Tuesday’s Emerald editorial was disappointing to read. Though the discussion of the popular mythos of adventure that surrounds the Earth Liberation Front was out of the ordinary, the rest was nothing more than the same tired (and inaccurate) complaints levied against the Elves for years.
Let’s be straightforward and start with the title “ELF’s Violence is an Ineffective Approach.” In fact, the most recent ELF action in Oregon was a shining example of effectiveness. On June 1, the ELF destroyed three logging trucks connected to the Eagle Creek timber sale outside Portland. Now, no one is willing to purchase the wood from the sale for fear that his or her company will be targeted next. An Oregonian story on July 13th quoted one defeated log-buyer saying, “It’s sad. They’re winning the battle, and I don’t like that.”
Numerous other news stories have quoted many “genetic engineers” stating that they feel compelled to get out of the business because what they call their “research” (really only a combination of product development and PR cover-ups) has been set back immeasurably.
Years and years of struggle have no doubt changed the public consciousness toward a more compassionate orientation. But has that consciousness changed the dynamics of power that allow the earth and downtrodden people to be subjected to torturous exploitation? No, what cannot be hidden from the public is lied about.
In case you haven’t noticed, the ELF burns down empty buildings. It is the dominant system that destroys villages in order to “save them,” that massacres Indians throughout the Americas from 1492 to right now, and that made the Gulf War the most ecologically destructive military conflict in history. Ironically, those who destroy machines get called “violent” for interfering with the destruction of entire cultures and ecosystems. That’s what a compassionate — but ignorant and submissive — public opinion will get you.
The statements you make are flatly contradicted by reality; that “history shows that most political change came through nonviolent means,” that “saving the environment … has been taken up quite effectively by more sensible organizations,” and that the time when “this country’s citizens [had] to resort to violent means to pursue their agenda, thankfully, is behind us.” Unfortunately, the “agenda” is now nothing less than survival with any quality of life intact. A rose-colored view of reality is of little use as anything but a coping mechanism and a smoke screen.
Finally, there’s the matter of this being a “civilized, rational society.” If civilization is the fearful domination of wild nature (both ours and the Earth’s) and rational thought is the impersonal mathematics of false objectivity, then perhaps it is the deadly conclusion of this rational civilization’s logic that today’s radicals are moved to contest.
Marshall Russell is a member of the Anarchist Action Collective.