC, to end imperialism. There are multiple means to work.
to that end but certainly sectarianism and solipsism are none
ofthose. Radical people who fight against wester repression
inthe western world must avoid the standardizing practice
of what they are fighting against: uniformity, homogenization,
categorization. To accuse the EZLN of reformism while
sitting ata computer i the US is remendous irresponsibilty:
If anarchism fights for individual autonomy it must also
fight for the total unfolding of ant-authoritarian peculiarties.
Trying to standardize anti-authoritarian practices under one
flag or one label is nothing but totalitarianism. It can drive.
‘any honest radical movement to reproduce the system. We
have to understand that both anarchism and indigenous
‘movements fight against the “civilized” order and ts pracice
of standardization. That s the ultimate end. The ways to
achieve this end depends on the means that each one
chooses, which should never include sectarian judgments
or standardizing practices. The instrumental logic of these
practices has nothing to do with anarchism. On the
contrary, it reproduces and perpetuates the western
rationale and its colonizing expansion.
Eugene, Oregon, June 18th 2001
You can contact the author
helicoptero_oregon@hotmail.com
Green Anarchy #6
Though j
ough o R Y e i Biders
Stew Albert and Judy Gumbo were founding Yippies
activists in support of the Black Panther Party and militant
participans in the anti-war movement of the Sixtis. Judy
was anarly feminist. They are both portrayed i the videoldvd
version of “Steal This Movie." , A bio-pic based on the life
and times of Yippie Abbie Hoffinan. Judy and Stew live in
Portland Oregon, where they continue 10 be active in the
good fight.
You are invited to visit Stew’s “Yippie Reading Room
web site at “hutp:/fhometown.aol.comisiewalstew.himl
Stew, for the benefit of our readers, could you give us a
quick synopsis of your backgroundin radical politics and
describe what led you to become a founding member of
the Youth International Party:
1 started marching and protesting against the Vietnam
‘Warin 1964. In 1965 1 joined the Berkeley based Vietnam
Day Committee (VDC) and was involved in marches,
demonsirations and atleast one rio. The group was beginning
tolose energy in 1966 and was knacked out for good by an
unsolved right-wing bombing of its headquarters. But it
were very worthy of support. So we weren't perfect
anarchists but I've never been perfect at anything.
When we talked up in Portland in January, you commented
on how interesting it was to you that so many younger
anarchists were deeply immersed in the study of
anthropology, while many of the radicals of your era were
focused on studying psychology and the workings of the
‘human mind. This was fascinating to me, as I consider
‘an understanding of group psychology absolutely essential
10 subverting the dominant paradigm. Could you explain
tous how your knowledge of psychology benefited you as
arevolutionary and maybe give us some examples of how
it was utilized by the Yippie movement ?
By 1967 we realized the war wasn't going to go away
nor the baring oppressive burcaucratic conformist society
that spawned that brutal imperial adventure. We started
thinking about how we could broaden our influence.
Change people. Win them over. We knew the media was
screwing us. Misrepresenting us when they were not
ignoring us completely. We started thinking up ways of
provided an example and a militant
‘model for the national student based
antiwar movemen.
‘The Black Panthers started out in
anarchist sunrise
terrible times
both getting around the media and using
. We started our own weekly newspapers
all over the country. It was called the
underground press. But we were
Berkeley and Oakland and I was an
carly supporter of this organization.
Iworked to create alliances between
the Panthers and the Yippies. I was
involved in a number of major
protests against the war and racism,
including the Pentagon sit-in and the
1968 Chicago riots.
Jerry Rubin, Abbie Hoffman,
myself and others started the
Yippies because we believed that the
passions and ideas of young rebels,
hippies and anarchists were not
being represented by the old Left and
pacifist leadership of the peace
movement. We looked out at the
erowds at peace demonstrations and
they were mostly wild looking and
young and then we looked at the
Speakers platform and everyone was
‘mostly middle aged and middle class
It didn't make sense.
1 know from my readings on the
Sixties Counterculture that many
Yippies considered themselves
“psychedelic anarchists” and the
anarchist influence is obvious in
books like “Do It" and “Revolution
For The Hell Of It" but I was
wondering if you could clarify for
us just where the Yippic movement
was coming from politically and
what its relationship to anarchism
was. What was it that made the
Yippies different from the rest of the
New Left and what were your long.
term goals as a movement?
broken hearts
begging in the streets
and raging against
dark planets
of constraint
you will go mad
with a living death
led civility
and reason
it will burn your brains out
with poisonous boredom
and its bastardly Bus
the beggars now
repair the pain
with onslaught
attacks of bloodbath and jest
against corpse capitalists
owners of hell
and
the free world franchise
of immaculately perfect greed
and break their vaulted chests
tear out their tickers.
give them
aplastic pump to blow
and a billion hearts
10 repair
for repentance.
