Defending the earth: surveying our options

But before any of this takes place, what appears to be required is the creation of a blueprint of a truly eco-logical society so that we would know what we are attempting to achieve (unlike, for example, the directionless Occupy Movement). A network of the world's leading thinkers would collectively conceive this blueprint, in the process determining what kind of political-economic structure would be the most environmentally sound. (For more discussion of the idea of a blueprint, refer to my article "The Greater Planetary Good.")

Now, while peaceful reform or replacement of the System would obviously be the most desirable way forward, we would be exceedingly naïve if we assumed that peaceful pressure would succeed. On the contrary, history shows that reform or transformation movements are typically met with resistance from the ruling order. For any real concessions entail surrendering wealth and power to varying degrees. So my wager is that the power elite would desperately fight any peaceful attempts to create the requisite change.

What, then, if the peaceful options are ineffective?

Recalling the alleyway hypothetical, we must have the courage to seriously consider and implement the most radical form of counter-attack, especially when all other options have been exhausted: violent counter-attack. Like the victim in our analogy, we might be forced to violently fight back, kicking and screaming. As confronting as this last option initially appears, it can be rationally justified, at least in terms of self-defence and its corollary- what I call "other-defence."

First, the self-defence argument: like the alleyway assault, the System's attack is unprovoked, and since we humans are of the Earth, we would bedefending ourselves even as we're defending non-human Nature. So there's a strong sense here of any counter-attack being a self-defensive one. And as any reasonable justice system recognizes, self-defence is a rigorous justification for violence.

While the self-defence argument is rigorous to the point of being self-evident, it nonetheless initially appears strange and uncanny in this context- why? I think there are a few basic factors at play here. First of all, unfortunately we human chauvinists consider ourselves apart from the Earth rather than an intrinsic part of it. So we ordinarily misunderstand "ecological violence" as something that is basically inflicted upon the rest of Nature, even though we experience a variety of its consequences.

Furthermore, "ecological violence" is not ordinarily construed as a pervasive systemic attack by the global order but rather as isolated- if sometimes concentrated- acts of environmental devastation by wayward individuals, groups, or corporations. Additionally, the power elite may not recognize itself as an aggressor, but, on the contrary, as the humanity-saving catalyst of political "freedom" and economic "development" (with maybe some "minor ecological side-effects"). These factors obscure the reality: that neoliberalism is at war with the world. Such factors make the self-defence argument appear strange and uncanny.

The other thing to note here is that any violent counter-attack would obviously be more than self-defence, given that we humans obviously are not the only ones who constitute the Earth: by defending ourselves against a ruling order that exploits and oppresses us, we would also be defending a world that cannot defend itself (though one might mount the argument that it is "fighting back" in terms of those natural catastrophes that are possibly/probably being induced by human actions). To the extent that Nature cannot defend itself, in defending ourselves we would also be defending the Earth-others that co-constitute our cosmic home. Our counter-attack would thus be both a self-defence and an "other-defence."

By way of conclusion or non-conclusion: you may have noted that I do not state in my alleyway story who ends up "victorious," leaving the "ending" open-ended, just as we can't say for sure whether neoliberalism will be the ultimate victor. But it's definitely winning. So now is the time when we must urgently work through our options, beginning with- and hopefully only needing to pursue- the peaceful type, thereby peacefully reforming or replacing the System. But we must also ready ourselves for the frightening possibility of a fight to the death.