The Wild Ranch Manifesto

From: John Roca <tribe@primenet.com>
Date: Mon, 27 Nov 1995 21:11:36 -0700 (MST)

The attached is an article by a member of Earth First! which I found at
the Wobblies (ie, IWW) home page. 

John

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The Wild Ranch Manifesto
by Tim Haugen

Among the more frequently encountered environmental
bromides is the one about how Americans consume more per
capita than the people of any other "culture" in the world, the
point being that a sustainable future will necessarily involve a
reduction in our "American standard of living." In my
experience, the authors presenting this truism are universally
apologetic in presenting their conclusions. "We must sacrifice.
We must deny our desires for the benefit of others, and for the
future of the planet. Sob, sob."
Can there be any wonderment that this line of reasoning has
not exactly gripped our compatriots with a fervor for change?
Indeed, when the late president George played Scrooge in Rio, he
trumpeted his refusal to go along by proclaiming that he would
not ask the American people to sacrifice their standard of living.
The conservative American punditry cheered his resolve. And
through their actions, consumers continue to justify the ever
expanding really gross national product.
As presented, this environmental argument is dead on
arrival. Calls for sacrifice do not generate mass movements of
the kind that the world needs now. However, recently published
tracts and also personal experiences tell me that this argument
can be salvaged, but only if we wrest it from the clutches of the
liberal crybabies and repackage it in the form of a truly radical
critique of contemporary society -- a critique that exposes for
ridicule the myths that buttress mainstream material values. A
critique broadcast to the public not by the lamentations of liberals
but by the riotous laughter of those of us who have discovered
the joys of living life in defiance of those mainstream material
values.
Consider, for example the life of my friend Roger. By all
current economic formulations, Roger should be living in
poverty. He works only four months a year, and perhaps an
occasional odd-job during the remaining months. But Roger's
other friends who live the mainstream 40-48 hour work week,
50 weeks a year, do not pity him. They are, in fact, insanely
jealous of him. Why?
Roger's philosophy is simple. "Figure out what you really
enjoy doing. Work only enough to spend the rest of your time
doing what you really like to do." For Roger, one day of work
equals one week of exploring his wilderness bioregion of choice;
the Boundary Waters Canoe area of northern Minnesota and
southern Ontario. Roger's life is not defined by his work, but
rather by the adventures that his few months of work a year
make possible.
In contrast, Roger's friends have bought, literally, the
American dream, and the accompanying lifetime of debt.
Homes, vehicles, electronics...their assumed obligations have
reduced them to wage slaves. Sure, they have more nice things
than Roger, but their jealousy mounts with each passing year.
Belatedly, they learned the truth that Roger has known all along:
a huge pile of trinkets cannot make up for the banality and
drudgery of modern working life. Whenever they see Roger,
they say, "Man, you're doing it right." And Roger agrees.
The defenders of the status quo claim that the current system
is unequaled in its ability to satisfy the needs and wants of
people. On one level, this is certainly true. There are more
things out there to be bought than ever before. But are desires
really being satisfied, or are they being perpetually renewed?
Every evening, people seeking to forget for a little while the
drudgery of their daily lives will plug into their electronic
opiates, only to be bombarded with images of this new thing that
they absolutely cannot live without. While the system may be
unequaled in providing things, it constantly rebuilds the
illusion of deprivation, perpetuating bondage to the system. If
the system is really geared to satisfy the desires of people, as its
apologists claim, then why are so few people in our modern
society satisfied? In fact, the headlines tell us of a dysfunctional
society, and not of a contented populace. This dissatisfaction is
the soft underbelly of the status quo.
The philosophy of the status quo is summed up the T-shirt
slogan, "He who dies with the most toys, wins." But the contrast
between the lives of Roger and his friends should cause us to
rephrase the slogan; "He or she who dies after having spent the
most time at play, wins." The difference between the two slogans
is the same difference that can be apprehended between
"standard of living" and "quality of life." The two are not
interchangeable.
Another indication that the material culture is not all that
its propagandists would have us believe has been the reluctance
of fourth world cultures to adopt our ways. The Penan of
Borneo, the Bushmen of Africa, the Aboriginal Australians and
Indians throughout the Americas have resisted assimilation,
even when the alternative has been genocide. This is a
bewildering phenomenon to those who would "improve the lot
of the savages." Their reluctance to assimilate is often attributed
to ignorance or superstition. But M. Annette Jaimes of the
University of Colorado and Jerry Mander are just two of several
writers and researchers who cite a far more startling explanation.
Contrary to all conventional wisdom, the lives of the so-called
"primitive" are much easier than those of "modern man" (not
to mention modern woman).
Jaimes does acknowledge that 19th century anthropologists
described toil as being a "virtual constant" in Indian life. But she
goes on to point out that those anthropologists were studying
cultures under siege, being forced off their traditional lands by
the westward expansion of European America. Studies of
traditional cultures that have not undergone these disruptions
paint for us a far more appealing picture of "primitive life."
Among the Dobe Bushmen of Botswana, only two-thirds of the
potential work force feel compelled to "work" (gather, hunt...)
during any given time period, and those who do work are so
occupied for an average of 15 hours a week (2 hours and 9
minutes per day). Even at this level of work activity, the
bushmen generate more than what they need. Among the
Toupouri of north Cameroon, 105.5 days a year are devoted to
agriculture, 87.5  days to other work, 161.5 days are devoted to
leisure, and 9.5 "sick" days are average. Jaimes goes on to cite
studies of fourth world cultures around the world, all showing
this same pattern of short work days and roughly every other
day off, with free time devoted to "dancing, wrestling...informal
recreation...loafing."
Contrast this with the 40-48 hour work week that is typical in
this country, plus commuting, subsistence shopping, food
preparation...No wonder contemporary civilization is
dysfunctional. I would wager that even great sex would become
drudgery if one were obligated to spend this much time engaged
in it.
It's naive to think that you can turn back the march of time.
You can t stand in the way of progress...
These platitudes, designed to keep people sedated and
helpless, are certainly true if we as a society continue to blindly
follow the corporate and political leadership to whatever ends
they have in mind for us. And obviously, the reconstruction of a
natural culture will not happen in a few quick, easy steps. But
there are some of us who are actively making the transition to a
less material, more viable way of life, and finding that the result
is not a life of deprivation, but one of unimagined freedom. We'
re not sobbing, but laughing, and wondering why anyone would
want to endure modern life.
Eight years ago, I abandoned the student life just shy of a
Master's degree. since then, I've lived in the woods with
traditional Indians, worked as a tree planter, ski-bummed,
washed birds and beaches in Prince William Sound...And I'm in
the process of establishing a nature preserve carved out of
former ranch land in the middle of cowboy country. Wild
Ranch. One hundred acres of once cow-beaten land now being
converted back to elk pastures.
My days are very busy, but it s an interesting, fulfilling
busyness as opposed to the mind-numbing routine of your
average American wage slave. Instead of accumulating things, I
m accumulating quality time.
So you want to foster a less consumptive, more Ecotopian
society? First, rid yourself of your mainstream American values.
Build a way of life devoted to adventure and quality time rather
than accumulation. Join with those of us who are already
laughing at the brainwashed drudges slaving away, making
them jealous. This is the key. Instead of sobbing about sacrifices
that need to be made, laugh! Show mainstream working
Americans that it is their sacrifice that is intolerable. They re
squandering away the experience of life for the sake of collecting
trinkets. Really this is not a difficult thing to do. But don't just
take my word for it...