Spreading Like Wildfireby Felonious Skunk
As the seasonal summer fires burn around the west, I contemplate incendiary "sparks" I witnessed in other bioreagions. Much like wildfires restoring nessesary nutrients to the soil, eco-anarchists are revitalizing movements long plagued with leftist and reformist tendencies, and we are getting to the roots of the problem we all face.
This year, the annual Earth First! Rendezvous was held in upstate Minnesota, near the Boundary waters along the Canadian border. The site was a beautiful spot along the shores of one of the reagion's thousands of lakes. The organizing collective (which is decided each year for the following rendezvous) was a fresh and energetic crew, mostly from the Minneapolis area. They added a much-needed change from the old-timers who seem to dwell on the "good ol' days" and promote washed-out analyses and tactics. Despite some Naivete, especially in dealing with law enforcement and media, the logistics came together relatively well.
It was smaller than usual (under a hundred people), but most were really intent on making the gathering a meaningful endeavor. There were discussions ranging from "Green Anarchy 101" and "Civilization and Patriachy" to "Backwoods Stealth Training" and a variety of direct action-oriented workshops. Lots of room was made for spontanious discussions, informal dailog, and of course swimming, canoeing, and beer drinking.
Probably the most important discussion to transpire was the "Earth First! Movement Self-Criticism." There was no consensus as to any specific direction of "the movement," but it was unanimous that Earth First! needs to recognize the problems facing the Earth and all her inhabitants run very deep, and thus require an appropriate resistance, as opposed to more of the same symbolic gestures.
Some viewed EF! as a stepping stone for more radical action, while others envisioned an EF! which embraced a diversity of tactics from tree-sits and office occupations to low level sabotage, while endorsing and explaining the need for more intense actions. My favorite vision, however wished to see EF! move closer to it's retoric (NO COMPROMISE IN THE DEFENSE OF MOTHER EARTH!) and become a vital component of a full-on eco-war, taking ALL NESSESARY action to stop the distruction of our mama, regardless of what the "mainstream" would think of it, or whether teh "movement" is in agreement. (Let's be clear, it is not Vanguardist to take the action you think is nessesary to achieve liberation for yourself and the planet.
It only becomes so, if you expect everyone else to follow your lead.) Inspiring action is nessessary to fuel the momentum we sometimes seem to have lost, but even more important are effective and meaningful actions, thosewhich actually make a significant impact in the techno-industrial infrastructure or create a substantial culture shock. If the biocentric earth-warrior myth of Earth First! is to have any relevance in the future, it needs to draw on more positive aspects of it's past, move away from it's often nostalgic and insular scenes, and develop strategies for an authentic resistence.
Currently, there seems to be a profound synthesis of the founding deep ecologist conservationists of the 80s (who were willing to sabotage the machinery of the earth distroyers), the social activists of the 90s (who connected many of the dots of how and why the earth is being killed), and the non-reformist and anti-authorian and anarchist flok of today (who comprehend the magnitude of change required.) Overall, I was impressed by what I saw this year, a radical trend I have been feeling within Eath First! for a number of years now (although not always reflected in the EF! Journal), that of Green Anarchy.