Who Will Carry The Torch Forward?
Happy birthday to Howard Zinn, who turns 85 today.
Howard is of course a leading intellectual and one of the great historians of this century. And like Chomsky, perhaps our greatest intellectual, a leading dissident and propagator of leftist thought in the United States.
But neither Zinn or Chomsky are getting any younger. Neither is Gary Snyder. We’ve already lost Abbey and Bookchin. So, who’s left to carry the torch?
I had some hope for David Graeber, an anarchist and anthropologist that was an associate professor of anthropology at Yale University. Unfortunately, his politics didn’t mix well with the Yale elite, as a result, he lost his contract and is now scheduled to begin teaching at The University of London this fall.
Nice way to keep everything quiet. Blacklist the guy and force him out of the country.
By the way, if you’re interested in some of his work, you can download Fragments of An Anarchist Anthropology here.
Kirkpatrick Sale? Peter Berg?
Maybe the torch of leadership has passed to all of us. If you think about it, it’s really been there all along. Real people in communities facing the real challenges of ecological breakdown and the assault on democracy by our own so-called democratic leaders. We’re all leaders, and it’s up to all of us to verbalize and demonstrate in our daily actions how freedom and ecology are so intertwined. To carry on the message of Abbey and others that wilderness and a healthy environment are essential components of a free human being:
“We can have wilderness without freedom; we can have wilderness without human life at all, but we cannot have freedom without wilderness, we cannot have freedom without leagues of open space beyond the cities, where boys and girls, men and women, can live at least part of their lives under no control but their own desires and abilities, free from any and all direct administration by their fellow men.” Freedom and Wilderness, The Journey Home.
Too many liberals these days correctly recognize the problem but fail to see the solution. They continue to look to status quo politics and Washington for answers to problems that can’t be solved in Washington. It’s as if they’re looking ahead at a raging river and the only escape is an old bridge that will almost certainly fail. That old bridge is called the status quo, and if we keep looking to the same old solutions, we most certainly will fail to meet the challenges ahead. What’s needed is a new approach. Something completely different. Something that’s the antithesis of the current approach, which is built on hierarchy, centralized control and continuous growth economics.
To be successful, we need to reestablish bioregionalism. We need decentralization and the abolishment of hierarchy. Community based democracy and steady state economics limited by biological and geophysical reality.
Everything must change, and it will change whether humans are on board or not.
As I listen to the national buffoon pontificate about Iraq and Vietnam and watch many of his fellow Republicans scurry like rats for political cover (Lamar Alexander is a good example), I’m convinced more than ever that one of the first steps for us to take is to consistently pursue and demand a sensible, radically different dialog about the role of war and militarism in our society. Howard Zinn wrote that “war inherently unjust, and the great challenge of our time is how to deal with evil, tyranny, and oppression without killing huge numbers of people.” Well, that’s one of the challenges. Perhaps a greater challenge is to get more people to see the root of the problem, which is an “economic system that needs war and makes war inevitable.”
We’re held hostage by militarism in this country and by an economic system that depends on militarism for its lifeline.
Changing this won’t be easy, especially in a nation where any criticism of the President or of our war du jour is quickly labeled anti-American or even treasonous. To which I respond, being critical of and challenging your government is probably the most American thing you can do.
You can’t be afraid to be vocal. You can’t fear the obloquy of the fearful, illiterate swarm that will want to tar and feather anyone that dares question the growth machine and its protectorate, the United States military.
This is what folks like Howard Zinn have been doing for years. Standing up and telling the truth, regardless of how ugly the truth may be. As Abbey said, “follow the truth no matter where it leads you.”
Now it’s our turn.
I think those who see the path are busy walking it these days. Peter Berg is working in South America, David Graeber is pursuing his academic work in London. Michael Parenti and his son are still writing and speaking, Ward Churchill has been largely marginalized and discredited and is seeking other venues.
The word is out, there’s much to be read and pondered. The spoken and written word is awash in a sea of trivia. Those who seek can find the path. Those who don’t even know to look are lost.
