The philosophy of eco-terrorism.From 1996 to 2001 a shadowy group of eco-terrorists variously calling itself the Earth Liberation Front The Earth Liberation Front (ELF) is the collective name for anonymous and autonomous individuals or groups that, according to the now defunct Earth Liberation Front Press Office, use "economic sabotage and guerrilla warfare to stop the exploitation and destruction of the or the Animal Liberation Front The Animal Liberation Front (ALF) is a name used internationally by those who, through the means of direct action, oppose the use of animals as property or resources through capitalizing on the destruction and experimentation of animals. attacked targets in the western United States Noun 1. western United States - the region of the United States lying to the west of the Mississippi River West Santa Fe Trail - a trail that extends from Missouri to New Mexico; an important route for settlers moving west in the 19th century , destroying properties that the group claimed threatened the environment. The attacks culminated with a spectacular and devastating dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. blaze, set by arsonists, at a Vail, Colorado, ski resort. After a lengthy federal investigation, the perpetrators were apprehended and tried for their crimes, giving occasion for journalist Matt Rasmussen to investigate the motivations of the ELF terrorists. His lengthy and somewhat sympathetic report appears in the January/February issue of Orion Magazine, a left-leaning environmentalist environmentalist a person with an interest and knowledge about the interaction of humans and animals with the environment. journal. One of the revelations to come out of Rasmussen's report is that some of the intellectual lineage of the eco-terror movement can be traced back to radical academic John Zerzan, a one-time confidant of Unabomber Ted Kaczynski. According to Rasmussen, "In the '60s [Zerzan] was a Marxist and a Maoist and a Vietnam protester.... He now believes that Paleolithic humans and the few remaining primitive cultures provide the best models for how humans should subsist sub·sist v. sub·sist·ed, sub·sist·ing, sub·sists v.intr. 1. a. To exist; be. b. To remain or continue in existence. 2. " The eco-terrorists believed that vision could and should be brought to reality by violently attacking the properties of those they saw as enemies. One of the ringleaders of the attacks was Bill Rodgers, who committed suicide after being arrested for his role in the crimes. "Certain human cultures have been waging war against the Earth for millennia," Rodgers said in a letter he wrote before suffocating suf·fo·cate v. suf·fo·cat·ed, suf·fo·cat·ing, suf·fo·cates v.tr. 1. To kill or destroy by preventing access of air or oxygen. 2. To impair the respiration of; asphyxiate. 3. himself with a plastic bag. "I chose to fight on the side of bears, mountain lions, skunks, bats, saguaros, cliff rose and all things wild. I am just the most recent casualty in that war. But tonight I have made a jail break--I am returning home, to the Earth, to the place of my origins." Rasmussen concludes by wondering if the ELF radicals will someday be remembered as symbols of "courage and righteousness." But that is incomprehensible since they seek nothing less than the destruction of civilization, a la Zerzan. To some that may sound like a lofty ideal, but it means nothing less than the end of modern farming, the end of modern sanitation, the end of modern power generation, the end of modern transport--and the deaths of billions of people. |
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