Is Direct Action, as practiced by
ALF and
ELF, terrorism? The United States thinks so, and and it has lumped all direct action eco-activism that disrupts the economic profit machine through the purposeful destruction of property as terroristic acts (
House of Rep. Subcommittee, June 9, 1998). However, as time has passed, the interpretation of what constitutes ecoterrorism is evolving to include the simple distribution of environmental literature (
Green Is the New Red -- Book Trailer from Will Potter) and, recently, the disruption of an auction for "22,000 acres of land is Utah national parks" (
Potter, Tim DeChristopher Sentenced).
Just how effective are these acts of so called ecoterrorism? I'm not sure. However, the handling of the subject of and the effectiveness of the environmental direct action movement is subject of
Burning Rage of a Dying Planet: Speaking for the Earth Liberation Front by
Craig Rosebraugh. The book is Rosebraugh's recounting of his time working as the sole contact for
ELF, the
Earth Liberation Front. Regardless of personal conviction or political leaning, Rosebraugh's book is important because it captures not only the historical accounting of his journey with the
Earth Liberation Front, but also because it captures the passion of an underground social movement in the United States.
Social Moments are critical. They awaken the human spirit and help to evolve social structures. Without social movements, the United States would still practice slavery and women would not still not be able to vote. I'm normally not a fan of Wikipedia, but Wikipedia does have a good
List of Social Movements. Social movements bring about change to governments that would stagnate otherwise. Even now, in Washington, there is battle raging because of a new social moment to control government spending. Why is it that liberal social moments, mostly designed to evolve human interaction and human interaction with our life support system (Mother Earth), singled out and targeted as terroristic while so-called conservative social movements that debilitate the functioning of our government heralded as reformist? Regardless, social moments, despite political side-taking, do serve an important purpose in the United States. Social Moments apply pressure on a system that would stagnate otherwise. Social Movements are what make America great.
However, what happens when a social moment is given the label of terrorism? Rosebraugh does an excellent job of answering that question in his book. First, Rosebraugh does put forward that direct action should not be put in the same category as actions that harm or take human life. Instead, it seems that Rosenbraugh despite the violent looking acts of monkeywrenching, hindering earth raping and natural resource sucking buildings and machines, property destruction should be seen as nonviolent acts of protest. I'm not sure I'm convinced. Yet, what Rosebraugh book was able to convince of was that social moments are critical. When no one seems to be listening, people need a way to be heard. Let's just hope that we don't tear each other asunder before we can evolve together.
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In my search to better understand the direct action movement, I will next read
Confessions of an Eco-Warrior by Dave Foreman, the co-founder of
EarthFirst!. I'm trying to write a better story (perhaps novel) that captures the spirit of the direct action movement. My first attempt is my book of connected short stories,
The Many Lives of Inez Wick. I'm not sure of it's merit or success, so I'm going to try again, after a period of research.
