Anarchist nutjob
OK, this has nothing to do with The South of Iowa, but I thought I'd bring it up as an example of the nutjobs that share our oxygen/nitrogen supply.
His name is John Zerzan, and if you are reading this while siting in your comfortable chair in some sort of shelter with a cloth-like substance on your back, he is against you.
Zerzan is what you call an "anarcho-primitivist". Basically put, the "manifesto" of such people is that the shift from hunter-gatherer society to agriculture years ago has caused much destruction, oppression, and over all bad stuff. They claim that prior to civilization, "there generally existed ample leisure time, considerable gender autonomy and equality, a non-destructive approach to the natural world, the absence of organized violence, no mediating or formal institutions, and strong health and robusticity."
Think Ted Kaczynski, and you get an insight into this nutjob.
When one considers the motives of a person, usually you just have to "follow the money". Unfortunately, there's no monetary benefit to anarcho-primitivism; you can't get rich trading grey rocks for black ones.
So, what is the motivation of Zerzan? The opportunity to have a struggle in his life by which he can be identified with. As usual of the Left, having a struggle is noble and provides ego-building social capital. He is recognized for his "alternative" views, and as such, he is reverred and celebrated.
My guess is that Zerzan couldn't survive more than a day in the wilderness if he really put his anarcho-primitivist beliefs into action. A bear would make quick work of him.
I'm not defending all-out consumerism in this diatribe; it is quite possible and easy to overindulge in what our civilization has to offer, to immerse oneself to the point of suffocation. However, we must recognize the benefits created by working together in a capitalist marketplace. Sure, it may not be perfect, but we know nothing on Earth can be.
Zerzan can go do his anarcho-primitivism thing on his own turf; if it works, we'll all want to shed our IPods and Starbucks coffee and join him in a hunt of wild elk with sticks and rocks. Until then, I'll stick with the current civilization, good or bad, that we've been dealt.
His name is John Zerzan, and if you are reading this while siting in your comfortable chair in some sort of shelter with a cloth-like substance on your back, he is against you.
Zerzan is what you call an "anarcho-primitivist". Basically put, the "manifesto" of such people is that the shift from hunter-gatherer society to agriculture years ago has caused much destruction, oppression, and over all bad stuff. They claim that prior to civilization, "there generally existed ample leisure time, considerable gender autonomy and equality, a non-destructive approach to the natural world, the absence of organized violence, no mediating or formal institutions, and strong health and robusticity."
Think Ted Kaczynski, and you get an insight into this nutjob.
When one considers the motives of a person, usually you just have to "follow the money". Unfortunately, there's no monetary benefit to anarcho-primitivism; you can't get rich trading grey rocks for black ones.
So, what is the motivation of Zerzan? The opportunity to have a struggle in his life by which he can be identified with. As usual of the Left, having a struggle is noble and provides ego-building social capital. He is recognized for his "alternative" views, and as such, he is reverred and celebrated.
My guess is that Zerzan couldn't survive more than a day in the wilderness if he really put his anarcho-primitivist beliefs into action. A bear would make quick work of him.
I'm not defending all-out consumerism in this diatribe; it is quite possible and easy to overindulge in what our civilization has to offer, to immerse oneself to the point of suffocation. However, we must recognize the benefits created by working together in a capitalist marketplace. Sure, it may not be perfect, but we know nothing on Earth can be.
Zerzan can go do his anarcho-primitivism thing on his own turf; if it works, we'll all want to shed our IPods and Starbucks coffee and join him in a hunt of wild elk with sticks and rocks. Until then, I'll stick with the current civilization, good or bad, that we've been dealt.
posted by bgunzy at 11/06/2006 07:10:00 PM
3 Comments:
That sure is a nice mass produced cotton-poly blend shirt he is wearing in that wikipedia picture. He must have hunted for and gathered the materials to make it.
It usually doesn't take long to discover hypocrisy in asshats like this.
Asshat? Haven't heard that one before...do you wear a donkey on your head?
"However, we must recognize the benefits created by working together in a capitalist marketplace."
Here is what real humans do. They read the works of John Zerzan, instead of browsing them on the internet, and then actually think about the prefix "anarcho-" (with organic synapses and axons, not binary code input/output channels), and they do some etymological research on the term. Anarchism is order without leaders and coercion, without competition and exploitation, the violent hallmarks of capitalism and other authoritarian structures. You can make fun on the internet all you want, and then temper your "diatribe" by assuring that you aren't advocating all-out consumerism (oh, thanks), but time will come, friend. Time will come when the screen in front of you is no longer the god-machine occupying your attention.
PS You're a fucking moron.
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