The Entitlement That Is Civilization

I just finished reading Derrick Jensen's Endgame Vol 1 and 2. I have never read so much so fast. Civilization is killing us. I have followed the peak oil crowd for sometime now but this is beyond the scope of the looming oil fiasco. Jensen has called out the big boy in charge. He accuses civilization of murder. Much like Tim Wise's book White Like Me blew my mind about privilege Jensen's book did the same for me when it comes to civilization itself. Abuse is rampant and the denial is deep. Do we act or do we hope peak oil will take care of it for us? The entitlement humans have is obvious but somehow we have a veil that blinds us to it. There is no doubt the planet is in peril and DJ wants action from us. This action is dangerous and necessary but the risks keep most of us from acting. I love the twenty premises he uses to challenge the fence sitters. Hope is not working and pacifism is it's ugly brother.

Well I'll tell ya Pilgrim

I have a picture on my Facebook page where my wife and I are dressed up like Pilgrims. We live in AZ and obviously immigration is all over our local headlines. Unfortunately Sheriff Joe Arpaio is the patron saint of racists in our state and we get to see him all over the news. We decided a couple of years ago to be Pilgrims for Halloween and place signs around our necks that read, "Original Illegal Aliens." We got a little bit of attention that night and a tad more when I placed it as my profile picture the last two Thanksgivings. Recently the picture gained the attention of radical feminist Nikki Craft. She liked it enough to take the image and add her own artistic flare to it. I have been fortunate enough to have some small email exchanges with her. She is amazing and her work and activism speak for themselves. I have been reading some pieces she suggested (after I inquired) and I'm being challenged daily about how I view the world. I have met some amazing people recently via the Internet and I look forward to the journey of exploring new thoughts and ideas. Here is a link to the picture if you're interested.

www.nikkicraft.com/genocide/index.html

2010

As the year ends many thoughts and ideas are running through my mind. Global warming, civilization collapsing, racism, sexism, homophobia, education, Uganda and The Peace Corp. To prevent myself from going insane I keep doing research which seems like a really stupid way to cope but I find it healthy. I need to figure out where I'm going and who is coming with me. What are my gifts and how can they help make the world a better place?

Guy is the Man

A Guy I've never met is living in a mud hut.

A Guy I've never met is predicting the end of humanity.

A Guy I never met has crunched all the numbers and looked at all the facts.

A Guy I never met is living in the middle of nowhere.

A Guy who people consider radical or even crazy has left his teaching career at a major university.

A Guy I never met has told us nature always bats last.

This Guy is just a man and I am thankful he is out there for humanity. Guy McPherson.

Talkin' Privilege

A couple of weeks ago I presented a workshop for Maricopa County employees. It was for a diversity conference and it included a nice range of social justice topics. My workshop was titled "The Disease of Whiteness." I did a morning and an afternoon session and had about 30 participants in each session. I received many compliments and it was nice to finally have white men give me some props. I have been asked to present again by another department within the county so it seems maybe the message of justice is beginning to reach some people.

A few friends of mine presented as well and one group of friends made a very positive impression. Truality is the name of their group and they bring a fresh approach to many issues. You can see their work at Truality.org and please look for their social network site soon at Mytruality.com.

Libertarian Joke

Ok I'm a little tired of adding white males to my Facebook account and looking at their political affiliation and reading LIBERTARIAN. Really? Hard to believe white guys want the government to stay out of their privileged lives. Now that we have a two century plus head start we want the government out of our business. Typical. My white boys never let me down. Keep on denying.

Time to march on DC

People of color, LGBTQ, women, undocumented people, workers, and numerous other people who are oppressed and have extra hurdles to overcome to attain the "American Dream"are tired of doing it alone. The brunt of responsibility to remove these barriers is upon the shoulders of white men. We have created a society of inequity and called it equality. We are lying to ourselves. When we say we want equality I believe most of us are lying to ourselves again. What would true equality look like? We wouldn't recognize it because we have no idea what that concept even means. Having a few people in powerful positions or with celebrity status does not represent equality. In fact it doesn't represent shit.



So as I sit in my stucco mcmansion while Mexicans are blowing leaves around in my white neigborhood before the extreme heat of the day I realize that I'm not really doing enough to make real change. Real change may be very uncomfortable for me. Why change then? Simple. There is no god and therefore the judgement of my life presides within me. The other reason is that my life will be better (Stay tuned for a blog on how).I am my executioner and the time has come to shit or...well you know. SO I propose that white men march on Washington DC and demand equality for all. Who better to make real change than those who created the status quo? More to come...