"Politically Correct" vs. Politically Opposed

In the early days of my being politicized, I spent time with people in a subculture which can be summed up with the title “anti-authoritarian punk.” A favorite activity of people in this group was to bash something they called “political correctness.” At almost every gathering I attended—without fail—hours would be spent snickering and bad-talking the notion of being politically correct, and ostracizing activists accused of subscribing to that notion.

As I understand it, the argument went that political correctness, or “P.C.,” was apparently a plot by some do-gooders to censor everyone else and prevent them from saying and doing what they want (for example using infamously common hate speech against women and people of color). The battle they claimed to be fighting was one of retaining the “freedom” to “shock” people, because, in the end, the ultimate goal is one of breaking social conventions rather than justice.

Later in my life, having been an activist and a radical for several years, I now see the whole subculture of “anti-authoritarian punk” as having been entirely entrenched in, and supportive of, the privileges that come with being a beneficiary of sadistic arrangements of power (be it white supremacy, patriarchy, or capitalist exploitation).

Historically, those in power have had to objectify others—made into “capital O” Others—before they could exploit them. When I think of the people I knew in this “anti-P.C.” camp, I am generally overcome with disdain and rage, because they are simply a new face doing the same objectification. Their effect on social justice movements is not benign, but a significant part of the problem. Oppression is effectively normalized by their brand of “freedom to” rhetoric, thus duping disenfranchised youth and others who stumble upon this sentiment to buy into the thrills of breaking boundaries instead of realizing their potential to make the world a better place and then plugging into projects and communities of righteousness.

If “P.C.” means I’m not okay with hate speech, if it means that I stand against behavior that is cruel and obviously inappropriate, then I’m fine being identified with it. But, if we want to speak honestly about the political element of reinforcing unequal dynamics, I’d much prefer the term "politically opposed”. I am politically opposed to actions and words that are oppressive, because I see it as a part of the continuum of struggle that has been the reality for many generations of people coming from traditions of feminism, anti-racism, and social justice activism.

The political element of these situations is what causes the impossibility of their harmlessness. It’s one thing to poke fun at your close friend in a way where you can both share a laugh. It’s quite a different matter for a person who is, for example, a white man, to verbally or physically assault another person who is, for example, a woman of color, despite the perpetrator claiming the guise of “freedom of expression.” The former scenario can be called “joking”, but the latter scenario can’t be called anything but oppression.

I certainly am politically opposed to oppression. Whether someone thinks I am correct or not to hold this position is of little concern to me.

Image credit: Shaun Slifer

Recommended Book: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

After finishing Margaret Atwood's A Handmaid's Tale, I feel more ready than ever for the feminist revolution. I also feel horrified.

The main character of this book, Offred, struggles with memories of freedom, love, and life, which she must suppress in order to survive in the society that's been forced upon her. In this society, she exists as a vessel for carrying a child. Whom would be immediately taken from her and used "for the good of the race". Offred is not free to read, write, choose her clothing, say what she thinks, eat what she wants, live as a human being.

An underground network called Mayday exists and is secretly gathering information to resist. By collaborating with them, Offred frequently dares to claim her own humanity in defiance of the authority constraining her.

Detailed in this book is the patriarchal wet-dream of probably most men within civilization: total domination and control. It should be obvious: the horror I mentioned is in the myriad similarities between the "fictional" culture described in the book, and the current arrangement of power.

I so appreciate Margaret Atwood for writing this book; let her words not be in vein. Men, time for you to lay down your weapons, or better: choose justice and join the fight.

I leave you with a quote from the book, said by the main character:

I believe in the resistance as I believe there can be no light without shadow; or rather, no shadow unless there is also light.

Music of Resistance: An Interview with Big Dudee Roo

By: Ben Cutbank, for Beautiful Resistance Distro

What follows is an interview with Aurora Lewis and Max Lockwood of Big Dudee Roo, an ecologically-inspired music group from Wayland, Michigan. I had a chance to talk with them around the new year of 2012 about their new album, what inspires them, and being part of a culture of resistance. Visit their website to learn more about them. Order their CD from Beautiful Resistance Distro, here.

Beautiful Resistance Distro: Hello, Its Ben for Beautiful Resistance Distro. I’m honored to have the chance to have a discussion with members of the music group Big Dudee Roo. To start, would you please give a brief explanation of who you are and what you do?

Max: We’re a folk-rock band from Wayland, Michigan. We write a lot of original music and play a lot of shows around Michigan. I think our music has a wide range of themes, as far as the songs that we write. Me and Nate, our banjo player, tend to focus on different environmental and social justice themes, in sort of a way that relates to people individually and emotionally. As far as the music itself goes too, we really try to focus on having a unique, original sound that is still grounded in folk and rock influences, and those genres. We pay really close attention to the songs. There’s really no virtuosic playing in the band. Everyone kind of plays their role and contributes to the song itself without stepping all over the song. You know, there’s not a lot of solos or anything. So, it’s sort of more egalitarian the way we make music.

