The Deep Green Resistance Book
Strategy to Save the Planet

Q: Why should I take large-scale direct action against the system when almost nobody else, especially in the first world, is?

Derrick Jensen: Because the world is being murdered. And because members of the so-called first world are the primary beneficiaries. It is not up to the poor to be on the front lines yet again. It is not up to the indigenous to be on the front lines. It is not up to the nonhumans to be on the front lines. It is our responsibility as beneficiaries of this system to bring a halt to the system.

MEND (Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta) has been able to reduce oil industry output by up to 30 percent in Nigeria. They have done so because they love the land they live in and that land is being destroyed. We have much greater resources at our disposal. It’s our responsibility to use those resources and to use the privilege that we have to stop this culture from killing the planet.