The need to build a new civilisation (and other small tasks)

While documentaries like An Inconvenient Truth (2006) and Food Inc. (2008) do a very thorough job of highlighting the threat of man-made climate change to our survival as a species, many people who have seen either of these films, and is familiar with issues discussed, will have come away unimpressed by the solutions put forward by Al Gore and Robert Kenner, most of which seem to involve encouraging individual consumers to make individual lifestyle choices (such as choosing to buy organic food from Wal-Mart!), a choice which is only available to those who can afford to make it, which at the present time accounts for an ever shrinking percentage of the world’s population in developing and developed countries alike.

The success of documentaries like these is that they are able to effectively communicate to a mass audience the urgent nature of the environmental catastrophe facing all life on this planet. Where they fail, however, lies in their tendency to marginalise and even ignore completely the need for a much broader, deeper kind of systemic change. Without such root-and-branch change to the rules governing present-day capitalism, the dominant system will remain a narrow-minded, growth-fixated beast capable of swallowing the most well-intentioned individual consumer choices whole.

One environmentalist who understands this failing of the mainstream environmental debate only too well is Derrick Jensen, a teacher and author from northern California who is himself the subject of a new documentary by film-maker Franklin Lopez entitled End-Civ (2011). Financed by a network of grassroots organisations, Lopez’s film (which is available free online) puts forward a compelling, if controversial, argument. However, if the recent KONY2012 video by the campaign group Invisible Children has shown us, it is important to keep our critical faculties intact until we have considered all options.

This being said, End-Civ is well worth watching, for it is in statements of stark and unflinching clarity that Jensen reminds us what is missing from the arguments of many liberal establishment figures like Al Gore and even Greenpeace. Some of the conclusions he draws may seem extreme, even violent (such as advocating blowing up dams, for example), but we are reminded that they are ultimately no less violent than the “biocidal” nature of the system causing the damage.

One of the uncomfortable things about watching a film such as this is that Jensen’s advocacy of militant direct action sometimes seems like he is trying to create environmental martyrs. That is because he is.

Another criticism is that, in the service of this, he appears to misrepresent some of the historical examples he cites in the film, such as Indian independence hero Bhagat Singh (who was hanged aged just 23) and the alleged “higher rate of survival” of those who participated in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising (most of whom were sent to concentration camps). Those in his own movement who have used militant direct action, such as former Earth Liberation Front activist Daniel McGowan, are currently serving long sentences in maximum security prisons. McGowan, incidentally, is the subject of another 2011 documentary titled If A Tree Falls, of which I cannot as yet comment.

Taken together, all of these films highlight the fact that the contemporary environmental movement seems to be at the same stage as the labour movement was one hundred years ago. A time when early industrial capitalism still condemned many to lives of misery and squalor, when liberal reformers offered piecemeal gestures of social reform, while the more militant grew frustrated and, out of despair, resorted to political assassination - “propaganda of the deed.” It is tempting to draw an analogy between the anarchists, who assassinated industrialists and heads of state, and the ELF’s attacks on lumber companies. These acts were violent, although by holding to a firm moral code which avoided any form of direct action which might result in the deliberate loss of life (human or non-human), groups such as the ELF and ALF occupy a unique place in the history of terrorism.

Within the wider green movement, a sufficiently strong bridge between the liberals and radicals has yet to be built to ensure lasting change. But turn again to the history of the labour movement, and we see that it was not until the working class had representation in the workplace, through trade unions, and in government, through socialist and social democratic parties, that any significant improvement in living standards for the population as a whole became possible.

The difficulty stems from the fact that the environmental crisis goes deeper than the exploitation of the working class, so better representation will only ever patch up the open sores, while leaving the disease to fester. Our immediate problem is not solely to build bridges between liberals and radicals, but to be able to think seriously about how to build and defend a different civilisation, one in which, to use Jensen's words, "there can be more wild salmon in it every year than the year before."

Films like these should inspire us all to imagine better alternatives, and be prepared to fight for them, however our conscience decides.

