Will The Real Eco-Terrorists Please Stand Up?

friendsofjonathanpaul@yahoo.com

2nd Prison Dispatch from Jonathan Paul

When I was arrested in early 2006 for the destruction

of the Cavel West horse slaughterhouse, the media went

into a frenzy with headlines describing me as an

“eco-terrorist” or “eco-terror suspect”. The local

newspaper in my area had a heyday putting out stories

fed to them by the federal government. The news media

in my area surely enjoyed being the mouthpiece for the

corporations and the government. For me it was not

the fact that they reported the story of my arrest,

but how they reported it.

The government’s use of the term “eco-terrorist” works

well for their fear-mongering and paranoia inducing

plans to terrify the general public into complacency,

inaction and silence. After the September 11th

attacks, the government proclaimed that anyone who

opposed the policies of our government would now be

dubbed a “terrorist”. This was the perfect

opportunity to begin to shred the Constitution and to

reign in our civil liberties protected under the

Constitution by using fear. By instilling fear in the

American public, our government and the corporations

that rule the government, began to criminalize the

people’s right to oppose their practices, therefore

ensuring their bottom line – maximum profits for 1% of

the population, the super-rich and elite.

This is all disturbing to me not only because our

rights are being trampled, but more importantly,

because they are destroying our natural world with

impunity. The war on nature is directly related to

the war on the Constitution. Don’t get me wrong – I

am not a patriot of our current government. I am a

patriot for the planet and the natural world as a

whole. In our country people have rights – or we

used to. But what happened to the will of the

people, or the “public interest?” It is the special

interests and corporations that call the shots, not

the “will of the people”. Our government does not

govern based on what is best for the public interest,

as our values and voices are slowly being silenced by

the fear instilled by the powers-that-be. We are

becoming zombies with no voice because we are being

lulled into a state of hopelessness and apathy. But

this is not an incurable disease; we have the power to

make change.

So how does this fit in with the “eco-terrorist”

issue? It is all part of the bigger plan. “Natural

resource extraction” is a necessity in the bottom-line

of corporate industry. By painting those who are

concerned with the natural world with the broad

“fanatic-bunny hugging – tree hugging - terrorist”

brush, the corporations and government can continue to

justify their “resource-extraction” (or earth rape as

I prefer to call it) and deter future activists from

trying to address the dire environmental issues facing

the world that our government refuses to acknowledge

because it will not increase profit for their

corporate friends (Halliburton, Chevron, Blackwater,

to name a few) .

In the 1980’s a man by the name of Ron Arnold created

the term “eco-terrorist”. He defined this term as any

crime committed to save nature. As a leading figure of

the “wise use movement” this new term was a great tool

for Arnold. The wise use movement consists of

resource extraction corporations such as the timber,

mining, oil, fishing and cattle farming industries.

The same industries that will sacrifice the health of

the planet and its inhabitants for their bottom line.

The term “wise use” is intended to delude the public –

that these industries are “concerned about the

environment and use the land wisely”. This couldn’t

be further from the truth and is a classic example of

early spin doctoring by industry hacks. The dire

impact that these industries produce is the major

reason why our planet is in calamitous trouble. This

is also why these industries need to create the public

perception that they are “earth friendly” or “green”.

Here are some examples of greenwashing that come to

mind: “Eco-Imagination” by General Electric, a

corporation responsible for nuclear proliferation; and

“Clean Coal” by the coal industry as it continues to

excavate whole mountains from the earth and spew

toxins into the air.

By advertising themselves as “green”, these industries

hope to convince the public that their #1 concern is

the environment and they are doing everything in their

power to make things “green”. Unfortunately, many

will watch the commercials that these industries

produce and say, “Oh, that’s nice, it’s good to see

they are changing.”

I question who are the REAL eco-terrorists. Is it the

activist who breaks into a lab after the government

refuses to take action against blatant illegalities

and frees hundreds of dogs, cats, monkeys, rabbits and

other unfortunate animals from horrendous pain and

torture? Is it those who choose to sabotage the

machines that cut down the forests, dig the land into

open pit mines that pollute the water and air after

the government refuses to enforce even the meager

environmental regulations that exist? Is it even

those who choose to burn an empty building that is

slaughtering up to 500 horses a week with the blood of

those horses running out of the sewers after even

local government and communities wanted them shut down

for breaking the law?

