I'm in full agreement with Eisenstein's position that The Basic Problem is that we have separated ourselves in a deep fundamental way from nature and the rest of the universe. That separation (the dualism of man vs. nature, us vs. it, spirit vs. matter) gave rise to the cultural narrative we tell ourselves -- the co-created memetic fabric in which we all function. This dualism and the tools that sprang from it gave us insulin, but they also gave us the Love Canal. The question to me is whether the benefits of our separation have been worth the price. Perhaps at a deeper level the question is whether the apparent benefits are even real or if we simply define them as benefits so as to support the cultural narrative we are telling ourselves. It comes down to what we decide "better" means.
The one aspect of this situation that makes me certain to my core that the benefits have not been worth the price is the impact that our cultural narrative of "growth and dominion" has had on the rest of the living planet. It's not "hubris" in the colloquial sense that has caused us to do (and accept) this damage. This sort of hubris is a consequence of our separation, as is the "growth and dominion" narrative of which it is an expression. First we set ourselves apart from nature, then we set ourselves above it, arrogating to our species the right to manipulate all of nature to our own ends.
Even overpopulation is better understood as merely a consequence of our separation rather than simply as one source of our current troubles. Of course, the exact same understanding applies to the flip side of that coin, overconsumption. The root cause of both overpopulation and overconsumption is our belief that we are separate from the the natural world. Until that basic separation is healed, all attempts to "fix" both overconsumption and overpopulation are doomed to failure.
The overarching fear that so many people feel when faced with the possibility that our path of "growth and dominion" may falter is the result of an egoic identity crisis. We take our identity largely from the world outside rather than from within ourselves, which is yet another legacy of separation. As a result when the outside world changes our sense of self is threatened, and we feel this as the threat of dissolution or annihilation. This is why such Herculean effort is being expended to preserve business as usual -- to keep driving, farming, consuming, communicating just as before, no matter what changes occur in the outer world. For many of us, any deviation from that path carries a threat of psychic annihilation that is too painful to accept, or even admit.
Regarding anarcho-primitivism, I think it's a very perceptive philosophy when it comes to identifying how we got into this mess. However, after reading more Jensen in the last couple of days, I've decided that the "ecodefense" aspect of that stream that promotes the active destruction of civilization holds no answers for me, but for slightly unexpected reasons.
The first reason is that the playing field of our civilization is owned by the
Guardian Institutions. They define the game, they set the rules and enforce them. If you play on that field, you axiomatically accept the definition of the game that is in play. Then, you either follow the rules or you are penalized. And the Guardian Institutions are (or at least pay for) the referees. In a less abstract way, it works like this:
The world's power brokers have long since defined material growth as the Primary Good of civilization. To enable that growth they promote and defend the view that humanity is the only species of importance, and that everything else on the planet, living or not, is part of our resource base. They do everything in their power to co-opt people into their world view, in the name of reducing resistance to it. In effect, "we" become "them"
Whenever anyone attempts to challenge that view directly, they are treated like foreign cells within a living body. Our civilization has an immune system composed of courts, police, legislatures and editorial boards that leap to neutralize such interlopers. The price exacted from a person or group for attacking the body of civilization is precisely the same as the price paid by an intruding disease cell in a living body -- annihilation. The immune system of civilization is both powerful and pervasive because it consists not just of "them", we are a part of it too. As a result direct attacks on a functioning civilization are pretty much doomed from the outset (attacks on a failing civilization, like diseases in a body with a failing immune system, are of course a different story).
While the power brokers of civilization may from time to time grant their opponents some small victory (like Clayquot Sound, for instance), the idea of permitting popular action to assault the basis of civilization is just not in the cards.
A more subtle reason why direct anti-civilization action is a poor idea is that it is by definition conducted within civilization's rules. The simple fact that you fight against those rules means that even if you don't think you are bound
by them you are bound
to them. In Buddhist language this is an attachment, and as such leads to suffering. An inability to detach from something means you are in some way dependent on it for your identity (sound familiar?). As a result, the civilization/anarchist dialectic cannot result in a transformation of our situation, because each is bound to the other, and in some sense is dependent on the other. What will resolve this situation is not some variation of thesis, antithesis and synthesis, but transformation -- we need a true revolution.
What form might this revolution take, if it can't use the current situation to define itself? It must emerge in some sense orthogonal to the existing narrative. The conclusion I've come to is that it requires a transformation in consciousness. In order to heal our separation from nature, we must heal the separation within ourselves. Fortunately that is possible, and a lot of groups (like
The Inner Journey that I'm part of) specialize in doing just that. Once that process is underway, you become less and less accessible to the Guardian Institutions, because the things you are trying to circumvent through your awakening are precisely the implanted filters, patterns and programs that they rely on to maintain their game. If you can place yourself beyond their psychic reach, you become a free agent.
Personal awakening is the one true revolutionary act. Its power and consequences far outweigh any petition, sit-in, or even bombing a dam or impeding whalers. While it may not seem like much, that derogatory voice in your head is really just more of the Guardian Institutions' programming:
"We are the True Borg, there can be nothing outside of us, resistance is futile." Don't believe that voice for a second -- there is a good reason the guardians try so hard to marginalize this course of action.
Awakening won't directly give you the answers on to how to lead your life. It will allow you to recognize those answers when they appear in front of you. And that, my friend, is true personal power.