Endgame, Vol. 1 Quotes

“Those in power have made it so we have to pay simply to exist on the planet. We have to pay for a place to sleep, and we have to pay for food. If we don't, people with guns come and force us to pay. That's violent.”
― Derrick Jensen, Endgame, Vol. 1: The Problem of Civilization

“Surely by now there can be few here who still believe the purpose of government is to protect us from the destructive activities of corporations. At last most of us must understand that the opposite is true: that the primary purpose of government is to protect those who run the economy from the outrage of injured citizens.”
― Derrick Jensen, Endgame, Vol. 1: The Problem of Civilization

“Within this culture wealth is measured by one's ability to consume and destroy.”
― Derrick Jensen, Endgame, Vol. 1: The Problem of Civilization

“To pretend that civilization can exist without destroying its own landbase and the landbases and cultures of others is to be entirely ignorant of history, biology, thermodynamics, morality, and self-preservation.”
― Derrick Jensen, Endgame, Vol. 1: The Problem of Civilization

“To reverse the effects of civilization would destroy the dreams of a lot of people. There's no way around it. We can talk all we want about sustainability, but there's a sense in which it doesn't matter that these people's dreams are based on, embedded in, intertwined with, and formed by an inherently destructive economic and social system. Their dreams are still their dreams. What right do I -- or does anyone else -- have to destroy them.

At the same time, what right do they have to destroy the world?”
― Derrick Jensen, Endgame, Vol. 1: The Problem of Civilization

“So long as we only believe in the justice of the state, of the law-made by those in power, to serve those in power-so long will we continue to be exploited by those in power.”
― Derrick Jensen, Endgame, Vol. 1: The Problem of Civilization

“Premise Eight: The needs of the natural world are more important than the needs of the economic system.”
― Derrick Jensen, Endgame, Vol. 1: The Problem of Civilization

“One of the problems with all of this is that not all narratives are equal. Imagine, to take a silly example, that someone told you story after story extolling the virtues of eating dog shit. You've been told these stories since you were a child. You believe them. You eat dog shit hotdogs, dog shit ice cream, General Tso's dog shit. Sooner or later, if you are exposed to some other foods, you might figure out that dog shit really doesn't taste good. Or if you cling too tightly to these stories (or if your enculturation is so strong that dog shit actually does taste good to you), the diet might make you sick or kill you. To make this example a little less silly, substitute the word pesticides for dog shit. Or, for that matter, substitute Big Mac, Whopper, or Coca Cola.”
― Derrick Jensen, Endgame, Vol. 1: The Problem of Civilization

“A primary purpose of the police is to enforce the delusions of those with lots of green paper.”
― Derrick Jensen, Endgame, Vol. 1: The Problem of Civilization

“We cannot hope to create a sustainable culture with any but sustainable souls.”
― Derrick Jensen, Endgame, Vol. 1: The Problem of Civilization

“Love does not imply pacifism.”
― Derrick Jensen, Endgame, Vol. 1: The Problem of Civilization

“In order to maintain our way of living, we must tell lies to each other, and especially to ourselves.”
― Derrick Jensen, Endgame, Vol. 1: The Problem of Civilization

“The global industrial economy is the engine for massive environmental degradation and massive human (and nonhuman) impoverishment.”
― Derrick Jensen, Endgame, Vol. 1: The Problem of Civilization

“a real partnership in which all parties help all others to be more fully themselves”
― Derrick Jensen, Endgame, Vol. 1: The Problem of Civilization