Earth First! Fist
Earth First! Fist
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Taylor, Bron. “Dave Foreman: Wise Guy.” Environment & Society Portal, Multimedia Library (September 2023). http://www.environmentandsociety.org/node/9662.
In two ways, Dave Foreman was a wise guy.
Adversaries and devotees alike knew him as charismatic gang leader of a criminal conspiracy.
The same was said of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., but today, their lawbreaking is widely considered to have been morally justifiable and socially salutary. So will much of lawbreaking by environmentalists trying to prevent the collapse of Earth’s living systems.
Foreman was as wise in another sense. He was a student of history, politics, ecology, and environmentalism, which led him to think deeply, strategically, and provoca;vely, but also in nuanced ways, about our place in the world and responsibilities to it.
For me, he has been an exceptionally important muse. So has the movement he inspired. (From the essay)
CC BY-NC-ND 3.0.
2023 Bron Taylor. Published under a Creative Commons license.
Peruse the collection “Earth First! Movement Writings” and visit Bron Taylor’s Virtual Exhibition “Radical Environmentalism’s Print History: From Earth First! to Wild Earth” on the Environment & Society Portal.