“If a Tree Falls: a Story of the Earth Liberation Front” is a powerful
documentary on what the ruling elite have dubbed eco-terrorists. After
you have finished watching it, you will wonder who should be on trial,
the mostly young and politically naïve activists who were responsible
for some millions of dollars in damages but no loss of life. Or the
lumber magnates who are busily at work cutting down the remaining 5
percent of old-growth forests—not to speak of the oil company executives
who brought you the Gulf of Mexico spill. Their drive for profit
threatens the future of all humanity while the ELF arsonists were guilty
of little more throwing a monkey wrench into a destructive system.
Ironically, the notion of throwing a monkey wrench into the system was
the subject of arguably one of the first “deep ecology” novels, “The
Monkey Wrench Gang” by Edward Abbey that was published in 1975. The wiki
on the novel states:
The book may have been the inspiration for Dave Foreman’s and Mike
Roselle’s creation of Earth First!, a direct action environmental
organization that often advocates much of the minor vandalism depicted
in the book. Many scenes of vandalism and ecologically-motivated mayhem,
including a billboard burning at the beginning of the book and the use
of caltrops to elude pursuing police, are presented in sufficient detail
as to form a skeletal how-to for would-be saboteurs. This has influenced
the Earth Liberation Front.
Life, alas, is far more complicated than fiction, in which plucky heroes
triumph over evil. In a novel, a well placed firebomb might discourage a
corporate despoiler but in the real world, the businessmen will pay for
the damages with insurance and plunge ahead, making sure to make an
amalgam between the underground activists and those who are using mass
action to protect the environment.
full: http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2011/06/21/if-a-tree-falls/
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