Stew Albert
5/20/01
determined to get people’s atiention by
any and all means including TV and
the mainstream press. We knew that if
we just lectured people about morality.
ifwe tried to make them feel guilty, we
knew they would ignore us. After all
they had their parents and teachers to
make them feel guilty. Why did they
need us? We also knew that America
was becoming an entertainment based
society and that if our actics were boring.
and repetitive we would tum peopl off.
So we took on the techniques of what
would someday be called performance
art— and also a ltle from Brecht and
Artaud -- mostly we wanted to do
surprising things that made people pay
attention. We wanted to touch people’s
emotions but also their sense of humor.
We wanted to put out a message that
the best and most worthwhile time in
America could be found in the rebel
movement. And we wanied to create
events that were so visually interesting
that CBS would be forced to put us on
the 7 o'clock news. So running a pig
for President and getting arrested with
that Pig. The Chicago police threw us
allin a police wagon, Phil Ochs, Jerry
Rubin, me and others and also our
candidate Pigasus. The images went
out all over the global village via TV-
and all over the world people were
laughing at the American election and
the police. And thinking we were a
great bunch who they would like to
emulate. And many did.
Many revolutionaries active during
We called ourselves Yippies, in part because we didn’t
want 1o use any of the preexisting labels. But it’s true that
our views and actions were more anarchistic than anything
else. We certainly were not interested in reforming the state
bureaucracy. We wanted to eplace the State with Community.
Abbie Hoffman said that the Yippies were creating a
‘Woodstock Nation that opposed and sought the destruction
of the Pig Empire. [used the term “Soulful Socialism’” - to
juxtapose us to Marxism-Leninism or what was called
ientific Socialism.” In our style and tactics we were
influenced by the Surrealists, especially when we threw
money at stock exchange brokers, or when we ran a pig
(Pigasus) for president. We were also influenced by the
Dutch based Provo anarchist movement.
‘We American Yippies did run into some trouble with
French anarchists, because they thought we were too
pro-Castro and Ho Chi Minh but we felt that these guys
might not be perfect, but because of their positive
achievements and the cnemies they made, we thought they
Green Anarchy #6
the 1960°s and 70's (including yourself) felt the full iron
heel of fascism in the form of the F.B.L’s Counter-
intelligence Program (COINTELPRO). In fact, your
generation were the ones who first exposed
COINTELPRO to the larger public and you were also
the first 10 analyze the Grand Jury system and to develop
effective strategies for dealing with it, and other forms of
state repression. What sort of security advice do you have
Jfor younger activists who might not yet be familiar with
the history of state repression in this country ?
The frstthing would be to become familiar with the history
‘of American repression — the home grown Iron Heel. There
are plenty of books — there’s lts t0 read. The FBI files are
ery important to read - and there i lts of good stuff o search
out on the web. I think the first thing is. to grasp a truth
about the American system. 1t only tolerates freedom
when freedom is nota threat o tsrulers. That was tre in Chile.
whenthe US overthrew alegally elected socialist government
page 8
and imposed a violent dictatorship. It’s true now in
Columbia where labor leaders are being murdered and it
becomes true here in America to the extent that we
radicals are being effective. The last presidential election
ended in what some call a velvet coup. I'm sure that if
there was a strong national movement against the coup-
the velvet would have been taken off - and the iron heel
would be its replacement. So we have to understand the
system without illusions.
I think that those who are full time involved in fighting
against global capitalism need to take security more seriously:
To protect their homes and offices and selves and yet it's
important to do this without being paranoid — if protection
i over done it will frighten people away. Soa balance must
be siruck. And look, some stuff scems improperly categorized
like people tell me that wearing bandannas protects
them. But the truth s (the way the police work) wearing a
bandanna may keep your face out of the papers, and i’s
‘great revolutionary theater for sure, but who do you think
will become a candidate for being followed home? Or o a
bar? Or wherever. s better to learn how to find clectronic
bugs or develop mail drops or learn how o lose a tail or
like the Panther’s to learn enough law to protect yourself,
alittle bt againstthe law. That can help you. But bandannas?
They are a great way to express Zapalista solidarity but I
don’t hink they give any protection.
