We see a saner planet in our future.
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When you click on the Earth First! (EF!) website, you're greeted with a no-holds-barred introduction:
"Are you tired of namby-pamby environmental groups? Are you tired of overpaid corporate environmentalists who suck up to bureaucrats and industry? Have you become disempowered by the reductionist approach of environmental professionals and scientists?"
In 2010, I think we can all answer "yes" to each of those questions, huh?
EF! came to be in 1979 "in response to a lethargic, compromising, and increasingly corporate environmental community. Earth First! takes a decidedly different tack towards environmental issues. We believe in using all the tools in the tool box, ranging from grassroots organizing and involvement in the legal process to civil disobedience and monkeywrenching."
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If you'd like to start an EF! group in your town, here's what they suggest:
- Educate yourself on the ways you can attract attention to environmental concerns and dissuade people and corporations from destroying the Earth.
- Learn the law. While getting arrested will often bring increased media attention, weigh all the options. Freedom is an important asset. Avoiding jail is sometimes a better strategy.
- Become aware of the risks to which you will be exposed. Activists are often arrested during legal actions by police ignorant of the law.
- Establish a web site for your local area so that anyone may get in touch with you and learn what you're doing to help.
- Gather people to help instigate actions and spread the word on what needs to be done to protect the Earth.
(Contact greg7@EarthFirst.org for specifics)
A Few More Thoughts on How to Put the Earth First in 2010
2. Explore new avenues of activism
3. Be aware of the Green Scare
4. Remember the Magic Words: "I am going to remain silent. I would like to see a lawyer."
Radical in 2010
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