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"The white people, who are trying to make us over into their image, they want us to be what they call "assimilated," bringing the Indians into the mainstream and destroying our own way of life and our own cultural patterns. They believe we should be contented like those whose concept of happiness is materialistic and greedy, which is very different from our way. We want freedom from the white man rather than to be integrated. We don't want any part of the establishment, we want to be free to raise our children in our religion, in our ways, to be able to hunt and fish and live in peace. We don't want power, we don't want to be congressmen, or bankers....we want to be ourselves. We want to have our heritage, because we are the owners of this land and because we belong here. The white man says, there is freedom and justice for all. We have had "freedom and justice," and that is why we have been almost exterminated. We shall not forget this." - From the 1927 Grand Council of American Indians, John Wooden Legs, Cheyenne |
A Light In The Darkness - In this section, you will find essays, articles, and stories that describe and define the problems that we face. They are meant to clarify the issues in a way that will leave little doubt that we are in big trouble.
Age of Grief - by John Zerzan
The Beginning of Change - by Anthony Zebrowski
Calories as Currency - Adapted from Direct Pointing to Real Wealth: Thomas J. Elpel's Field Guide to Money
Civilization is a Pyramid Scheme - by Ronald Wright
Dead Trees Publishing by EarthFirst! (A collection of writings by various authors.)
Domestic Violence: Symptom of a Malfunctioning Society - by Lalitha Chelliah
The Final Empire: The Collapse of Civilization and the Seed of the Future - by William H. Koetke
Grateful Slave - by Paine's Torch
Human Population Numbers as a Function of Food Supply - by Russell Hopfenberg and David Pimentel
The Lost People - by Thom Hartmann
Nature and Madness - by Paul Shepard
The Politics of Extinction: Remain a parasite OR become an Earth Warrior - by Captain Paul Watson
The Story of B (book excerpts) - by Daniel Quinn
Speech 1: The Great ForgettingSpeech 2: The Boiling Frog
The Story of Civilization: A Child’s Primer of Economics - by Joseph George Caldwell
The Worst Mistake In The History Of The Human Race - by Jared Diamond
What Went Wrong? - by Michael Green, from the After Culture website
You May Be An Anarchist And Not Even Know It - an interview with John Zerzan by Derrick Jensen
Opposing Viewpoints - These are writings by people who are part of the problem. They reflect a point-of-view which supports the status quo, and generally ignores the signs of distress we see around us every day.
Hatred of Human Life is Environmentalism's Deepest Motive: The Environmentalist Evil - By David Holcberg
The Christopher Columbus Controversy: Western Civilization vs. Primitivism - by Michael Berliner
The Thirty Theses - by Jason Godesky at Anthropik.com
"We all have basic assumptions about the world, human nature, and the relationship between the two. We are taught certain perspectives as children, and this recieved wisdom forms the common ground for communication. Ultimately, when we see the whole picture, our major disagreements are squabbles over details. Should gays be allowed to marry? We assume here a common understanding of what "marriage" means. Should we raise or lower taxes? We assume the legitimacy of government, and of taxes at all!
"What happens when the disagreement occurs at an even more basic level? Like, whether or not our civilization is even a good thing?
"The case is complex, but in truth no more complex than our "common ground" of unexamined, recieved wisdom. In many cases, it is much less complex. But it is different. Since forming these ideas, I have faced an increasing obstacle in communication. Unspoken, differing assumptions force me routinely to return to the same arguments again and again. So I resolved some time ago to crystalize my philosophy into a single, comprehensive work, which could from a base for further communication.
"There have been several failed attempts at this, the most recent being "The Anthropik Canon." The Thirty Theses recycles much of my previous work, but extends and elaborates on all of it, as well. This is my latest attempt to develop a comprehensive treatment of my core philosophy, reduced to thirty pronouncements which I individually defend.
"You are also watching the writing of an "open source" book in real time. These will become the rough drafts to a final book version that will be published by the Tribe of Anthropik and distributed online, including through this website. Your comments, criticisms and questions about these entries will be addressed and incorporated into the final work." - Jason Godesky, Technoshaman, Tribe of Anthropik, 28 July 2005
- Diversity is the primary good.
- Evolution is the result of diversity.
- Humans are products of evolution.
- Human population is a function of food supply.
- Humans are neither good nor evil.
- Humans are still Pleistocene animals.
- Humans are best adapted to band life.
- Human societies are defined by their food.
- Agriculture is difficult, dangerous and unhealthy.
- Emergent elites led the Agricultural Revolution.
- Hierarchy is an unnecessary evil.
- Civilization must always grow.
- Civilization always pursues complexity.
- Complexity is subject to diminishing returns.
- We have passed the point of diminishing returns.
- Technology cannot stop collapse.
- Environmental problems may lead to collapse.
- Peak Oil may lead to collapse.
- Complexity ensures collapse.
- Collapse is an economizing process.
- Civilization makes us sick.
- Civilization has no monopoly on medicine.
- Civilization has no monopoly on knowledge.
- Civilization has no monopoly on art.
- Civilization reduces quality of life.
- Collapse is inevitable.
- Collapse increases quality of life.
- Humanity will almost certainly survive.
- It will be impossible to rebuild civilization.
- The future will be what we make of it.
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