deep green resistance

2007-12-25T14:50:00.000-08:00

Special Guest Appearance by ARIC MCBAY
of www.inthewake.org and author of Peak Oil Survival!

How do we stop the mass destruction of our planet? We need a world without environmental devastation and social oppression: we need to confront civilization.

Join us for a weekend of exploring long range strategy, direct action, oppression, peak oil, natural living, and the deep questions of how to mend our hearts and sustain our spirits in these hard times. Good fun, great food, and the quiet woods also included.

Statement of Purpose

2006-11-25T15:55:00.001-08:00

Please read this to the bottom.

We are profoundly grieved and enraged at the
destruction of our planet and at all systems of human
oppression. We are passionate about creating a world
based on mutual aid, love, justice, and connection to
the living world. We want to understand the roots of
the dominant culture in order to most effectively end
it.

We draw on environmentalism, feminism, deep ecology,
spirituality, anarchy, indigenous lifeways,
anti-oppression politics, peak oil and collapse
theories, and past struggles for justice for our
analysis and our inspiration. We are open to
challenging our thinking and ourselves. We recognize
that though the dominant culture threatens us all, it
also gives privileges to some at the expense of others,
and whether industrial culture continues or is
stopped, the impact on people will differ.

We also embrace the full experience of beauty, magic,
and love in our lives and the world in our efforts to
make serious change. And we are committed to making
that change.

We believe the institution of civilization, with its
cities, agriculture, and technology, is the basis of
the most destructive cultures. To face the full impact
of civilization requires acknowledging that it is
inherently oppressive and destructive. Cities demand
the importation of resources, which are ultimately
obtained through violence. Agriculture takes more than
it gives to the land, turning diverse ecosystems
into monocultures and living soil to desert.
Technology requires exploitation of the natural world
and condenses power into fewer and fewer hands.
Industrial civilization in particular, with its
machinery, engines, and oil-based production, has
further accelerated the speed of the devastation.

Despite all our efforts, the rate of environmental
destruction is increasing, and inequality and poverty
along with it. Those of us fighting for justice may be
winning battles, but we are losing the war. When
children are in slavery to make chocolate and a
hundred species leave the earth forever every day, we
are losing. If industrial civilization continues on
this course, it will continue to destroy people and
the planet until it collapses. Given the scale of the
situation, much of our planet will be dead in the next
few decades.

There are many, many committed efforts to change the
dominant culture, to help people and other living
beings, and to create justice and sustainability.
Reforming this culture, alleviating suffering, and
celebrating life are meaningful and amazing: that’s
what we spend our time doing. But we also do not want
to settle. We need to honestly evaluate how
effectively our efforts are ending ecocide and
oppression.

Industrial culture is not just a way of thinking, an
intellectual habit or an emotional experience. It's an
interlocking set of institutional power arrangements
based on exploitation, violence, and the
objectification of living beings. Changes in our
individual and collective consciousness are essential,
but they are not enough to bring this system down. We
need organized, political resistance.

This culture cannot be reformed to one of justice and
sanity: it is defined by destructive and oppressive
systems of power. To create a liberated world, it must
go. The hard truth is that all our efforts to
encourage the dominant culture to voluntarily adopt
sustainable ways of living have not made a significant
impact.

At DGR our driving question will be: how will we make
that change happen?

Please understand the nature of this event. DGR is
not a festival. It is not a gathering to create a groovy
subculture, to simply change a destructive paradigm,
to try and escape "the system," or to build a support
system solely for personal growth. It is a serious
meeting to address the destruction of our planet and
potential  effective resistance. It will include
theoretical discussions of serious and confrontational
strategies and tactics. It is expected that
 participants follow security culture
(see http://security.resist.ca/personal/culture.shtml).

We also intend to have a good time.  Join us.

Email Us

2006-11-25T15:55:00.000-08:00

deepgreenresist@yahoo.com

Registration

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Print and fill out this form. Or, you can send us the
requested info without the form. Either way, this is
what we need to know.

Name
Address
Phone
Email

_ Yes, you have read the community norms and will
try to follow them.

_ Yes, to the best of your ability you will refrain
from wearing/using scented products.

_  Enclosed is $___.

_  Check here if you want vegetarian meals.

