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Calling All Fanatics

July 1st, 2010

I’ve always kind of hated that quote by Edward Abbey about being a half-hearted fanatic (“Be as I am — a reluctant enthusiast . . . a part-time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic”). Not so much because of the racism and misogyny that characterized some of his work. And not even because of the quote itself. […]

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Norris Thomlinson July 1st, 2010 Filed in Essays No Responses

No Accident: BP, Murder and the Gulf of Mexico

June 14th, 2010

The murder of the Gulf of Mexico by BP shouldn’t surprise us. It is precisely what industrial capitalism does. Years ago I wrote of the catastrophe in Bhopal: when you intentionally fabricate bulk industrial chemicals, many of which are toxic, it should not qualify as an accident when some of these chemicals kill people. Likewise, […]

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Norris Thomlinson June 14th, 2010 Filed in Essays No Responses

High on Progress

May 3rd, 2010

Why have we come to assume that “progress” is always good? The Nazis’ treatment of Jews progressed toward their final solution. And many individual Jews followed a line of progress: get an ID card, move to a ghetto, get on a cattle car, arrive at a camp, work at the camp, go to a gas […]

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Norris Thomlinson May 3rd, 2010 Filed in Essays No Responses

Resistance Resisters

March 2nd, 2010

Another 120 species went extinct today; they were my kin. I am not going to sit back and wait for every last piece of this living world to be dismembered. I’m going to fight like hell for those kin who remain — and I want everyone who cares to join me. Many are. But many […]

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Norris Thomlinson March 2nd, 2010 Filed in Essays No Responses

50 Simple Ways to Get Off

December 15th, 2009

Years ago I was interviewed by a dogmatic pacifist (note to self: bad idea), who in his (grossly inaccurate) write-up said he thought I wanted all activists to think like assassins. That’s not true. What I want is for us to think like members of a serious resistance movement. What does that look like? Well, […]

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Norris Thomlinson December 15th, 2009 Filed in Essays No Responses