The Anti-Civ Resource List
I’m getting tired of having the same debates over and over and over again, especially when it comes to the critique of civilization. This is a resource page I have set up so that people who are actually interested in the ideas I present can get more information.
I’m tired of having arguments with people who don’t actually want to debate the subject and just want to tell me why I’m wrong. Go grind your axe elsewhere, I’m too busy trying to come up with a solution to this mess.
The Basics:
- The Critique of Civilization FAQ by Ran Prieur
- The Critique of Civilization Changes Everything by Ran Prieur
- The Thirty Primitivist Theses by Jason Godesky
- The book Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
- The book A Language Older Than Words by Derrick Jensen
- The book The Culture of Make Believe by Derrick Jensen
Less important, but still relevant (specific topic in parens):
- The book The Continuum Concept by Jane Leidloff (Pedagogy)
- The book For Your Own Good by Alice Miller (Pedagogy)
- The book The Politics of Experience by R.D. Laing (Psychology)
- The book The Technological Society by Jacques Ellul (Technology)
- Anything by Ivan Illich (Technology)
- The book The Underground History of American Education by J.T. Gatto (Education)
The Politics:
There are those who indulge in the critique of civilization who think that we should go back to living like primitive people did/do. They are called primitivists. To a certain extent, I agree with them, but I think we can pick out the good things we like about primitive people, and the good things we like about civilization, and take the societal lessons we have learned from both of these styles and use that to create a whole new world. Something we haven’t experienced yet. It’s going to take time, but yeah, good change does take time. I don’t expect to see it in my lifetime, but I fully expect to participate and contribute towards that shift.
That said, here are some essays that talk about this divide in more detail, some of which I agree with, some of which I do not. This is rocky territory and kind of a current battleground within the field of anti-civ philosophy:
- The Fifteen Anti-Primitivist Theses by William Gillis
- Beyond Civilized and Primitive by Ran Prieur
- The zines Post-Civ! and Post-Civ! A Deeper Exploration by these folks
- Liberate, Not Exterminate(pdf) by The Curious George Brigade
The Theoretical, Long-Term Solutions/Resolutions:
In these next two sections are the seeds of a new society. But there’s still a lot to be done here. This is where we go beyond cultural criticism and become cultural engineers. If we fail to create a new society, we will ultimately destroy ourselves.
- How to Survive the Crash and Save the Earth by Ran Prieur
- The Slow Crash by Ran Prieur
- How to Save Civilization by Ran Prieur
- Fall Down Six Times by Ran Prieur
- The book Garden Planet by William Kotke
The Practical, Day-to-Day Solutions:
Consciously chosen frugal lifestyles, urban homesteading, etc. etc.
- How to Drop Out by Ran Prieur
- The book Permaculture: A Design Manual by Bill Mollison
So yeah, what we really need now is for people to realize that history is what they make it. If you don’t feel you have control over the future, then you have already lost. History is in the making, go do your thing.