How were issues of gender inequality, male privilege, and.
patriarchy approached by the Yippie movement? Where
if anywhere along the continuum of priorities of the
movement was women's oppression situated? How willing
were men to listen to women about these issues, and further
educate themselves on women’s history and subjugated
role in society
From Judy Gumbo Albert: What's interesing about
what we called the women's liberation movement is the
myth that's come down from 30 years ago, and the reaity.
Everyone experienced their own sixties but what comes
down today as historical facts are predominately tales of
sexism, oppression, patriarchy (alihough we didn’t call it
that back them) and even rape. ' true tha Eldrdge Cleaver
glorified rape as an insurrectionary act in his book “Soul
On lee”. I’ also true we were asked to make coffee, roll
joints and do menialtasks. But to believe only that the ixties
was patriarchal and oppressive to women s 1o buy into a
‘myth— apartal otaity. Forthe Yippie women — myself,
Anita Hoffman, Nancy K., Genie Plamondon, Robin Morgan
and many others the experience of being leaders, movers.
shakers,speakers,riotes, revolutionarie, guerill theatrical
performers and producers,wites,editors, flower hildren,
anarchists and sexually liberated beings was as much if
ot more partof our experience as sexism and patriarchy.
Plus, we were not wimps. When Yippic women came up
against sexism, we fought back. We ook the term “women’s
liberation'” from the liberation movements that surrounded
us— black people, Vietnamese. We knew that women had
1o be frec and formed our own liberation movement.
Freedom, in Janis Joplin's words was just another word
for nuthin lef o loose.
How did the guys take it? Not well — at least at first.
Every Yippie relationship ncluding Stew s and mine, broke
up inthe height of the women’s movement, After ll, how
could 1 love a sexist oppressor? Did Stew change his
behavior? You bet. Did I? Absolutely. We were lucky
because we both came to understand that behavior had to
change — both the sexist oppressor and the victimized
ppressed. And that both our behaviors affected each other
(We were reading Fanon’s the “Wretched of the Earth” at
the time.) Eventually Stew & I we were able to re-build
our relationship — which isn't true of any of the other
Yippie relationships from that time.
‘What is most important about that period that we women
learned to do things that we never had access to before
from repairing VW engines to controlling our reproduc
tive lives, o conquering our fear of facing down the pigs.
‘We learned to be leaders and to stand up from the core of
our being for what we believed in. 1 know for a fact that
the commitment to feminist self-determination that we
Ieamed from being part o the Yippies stayed with all of us
Yippie women as we proceeded down the rest of ur lives
cach in our different way.
.. continued on next page
... continued from last page
To what extent did an ecological agenda manifest within
the Yippie movement? What was the nature ofthediscourse
on matters such as the (un)sustainability of industrial
civilzation,the elative ecological harmony of “primitive
societies”, population growth, the culturally constructed
historic role of modern ciilized humans(men)as the
owners and destroyers of the earth?
The first time that I started paying attention to ccological
issues was when I started reading articles in the under-
‘ground press by a Yippie named Keith Lampe. He called
his articles, “Earth Read Out,” and in some ways they
helped start the ccology movement. The Yippies were
around only in the carly days of green politics. We were
very active in creating People’s Park in Berkeley in 1969.
‘We took over some abandoned land and put down, grass,
flowers and trees - it became a massive community event.
But Governor Ronald Reagan called out the police and the
National Guard and they shot up Berkeley. They killed and
they maimed and they built a fence around the park. Many
who were involved in creating the park never heard the
word “ecology.” But that’s what the park was abou.
“The Yippies did not think industral society was susainable.
‘We were into postindustrial thinking. We looked toward a
computer-based decentralization of society, Perhaps we
romanticized computers. We were sometimes called neo-
primitives, because we wanted to combine high-tech with
‘much more simple forms of living.
Leading up to and during the late 60s, could you explain
the role and influence of “do-it-yourself” publications
including fyers, newspapers, pamphlets, etc. and how the
distribution of such propaganda affected and instigated
radical action? What forms of propaganda did you find
‘mosteffective? What production methods proved the most
tenable considering limited funding?
T wonder about the practical relevance of this question.
ince we didn't have the benefit of web pages and the
Internet - and in a way the game has changed or maybe it
hasn’t? When it comes to effective propaganda — nothing
has changed. If you don't have lively layout that conveys
energy and some joy you will cut down on your readership.