_  Check here if you're a coffee drinker.

_ Check here if you'll be bringing your own food (and
promise that you've already emailed us or you're
about to email us to make arrangements).

_ Check here if you're willing to carpool. We'll put
you in touch with others from your area or along your
driving route.

_ Check if you can come early to help!!!

Make checks payable to: Lierre Keith, PO Box 813,
Northampton MA 01061.

DEADLINE WAS MARCH 21, 2007!
But there's still room, so we'll  let
you come! But email us now!

Directions

2006-11-20T14:31:00.000-08:00

We want to encourage carpooling. Email us if you
need a ride or can offer a ride. You can also check
off the appropriate box on the registration form
for carpooling.

Getting to Woolman Hill 107 Keets Road, Deerfield, Massachusetts about 3 miles south of the center of Greenfield

From Route 91 Northbound	Take exit 24 towards Deerfield, Massachusetts. Take a right turn off the exit ramp; this puts you on Routes 5/10 North. Stay on this road for about 10 minutes. After Historic Deerfield, you'll see a blue highway sign directing you to Woolman Hill. Turn right immediately onto Keets road and drive one mile. At the top of the hill, the Conference Center is the yellow farmhouse on your left. The office is in the cabin on your right. The parking lot is obvious.

From Route 2 westbound	At the second Greenfield exit, follow signs for Routes 5/10 South. After leaving Greenfield, you'll go over a bridge crossing the Deerfield River. A half mile later, you'll see a blue highway sign for "Woolman Hill Conference Center" Take the next left and follow Keets road for one mile. The conference center is the yellow farmhouse on your left. The office is the cabin on your right. The parking lot is obvious.

From Route 2 eastbound	As you arrive in Greenfield, go around the rotary and take a right towards the center of town. At the second set of lights there will be a Dunkin' Donuts on your right. Take a right turn and follow this road until you come to a light, the intersection with Routes 5/10. Bear right onto Routes 5/10 South. In a mile and a quarter, leaving Greenfield you'll go over a bridge crossing the Deerfield River. Half a mile later, you'll see a blue highway sign for "Woolman Hill Conference Center". Take the next left and follow Keets Road for one mile. The conference center is a yellow farmhouse on your left; the office is a cabin on your right. The parking lot is obvious.

From Route 91 southbound	Take exit 26 and, once at the rotary, follow the directions above for coming from Route 2 eastbound.

Cost

2006-11-20T14:29:00.000-08:00


The cost is a sliding scale, $80 to $150. This
includes food and lodging. To help you decide
what to pay, it's costing us $65/person for the
space, plus more for the food and promotion etc.

If lots of people pay at the top of the scale, we will
be able to offer some financial assistance to those
in need.  To apply for a scholarship, please send us
a brief description of your situation and how much
of the cost you need waived.

If anyone wants to come early--the day before, or early on
Friday--to help, we could sure use it.

Schedule and Programming

2006-11-20T14:18:00.000-08:00


DGR will be mainly participant-led; some 
workshops and presentations will be 
scheduled beforehand, and others will be
decided upon by the participants at the 
beginning of and throughout the weekend. 
We expect that most people will have read 
some of the recommended reading or spent 
some time exploring similar topics by 
other means before the weekend. Bring 
your passion, skills, and understanding, 
and there will be space for you to convene 
or facilitate a workshop or discussion. DGR
is not a chance to come and hear from 
"experts," though some of us will have more 
experience than others in different areas. 
As organizers, we are sharing the ability to 
make this a succuessful event with everyone
who comes with a deep desire to explore 
effective ways to stop the dominant culture's 
drive to destroy life.

Having said that, here are some of the potential
discussion topics.

LET'S PRETEND: A TWO PART WORKSHOP
facilitated by Lierre and Aric

PART ONE--FERALIA
We live in a country, Feralia, that has been taken
over by Omniv, a corporate, imperial oligarchy. Omniv
has turned us into a colony. The land, the air, the
water are being poisoned and destroyed for its profit.
The local subsistence economies, and any culture worth
living in, have been dismantled--the Feralian people
are now dependent on Omniv for everything. Not only that,
the average person identifies psychological with
Omniv. Time is running out: 100 Feralian species are
going extinct every day, the topsoil is turning to
desert, and the country is headed toward ecosystem
collapse. What are we going to do? How will we build a
serious resistance?

