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Title: How I Brought Down Civilization Author: Greenrevolutionary Language: en Topics: anti-civ Source: Retrieved on August 26, 2009 from http://crimethinc.hyperphp.com/howibrought.htm
A question I am often asked is “What makes you think you can take down
civilization?” My response is pretty simple and consists of two parts —
the first part is that I am still relatively (compared to many others)
able-bodied and able-minded and the second part is that my past
experiences demonstrate that I have the capacity to take down
civilization.
Suppose you live on the edge of an unfathomably large spring full of
fresh clean water, and that you have in your possession an empty pot and
some pasta. Suppose then that you’d like to make some pasta, so you have
to boil some fresh clean water, but your pot is only large enough to
hold a miniscule percentage of the water at your disposal. Since you can
not boil all of the water away in its entirety does that mean you cannot
boil water? What do you say if somebody comes and asks “What makes you
think that you can boil water? You might say that the answer comes in
two parts...
I think obviously the same applies to civilization. The term
“civilization” is a little like the term “water”, the words themselves
don’t imply completeness or totality; only the existence of an undefined
portion. I don’t need to have the expertise I’d need to engineer a
supervirus in order to bring down or end civilization. I don’t need a
big magic button to push. What I need is the concrete context of a
physical time and place, as well as the willingness to commit actions I
know need to be done. I have taken down civilization many times before,
ended it even. That’s why I’m so sure I can end civilization in the
future, right now or at any time I’m willing to invest the time. I
really do have the physical capacity, and the knowledge and know-how to
do this.
The reason I’m writing this is that in the anti-civ community recently I
have seen the question asked over and over again “why should I throw my
life away doing something that could potentially make no difference?”
I’m not asking anybody to throw their life away. If you want to make
pasta, you’ve got to invest a few minutes of your life boiling the
water. Is that throwing your life away? You’re only wasting your life if
you would rather not have pasta if that meant you had to boil water. If
you do want pasta, then boiling water is an investment in your future,
and the future of whoever else might benefit from that pasta.
I used to get caught up with a lot of the same questions I get asked so
frequently by members outside the anti-civ community and even by a lot
of anti-civ sympathizers. I used to wonder “why should I try anything at
all if it’s not going to bring down civilization in its entirety?” But
then I realized that my goal was a bit too lofty in order for me to put
practical solutions into practice with my limited experience and
expertise. I started thinking about how I would define the end of
civilization, and that’s when I found my answer — context.
In order to measure my success in bringing down civilization I’ve got to
measure my impacts on a specific place during a specific period of time.
The next day I decided that the time was NOW and went hunting for a
specific place. It had to be a good and civilized place, so that I could
be sure I was liberating the place, and not colonizing it further with
my modifications. It didn’t take long for me to find it. Off of a side
road in a small town I found what must have at one time been a parking
lot among old abandoned factory buildings. There I found mother nature
leading the charge as usual. No civilized human being cared about this
piece of land and I think that liberating it was probably even legal —
if not it was not illegal enough for anyone to bother reprimanding me. I
suppose I could have been written a ticket of some kind if someone was
really irritated. Of course I was a little nervous committing my first
act as an anti-civ warrior, but in the context of that time and place I
could not lose. There it was; stretched out over the ground before me
was civilization, in all its evil glory, holding the dying landbase
hostage under a blanket pavement. The situation put civilization totally
at my mercy whilst I myself was relatively invulnerable. The place was
here and the time was now.
The parking lot was big and the area covered by the old abandoned
factory buildings surrounding it was even bigger. This was my first time
and I did not want to bite off more than I could chew. I decided that an
approximately six by six foot plot would be a good start for now. There
were weeds poking out of the pavement in some places, and small trees
towering out of the pavement in others. It seemed almost like the
assaulted landbase beneath was winning the battle without my help. I
thought for a moment that maybe it wouldn’t be worth my time to do this,
since the landbase itself was clearly capable of overtaking the
civilization which burdened it. I almost turned back and then I realize
that this wasn’t about the six by six foot plot of pavement that I was
about to tear up, it was a question of identity. Am I part of the
landbase or am I separate from it, that was the question. If the
landbase can handle it on it’s own and I am part of the landbase then
any work I do is just me doing my part as a part of the landbase. Why
should I give this particular morsel of civilization a pass now, just
when I’ve got it totally at my mercy in a situation where I myself am
relatively invincible? I didn’t have anything better to do at the time;
if I had decided it wasn’t worth the time I would not have gone out and
blown up a dam...I would have hopped back on my bike and headed home or
gone for a walk; or done something equally useless. I would have chosen
to identify myself with civilization as opposed to the landbase.
So instead I searched for a six by six plot that was relatively unbroken
by the weeds and trees, and I pried up all the pavement and dumped it
atop of a pre-existing pile of rubble. It took about 20 minutes, the
pavement was already pretty weak and crumbled in most places. I felt
proud as I worked and when I completed that spot I looked around at the
rest of the living things that were reconquering the area — of which I
was now one. Then it hit me...I had just dismantled civilization. I was
not at all tired or exerted and I had not seen a human being there at
all as I worked. I decided to stay a little longer and work a little
more. Before I knew it the sun was setting and the pile of rubble was
twice as big as it had been before I got there and started adding to it.
Without picking the stem itself, I plucked all the little parachute
seeds off of several dandelions and spread them around about the area I
had just liberated. The next day I returned with dill seeds also, and
got back to work. Since that time I think I’ve liberated space enough to
park 15 cars or so at that area, plus I’ve gotten comfortable enough to
do lots of other work. That’s why when somebody asks me, “What makes you
think you can dismantle civilization?” I tell them: “Two things; Past
experience and the fact that I’m still relatively able-bodied. It’s
easier than you think.”
And never once have I felt like I’ve been throwing my life away by doing
things like this. In fact I’ve always felt like I’ve been investing in
my future and that of the landbase. I’ve been becoming more skilled and
more mentally capable of taking action, and more experienced taking
actions safely and anonymously. Every time I do something like this I
make the world a better place and make myself a better warrior. I am
making a difference, regardless of what anybody says. If you don’t
believe me then go check out the old abandoned parking lot I’ve been
working on. The other day I witnessed a small burrow of some kind in the
tough compacted soil that would still be underneath of concrete if it
weren’t for me. I witnessed the replacement of civilization by wild
nature. This is not a waste of my life and no matter how big the actions
get, if I am ever spending the remainder of my life in a prison cell
somewhere, I don’t see how I could look back on my actions as a waste of
my life. Even if I’m sentenced to life in prison, my life will not be
over. As long as I still have life left in me I will fight. I refuse to
resign my own life, if they really want it they’re going to have to take
it from me. That will take more than locking me up in a box. I won’t
fold this hand, it may be the only one I’m ever dealt and I’m already
all in; just like everyone else.