Endgame, Vol. 1: The Problem of Civilization
by Derrick Jensen
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Book Summary Information
Author: Derrick JensenEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-06-06
ISBN: 158322730X
Number of pages: 512
Publisher: Seven Stories Press
Book Reviews of Endgame, Vol. 1: The Problem of Civilization
Book Review: Some great ideas, but overall tainted by my interaction with the author
Summary: 2 Stars
When I first discovered this book (via the "End:Civ" video documentary website), I thought I had finally found someone who was on the same page as myself. Everything he talks about in his premises resonated with me in a big way, and I got really excited as I started to read. In fact, I was so keen to give my enthusiastic "bravo" feedback that I sought out the author's website. I wrote him an email with some thoughts, which he replied to very quickly. So far, so good.
As I continued to read on through Volume 1, I started to notice certain, shall we say, trends. One was repetition. How many times do we need to be told that Western Civilization is destroying the planet, and that our entire culture is based on slavery and the destruction of other people's lands? I mean, ok, this is a very good point, and I can see someone spending some time digging into the various ways in which our culture is toxic for the planet. But the book seems to take on the tone of a rant - in my opinion, he could have used a good editor. I started to realize that these two books could easily have been condensed into one volume, given that so much material is covered multiple times using different words.
Secondly, I noticed that he really seemed to to mention the fact that he was abused by his father... well, a lot. And then, I can't help but start to notice that everything in his worldview seems to center around abuse and victims. So I think to myself, well, it looks like Mr Jensen was mightily traumatized by his childhood experiences, and that's really awful... but this book, how am I supposed to view it, given that it starts to look more and more like a work of personal catharsis than actual reasoning about what's wrong with the world (and, more important, what we can do about it). My point here is, what is driving the book? Is it reasoning about a real world problem, or is it personal demons and anger toward something that happened to him in his childhood?
I also found it interesting that he talked about how non-violence and pacifism are not working, and that violence may be the only way to really get things to change. That's fair enough, but I can't help notice that he is using all the things that he appears to despise - even publishing his books on paper, while talking in such disparaging tones about the timber industry. Isn't there a mental disconnect there? I think he does attempt to address this at some point (I can't remember which page now), something about how requiring the messenger to be pure is a way of avoiding the actual message. So we're all culpable, and if none of us is pure, how can we ever see any change, since none of us will ever have the "right" to talk about the problems (we are all tainted). Sure, that's a fair point... on the surface at least, but when you think about it a little deeper, it sounds like a bit of a cop-out. It's like eating meat, all the while complaining about how mean it is to eat animals. If you think it's bad to eat animals, then you should stop eating animals. It's pretty simple. And if you think our culture is bad to the core, then you need to get out and live some other way. Or, if you really feel that violence is the only way to bring down this civilization, then the only honest recourse is to accept that you must give up your own life in the process - otherwise you are advocating violence which will inevitably kill or hurt other people, while trying to save your own life; this is dishonest and cowardly. Basically, you would need to become like the radical terrorists, who willingly give up their own lives as martyrs. I find this a very interesting line of thinking, but unfortunately I never got the chance to chase it down.
You see, what happened next was a total surprise to me. I wrote to the author again, with what I thought was a thoughtful and polite collection of thoughts on the book so far. I was looking forward to some intelligent back-and-forth with this man who so obviously cared deeply about the exact same issues that I do. It was a rather long email, and this was one of the paragraphs, quoted in its entirety here for reference:
"I have never read any of your other books, but I have become aware through this one that you were obviously quite traumatised as a child, at the hands of your father. It strikes me that this trauma seems to be a primary "personal issue" that you are projecting onto the rest of the world. So you were abused, and you see the rest of the world being abused, and this drives you. It's very personal. And that's ok, but it occurs to me that everybody is driven by their own personal demons, though for most people they aren't so intense, or focused in such a self-aware manner. So most people out there have not been abused as children, and thus most people couldn't give a rat's ass about the environment... not in any way that counts. Hell, I care, but even I drive a car (these days - I didn't get a licence until I was 34). Even you drive. And even though I've been vegetarian most of my life, I still fall occasionally and have a burger (just because I love the taste, or when there's nothing else available). This is our downfall... we all just live day to day doing whatever we do, and as an aggregate we are killing the planet. Oh well."