And your language has to have life in it. No clichés and
anything becomes acliché if you repeat it enough. Humorous
juxtapositions are always great. And
another thing to remember about propaganda. It
should stimulate eritical thought but not try to provide all
the answers. It should leave room for the readers to fill in
some answers of their own. And you should have a big ear,
willing to listen and reflect what people say. If your
propaganda s really good, even our enemies will reluctantly
enjoy it, when that happens you know you're having an
impact. You know your enemies children will soon be
joining your ranks.
Reprinted below is an interesting Black Liberation Army
(BLA) communiqué from the mid-sevenies critiquing
technology from the perspective of the Black colony here
in North Amerika. In this communiqué, the BLA discuss
the way in which the ruling class wilize technology 1o
oppress and exploit New Afrikans and advocate the use of
revolutionary violence to dismantle this technological web
of domination
View From The Armed Front: The Dilectic of
Revolutionary Violence, Law And Reformism
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It’s Time to
If there’s anything that the failures of the left prove,
particularly the unions (from the UAW, AFL-CIO, to the
IWW), it's that any “revolutionary” theory that doesn't
question the key elements of civilization is going to do
nothing more than shift the sacial order to a slightly
“maodified” version. That is if they work at all. We can no
longer look to any kind of reform for an end to the death
‘machine that is civilization. It has long been an embedded
idea in “revolutionary” strands that success requires
organization. The age-old calls of the Wobblies, I’ time
10 organize!” are ringing hollow as the leftst milicu grinds
them into the pages of dead social movements in radical
history. What has our past of “organization” brought us?
‘We can say that it has brought us some success because
those at the top of the newly created social hierarchies
tell us we have. Organization pushes us back into the same
top-down hierarchies that we are trying 1o revolt against
‘and erase. What will this bring us? Goodbye old boss, hello
10 the new, any difference? Maybe there'll be a mild
‘ereening (or Redding more likely), but it's still the same
social order, which generally is unquestioning of destructive
civilized lifestyles. But even in the short run they offer
little more than pushing forward new leaders to tell us
how and when to act out and how and when we've won,
Its getting us nowhere. Little, lefty reformist games
comprised of a lot of talk and no action. *
meetings held behind closed doors by chosen o
predetermined delegates willlay out the guidelines of how
much reform the masses will stand behind. We have no
choice inthe matter and don't realize the two-faced realifies
to the fact that humans are a social animal more attuned to
Co-operation than competition. We must create in the
course of destroying our system of oppression, whole new
value concepts, conceps that exist in dialectical opposition
1o the values that buttress our oppression. Even more than
this, we mustcreate anew need within ourselves for freedom,
so that we can hamess technology in our behalf. As it
stands now, Black people cannot even conceive of real
freedom, we are afraid of real liberation because we have.
been programmed to be afraid by racist class oppression.
Technology has immensely aided in reinforcing our fear
of the dominant ruling circles. We must break this
social psychosis
The BLA has undertaken armed struggle as a means by
‘which the social psychosis of fear, awe, and love of every-
thing white people define as being of value, i purged from
our peoples minds. Our historical experience in North
America has shown us that we as a _people have always
suffered while the raist ruling circles have never suffered.
‘We have seen throughout our history, pain, blood, rape,
exploitation, poverty, our families torn asunder by a cruel
and brutal culture, our youth murdered and socially
crippled, our women degraded, our lives ever a the mercy.
of the cold American dream
‘machine. We realize that the
results of this historical experience
has caused Black people to fear
America’s capacity for racist
violence, and on the other hand,
has reinforced the racist ruling
circlesintheirattnides of amogance
and confidence. The fact that the
majority of whites who are
equally oppressed and exploited
do not really understand who
their real enemy is, does notdeter
us from doing what must be
done to break not only our
peoples mental chains, but theirs
as well. We therefore, will llustrate in the only terms that
the ruling classes understand, the terms of blood - their
blood. America must learn that Black people are not the
eternal sufferers,the universal prisoners, the only ones who
can feel pain. Revolutionary violence s, therefore, not a
tactic of struggle, but a strategy. A Strategy designed o
drive the capitalist system further into crisis, while at the
same time forcing all those responsible for oppression o
realize that they 100 can bleed, they 100 can feel our pain
As it stands now, the powerful do not believe they can
hurt and therefore, find concession to our demands for
liberation ridiculous. Our socialjpsychotic fear of the racists
ruling cirles must be purged also, and only by developing our
capacity to fight our enemy will this unreasonable and
reactionery ear be erdicad from oursocialpryche. Revoluticrary.
violence s not so much a cleansing process as it is a
necessary ingredient in creating a psychological frame of
‘mind amongst therling clases tha our beration must b graned.
