Letters
Wrong!
Dear Friends,
I don't know who wrote the little piece on Disneyland, but to label Seton "nature faker " and to see him as a precursor of the Disneyland ethos, shows a gross misunderstanding (ignorance?) of Seton and what he stood for. Seton was a libertarian socialist, a friend of Kropotkin, a staunch defender of native American culture, and one of the founders of both ethology and radical ecology. He knew a lot more about wildlife than Burroughs who hardly left his log cabin on "Slabslides". I enclose some little articles on Seton....The real Seton as opposed to the caricature - cartoon figure! - depicted in your article. Apart the paragraph on Seton I thought that the article was excellent, all best wishes,
Brian Morris. Lewes, Sussex.
Dear Brian,
Thanks for your letter, and the supporting articles from The Ecologist and New Humanist. I was wrong to group Seton in with the "nature fakers". My source was an article in the New Internationalist (no. 308) by Chris Clarke, entitled ' Nature by Design'. Yours for Anarchism, A , author of "Disneyfication.." article.
Wrong again!
Dear Organise!
I'm writing about a few different things, but the main one is your coverage of resistance to genetically modified crops in Organise!51. While it's good to see this important area being covered, especially from an angle of the "imperialism" of multinationals rather than food safety, I have to say that the comments about groups against it were too uncritical. Genetix Snowball in particular has come in for some heavy criticism within Earth First! circles, being basically an attempt by ex/current peace movement activists to prop up their dogmatic pacifism and ideas of accountability (i.e. encouraging people to grass themselves up to the cops and after actions). It has also been pathetically ineffective-they have yet to put a single test site out of use, preferring to dig up "symbolic" numbers of plants as a way of getting media attention. As for their 'ethical shoplifting', one report sent to the EF! Action Update claimed in all seriousness that they had "successfully removed several packets of crisps"!.
The threat of legal action by Monsanto etc. has successfully intimidated people away from supposedly "mass" actions that require you to give your name and address to the company and/or the police. While dozens of sites have been secretly trashed (30 odd was the last total I heard) there is also a need for more open mass actions. Some non-accountable actions are coming up, but it's not generally very encouraging to see class-struggle anarchists uncritically supporting Genetix Snowball when anarchists within the the eco-direct action scene are trying, with some success, to discredit their ideas and push radical alternatives. True, not everyone wants to do "scary direct action" and there's nothing wrong with hassling your local supermarket to stop selling GM foods, but suggesting that people get involved in their local Snowball group is almost unbelievable coming from an organisation like the ACF. Several EF! groups are anarchist (while some others are fairly liberal) and offer a far better introduction to anti-genetix activity. I can only think that promoting Snowball came from a lack of information, in which case links between anarchists in the ecological direct action scene and those in more traditional groups like the ACF need building and strengthening.
Well, now that I have finished that rant I just wanted to say that the rest of Organise! was really good!
Jamie, Brighton, Sussex
Reply: Thanks for the letter. You raised some interesting points regarding Genetix Snowball and as the person who wrote the article, I have been asked to reply.
On reflection, we probably were too uncritical about Genetix Snowball and as the person who wrote the article, I have been asked to reply. Firstly, I suppose we were influenced by the fact that when we (as a local EF!Group) were organising activities against GM foods up here in the north of England, we got no support from other EF! groups in the area. We did, however, get support from Genetix Snowball.
Secondly, looking back at the time that the anti-genetix campaign was getting going, the work that Genetix Snowball did certainly raised issues and generated a lot of publicity. However, having raised the issue and generated the publicity, the tactical needs of the movement changed. Their idea of accountable actions no longer serves any value and the need is to actively destroy as many GM crops as possible.
So I guess we have to hold our hands up and admit to having got it wrong.
in solidarity
LR for Organise!