How to find good radical literature in south west London

Generally speaking, in terms of mainstream booksellers only the largest of the largest retail chains like Waterstones are able to come close to satisfying the appetites of those like me who like to keep their political consciousness nice and sharp, and are always looking to deepen their knowledge of radical history.

If you value efficiency above all else then ordering online from somewhere like Amazon is probably best, but if you are turned off by the thought of supporting a deeply exploitative, union-busting corporation, there are still alternatives. In fact, Housmans bookshop maintains an online shop which proudly proclaims itself to be “the ethical alternative to Amazon.” Housmans is one of the UK’s oldest non-sectarian radical booksellers, but other more sectarian variants such as the socialist Bookmarks and anarchist Freedom Press also allow you to order both classics and new releases online. Meanwhile, an anarchist publishing enterprise which spans the Atlantic, with branches in Edinburgh and California, is the worker-run publisher and distributor AK Press.

All of these options are ideal if you are after something brand new, which can be delivered straight to your door. A number of them also continue to maintain shops in real, physical space as well. This is very good for those of us who still enjoy the pleasures of rummaging, making accidental discoveries, and even of engaging real people in real conversation. It means we have somewhere to go to satisfy our eccentric habits. The downside is that this may require a considerable outlay in terms of travel expenses.

In the part of south west London where I live the most consistently good source of local, cheap, second-hand literature is to be found in charity shops, and of these Oxfam has the most consistently interesting books on social, political, philosophical and historical themes, not to mention classic literature. Their store on Old London Road in Kingston-Upon-Thames even caters exclusively to books. Over the years this shop has furnished my house and mind with a number of rare books by anarchist writers including George Woodcock and Colin Ward.

One charity bookstore I have been involved with personally is Fara Books in Teddington, which maintains an impeccably well organized stock, but is largely geared towards children’s books, something which seems quite fitting for a charity set up to aid Romanian orphans.

The classic old antiquarian bookstore, like the kind my great-grandmother once ran in Glasgow, independent of the charities sector, is rapidly becoming something of a dying breed. For this reason, if you find one it is definitely worth supporting them with every ounce of spare change in your pocket, in order to preserve what is now a unique retail experience. This is especially worthwhile if the shop in question contains stock which is as diverse and fascinating as that which can be found in Anthony C Hall’s on Staines Road, Twickenham.

Hall’s is quite frankly the kind of beautiful old bookstore where you can easily lose yourself between shelves crammed floor to ceiling with what I can only describe as an endlessly fascinating array of old books. Nowhere else in the borough have I found such a wide selection of Tolstoy’s shorter, lesser known writings, mixed in with books about the Italian Marxist Gramsci and the Paris Commune of 1871.

To be able to buy a book about the history of revolutionary socialism in France or insurrectionary anarchism in Italy, then retire to read it over a pint of bitter in one of the pubs nearby... This alone would be worth a trip to Twickenham. To be able to do so in a street mercifully devoid of the ravages of Starbucks only serves to make the experience that much sweeter.

Managing blowback

Strangely, for a nation which continues to maintain a military presence in Afghanistan (at an average cost of £5bn a year) the UK does not appear to have been affected by Afghan asylum seekers to quite the same degree as other European countries like France and Germany.

This is despite the fact that a recent report published by the Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office, draws attention to the fact that the second quarter of 2011 saw a 23% increase in asylum claims across the 27 EU member states[1], with the highest numbers coming from Afghanistan (closely followed by Russia, and then Iraq). A total of 6,460 Afghans lodged retrospective asylum applications in that quarter, with “the largest numbers of applications for international protection” being lodged “in France, Germany and Belgium,” in that order.

During this period the UK received just over 2,000 asylum claims a month, slightly less than Belgium. Given all that we have done in the previous decade to drive Afghans from their homes, surely the least we can do is take a greater share of the burden from our EU partners?

