Chapter 7 Online

In case you hadn’t noticed, Chapter 7 – entitled “Undermining The Machine” – has gone online. It is published in three parts, which can be accessed via the Book menu or by going to https://underminers.org/the-book/chapter-7/. There isn’t much to say about this chapter that cannot be better expressed by actually reading it, but I have to make some serious caveats for anyone who is taking Underminers seriously (as I am sure many of you are):

First, this is not some superficial, symbolic exercise in gathering lots of jolly people together in order to make a noise about just how pissed off they are about the state of the planet. That happens all the time and if that is your bag then you can find those types of events anywhere and everywhere. There will be a lot more to say about the failures and folly of mainstream environmentalism in Chapter 8, but for now I would suggest that if you aren’t in this for the long-haul then Underminers is not for you.

Second, there is some scary shit in this chapter, particularly the middle section. All of it is fully justified in the text, and carries with it incalculable rewards for the future of humanity, as well as considerable risk for anyone looking to do some of the things I can only hint at in the text. If you have any doubts about your place in this effort then read Chapter 4, which will help equip you will some of the things you need. In all cases you must have also read Chapter 5 – I cannot stress this enough – which provides vital risk reduction information both for those that may be impacted and, of course, yourself.

Third, this is a very long chapter, which may be better read on paper. When the book is finished then I will begin work on a publishers version, with the aim of selling as an e-book and Print on Demand – assuming no publisher takes this on as a going concern. For the time being I have made all text printable. However, if you are planning on carrying out anything significant then I wouldn’t keep the printed copy about your person: it is a “Practical Guide” but it is not a manual, so in terms of the nuts-and-bolts for a specific activity then you should be doing your planning in a much more controlled manner than just reading a book.

For this chapter I have been blessed with the efforts of three people I greatly admire for various reasons. Ana Salote, who writes “Fashion is Scary Medicine” was a great inspiration and help for my first book, and wrote Tree Talk one of the most moving children’s books I have come across. David Edwards, who writes “The Corporate Media – Undermining The Silence”, turned my head around more than ten years ago with his seminal “Breaking the Chains of Illusion” and works tirelessly (with David Cromwell) publishing the MediaLens website. Richard Reynolds, who writes “Guerilla Gardening” is the father (although he’s still younger than me) of the British Guerrilla Gardening movement, and works day-in-day-out showing people how urbanisation can be undermined with a little effort. I thank all of them for their words here and what they do in their lives.

Queuing Up For Posting

Incredibly, I have a backlog. Ok, that’s not strange really given how awful my progress has been getting this book online, but finally the backlog is a of a good kind. I have over a month’s worth of text to get on the website with Chapter 7 straining at the leash to complete it’s literal dump all over the industrial system (the first part went up a short while ago), something I will get fully online next week. Trying to keep this a little low-key until the PDF is ready for pushing out because it really is quite scary.

And then there is Chapter 8, which I completed a few days ago much to my surprise. Just awaiting an essay from a valuable contributor and then that will all be ready, which is a lovely thought. A question that remains, though, is from which quarter am I going to get into most trouble: will it be the industrial forces being undermined in Chapter 7, or will it be the environmental mainstream which spends an inordinate amount of time and energy defending those industrial forces?

I honestly don’t know.

Chapter 1 is Online

As promised, I have started to place chapters of Underminers online, and the trick seems to have worked – the block has been unblocked and, apart from a few days away in the relative wilds of Skye learning a bit of bushcraft and a visit from part of my family, writing has once again become a productive process.

The Introduction, as previously published, is now in the Book section as is the up-to-now unseen Chapter 1, which includes a specially compiled essay from Carolyn Baker, my guru for mental stability in times of collapse. Setting context, which is what this chapter does, is vital. Going straight into the Tools of Disconnection (Chapter 2) would assume far too much of the reader; not intellectually, but in terms of where this whole idea of Undermining is coming from. It’s a new concept for the vast majority of people, so Chapter 1 sets out to explain why undermining is such a critical thing, and why Industrial Civilization has to be undermined.

Chapter 2 will be published in a week or so, but for now please read and share what has so far been published, and if you can please link to the Book Section so that others can read the book as it comes online.

Online Publishing – Unblocking the Block

Over the next few weeks you will notice a few differences on this site. As you will have gathered, the book is far from complete, and due to a lack of routine at the moment I’m suffering from a temporary case of Writers Block. But it’s not just the lack of routine. As the book goes on it seems to be growing in importance, as though it is utterly vital that it gets into the public domain so people can get on with undermining.

Case in point: the Canadian tar sands. The symbolic “protest” group, 350.org are supporting a campaign under the banner Tar Sands Action (actually, I’m pretty sure they are organising it) which is apparently a serious attempt at disrupting the tar sands industry. This is how they are going to stop the tar sands:

The current plan is to commit a simple, sit-in style action at The White House fences, where there is a statute that restricts such activities. This action will be repeated daily as people come into town, keeping this sustained pressure on the issues. We expect people to remain civil and peaceful, acting in a dignified manner that is as serious as these issues are.

So you see the problem. I don’t think I need to spell out how fruitless this is.

In the light of this and many other examples of impotence in the face of increasing destruction and the complete encapsulation of humanity into the way of life called Industrial Civilization, I have no option but to publish Underminers online as soon as possible. I also need a serious kick up the arse, and maybe some of my dear readers will be able to help as things develop.

Therefore, starting in a few weeks this web site will become a publishing platform as well as a blog. Despite the obvious pitfalls with putting chapters of an unfinished book online, such as the whole book maybe not sitting together as well as if I had waited for completion, or the chance of realising I have missed something out (I reserve the right to change things retrospectively) it’s going ahead, starting with Chapter One, soon.

Watch this space.