Or is it the timber companies that clear-cut hundreds

of square miles of old-growth forest until less than

3% is left in the US alone while the federal agencies

charged with protecting our public resources turn a

blind eye? Is it the energy companies that spew out

tens of thousands of pounds of greenhouse gasses into

the air? Is it the oil and gas industry that moves

into the pristine wilderness, drilling millions of

acres of untouched offshore habitat, endangering the

lives of countless species and the lives of the

indigenous people who rely on that environment to

survive? Is it the industry that dumps toxic waste in

our water and land and pollutes the air we breathe?

Could it be our government, run by, and complicit with

the earth-raping corporations who believe we the

people are too stupid to stop them?

Who are the real eco-terrorists? I suggest that the

industries of the world stand up and be counted.

They, in fact, are the real eco-terrorists. How many

thousands of people have died because of their callous

disregard for the health and safety of people and the

planet? How many species of plants and animals have

gone extinct because of their destructive, illegal

practices and outright greed? Those in the present

administration and law enforcement who protect the

bottom line of industry may also stand up and be

counted. They too are responsible for not only

encouraging the industries to continue their

exploitation, but also enable them to expand their

ways under the protection of the police state.

I would also like to give Exxon-Mobil a special

commendation of top general in the eco-terrorist

movement, or “family,” as the feds like to say. By

spending millions in the last 20 years to muddy the

waters on the issue of green house gasses and climate

change, they have prevented us from changing to clean

energy and brought us to the tipping point if we are

not already past it.

And to the last CEO of Exxon-Mobil, Lee Raymond, with

his severance of 400 million dollars, HE should be

looking at life plus a thousand years in prison, not

my codefendants. He should be forced to pay

restitution to all the people he has sickened or

killed, and all the land, air and water he has

irreparably poisoned. He is guilty of eco-terrorism.

His corporation has terrorized the planet and

detrimentally changed its delicate balance of life

forever.

I have been known to be a pessimist. Those who know

me know my famous quote – “we’re doomed”. The

question is – are we really doomed? We very well may

be in many respects. But does this still justify our

dirty deeds? No. Does this mean the Captains of

Industry can continue destroying our planet? No.

Even with the dire predictions of the future we must

take action. The people of the world must stand up

and demand clean alternative energy, the

rehabilitation of forests around the world, curb

species extinction, reduce our own population, and

most of all – make a change in our own consciousness

that we pass down to the next seven generations. If

we can begin to attain this goal then radical

effective change may be possible.

When all the animals are free from exploitation and

the earth is treated like our true mother, then those

who choose to fight at night can take off their masks

and retire for good.

The Captains of Industry, the government, and the

media they control can call me a terrorist and lock me

in their prisons. They can try to break my spirit and

make me one of them. They can enable and support the

ones who attempted to take my life. They can even try

to convince the public that I am a “danger to society”

and make me out to be the devil. But I have a light

you can never extinguish because I am a true patriot.

I may not be a patriot to the death culture, but I am

a patriot for the earth. I, along with many others,

stand for the culture of justice and life. I stand

for the earth and all her creatures.

As I sit here in prison I see red-tailed hawks flying

overhead. I see rabbits running through the fences

and razor wire like it isn’t there. I see ducks and

songbirds fly over me. I see true freedom. I hate

being here. I know why I am here. Although I chose

many years ago not to use fire as a tactic because of

the inherent dangers involved, I know somewhere out in

the world a wild foal is born and a herd of horses run

free because the Cavel West horse slaughterhouse no

longer exists.

In solidarity for the animals and the earth,

Jonathan Paul

#07167-085

FCI Phoenix

Federal Correctional Institution

37910 N. 45th Ave.

Phoenix, AZ 85086

Friends and Family of Jonathan Paul

PMB# 267

2305 Ashland St., Ste. C

Ashland, OR 97520