This is where we need to think about our approach. Jensen says we need to stop berating ourselves and just act:

“It’s a wondrous thing to get up off your knees, to stand again (or for the first time) on your hind legs, to say “Fuck you”—classes in “verbal nonviolence” notwithstanding—or to say “You have no right,” or “No” to those in power, to choose where, when, and how you will express yourself, where, when, and how you will fight back, where, when, and how you will defend what and whom you love against those who exploit and destroy them. You should try it some time. It’s really fun.”

Noisy opposition is fun, and cathartic, but I believe as a tactic it’s been useless for decades. Look at the anti-globalization movement since Seattle — what anti-globalazation movement? Capital learned how to contain dissent.

my computer decided to do weird keyboard stuff>>

not only is dissent contained< it"s commodified< packaged as culture

this is why the initial question “how do i live my life” is still pertinent> back to the land is not an option> protest and shouting is worse than useless because it gives us the feel_good illusion of productive action without any productive consequences>>>> bright green techno_optimism relies on the abuser to save us>>> and those are all the easy options i can think of> none areany good> which means we have some more thinking to do> goddamn this punctuation situation makes writing difficult i”d better stop here and figure out my computer>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

We tend to create this imaginary division between organism and environment, when in reality the relationship between the two is dialectical- organisms partially create, and in turn are partially created by, the environment which they live in. So, humans are not alone in their consumptive practices- proportionally to their body mass, ants actually consume more than humans. So I think its incorrect to see the conspicuous consumption of humanity as cultural (aka unnatural). Jensen writes of the long history behind these practices. In fact, we could trace these practices back far past the evolution of humans, arguably to the base of the tree of life, wherever that may lie. What we need is not a consumption that is more or less natural, but a consumption that isn’t so damned destructive to the world around it.

Contrary to what Jensen writes, there is no THE environment, and never was (he uses the term world, but I’m sticking with environment). There is no such thing as a fixed state of things that life on Earth has ever been in. Life and the world it has existed in have continually fed back upon each other going back, again, to the base of the tree of life. Therefore, what we are trying to save is not THE environment, its AN environment. Why is this particular environment so important? Because we exist in it. We are not fighting for life, but for a specific version of life, one which has humans in it. Life is much stronger than climate change, or for that matter any human-induced catastrophe. Were the Earth to warm 5-6 degrees in the next 100 years, life would not come to an end. What we fight for is THIS environment, and there’s nothing wrong with that selfishness.

except, you are quite mistaken,

they will care how compassionate I was, that I voted green,
they will care that I was an enlightened, nice, non-violent, simple living person, and that I tried hard and was pure in thought and action.

As if I don’t live this way, there will be no one there to care. whilst thay are breathing good air, they will look back and be grateful for all those whose actions led to a better future.

Any and all means necessary?
Would you become the hangman to kill the murderer?

Cause and effect, all actions exist in connection to all others, and so your call for any and all means is destructive, violent, and will only play on the egos of those you seek to destroy. They will then react accordingly. act violent, and they will be violent. guilt trip them and they will come at you with all the power of their pride.

Such actions are not the path to lasting change.
Us and them, adversarial attitudes perpetuate the problem.

You seek root causes?
There is nothing wrong with the system, it’s the people within it. and you don’t change people for the better through any and all means neccesary.

Remember the serenity prayer, and treat others as you would be treated.

Cheers

Grillzey

“It is dangerous to us and to others to maintain the illusion that we are responsible for the destruction, an illusion that may have been appropriate when we were powerless. But we are not…
Here, once again, is the real story. Our self-assessed culpability for participating in the deathly system called civilization masks (and is a toxic mimic of) our infinitely greater sin. For what, then, are we culpable?

…we can be forgiven, because we did not create the system, and because our choices have been systematically eliminated (those in power kill the great runs of salmon, and then we feel guilty when we buy food at the grocery store? How dumb is that?). But we cannot and will not be forgiven for not breaking down the system that creates these problems, for not driving deforesters out of forests, for not driving polluters away from land and water and air, for not driving moneylenders from the temple that is our only home. We are culpable because we allow those in power to continue to destroy the planet.”

You can read the full excerpt at http://www.endgamethebook.org/Excerpts/10-Abuse%20pt4.htm