1 The report, on ‘Population and social conditions,’ can be found here http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_OFFPUB/KS-SF-12-011/EN/KS-SF-12-011-EN.PDF

Cute Puppies and Kittens

In an effort to attract more mainstream interest to the blog, I'm posting a few drawings from my sketchbook featuring loose but - I hope - frankly adorable observational (apart from the one with the rabbit) drawings scanned from my sketchbook. (To prove how good my scanner is, look for the ghost of images showing through from the reverse of some of the pages!)
In case some of you are wondering if being in love has made me go soft, most of these were drawn in the months prior to meeting Jane, proving that I've always been a soft bastard!

Serendipity in Brighton

As some of you may know, about seven years ago I was a contributor to the Glasgow-based underground comic Freak. You are probably also aware that my partner and I are regular visitors to Brighton, down on the south coast of England. I haven't been in touch with Freak's creator, the indefatigable Doctor Simpo, since about 2004, nor seen his work around. Imagine my surprise, therefore, when my partner and I wandered into a joke shop on Bond Street, Brighton, only to find a pile of copies of Doctor Simpo's Things and Stuff solo comic just inside the door. I was delighted that he was still working and finding people to stock his comic. I thought that he must have a good relationship with these people, too, as they have a few original Doctor Simpo drawings on the wall too... and some more of his comics... and some more original art hanging on the walls. What was this place?
It was at this point that a guy in a fez wandered over and introduced himself as "The Doctor." It was the first time I had met Doctor Simpo in person, having only corresponded by letter, email and telephone, during the old freak days, and he took the opportunity to show us around his latest project - Frighton or Bust. He even gave me a copy of the final Freak (issue 5, see above), which contains a two pager of mine, but which I never received for one reason or another at the time.
Frighton or Bust is in town for an initial run of two months, as a fully functioning gallery/comic shop/joke shop/magic shop, so that means that you have until the end of January 2012 to get down there and check it out. It's well worth a visit if you're in town.

Lancaster city of surprises

I helped organize a stag weekend for one of my closest friends earlier this year. We went to Lancaster. Why Lancaster? You may well wonder. Everybody else did. While it was an honour to serve as best man, the fact that there were two of us sharing this duty meant that there was always a danger of being led down the path of compromise. And so we went to Lancaster. It was far enough away from where everybody lived, so the potential for mischief was greater. Unfortunately, the potential for mischief in Lancaster was negligible. Don't be drawn into thinking that because its a university town there's a lot of naughtiness. That's why everybody goes to Blackpool!

What it does have going for it, apart from mini cab drivers with a seemingly endless stream of homophobic jokes, is some exceedingly beautiful streets and lanes and old buildings made from the kind of pleasing stone that you only find the further north you go. Lancaster Castle is almost next door to the station, sitting on a hill which overlooks the town. Tours may be a problem as these days it functions as a prison.

A little reported fact about Lancaster is the fact that it is also a hotbed for environmental activism. Downstairs from the Single Step Wholefood Shop on Penny Street, you will find the Lancaster Resource Centre, which is home to a wide array of radical green groups. Since 2000 Lancaster has been home to Seeds for Change, a non profit training and support network which helps people organize for action and social change.

That's not something they put on the tourist information brochure.

Questionable Analysis

Since I seem to be using this blog as much for my own socio-political analysis as I am for showcasing my cartoons and eco journalism, I thought I'd share this with you.

In the course of a rant against Labour Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls in his Spectator column back in June 2011, that same magazine’s editor described the Labour Party as “a hippyish, peace-loving party.”
This is a very bizarre statement to make, especially when we stop to consider the string of wars started by Labour when they were last in power (Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Iraq, Afghanistan…).
Under Blair the Labour party became a political machine which clearly saw military action as a first resort for solving international disputes. By what rational standards can anybody describe Labour as a "peace-loving party"?

Admittedly, this is an editorial for the conservative Spectator we're talking about, and not a daily broadsheet, so the editor in question could perhaps be forgiven for singing to the choir somewhat, but to make statements that blatantly falsify reality just seems silly. If this is the present standard of analysis offered by the Tory intelligentsia their approach to managing the country comes as little surprise!