Disorganize! ssxevntucker
of those disposing of empty thetoric. 1t has not and will
ot get us anywhere,
If we do truly desire an end to the civilized social order,
we can only do so by enacting insurgence and revolt by
‘means that keep no aspect of the current social order, or
‘push fora system that mirrors this. The only hope we have
is for spontancous acts of revolt 1o come from the passions.
and rage of individuals. No top down orders or “plans for
action” can wake the insurgent drowned out by the totality
of civilized thought,
The only true and successful revolution wil not be
brought about by predetermined games of give, give, borrow,
silent marches and banners, and especially new hierarchies.
Itwill come from the hearts of those who bear the blows of
civilization (which is all of us, including non-humans)
‘Those whose dreams are shattered, those who will never
live autonomously, unrestrained from the totality of the
civilized concrete cages we are born into. Those who have
been shut off at birth from their birthright to flourish as
individuals and a commanity, and from the community of
Nature that would offer them more love than we can conceive.
in our current downtrodden state. The failures of all
hierarchies are becoming clearer daily. The constant
collapse of the social order from it's overbearing weight
will draw more to find their catalyzing points, and thus to
their own revolts. Insurgence is rising, and civilization
is falling. Give it the final shove by using your own words
‘and actions. Breaking the spell of civilized order is the only
way to finish off Leviathan, and everyday is bringing
us closer.
Ppage 9
The author can be reached clo Coalition Against
Civilization, POB 835, Greensberg, PA 15601
coulionagainstcivilzation@homail com; wwhwemote.orgICAC.
The Coalition Against Civilization has recenly published
a powerful 29-page essay by Kevin Tucker called
“The Disgust Of Daily Life" , which examines the disease
of civilization in a very personalized, detailed manner. We
strongly encourage our readers 1o order a copy from the
CAC or from the GA distro.
“The search for cures is part of the unquestioning
ideology of civilization. A cure presumes one is needed...”
Pk civlization
<o valk away
Green Anarchy #6
DIRECT ACTION NEWS
Anti-Genetix Actions
May 17, 2001
Activists Destroy GE Crops at Research Fa
Brentwood, CA
Communique:
Inthe carly morning of May 16th, 2001 a group dedicated
1o he right to good food, untainted by genetic engincering,
occupicd and scted against one DNA Plant Technology
of Brentwood CA on Balfour Road, 12 mile cast of
Highway 4. We prevented further steps in transgenic crop
experiments, within his entity, from occuring this season.
uprooted and destroyed
“Thisis not the first time that peopl have taken direct
anti-GE action in the US took place less than a mile from
the DNAP facily. Night time gardeners targetd GenTech's
Frostban strawbeny, setting the stage for more than 50
DNA Plan Technology Holdings was recently acquired
by ELM, a multnational bioengineering corporation that
also owns Seminis Vegetable Seeds,the largest distibutor
of fruit and vegetable secds in_the world. DNAP is
currenly growing more than 15,000 acres of genctically
engincered field crops in Mexico and the US, mostly
without the public’s knowledge. DNA has more than 50
introduction, selectable markers, and plant regeneration.
One gene silencing technology, trademarked Transwitch,
intomatoes. The Favr Savr tomto utlzesthis technology
1o create a tomato with a shelf life of o to three weel.
Like most appliations of genetic engincering, this trat
benefis neither the workers who grow the tomato nor the
people who buy these pale-pink, plastie-wrapped,
nutritionaly zapped tomtoss
Now DNAP is moving into so-called “second wave™
rescarch which s trying o incorporate drugs intthe issues
of food plants. But our rsistance i rooted decp in the
land, and as long as they attempt to developithese alerations
10 our food, our resistance will continue, Rescarching
his company and it's faciliies, we discovered an unusual
level of sccrecy sumounding it's operations. DNA Plant
Tistings, had no posted signs of any sort n this otherwise
neighborly agricultural community,and otherwise went to
great lengths to conceal the nefarious nature of their
business. We uncarthed a report for DNAP stockholders
that bousted ofthe site’s emoteness and inaceessibiliy to
public view. Seminis, also owned by ELM, has been a
frequent target of ani-biotechnology actions, and the
DNAPreportreflected this paranoia. They even reassared
the stockholders that the test plots were protected by
fed up with corporte sccrecy and lack of accountabilty
for the changes they make in commnitis, human health,
and the environment. The backlash against the WTO was
biotechnology tet plot sabotage actons e another, Upsct
by what we were esming of the halth and environmenal
ramifications of Roundup Ready technology and of the
founded up ourfavorite anima fiends and decided o take
On a dark night we slipped through the open ficld
50 fect from a brightlylit house cquipped with motion
Sensorfsecuritylight apparenily aimed atthe DNAP fields,
we entered the I-acre srawbery test lot. Tru to Roundup
Ready test protocol, the plants were enveloped in a dense
carpet of weeds, ready for application of the poisonous
herbicide. We removed an acre of the enormous, leathery
Frankenplants to a short new life- n plastc bags ful of
bleach o prevent any possbilty ofsurvivaland replantin.
