Abe Cabrera, though not a member of the Eco-Extremist milieu, is one of the most active voices for the movement, through both the Atassa blog and the journal Atassa: Readings in Eco-Extremism.
Originally titled as Once more, on being a nihilist parent on his personal blog Cabrera writes about his children and wild nature (full text below).
“Of all of the criticism that I have received in the past few days, little of it merits a response other than what I already have stated. To be honest, I can foresee that, from here on out, all criticism will be met by copy-and-past jobs from other texts to which we answered the same criticism. But one critic asked, “Don’t these people have families, etc.?” Well yes, we do. And to answer very briefly:
We didn’t get seven billion people on the planet by acting like ITS. We didn’t burn down forests because we wanted to carry out indiscriminate attacks, we didn’t slaughter the peoples who lived in them because we were nihilists. Oil spills don’t happen because people are psychopaths. “Feminicides” don’t cause smog. The extreme defense of Wild Nature doesn’t glue people to screens and make them blissfully unaware of all of the problems that are going on around them… The tactic of any dishonest critic is to project their own sins on the object of criticism. Eco-extremism didn’t destroy the planet. Solidarity did. Morality did. Cooperation did. Love did. Yes, love, that nice fuzzy feeling that supposedly will save us all. “All men are brothers plighted…” If only my heart expands to encompass the whole universe, I can save all of my brothers (and sisters and non-binary siblings, let’s be inclusive here.)
I love my children so I’ll fight for a better life… until repression happens, then I’ll stop and just do what I’m told. I’ll oppose capitalism so I can give my children a better future… but I have to put food on the table right now. Marx doesn’t pay my bills. I’ll oppose civilization that makes my children sick… but my children need medical care now so I won’t oppose it too much, maybe tomorrow… and on and on and on… A “better future” is a gamble: nothing ventured, nothing gained. And the chips one plays with are one’s children. And you realize why no one wants to play.
So there you go. The reason I do what I do, why I’m like an eco-extremist booster or whatever, is the same reason that I am a parent, or has a lot to do with it. Because I will crawl over anyone and everything to give my kids what they need. I will tear to shreds whoever tries to hurt them. I won’t hesitate to give them whatever they need to prosper in the techno-industrial context. Now multiply me by 3.5 billion, and you see a little problem. Or rather, you see the world that we have now: full of healthy, vaccinated, well-fed human beings wrecking every last nook and cranny of the world and thinking about going into space so they can wreck that too… A society without a future filled with young people expecting a future: this can only end badly. A society where people love their children so much they will wreck the only world their children have to give it to them, not realizing they’re just committing suicide. We’re just dumb apes running on Stone Age software at the end of the day.
So yes, if the eco-extremists or any other sickos come near my kids, of course I would fight them to the death. But I am not proud of that. I am certainly not proud of it to the extent that I will stop doing any of this. Hyper-civilized society gave me a certain set of mental tools to work with, and all of these tell my that my well-being, as well as the well-being of those I love, is predicated on their eventual destruction, and the destruction of the only life worth living. So what am I to do? Lapse back into wishful thinking, think this is some sort of moral and not a physical problem? Double down on the values and morality that got us here in the first place? Or tell the truth? That’s a tough one. But I’ve always been stubborn, I suppose.”
What does a badger sett look like? Every now and then someone asks me this question, so it’s about time that I tried to answer it properly. This is my guide to badger setts and what to look for. I have hesitated a little before writing this. After all, badgers are still persecuted in some parts of the country, and I don’t want to make it any easier for someone with bad intentions to find badger setts. On the other hand, the more people that know about the badgers in their area the better. If people are aware of their local setts then they can keep an eye on them, and besides, badgers have been a source of pleasure for me and I’d like to share the experience with other people if I can.
