File spoon-archives/anarchy-list.archive/anarchy-list_2001/anarchy-list.0106, message 92


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


   

Driftline Main Page

 

Display software: ArchTracker © Malgosia Askanas, 2000-2005