I was hesitant at first to include this, since it's such a personal matter, but then I thought about how much he seemed to want to talk about it in his book, and there was even (so I understand) a whole other book that he wrote about the subject, so I figured that he must be quite open to discussing these issues. I thought I was being perhaps a little challenging, presenting him with an idea and that he could maybe tell me what he thought about this angle. What I got back was like a dash of cold water to my face. His email started off:
"The following is from my book coming out this winter. Don't write me again with any more of your insulting nonsense."
He then pasted a paragraph from (I presume) his upcoming book, and then another line at the end which said simply "Don't write me again. Derrick".
There was a lot of other stuff in the email I had written him, this was just one paragraph out of many, but he chose to focus on it exclusively, and ignore everything else.
I thought this was a bit extreme, to be honest, but I wrote back (I know, he said not to, but I had to say something since I felt that he had completely gotten the wrong end of the stick here), and I attempted to apologise for my obvious mistake in bringing up this subject in the way I did. I really tried to say sorry, about three times in fact, and I thought I made it quite clear that I wasn't trying to insult him or get a rise out of him. I felt horrified that someone who seemed to be on such the same plane as me, would take my head off in such an abrupt manner. I did, however, mention in passing that I thought his response had been "violent".
No such luck... I got another, longer reply, this time it was very obvious how furious he was. He went on at some length about how offensive I am, how in denial I am, and how self-evidently false my feedback was. There was lots more, in fact, which I won't post here, but I'll just say that it was quite like being kicked repeatedly in the head by someone who you had approached for a friendly chat. He really went to town on me in his email, basically.
My next email to him was a bit more blunt, shall we say, as I was now more than a little bit annoyed at my treatment. His reply called me a "garden variety abuser" and something about my "sense of entitlement" being "EVERYTHING" (his caps) that he writes about in his book. Hang on, so now I am the enemy? Wat? I am on his side! At least, I thought I was. I made some (I now realize) ill-advised comment about his abuse (which he talks about publicly at length, so I thought this would be ok) and I get my head taken off for it. And not only that, I am now a perfect representation of everything that's wrong with this world? So if this is how he characterises me, then how am I supposed to take his characterisations of everything else in his book? Am I really to believe his description of "Climber Eric", who apparently taunts the tree sitters with sexual innuendo and other abuse? Now I see how he managed to twist me around and demonize me into being a "garden variety abuser" (even after my attempts to apologise for my original misstep), how can I take anything else he says seriously?
Now I need to question the entire thesis of the book, since I find I now question the mental and emotional stability of the author. Now I look at the long screeds (rants), the repetition, the extreme focus on abuse and victimhood at every turn, the utter lack of humor, it all starts to add up to something that I frankly have second thoughts about putting much stock in. Yes, the world is in trouble, no doubt about it. Should I look at it all through a lens of abuse, violence, slavery and victimhood just because Derrick Jensen has personal issues which he projects onto everything he sees or comes into contact with? Maybe not. It's been interesting, but the search for a sane approach to our problems continues, I'm afraid.
-Neil Gunton
Summary of Endgame, Vol. 1: The Problem of Civilization
The long-awaited companion piece to Derrick Jensen's immensely popular and highly acclaimed works A Language Older Than Words and The Culture of Make Believe. Accepting the increasingly widespread belief that industrialized culture inevitably erodes the natural world, Endgame sets out to explore how this relationship impels us towards a revolutionary and as-yet undiscovered shift in strategy. Building on a series of simple but increasingly provocative premises, Jensen leaves us hoping for what may be inevitable: a return to agrarian communal life via the disintegration of civilization itself.20th Century Books
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