PART TWO--OUR OPTIONS
Part presentation and part interaction, we will
broadly outline our options for confronting and dismantling
civilization, the pros, cons, and considerations of each,
and a sharing of resources for people interested in considering
different avenues of action.


CONNECTING RADICAL ENVIRONMENTALISM AND
ANTI-OPPRESSION POLITICS
facilitated by Ian
Proponents of anti-civ and anti-oppression ideas often eye each
other warily. How can we bridge the gap--philosophically,
strategically, tactically?

FIGHTING FUTURE FASCISM
facilitated by Aric
A discussion about anticipating practical problems with worsening
power imbalance during industrial collapse. 

A HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF RESISTANCE
MOVEMENTS
facilitated by Lierre
How have different resistance movements organized themselves?
What can we learn from them? The IRA, the Sandinistas, and the
Spanish Anarchists will be covered.

COLLAPSE AND COMMUNITY SUFFICIENCY
facilitated by Aric
Planning for collapse in your community--a fairly practical
workshop with a handout booklet and some discussion.



OUR TENTATIVE SCHEDULE FOR
THE WEEKEND

FRIDAY

4 PM -- DGR begins!
5:30 dinner
6:30  clean up
7:00 intros and facility info, security culture overview, Open Space
basics
8:30  A fun, instructive, and political small group activity
(isn't that intriguing?)
10 quiet time upstairs

SATURDAY

7:45-8:30 breakfast
8:30-9 clean up

9-9:30 Set the Open Space agenda
9:30-11 Session 1
11-11:15 Break
11:15-12:45 Session 2

1-1:30 lunch
1:30-2 clean up

2-3:30 Session 3
3:30-3:45 Break
3:45-5:15  Session 4
5:15 Free time

6 Dinner

7:30 evening activities--open mic, music, games

10 quiet time upstairs

SUNDAY

7:45-8:30 breakfast
8:30-9 clean up

9-10:30 Session 1
10:30-10:45 Break
10:45-12:00 Session 2

12:00-1 lunch
1:00-1:30  group clean up
1:30-2 wrap up and goodbyes (sniff, sniff)

Children

2006-11-20T14:02:00.000-08:00

The layout of Woolman Hill doesn't include a separate space for young children to be children without interrupting and overhearing the adults. You may ask why we aren't renting a more child-friendly facility. The answer is money. If somebody wants to donate the money, we're happy to move the event to a facility with lots more room.

Since that's unlikely to happen, here are our guidelines.

Infants are fine.

Young children who need watching are best left home.

Older children could potentially come. They would have to play outside (and there's hours of trails out there) or stay in the upstairs sleeping area. Please ask yourself honestly if your children are mature enough to be self-sufficient and respectful of adult-only space. We will be having serious discussions that are not appropriate for children. We don't want kids coming and going in the main meeting room during discussion hours. It's your call whether your kids are independent enough to make this work.

Teenagers who want to come as participants are very welcome to join us.

If this doesn't work for you, please email us. We can try to think of other ways to make it happen. We want everyone to be able to come.

Food and Menus

2006-11-20T13:56:00.000-08:00

Food can be like religion in how it creates both
fundamentalists and conflicts between people. It's
deeply personal--what we eat enters us permanently,
becomes the substance of our bodies. It's no wonder
that cultures and individuals develop deep taboos over
food.

We want everyone who comes to DGR to be fed. We also
don't want to have any bad fights over food politics.
We all make decisions about food that match our values
to the best of our abilities. This is an issue where
participants will need to try really hard at making
our community norms work.

We start with different information, different genetic
and cultural backgrounds, and different health
concerns. Any discussion about food politics at DGR
must embrace an understanding of those differences.
Dialogue with an open attitude is encouraged;
self-righteousness and proselytizing are not. People
of conscience will disagree at times, but those
disagreements can be civil, calm and respectful even
when they are painful. The goal of our interactions
should be to remain connected while communicating. If
you can't approach this subject with an attitude of
openness, then it may be best to refrain.

