One of the founders of XR let’s it all hang out on this old Medium article.
First his credentials.
I’ve been with Extinction Rebellion (XR) from the start. I was one of the 15 people in April 2018 who came together and made the collective decision to try to create the conditions that would initiate a rebellion. I was a coordinator of one of the original five working groups, and I’ve been organising with XR day-and-night since then (frugally living off my savings so I don’t have to work, having quit an industry that paid me £1000/week). And I’ve been in RisingUp (the organisation from which XR has emerged) since the first RisingUp action in November 2016. I’m a RisingUp Holding Group member, and a member of the XR Guardianship Team.
And for the sake of transparency: that previous paragraph is all about me ‘pulling rank’ — I’m trying to convince you to listen to what I have to say…
And then he tells us the real problem.
And I’m here to say that XR isn’t about the climate. You see, the climate’s breakdown is a symptom of a toxic system of that has infected the ways we relate to each other as humans and to all life. This was exacerbated when European ‘civilisation’ was spread around the globe through cruelty and violence (especially) over the last 600 years of colonialism, although the roots of the infections go much further back.
And lays it out in detail.
Euro-Americans violently imposed and taught dangerous delusions that they used to justify the exploitation and reinforced our dominance, while silencing worldviews that differed or challenged them. The UK’s hand in this was enormous, as can be seen by the size of the former British empire, and the dominance of the English language around the world. There is stark evidence that everyday racial bias continues in Britain, now, today. It’s worth naming some of these constructed delusions that have been coded into societies and institutions around the world:
- The delusion of white-supremacy centres whiteness and the experience of white people, constructing and perpetuating the myth that white people and their lives are somehow inherently better and more valuable than people of colour.
- The delusion of patriarchy centres the male experience, and excludes/hinders female assigned people from public life (reducing them to a possession or object for ownership or consumption). Patriarchy teaches dominating and competitive behaviours, and emphasises the idea that the world is a place of scarcity, separation and powerlessness.
- The delusions of Eurocentrism include the notion that Europeans know what is best for the world.
- The delusions of hetero-sexism/heteronormativity propagate the idea that heterosexuality is ‘normal’ and that other expressions of sexuality are deviant.
- The delusions of class hierarchy uphold the theory that the rich elite are better/smarter/nobler than the rest of us, and make therefore better decisions.
Me. Basden is just another revolutionary Marxist.
I like Pink Floyd’s idea…
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=j7VBbWuC_zM
After going down the list of individual, family and societal institutions that the left demands to be destroyed, what is the core target? When every complaint is focused on being “white” and yet the majority of those who make that complaint are obviously Caucasians, then what is “white”?
I am convinced that in this context “white” is a proxy for culture. The culture that must be destroyed is the one that has the attributes being complained about. Where did these attributes come from? I think these are the vestiges of the culture of the Protestants who controlled England (and to some extent Europe) and later who founded this country. These used to commonly called “white Anglo-Saxon Protestant” (WASP) values.
But the leftist complaints and activism go even deeper than just WASP culture. Marriage and family are not only WASP values, but Judaeo-Christian ones as well. Sexual morality in the west is a vestige of that stated in Scripture. Our culture still generally rejects the idea that having multiple wives is a sign of prosperity, or that adult men can “play” with boys, like the quaint native custom of bacha bazi in Afghanistan.
When “hippie communes” can have sex without regard to how many feral children will be conceived. but marriage must be destroyed because it imposes heteronomativity or patriarchy, then we are seeing activism against very basic cultural values that come from Scripture. So this is the left making war against anyone who holds to any aspect of Judaeo-Christian values.
As for what they want, the left only wants anything except those values. They must destroy those values but they have nothing to replace them with, let alone anything with a sufficient track record of success. Humanity has been down this road before and it always ended in suffering, death, and great loss of prosperity. Lenin tried this in the early USSR, so did Mao. This kind of blind ideology lead directly to the Killing Fields of the Khmer Rouge.
https://youtu.be/DGQIHPNq5cE
PS on empires
Don’t forget the conquest of Central and South America and the Philippines by Spain – and all those Portuguese bits that the Pope wouldn’t let the Spanish have – And then there is Africa….. XR, please do your homework
I’m fairly certain that both Spain and Portugal are part of Europe.
But part of Europe that doesn’t (and didn’t) speak English.
I believe that is Howard’s point – ‘Colonisation’ and ‘Imperialism’ are not British inventions or monopolies.
Greta the co2 puppet wrote a twitter post for xr to break the law and continue to do as they are doing 😐
I’m new here, and do not fully understand his statement, But a rough guesstimate would be, The climate talk is just a excuse to over throw the government? To impose their rule, that we must live how they want us to live? If so why do they get so much media attention? Are celebrities and the rich people who support them that uneducated that they do not see what xr are really doing?
