KJ, why shouldn't Earth have an Advocate?

Last summer I reposted an excellent collection of AGW education videos that was compiled by one "Greenfyre." Last week I received the following comment regarding Greenfyre - I figure it deserves it's own post

On 5/15/14 KJ aka TxSmiler  wrote: "Please be honest enough to post this background information on Greenfyre. Greenfyre is the Internet blog and screen name for a radical environmental activist, Mike Kaulbars from Ottawa, Canada. He is a founder of the Earth First! chapter in Ottawa, Canada, an eco-terrorist organization with a long history of violence and sabotage." 

Really now?  How long and just how "violent"? 


Is Mike actually implicated in anything serious, besides perhaps arrested at protests?  Seems to me your "Eco-terrorist" has the ring of hysteria about it.

Updated with quote from Mike Kaulbars' - (see comments):

"iii) (KJ) makes no mention of anything I actually did, probably because everything I have ever done has been strict Gandhian nonviolence with no violence to people or property in any form." 

Oh and speaking of honesty, when will you be honest enough to acknowledge and examine the "causes" and "issues" Earth Firsters were/are fighting for - in an increasingly apathetic world?

Can you explain why someone shouldn't be an advocate for this Earth, the thing all of us dearly depend on... or don't you appreciate we rely on the good health of our Earth's biosphere and the stability of its Climate engine?

KJ, the way you spit out "eco-terrorist" I can feel your contempt for "ecologists" and "tree-huggers" and such.

Why the hatred for people who have a deep connection with our planet and it's health? 
It's as though you still haven't figured out that we humans and our society require a healthy Earth.

"My experience is that many people are impressed and supportive of the radical militant actions that we do. ...I make no secret of my militant activism, arrests etc; [...] ...we do break the law. [...] In a few weeks I, and 50 others are off to jail. ...I do what I do because of a "pure, true love for the Earth." - Mike Kaulbars, Thank you KJ on Greenfyre's "Mr. Sinclair's Video collection" - manmade global warming education made easy

You know, American's have a long uneasy respect and acceptance of thoughtful civil disobedience when the cause is important enough.

KJ, are you like some folk who believe only your say should be heard?
You know that's called Totalitarianism and leads to disaster.  
Don't you?  

I myself still figure this is America, battered though she may be.  We're supposed to be a system where we understand that all voices have important insights to share... that is, if constructive outcomes are the goal. 

Isn't the health and wellbeing of our life sustaining planet worth allowing some people to consecrate their lives to it's wellbeing?  We put up with Priests - why not with "Earth Firsters"?

And why shouldn't Earth's "defenders" be listened to as a matter of practice and policy?  Why does "the corporate way" force them into such isolated corners they feel compelled to take extreme measures to get the simplest message across?

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I agree with GreenFyre's comment below and I should have included some biographical information regarding Mike Kaulbars.

http://greenfyre.wordpress.com/about/ 

I trained as research biologist (entomology, systematics, ecology), for many years I directed a small NGO active on environmental and social justice issues, and currently freelance write on climate and environmental issues. 

Climate Change was one of the big reasons I left research to get involved in public education and activism. We already know more than we need, it’s long past time to act.  I also teach political action. 

For those who care to, you can find me on Facebook, Stumble, etc

For the Deniers who like to claim I have a conflict of interest, my income is about 25% to 33% of what it would be if I had stayed with research … when I am paid, which is often not the case. 

Welcome to the NGO world (most NGO folks just about pee themselves laughing when they read how they are “in it for the money”). 

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Incidentally, I myself have never had any dealings with Earth First, thus I don't know anything, except that some stories have been grossly exaggerated in the corporate-wing's retelling.  Here's what they have to say for themselves:

http://earthfirstjournal.org/about/ 

No Compromise in Defense of Mother Earth 

The very future of life on Earth is in danger. Human activities—from hunting to habitat destruction—have already driven countless species to extinction, and the process is only accelerating. The destruction of the Earth and its sustainable indigenous cultures has led to tragedy in every corner of the globe. 

Meanwhile, scientists have confirmed what indigenous cultures have taught for thousands of years: all forms of life are vitally connected. Removing even a single strand from the web of life produces a widening ripple of catastrophe. On a more spiritual level, Earth First!ers understand that we can never be the healthy humans that we were meant to be in a world without wilderness, clean air and the howling of wolves under the moon.

It is not enough to ask politicians and corporations to destroy less wilderness. We need to preserve it all, to recreate lost habitats and reintroduce extirpated predators. We need to stop and reverse the poisoning of our air, water and soil, as well as the modification of life’s genetic code. It is not enough to oppose the construction of new dams and developments. It is time to free our shackled rivers and restore the land.

Earth First! formed in 1979, in response to an increasingly corporate, compromising and ineffective environmental community. It is not an organization, but a movement. There are no “members” of EF!, only Earth First!ers. We believe in using all of the tools in the toolbox, from grassroots and legal organizing to civil disobedience and monkeywrenching. When the law won’t fix the problem, we put our bodies on the line to stop the destruction. Earth First!’s direct-action approach draws attention to the crises facing the natural world, and it saves lives. 

Guided by a philosophy of deep ecology, Earth First! does not accept a human-centered worldview of “nature for people’s sake.” Instead, we believe that life exists for its own sake, that industrial civilization and its philosophy are anti-Earth, anti-woman and anti-liberty. Our structure is non-hierarchical, and we reject highly paid “professional staff” and formal leadership. 

To put it simply, the Earth must come first
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Here's an apropos cartoon… tip of my hat to GreenFyre

http://www.hellertoon.com/main.html