Date: Sun, 10 Jun 2001 12:14:21 -0600 Subject: Re: [anarchism] Tree Spiking From: Michael Lewis <mlewis-AT-unm.edu> This on-going debate on the effectiveness and/or ethics of tree-spiking calls to question the whole concept of monkeywrenching. If tree-spiking is viewed by some as ineffective and counterproductive, is monkeywrenching in general so perceived? Are we kidding ourselves that monkeywrenching has any effect in opposing the status quo economic and political system? Is it even counterproductive in that it mobilizes the constabulary against us and provides further justification for militarization of the police? I think not. Monkeywrenching is a political act as well as a physical act of opposition and self-defense. Ed Abbey explained it well in his introduction to "Ecodefense." When we engage in acts of opposition against the ruling elite and their economic and political thugs, we stand as defenders of the wild and our human place in the wild. Our acts serve notice that we will not sit back and accept this attack on all that is true and good. We act as the immune system of the wild, innoculating trees against logging, destroying invasive bulldozers, burning out cancerous urban sprawl. At the same time, we bring to the surface that itch that lives within all of us, that recognition of our true home in the wild, the pang of guilt and inner pain when we see the wild despoiled and laid waste for inhuman profit. We thrust these images to the fore with each bulldozer burned, each timber sale spiked and publicized, each forest road blocked and locked down. Once aware, even the most hard-hearted industrialist cannot remove the image of the rape of the wild, images that will remain with him or her, constantly festering, always present when news of more monkeywrenching fills the tabloid press. Eventually they will do their work, as age turns greed to understanding and inescapable mortality puts all in perspective. We dare not voluntarily remove any effective tool from our kit. Those who seek to pave the world and make all things and all people products for corporate profit will never hesitate to make use of any means to gain their greedy ends. We must be as creative and diverse as the Nature we seek to protect and bend every tool at our disposal against the growth maniacs who now rule the world. It's up to you. Michael
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