Time's Up! Quotes

“Human activity is destroying the natural systems that we depend upon for our survival. Our most basic instinct as humans is to survive, yet we continue to destroy our life-support machine. Connected humans understand this terrible contradiction; disconnected humans are not able to.”
― Keith Farnish, Time's Up!: An Uncivilized Solution to a Global Crisis

“For hundreds of millennia, humans connected tightly to the land and the life forms their survival depended upon, because that was how it had to be. Failure to connect was not an option; if you didn’t know how plants grew, how animals bred, how rivers ran, how the seasons and the weather changed, then you did not survive. In some parts of the world – the Native American tribal lands of West Coast USA, the dense forests of West Papua, the deep valleys and jagged mountains of northern India – these connections remain, and cling on despite the best efforts of those who seek to gain more from the land than ‘mere’ survival. This connection has ebbed away from the majority of humanity, in many cases to the extent that people feel nothing for anything humans have not created themselves. But we cannot eat concrete; we cannot breathe television; we cannot drink money.”
― Keith Farnish, Time's Up!: An Uncivilized Solution to a Global Crisis

“Find a patch of sunshine or a place where it is warm and still; sit or stand, whichever is most comfortable. You’ll need to put the book down in a moment because I want you to shut your eyes and imagine what it will be like after civilization has gone. If you have ever been somewhere truly wild, even just for a
camping trip or a long walk, then that will help your imagination. If you already live somewhere truly wild, then this will be an easy exercise; if you are dependent
upon Industrial Civilization to provide you with everything, then it will be hard, maybe impossible. Imagine no cities, no paved roads, no pylons, no offices or factories – imagine having to grow everything, make everything, do everything
for yourself.

Now close your eyes and go there for a while . . .”
― Keith Farnish, Time's Up!: An Uncivilized Solution to a Global Crisis

“Human activity is destroying the natural systems that we depend upon for our survival. Our most basic instinct as humans is to survive; yet we continue to destroy our life-support machine. Connected humans understand this terrible contradiction; disconnected humans are not able to.

Not all humans are responsible: just those who are part of Industrial Civilization. Industrial Civilization depends on economic growth and the unsustainable use of natural resources, so it has developed a complex set of tools for keeping people disconnected from the real world and living a life that keeps civilization running. Humans have been manipulated in order to be part of a destructive system.

The only way to prevent global ecological collapse and thus ensure the survival of humanity is to rid the world of Industrial Civilization.”
― Keith Farnish, Time's Up!: An Uncivilized Solution to a Global Crisis