DNAP's tomato experiments. We took a walk right through
the walls, found a 1/4 acre of 4-foot tal rting tomatoes
and dispatched them to theirrightful dvelling place inhell.
Safely outside on DNAP's poisoned carth, we turned our
Green Anarchy #6
attention to a half acre test plot of mature onion plants that
deserved to share the tomatoes’ and strawberries” fate. Our
frenzy of uprooting took down another experiment in 5
‘minutes. A good nights work lying in shreds behind us, we
‘melted into the night the way we had come.
May 26,2001
Belgium: Aventis Crop Silenced
An Aventis owned genetically modified winter oilsced
‘canola rape farm located in the distrct of Velzeke (Eastern
Flanders, Belgium) was destroyed during this week-end.
This action is to be seen as a trial to strike a blow to the
current GMO’s invasion creeping from our fields 1o the
daily food. As a matter of fact, despite all reassuring
‘govermmental and agro-transnational statements, we can
draw a more and more accurate picture of GE
consequences. Health damages are firmly known today
(allergies, inereased antibiotic resistance,..). Spreading
GMO’s also resulis in irreversible environmental havoc:
biodiversity loss, a much greater pesticides consumption,
insects and weeds resistance’s, gene transfer (horizontally
as well as vertically) to other species,.. It all combines
with a perverse enslavement mechanism providing for an
ever growing farmers dependence on GE seeds producing
‘corporations. Farmers are led (0 buy “improved” seeds and
adapted herbicides 1o the same company, hence
strengthening their total subjection. Facing those threats
we necessarily have ourselves to put into practice the
precautionary principle, opposed o profit making obsessed
structures.
June 7, 2001
Activists cast vote in GM field at Munlochy
The first votes of clection day were cast not in a ballot
box, but ina field of Genetically Manipulated (GM) Oilseed
Rape Canola.
In the early hours of Election Day, campaigners cut an
X’ shaped swathe through the controversial GM crop
currently growing at Munlochy on the Black Isle, Inverness.
‘The GM trial has been vociferously opposed by the local
‘community from the Start
“People have very real and reasonable fears about the
effects of GM on the environment, Scottish biodiversity,
and, of course, on human health. The Government has
ignored these arguments and sided with transnational
corporations, who are only out to make big bucks, over the
interests of their people.”
One of the campaigners responsible for the action said:
“Our action sends a clear message that GM is not welcome
in Scotland - nor are any politicians or companies who
supporti.”
Local organic farmer Donnie Macleod said, “Those
people that carried out this action are simply echoing the
‘opinion of the vast majority of the local community. Thope
thismeans that no more fields of contamination are planied
inthe Highlands.”
June 15, 2001
Anti-GE group targets Semi
Begin Communiqué:
To Whom It May Concernat the Genetix Alert Press Office,
‘We came across your business on the internet. Can your
service help get news out about wha's happening here in
Idaho:
There's a company called Seminis Vegetable Seeds in
Filer and we would pass it's research center everyday. We
started wondering what kind of research they were doing.
There is a lot o agriculture around here but everything is
bigger and bigger companies who don’t say what's being
grown or how.
Abunch of us around here doing farming and trucking
crops decided to find out anything we could about Sem
And then the information we got made us take things into
our own hands and go out into their field one night and rip
out their pea plants. The night was June 10 and we yanked
‘out over 20 small plots of peas, It must have been thousands
of plants. These peas weren't normal. They had their genes
changed to make the plants stay alive when sprayed with
glyphosate herbicide. That's like the brand Roundup for
people who don't know.
“The internet was how we looked up a lot of information.
‘You can get Addresses there and find out businesses have.
‘going on. We did a search and find Seminis's web site. We
also went to the USDA, that's the US Dept. of Agriculture,
Aninsal and Plant Health Inspection Service [ APHIS] web site:
hitp://www.aphis.usda.gov/biotechnology/permits himl
page 10
‘They do permitting for gene-modification research. If you
elick on “How Can I Check on an Application to Import
Move, or Field Test or a Petition to Deregulate?
