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- DIRECT ACTION! 101
A primer...
El Lobo Solo
"Sentiment without action is the min of the soul." -Ed Abbey
EARTH FIRST! is a verb, not a noun. In order to be an environmental
movement, you've got to move! Get up and do something for the Earth!
There are no "50 simple ways to save the planet." There are innumerable
very difficult ways. Recycling and "setting a good example" doesn't cut it
when you are the last generation with any chance of implementing a human-
engineered cure. Direct Action means personal, focused efforts on the front-lines
of the war against the Earth.
EARTH FIRST! is defined by its actions, the purpose of which is to:
-ACTUALLY HALT THE DESTRUCTION, force the companies to quit, the
Forest Dis-Service to withdraw its sale, the bulldozers to halt. Our
primary purpose is to personally intercede, to "stop the bleeding."
The most "symbolic" action stops the saws, and leaves the log-trucks
lined-up empty.
-RAISE THE STAKES. Even once removed from the tree platforms and
the blockades, we have upped the ante. A clear message to the Earth
rapists: No more "business as usual."
-GARNER MEDIA. You can't hope to change people's minds or put
pressure on politicians without calling attention to the damage.
Civil Disobedience or a clever banner-hanging exposes the issue on
the front page of papers that normally hide a single paragraph on
ecological catastrophe next to the ads. Arrests, in particular, sway
sentiment by impressing others the depth of your concern and
sacrifice.
-STRENGTHEN RESOLVE. An action is the most empowering
imaginable event, a rite of passage that fills the participant
with pride. There is the special satisfaction of a David defying
the Goliath, doing the right thing, acting out what Bill Devall calls
the will-of-the-planet. We learn to work in concert with others
with life-affirming values.
DEMOS "Demonstrate" to the culprits, and to the world, that when all our
letters are ignored, our arguments mitigated, and our legal appeals denied, we
still refuse to accept the accelerating destruction. We put our bodies and our
time where our mouths are -
at the front! We demonstrate our fear, hurt, and just rage against the
despoilers. Now with humanity itself endangered by suicidal "progress", we deny it power, refuse to acquiesce, refuse to be stilled! There is no such thing as "risk-free" environmentalism, but demos are protected under the constitution. (A fortunately rare exception is when the police give you "five
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