More projection than action

This is the first volume of Derrick Jensen's magnum opus "Endgame", subtitled "The Problem of Civilization". Jensen is currently one of the leaders of DGR, an extreme eco-radical group on the fringes of the environmentalist movement. I've previously posted a critical review of their main policy statement, "Deep Green Resistance", co-authored by Jensen, Lierre Keith and Aric McBay (the latter has since left the DGR, perhaps for greener pastures). "Endgame" is Jensen's more personal statement, and contains both political and personal reflections.

The author's philosophy could be considered a mixture of deep ecology and anarchist activism: not just capitalism or the modern state, but "civilization" is the problem, and the only way to root it out is by violent action. A large part of "Endgame" consists of attacks on pacifism, and constant calls to blow up dams. The majority of the civilized will never support this perspective, since the entire culture is violent, abusive and insane. This makes it unclear how the eco-terrorists will ever be able to succeed, but presumably Jensen is hoping for a synergistic effect, whereby violent action and the resource-depletion caused by civilization together will make the system collapse. At one point, he dreams of building an E-weapon, and take out all of civilization by himself! What the insane majority would do to the eco-radicals after finding out who is responsible, is, I suppose, an interesting question...

Groups who call for violent action usually do so in order to actually accomplish something concrete: stage a coup d'etat, perhaps, or throw out foreign troops. Revolutionary groups believe that society can be fundamentally transformed, provided the establishment is first overthrown en toto. However, Jensen doesn't believe that present-day society ("civilization") can be fundamentally transformed. It can only be smashed, but then he concedes that the system might very well collapse all by itself. But if so, what's the point of blowing up dams and stage other (somewhat demanding) sabotage actions, risking immediate retaliation from the state and the insane majority? The violence advocated by Jensen will quickly degenerate into symbolic grandstanding or complete nihilism. Unless, of course, the actual grandstanding is the *talk* about violence. In their strategy statement, the DGR explicitly says that the legal organization (i.e. DGR) shouldn't have any contacts with the underground organization (the actual eco-terrorists), suggesting that Jensen and his associates have no particular plans to blow up anything at all! The rest of the radical left seem more worried about the DGR's opposition to transgenderism, than to them actually taking out a dam or oil rig...

Jensen is a good writer. If you are interested in eco-radicalism (for reasons best known to yourself), you might find his two-volume work to be of some interest. However, I felt almost suffocated by the constant undertone of violence and darkness. I suppose this is Jensen's evocative way of telling us how sick and insane our culture has become. He has a certain point, of course, but I can't help thinking that there is some kind of psychological projection going on here, and that there is more projection than endgame action in this book...