(Biotechnology Database)” you can find records about
who's testing what kind of altered planis. We found
Seminis’s permit # 01-065-01N # 321 for peas, saw the
peas in their field and it went from there.
These gene-altered plants can cross-breed with regular
plants and we don't know what they will do to people,
‘animals, the soil, or anything. It was really easy work to
take them out o the picture and didn'ttake very long, once.
we got used to the dark and relaxed into the work.
‘We hope this story will be interesting to people, especially
‘people wondering what's going on right down the road from
them. Why don't we take things into our own hands at this
point and take out these crops?
‘Seminis’s place i right on Highway 30, a the 2300 Rd
cormer, next to The highschool.
June 18,2001
ELF Claims Responsibility For Acti
Engineering At University Of Idaho
Communiqué:
“Biotech Out of Our Community!
ELF claims attack on University of Idaho Biotech Building
‘The University of Idaho Biotechnology building,
urrenily under construction, was targeted in the early hours
of the morning on June 10th by a cell of the Earth
Liberation Front calling themselves the Night Action Kids.
Survey stakes were removed and the exterior of the new
building painted with such sentiments as “NO GEL" and
“Go Organic’
“This is the second action against the Biotechnology
building. The first of which individuals entered the building
and caused an urknown amount of damage.
Ananonymous ELF Night Action Kid compares research
inGenetic Engincering and Biotechnology to the scientific
studies which lead 10 the creation of the nuclear bomb.
“Biotechnological rescarch may be intended for good ends
by the scientist, as was nuclear research, but in our free
enterprise police state society it will be used almost solely
for greed and control. With Genetic Engincering we are
ereating another bomb.
Monsanto and other large corporations are patenting seeds.
‘and foreing farmers to sign contracts that they will continue
buying these GE, and many times pesticide resistant, seeds
from the same corporation year after year, effectively taking
control over our food sources. Genetically Engineered food
on our grocery store shelves is not labeled s such, so the
individual does not know what he or she is cating.
Genetically Engincered fish are escaping into the wild
‘populations with the chance of killing offthe entire species.
Genetic testing for predisposition to certain diseases, such
as cancer, may soon keep you and your children from
getting insurance or a job.
“GE corporations and their supporters have claimed that
we fanti-GE activists] are using scare tactics o further our
viewpoint, The fact is that Biotechnology and Genetic
Engineering are scary prospects when placed in the hands
of large corporations who care only about profits and not
‘abou the health and safety of the people, or the effects
they are having on the environment. Through the University
of Idaho Biotechnology Program we are teaching our
children to work in a field which is developing faster than
its effects, both physically and ethically, can be monitored
and has the potential for causing catastrophic harm to all
‘humans and the planet,”claims another Night Action Kid
who continues, *Get Biotech out of Moscow! It is not
wanted in our community.”
on Against Genetic
June 25th 2001
Activists eliminate field tests
This is a translation of a report by the Daich action-
magazine Ravage (hip:/iwwwantenna nliravage)
Amsterdam - In the night of Sunday to Monday June 25
activists calling themselves “Razende Hazen” (Enraged
Hares) have sabotaged two field tests of Genetically
engincered sugar beets in Brabant, the south of The
Netherlands. They made up a test of ‘Roundup-Ready’
sugar beets by agro-multinational Monsanto.”We removed
the green of the plants, making the test uncompletable,”
says the group ina statement delivered to Ravage.
“The purpose of this action is to dircctly stop_ the
spreading of genetically modified organisms (GMO’s) in
ourenvironment and food,” state the Hares. The Roundup-
Ready beets have been genetically altered 1o be able to
'With Dynamite and Molotov’s, Anarcha
July 2 2001) Sl debiors Bave been cllng 10r 3 S0ltion 1 et et
problems for 95 days. AL tn o'clck this morming some of them took over
Eovernment buldings. Among them were members o the anrchis-feminist
ssoup Mujres Creando (Women's Iitiative) whom the government named
s esponsibe for the acton.
Abouta undsed actvists cccupied e ofice o th Delensoria del Pucblo
(Peopie’s Defense). Several dozen also occupicd the office of the Catholic
archibishop. But the most stking eveat occurred a he banking supervisory
‘agency, where 2 thousand debors occupied offices and detained 4 of the
institation's functonaric.
