Defensive-Violence

In this excerpt from his book Endgame: The Problem of Civilization , author Derrick Jensen explores how limited the English language is when considering different aspects of “violence.” By Derrick Jensen I do think we need more words in English for violence. It’s absurd that the same word is used to describe someone raping, torturing, mutilating, and killing a child; and someone stopping that perpetrator by shooting him in the head. The same word used to describe a mountain lion killing a deer by one quick bite to the spinal column is used to describe a civilized human playing smackyface with a suspect’s child, or vaporizing a family with a daisy cutter. ...

This is an edited transcript of the interview Sam Mitchell from Collapse Chronicles conducted with DGR Member Max Wilbert. Sam Mitchell: It is an absolutely beautiful sunny winter day here in the great state of Texas, and the opening bell of the year 2020 and you have found your way to collapse chronicles. My name is Sam Mitchell and what we do here obviously, as we chronicle the collapse of global industrial civilization and the planet. And guys, before I get into this I just want to give a little bit of a warning and a disclaimer. I have mentioned many times, because I bring a guest on to the show, it does not necessarily mean that I am advocating everything my guests are getting ready to say. I just want to make that clear to Homeland Security. Anyone else listening to this? I am not necessarily advocating what we’re getting ready to hear, but I do think it is a voice we need to hear. And who we’re going to be hearing is a recommendation I received from none other than Derrick Jensen. And this is this fellow named Max Wilbert, who is a buddy of Derrick’s. ...

Long before the Civil War, black abolitionists shared the consensus that violence would be necessary to end slavery. Unlike their white peers, their arguments were about when and how to use political violence, not if. By Randal Maurice Jelks / Boston Review Reviewing “Force and Freedom: Black Abolitionists and the Politics of Violence,” by Kellie Carter Jackson. University of Pennsylvania Press. Featured image: Mabel and Robert Williams, advocates and practitioners of armed self-defense, a longtime tradition in the Black community, during the civil rights movement. ...

Photo credit: Kinessa Johnson and True Activist Editor’s Note: DGR does not endorse Kinessa Johnson or VETPAW, and views significant parts of their work as problematic (e.g. pervasive use of nationalistic propaganda, an implicit white saviour narrative, and echoes of imperialism). However, this phenomenon is interesting and worth discussing. by Liam Campbell Kinessa Johnson is a heavily tattooed U.S. military veteran, she is also an experienced firearms instructor and mechanic. After completing one tour in Afghanistan she joined VETPAW, an NGO that focuses on providing training and resources for park rangers and anti-poaching groups that protect endangered species. According to Johnson, park rangers in Africa face extreme danger “they lost about 187 guys last year over trying to save rhinos and elephants.” VETPAW’s response is to send U.S. combat veterans to provide specialist training, in hopes that they can help park rangers reduce both poaching and their own casualties. ...

Image: Sarah Shenker, Survival International by Liam Campbell Paulo Paulino Guajajara, known as Kwahu, has been murdered by loggers in a part of the Amazon currently occupied by the Brazilian government. Equipped with only rudimentary weapons and body armour, and lacking medical assistance, Rainforest Guardians like Guajajara regularly face death at the hands of both government officials and natural resource exploiters. Their only advantages are their intimate knowledge of the rainforest and their deep commitment to protecting those living systems. Guajajara was protecting both his own ancestral land and also the lands of their uncontacted neighbours, the Awá tribe, when he was shot and killed by assassins. Guajajara is not the first ecological activist to be murdered; in April, 3 Rainforest Guardians were similarly slain. ...

by Elisabeth Robson Beginning tomorrow, Friday September 20, and going through September 27, there are a whole host of climate-related actions happening nationally (USA) and globally, including climate strikes and marches. These climate strikes are being heavily promoted by big green organizations on down to local communities, and the media plays along by making sure to note in coverage about the upcoming strikes that they are “youth-led”. Unfortunately nothing could be further from the truth. The youth themselves, of course, believe they are doing the right thing, and certainly their message that we need to do something about the climate catastrophe is true. But these youth are being supported and, one might even say, manipulated by a tangle of pro-business, pro-capitalism, pro-growth, anti-nature organizations, corporations, and governments. ...

Editors note: this article contains material excerpted from an August 2019 Communique from the Indigenous Revolutionary Clandestine Committee—General Command of the Zapatista Army for National Liberation, Mexico. Image by Nick Rahaim, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 August 17, 2019 We bring you our word. The same word as yesterday, today, and tomorrow. It is the word of resistance and rebellion. In October of 2016, almost three years ago, during the 20th anniversary of the National Indigenous Congress [CNI], the sister organizations of the National Indigenous Congress and the EZLN made a commitment to go on the offensive in our defense of our Territory and Mother Earth. Persecuted by the bad government, by caciques, by foreign corporations, by criminals, and by the law, and as we accumulated insults, derision, and dead, we the originary peoples (the guardians of the earth), decided to go on the offensive and circulate the words and actions of resistance and rebellion. ...

Editors note: this material is excerpted from a Deep Green Resistance database called " Resistance Profiles," which explores various movements, their strategies and tactics, and their effectiveness. Image credit: public domain. Movement for the Emancipation for the Niger Delta (MEND) Active: 2005 - 2013 Location: Nigeria Type: Underground Resistance Movement Success: Medium Goal Majority or total control of oil production/revenues in the Niger Delta (for the Ogoni people) and withdrawal of the Nigerian military from the Niger Delta. ...

Editor’s Note: this is the second in a two-part series on the Art of Rebellion. It was published anonymously under the name “Seaweed” in 2008. We don’t agree with every detail. In fact, there is more in this essay that clashes with DGR’s strategy and method than in the first installment of this series. For example, we believe that strong leadership and even hierarchy (when justified, accountable, and not abused), can make revolutionary groups more effective. Although we support small and autonomous acts of rebellion, we don’t believe that these will be sufficient to halt the murder of the planet. We call for a more coordinated form of militant resistance to destroy industrial capitalism and save the planet). This essay nonetheless provides an excellent overview of the importance of martial traditions and developing a culture of militancy. ...

Editor’s note: this piece, A Short Discourse on Revolution, is an excellent introduction to the general theory of revolution. We believe that this general approach needs to be expanded to include an ecological revolutionary framework. While we are not Maoists, we believe it is important to learn from every revolutionary tradition, and this piece is worth studying in detail. Image: Battle of San Domingo, also known as the Battle for Palm Tree Hill, part of the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804), the first successful anti-slavery and anti-colonial insurrection by self-liberated slaves. The Haitian Revolution was the largest slave uprising since the Spartacus Revolt against the Roman Empire, 1900 years previously. ...