Aurora: Yeah, I think mostly we all just love to play. You know, we just love music.

Max: And, we’re all really close friends. We all grew up in the same small town here in Southwest Michigan. So, we have a close bond with each other.

BRD: When did you start playing music together as Big Dudee Roo and what first led you to begin using your gifts as musicians as a tool for expressing your personal views on environmental, social, and political issues?

Aurora: As far as when Big Dudee Roo started playing: like we said we all went to the same high school. Everybody else in the band is a few years older than me. I’m Max’s little sister. They started playing— Max and Nate played 7^th and 8^th grade talent shows. And then Justin was your friend too, and so is Kurt, so they started playing together.

Max: Kurt was actually Justin’s next door neighbor. We needed a drummer and Justin was like, “I think Kurt’s a drummer”. And Kurt used to babysit Justin back in the day because they live right next to each other.

Aurora: Yeah, and then I started singing backup with them when I was about fourteen years old and I officially joined the band when I was about sixteen.

Max: And, we used to be called Big Dudee Roo and the Raptors.

Aurora: We all had nicknames; raptor nicknames.

Max: It’s such a long name that no one could remember or get it right. They’d be like, “What…did you just say?” So for practical purposes we just cut off “the Raptors”.

Aurora: Yeah, there was one venue that put up a flyer about us that said “Big Dundee Roo and the Rafters”.

Max: As far as when we started using our musical talents to support or promote different political and social causes: that was something that attracted me about music right from the beginning. When me and Nate were in 8^th grade we had a pop-punk band. That’s how we got our start. I was attracted by—back then I remember there was a band called NOFX that I was into. They had some political songs, some anti-Bush songs and I thought that was so cool. So, when I first started writing songs that was something I started doing really early, trying to write protest songs. Then, over the years our political consciousness as individuals and as a band grew a lot and I personally got really into Deep Green Resistance activists and writers. I read a lot of Derrick Jensen and Lierre Keith and even spent some time over in Bellingham, Washington, working with some members of Fertile Ground, who are still really great friends today. So, it’s always been important to me, and I think it’s important to everybody in the band, to see music not just as pure entertainment, but as something that can make people think and get at their emotions. You know, on one hand music is entertainment—you want to make music that sounds good and that people are going to enjoy, that they can dance to, move to—but on the other hand it’s always been more than that for me. I remember in high school I was totally obsessed with the band Pearl Jam. It sounds funny, but I was totally attracted to how they did things like took on Ticketmaster for having a monopoly. A lot of their songs actually deal with feminist issues. There are lots of songs that concern abortion and also songs about the abuse of the culture. That was something that really attracted me. Anyways, we love—like last year when we got to play at Candlelight Collective in West Bend—that was so much fun and we had such a great night. Because a lot of times we play in bars and different places aren’t necessarily paying close attention to the words, and maybe even not the music, sometimes. So, it was great to play at a place like that where everyone was super engaged and playing attention to the words we were saying. And, we could tell the stories about the songs. That just feels so good. Those are the shows we love to play.

Aurora: The gems.

Help the Mental Health and Civilization zine project reach print

Mental Health & Civilization is a compilation zine that explores how civilization leads not only to the degradation of the planet, but of our mental health as well.

Through personal stories and critical essays by various contributors, Mental Health & Civilization connects the dots between the insanity and destructiveness of the dominant culture and widespread personal mental un-health.

This zine will be available in both print and digital formats.

Contributors include: Robert Jensen, Urban Scout, Crimethinc., The Icarus Project, and many more, with art by: Stephanie McMillan, Kaitlynn Radloff, Ted Bolha, and more.

Recommended film: The Wind That Shakes the Barley

Based in 1920's British-occupied Ireland, this film is the absolute best i've seen in terms of what a serious, militant resistance movement might look like.

It follows a chapter of the IRA (Irish Republican Army) as they recruit, build, and train an armed resistance movement to force the British--who had murdered and humiliated them for generations--from their homeland.

But, they didn't stop with the British. A large faction of the Irish people signed a treaty with the crown to create a new "Irish Free State", which meant their independence was meaningful only to the extent of the whims of the British. To fight for real justice and freedom for all people--not just the ruling class--the resistance movement had to battle amongst fellow Irish.

All people interested in a living planet--and the resistance movement it will take to make that a reality--should watch this film. The courage found within every one forming their amazing culture of resistance--militant and non; including those who set up alternative courts, sang traditional songs and speak the traditional Gaelic language, open their homes for members of the resistance--is more than i have ever experienced, yet exactly what is needed in our current crisis. Those who fought back endured torture, murder, and the destruction of their communities. Yet, they still fought because they were guided by love and by what is right.

It's time we fight back. Watch this film and discuss it with those you love, with your camrades. The next question becomes: How?