‘One group of activiss pased unsoticed by security guards, went int the
banking iy buikling and ook some of s employees as hstages. Groups
were also able 10 ente th bishop’s ofice and the Defensor'a befoe they
were noticed,
Once insde the banking agency: actvists sprsyed the crtrance hal with
sasoline nar the door ofthe supeintendent' offce. From the op oo o the
building they threw sicks of dymamite into 3 plaza in order 10 prevent the
police from enteing. Groups of plainclothes cops atmpted 1o retake the
building.
Top-vel functionarcs of the banking auhority wereted up n thei of-
fices and hundlcs of dynamite wereted 1o thei bodies o prevent any kind of
police intrvention. The actvists wore dosens o dynsmit ticks stound theie
bodis and same cared old militay frcarms.
Atleasta dozen activists positoned themselveson the balconiesof e it
Hloor ofthe banking suthority hslding snd gave spesches using bullhorns.
“We are here hecause nobody is lstening t0 us. These people ar showing
e typical hard-hearednessof bankers. W s bere because e camnot pay
our det." Theie wonds cchoed loudlyfromther fth loor posion,accom-
panicd by insuls and songs diceted against he bankers.
Carrying a bulhorn, Molotov cockails and stcks of dynamite, the small
debiors walked around the buiding’sbalconics,sting off more than an x-
plosion i the plaza sabel I CarOlica n ondr o make ther demands heard
(One woman proteser used a bullhor o communicat hes complint o the
polic surmounding the place: “For he poorthere i o relct. o justice. They
e taken eerything rom us,leaving ussicksof dynamite o cst. Because
only the deal-makers have rghts, we have been here, livng in the sizee, in
the cold of night, with scarcely ne meal day, for more than 90 days. And
nobody willliten o us
Represcaing the debiors at & press conierence, another woman declaed.
‘We canno eave while ther i no dialogue 10 solve our problem, nd i o
souton s found, we are determined o commit suicide ight i front of thems—
because we cano put up with this ituton any longer.
This protest movementincludes 12,000 workers snd unemployed people
S of money ang Bave hepo
Vate banks’ surious racice. Today they are demanding total cancllation
of thei debt, anend o the sis aganst them o an end 1 the mpounding.
f their meager goods. For thee months thusands of debiors have becn
comin to Ls Pa from all part f Bolviato stage daiy protests. These had
acifist beginnings bt lte became more radica, going s far 33 stempting
o bum banks. Durin the confict, because of the misery and desperation
surrunding them, mre than six deblors have committd suicide. Many
e becn forced 0 give upall ther elongings and ve i the et Mesn
whie he government vors the rich by pardoning thei debts and geanting
them imimene sums of money:
T the midlc ofthe night,atempts were begun o fre the 94 functionae-
fes sl held i the banking authory builing. Thi involved a six-person
commites for assuring ther safety, including the anarchist Julea P, 15
el assome Lo typessuch as the ightwing lgislato F: Killer,a former
paramilary operatve. Whil the negotatons continued the building re-
mained closed. Included inthe alks were debiors (headed by th anarchist
Marla Galindo Mujees Creando group) and reprscntaivesof the private
banks, snior Catholic clergymen, the Defensoradel Pucklo (Peopl’s De-
fene), and members of Dercchos Hummanos (human Right)
There has been ban oncameras and binging in ood or drink. The build
ing i consantly surmounded by cordon of police. According t unoffical
reports, sharpshooershave been positoned i the arcaand specially traned
commando it have becn brought in.
The Bolivian government i openy fascist. The genocidal resident
eral Banzer has ad many social ighers murdered during the four years of
his regime. We denounce the human ightsclowns he reationary Catho
Church and the Bank vultures as makers of smoke scrcen 1o divert aten-
tion 10 e negotitng table while the govermment prepares s dogs 1 ex-
ccute bloodbat.
The ativity of the smlldebtors i by sature snt-capit
legitmises privte propety and direely atacks profu. I
tion and self-organization
The Bolivian stte s been called the mstcorrup i the Americas.In-
equality verges on the sordid. Hunger, massacres and unemployment rle.
The inensity of the class strugsle s making the exploted more radical in
theie sruggles. Twelve days ago Aymara farmers blocked highways in the
Aliplna tegion o demand an cnd o neo-liberalism. The sate rsponded
by murdering two of hem. The snsver was dynamite stacks n pover-ine
We callon the anachist movement in particular snd snti-cspialists in
seneral 0 protest at Bolivian embassics, 0 spread word of ou sruggles in
, because it de-
s dirct s
order t0st0p 3 genccide inthe making.
Violence is justifiable, insurrection is indispensable
G)
ftao.ca
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