Fighting the status quo strengthens it, gives it further justification for increased oppression. There is nothing left but to quietly walk the path, be the changes we wish to see in the world, testify to the truth we know.
While it seems at times that no progress has been made, how ever we define progress, change has occurred. It’s difficult to see and appreciate in these dark times. Look to the growing realization that Western “civilization,” if that’s what it is, has failed as a sustainable model for human society. The new model is not yet fully articulated.
Film at eleven…
I really appreciated Zinn’s piece on Flag Day (Put your flags away!)and his criticisms of the nationalism that the flag seems to stand for (along with yellow magnetic ribbons and shirts with 9/11 firemen on them).
I am an immense believer in example. Whether its raising a 16 month old daugther or in my interactions with family and friends or where we buy our groceries what we do is important. I’ll paraphrase a saying that I keep from my Catholic upbringing (one of the few things I’m happy to retain for its universal appeal, I think it was St. Francis who said it), “Preach the gospel at all times, use words if necessary.” Zinn is important as are Chomsky and the others but how we respond to them and how we translate the words to action is more important.
I agree,gentlemen. That “be the change” thing makes a lot of sense.
It’s always satisfying to me when someone asks “why” I do certain things. Especially when it’s about riding your bike to work! I love that opportunity.
It’s also encouraging to know there are people out there doing all of the little things in their homes and in their communities that are so completely necessary.
I deeply appreciate everyone that stops by here and shares their thoughts and views.
Well, ten ed Abbeys or Chomskys won’t save the world. Either we do it or no one does. It’s amazing how it works, I got my friend into biking, next thing you know he’s reading Abbey and up in arms about the state of the environment over here in southeastern,NC. People will follow a good example if they have one. Less preaching, more doing, that’s the philosophy that’s going to get the ball rolling. Anyway, I slept out in Uwharrie National Forest last night and got about 2 hours of sleep because of the damn heat. That being said, I’m getting some shuteye..times like these I wish I was back in NY enjoying the cool nights.
I’m not so sure the world needs saving, Sean. I think the world will be okay.
Humans may need some help.
Global warming is simply a response to man’s hubris. In the end, it may kill a lot of us, but methinks the balance will be restored. It’s sort of like when your stomach regurgitates bad food.
I believe humans can make the world a pretty ugly place at times, but I don’t believe we can destroy it. We can certainly destroy ourselves and appear well on our way toward doing so.
The “human world,” or at least our interaction with the natural world. I agree with you on that. The earth will be here long after we are gone. It’s seen the coming and going of a lot of species, we happen to be only one of those. No more important are we to the earth than an amazonian frog. However, for our sake, and the relationship we need to have with the earth, things need to change. In the end though, the best thing for the earth would be the eradication of one species, and it isn’t the amazonian frog.
Just started reading On The Road. It’s strangely inviting, but still a little frantic. Have you ever read Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer? If not you should give it a read, only takes a night or two to go through it. Social experiment: not going to watch television for a whole week(ooohh wow). I’m going to see how many books I can kill, and take the time in front of the tube and replace it with productive things. I doubt I’ll go so far as to shoot the tv set though.
Kerouac is hard to follow. His style is interesting, but rambling. Dharma Bums was my favorite. Of the beats, I by far prefer the non-fiction and poetry of Snyder and the poetry of Lew Welch.
You should check out the writings of Everette Ruess, the early 20th century vagabond that disappeared in the canyon country of Utah in his twenties. I find his story and his writings much more interesting than Into The Wild. And yes, I have read the book.
There was a period in my life when I read anything and everything I could get my hands on that dealt with wilderness vagabonds, mountain climbing and backpacking journeys. It was a major focus for me.
Go rent Jeremiah Johnson with Robert Redford. One of my favorite films. After you turn your tee-vee back on!
I almost bought a book about him. I’ll probably get around to it after it get through the 3 books I’m trying to finish for the last few months. They talked about Ruess in Into The Wild, about how he etched NEMO into the rock wall and effectively disappeared. Jeremiah Johnson is one of my favorites too. Growing up my grandpa always watched westerns and was a huge Wayne fan so I grew up watching those movies.