A few recent dreams

Here are a few dreams I've experienced recently:

1. "Death": My partner and i met a strange fellow at a dark park. He called himself "death." He was an anarchist, and was wandering around doing random acts of resistance. He was very illusive. He ran really fast and would just get up and run somewhere unexpectedly. One time, he got up and ran to get his bike. My partner and i wondered where he was. We then heard the sound of a bike approaching, but didn't know where it was coming from. We wondered why he was here and he told us he was here for "anarchy." He was trying to stop some developers from destroying this marsh nearby.

2. "Rummaged through": I left my car in some huge city. I was very scared as i navigated the city to get back to the car. When i got there, the trunk was wide open with black crates (like those that i put vegetables in at the farm i work at in waking reality) stick out of it like drawers. they had been pulled out slightly and i found my stuff had been rummaged through. Money was still there, though, as were other items that would have made sense to take if somebody was breaking in, looking for things to sell. I grabbed my baby blanket from the trunk. The hood of the car was open, too, and the lights were on. I quickly got in the car. It was parked half-way over the sidewalk on some random corner of some random streets. It was totally out of the yellow parking lines. I then realized i never put money in the meter and suddenly i knew it was the police who broke in.

3. "Decolonization": My friend was teaching me how to play piano at her home. We started talking about European conquest and, at one point, i said that i think it'd be totally appropriate and justifiable to kill settlers. She asked me why i thought that. I said: because look at what they did to the indigenous. This conversation was sparked by a painting on her wall, depicting settler armies moving out the natives, which my friend liked. I saw a scene of an Arawak prince on a hill and a European sneaking up behind him. I knew that one reason the Arawaks were so nice to settlers is because one of them was being fed messages telling them to trust settlers even before contact. I knew i too had been fed these messages. The only way to stop the messages was to cut off the transmitter attached to my body. I knew we all had to do this.

DGR Wisconsin's first event

On August 5th, an amazing event that i helped to set up happened at Candlelight Collective in West Bend. I, on behalf of Deep Green Resistance Wisconsin, invited musicians Big Dudee Roo and Thistle to play their songs of ecological, social, and feminist resistance. I gave a short talk and presentation on Deep Green Resistance (DGR) and also had a DGR table set up.

The presentation started with a showing of the incredibly powerful short film, Resist: Do not Comply, which includes the voices and words of Lierre Keith and Derrick Jensen, two of the authors of the just-released book, Deep Green Resistance: Strategy to Save the Planet. I am so grateful that i had the wisdom of Lierre and Derrick on hand to begin the presentation with; the film had many in tears, and really set a tone that was perfect for what i was speaking to. The talk started with general information about the Deep Green Resistance movement: it's strategy, analysis, goal, and statement of principles. Then, i discussed the local Wisconsin chapter, where we are it in terms of building the group, our goals, and how folks can get involved to start fighting this system of death at home.

In the future, i would like to deliver a DGR speech more clearly and confidently, so in the meantime i will be practicing. Overall i felt the feedback was good, though (probably because the venue as a whole is supportive of me, as i helped to found it and am still very active there; but anyways...). Many heads were nodding as i spoke. There was no time for Q&A, but i only heard positive comments and excitement about the movement as the evening went on.

The table looked wonderful. It included: two stand up signs with DGR quotes (from DGR Austin); The Problem, or why: Deep Green Resistance pamphlet; General DGR fliers and brochures; Green Scare pamphlets; A pamphlet written by Waziyatawin, called Indigenous People and the Revolution; Security Culture pamphlet; E-mail update sign-up sheets; and a glossy Deep Green Resistance sign. All of the literature was free, and much of it was taken over the evening. Multiple people signed up on the e-list sheets, and many commented about getting more involved.

I want to note how amazing the music at this event was, too. Thistle played first. She sang many songs about gardening, riding bicycles, occupying the Wisconsin state capitol, and killing those who spilled oil in the Gulf of Mexico. I really loved a song she played called "The Last Day of the Sword", about the end of patriarchy. Thistle's energy was intense and inspiring. Next, was Big Dudee Roo. They have been one of my favorite bands this year, and meeting and watching them play was a total honor. Besides being extremely talented musicians, the politics in their lyrics are perfect. A couple of the band members are already active in the Deep Green Resistance movement, and, very much to my delight, it shows. In one song, for example, they sing a beautiful quote (and one of my personal favorites) from Derrick Jensen: "If we wish to stop the atrocities, we merely need to step away from the isolation." My words simply cannot do their music justice, and i urge you to listen and buy cd's from them to give your support. If you are anything like me (someone who loves life, resistance, feminism, and the landbase) you may feel like you finally found the musical match to inspire you in all facets of your work.

As of now, Deep Green Resistance Wisconsin is planning for more events and opportunities to speak and give presentations like this. If you have ideas or want to get involved or want to give us feedback, get in touch: dgrwisconin [at] riseup [dot] net.