We're posting our menus so everyone can see what we've
got planned. Our guiding political themes are
local/sustainable/humane. Nutritionally, we're loosely
following the principles of native nutrition/Weston
Price. All meals will include a vegetarian option.
Friday night's meal is appropriate for vegans as well,
as we know everyone will be tired after traveling.

If this food doesn't work for you, don't be
discouraged. If your concerns involve minor changes
(lactose intolerance, a specific food allergy) please
let us know and we will try to work around it.

If your dietary preferences are deeply at odds with
this menus (for instance, if you're a vegan), we will
make room for you in the kitchen to prepare your own
meals. We need you to be in touch with us so we can
schedule you in. We want you to come, to feel welcome,
and to be fed. No one is going to argue with you or
treat you disrespectfully--promise! But please let us
know so we can make kitchen time happen for you.

Finally, we aren't interested in receiving emails
from  strangers who want to tell us what to eat and
why we have it all wrong. Please remember that we
have similar values, though we may have come to
different conclusions. The organizers of DGR have
been passionately involved in sustainability and
food politics for years as activists and as small
farmers. We eat the way we do for a reason.
We will delete all hate mail without responding,
so don't bother.




MENUS

All animal products (eggs, beef, bacon and dairy)
are pasture-fed and building topsoil on local
small farms. As much of the produce as possible
will be locally sourced. Local maple syrup is
used as the sweetener throughout.

FRIDAY

Dinner
Beef-leek chili
Bean chili (vegan)
Corn bread
Salad (or some other vegetable, dependent on
availability)
Apple or pear crisp, whipped cream


SATURDAY

Breakfast
bacon
eggs
cheddar cheese homefries

Lunch
fish chowder (sustainable-harvest fish)
veggie/vegan soup
beef barbeque
hard-boiled eggs, cheese
steamed kale
sourdough bread

Dinner
pizza, both meat and veggie
salad
fried dough w/maple cream
cheesecake

SUNDAY

Breakfast
bacon
Latvian pancakes
Belgian waffles

Lunch
leftovers


Snacks available all day, including fruit, cheese,
nuts, bread, leftovers.

And if you're all very lucky, Lierre will make
chocolate truffles.

Facilities

2006-11-20T13:53:00.000-08:00

DGR will be held at Woolman Hill Conference Center in Deerfield, MA.
Woolman Hill is a Quaker retreat center in rural western Massachusetts.
The centerhas dormitory-style sleeping, eight to a room, and shared
bathrooms. Some of the dorms will be designated single-sex. You can
camp out if you prefer.  The downstairs bathrooms and shower are
wheel-chair accessible, as is the main entrance to the building.

There's a large commercial kitchen, a small library, and lots
of meeting space. Rumour has it there's also a ghost...

What To Bring

2006-11-20T13:50:00.000-08:00

Massachusetts weather is extremely variable in
April. It could be 70 and sunny. It could be 40 and
raining. Please bring warm clothes, especially if you
want to hike on the beautiful trials at Woolmam Hill.

What to bring:
*sleeping bag or other bedding
*pillowcase
*personal care products
*musical instruments
*inspiring books to share in our temporary library
*flyers, announcements, zines

Community Norms

2006-11-20T13:39:00.000-08:00


1. Violent, abusive, or threatening behaviour of any
kind will not be tolerated. Anyone engaging in such
behaviour will be asked to leave.

2. This event is chem-free. No alcohol or illegal
drugs are allowed. Please refrain from wearing or
using scented products to help make this event
accessible to people with chemical sensitivites.

3. We ask everyone to be conscious of the social
privilege and power that you have; the ways that
privilege effects your behaviour; and to be open to
learning without defensiveness. We all start somewhere
but we need to move on from that somewhere.

4. What we have in common (a deep knowledge that our
planet is being killed; a passion to stop that
destruction) is more important than our differences.
We may disagree on a range of specific issues
(children, food, nonviolence...) and those
disagreements may be painful. But we ask that
participants disagree in ways that are respectful,
civil, and kind.

5. Everyone able-bodied is expected to help with the
work of this gathering, which is mostly cooking and
dishes. (If you have a disability or illness, you're
excused.) Please remember that life-maintenance tasks
don't happen magically and there are no House Elves on
staff.

We'd love to have extra bodies before the event to help
prepare. If you can come early, email us!