Et Voila! Sara turns yet another technological corner and figures out how to post videos to her blog. And who better to be first than that Prophet who speaks with a fiery tongue, Derrick Jensen.
In continuation of the questions: Whose side am I on? What would I give? This clip is part of a longer interview – more portions of it can be found on YouTube, and I highly recommend all of them.
Shakaarr said,
July 17, 2007 at 3:04 am
Very impressive. Excellent selection, Sara. Derrick Jensen never ceases to amaze me with his profound grasp of ‘how bad it really is’ and what would truly be necessary to change it. He is truly a Prophet of our time.
Cathryn said,
July 17, 2007 at 11:08 pm
I think that Derrick actually does not have an appreciation for the integral relationship of culture to Earth. While it is true that the hierarchy of needs will dictate preoccupation of future generations, it is also true that that hierarchy includes the concrete manifestations of theoretical concepts such as freedom from oppression and domination, etc as well as the ability to acquire food – and, that the two are, in fact, inextricably linked. So, I think that it is important to remember that there is not one “fundamental” evil NOR is there hierarchy of evils. There is the manifestation of many evils with a milew of cultural assumptions at its root. I, of course, just heard this short clip and do not know if he deals squarely and evenly with concepts of oppression in his works. I do think he is an extremely important voice.
gospelpagan said,
July 17, 2007 at 11:38 pm
Hi Catherine,
I assure you, Jensen deals squarely with oppression in his work – all forms of it. His book The Culture of Make Believe deals specifically with that issue. His entire body of work is about the inextricable ties between oppression/domination, ecology, the rights of indigenous peoples, issues of racism, sexism, etc.
As always, however, I appreciate your uncompromising dedication to the employment of a critical hermeneutic of suspicion.
-S
Cathryn said,
July 18, 2007 at 12:54 am
I figured that might be the case, but I would have to read the works in order to comment, I suppose. However, and I am sure this will piss off lots of people, but I see white fella + cult-like adoration, and I get a little squirrely. Maybe that’s why in over 10 years of hearing fascinating interviews, I have never read his books (no offense, Derrick). Maybe I am just not interested in a male leader. I was bullied around by dudes in the environmetal movement in the 90s. I am sure the deficiency is on my part.
All hail great male leaders. I bow before whichever great phallous (and there so many to choose from) speaks the Radical Truth. Just kiddin’
Anyway, I liked the interview and the others I have heard over the years. He’s a great voice.
Cathryn said,
July 18, 2007 at 1:07 am
Ah, yes, here it is – I guess I am deathly sick of the great Male Messiah. And, I for one would like to question why we construct the archetype over and over and over and over ad infinitum (and please, folks, don’t tell me there is a cosmological reason for it). I DO NOT think that Jensen is making himself out to be a messiah, obviously this is antethetical to his whole worldview. I do think that he is prime for the conference of messiah-hood, however. And that makes me…well, tired.
Again, I like DJ, I think he smart as a whip and bold and amazing and what have you. Its the patriarchy that has me puking.
gospelpagan said,
July 18, 2007 at 1:57 am
I understand that, Catherine. I am not making him out to be a messiah or exhibiting any cult-like behavior here that I am aware of. There are many prophets in the world, not all are men, and you know I think that. I appreciate, again, your comments because I too see a deficit of people taking the work of women visionaries as seriously as they take that of men, but this is a symptom of the same patriarchal problem everywhere. This fact does not distract from the fact that I believe that what Jensen is saying in this particular clip is vitally important.
-S
Cathryn said,
July 18, 2007 at 3:47 pm
Suffice it to say, I wasn’t accusing you of making him out to be a meesiah. I was saying that that happens in these situations, and I was heavily involved in the deep ecology movement in the ’90s, and I saw it then. I have been exposed to his ideas for quite a long time now, and, as I stated, I think he is important also. I wasn’t thinking of you personally, of course, just of revolutionary movements in general. I was trying to observe the system. I will refrain from doing demographic analysis in this context in the future. I don’t want to distract from the important prophetic ideas he puts forward.
coloradocelt said,
July 25, 2007 at 8:48 pm
Testify. The scale of the struggle that is going to be required of all of us is truly daunting. But lets remember how precious those things are that we need to fight for. I will be checking out his other YouTube posts.