Also could anybody find out what job he did for £1000 pounds per week, and how much is left in his savings…
Many thanks
“The climate talk is just a excuse to over throw the government?”
The goal of these leftist radicals is to destroy Western society. They say Western society is the root of all evil and it must be eliminated, along with all white people, and be replaced with an authoritarian paradise.
The Delusional Left wants to foist their delusions on the rest of us. By force, if necessary.
Many ‘capitalist’ millionaires and billionaires are heavily invested in “global warming fixes” (green energy) which said investments are making them richer and richer, ….. and to keep that income revenue flowing, …. they are compelled to fund the “actions” of the leftist radicals because they have chosen the fearmongering of “Global Warming” to destroy Western society. And like all such radical groups, its only a matter of time before they turn and bite the hands that fed them.
I don’t worry about climate change affecting human civilization to any great extent. I am certain that “fixing” climate change will pretty much destroy human civilization.
“The delusions of class hierarchy uphold the theory that the rich elite are better/smarter/nobler than the rest of us, and make therefore better decisions.”
Generally smarter people make better decisions which allow them to become richer and they have smart children who become better educated and make better decisions and become richer.
And at the other end of the scale. Dumb people are too dumb to know they are dumb. So their tiny minds create conspiracy theories about how they are oppressed by the rich and not given a chance. When the truth is they aren’t smart enough to cease an opportunity and create a better life for themselves.
Mr. Basden is going to seek out black people with his last name, possibly great-grandchildren of slaves that some ancestor of his owned, and pay reparations. The recipients are going to say thanks for the windfall.
I hope this won’t start a movement of black people suing retributions out of white people with their last name. Especially as US-citizens often have ancestors from multiple countries, and the last name might point to a marriage rather than an ownership – but that’s the same to XR anyway.
Use of English is oppression. Everyone who feels oppressed must immediately stop communicating using the Oppressor’s language (English).
Hablas espanol?
Girls chasing boys chasing girls and our Posterity? Evolutionary fitness?
They really are XR as in eXterminate Rebellion, not ER as in Extinction Rebellion, and PC (e.g. population control) including dodo dynasties and selective-child a.k.a. wicked solution.
“devil’s advocate – a person who advocates an opposing or unpopular cause for the sake of argument or to expose it to a thorough examination. ”
To wit
If HRC had been elected POTUS then the above claim of “delusion” would surely have ben proven false.
Why pick on the Europeans because of their “delusions of Eurocentrism” when it was the “cure” for the dastardly actions of the Church of Rome and their “delusions of Christiancentrism” that ushered in 1,000 years of The Dark Ages. And don‘t be forgetting that it was the “delusions of Romancentrism” that forced “cultural” changes on the barbarians of western and northern Europeans.
It is only delusional thinking now days, ….. but not in yesteryears, …. simply because the per se “rich elite” were far better educated than the “not-so-rich”. Now days, most anyone can “purchase” a Diploma from a recognized “school of higher education” and then claim that they have been educated.
Cheers
The delusion of patriarchy centres the male experience, and excludes/hinders female assigned people from public life ….. ”
And they forget their own history of Queens and “female assigned” (whatever the bloody hell that means) Prime Minsters.
Cleopatra
Joan of Arc
Marie Curie
Émilie du Châtelet
Let any of the come live in a Southern family here in the US and see how much power the men have.
Both men and women have borne the yoke and burden of leadership throughout history in both large and small scales to suggest otherwise is to purposely and willfully is dishonest. Beside why have they not promoted a woman to lead them; do as a say not as I do – got it.
JEHILL, …… 96% of all teenage and adult females will make an emotional decision on critical issues, …… rather than a logical decision.
Its imprinted in her inheited genes …. as a result of her being the primary caregiver of her offspring(s).
The Church caused the Dark Ages?
Speaking of wanting to rewrite history to fit your own distorted world view.
MarkW, you need to study Biblical history, ……. and quit believing everything that you are told by a per se, …… minister/priest touting their version of the Gospels.
Most people, faithful believers or otherwise, ….. are clueless to the fact that if not for Emperor Constantine (272 – 337 AD) ….. there would not be a Bible, let alone a Christian Religion.
Like I said, study some real history.
Your hatred of religion has caused you to see things that were never there.
Oh good grief, ……”None are so blind than those who refuse to see”.
Here is just 1 of 100’s of references, to wit:
Constantine the Great and Christianity
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_the_Great_and_Christianity
Back at ya.
Showing that Constantine advanced Christianity is not evidence that without Constantine there would be no Christianity. PS: wikipedia? Really?
You also haven’t demonstrated any evidence for your claim that Christianity caused the dark ages.
MarkW, …… Google is free to use, ….. so try using it.
Here is but 1 of 1,000’s of proofs, to wit:
Sam, your posting about stuff that happened *during* the dark ages does not support your claim about the *cause* of (i.e. “ushered in”) the dark ages. Perhaps you should also spend some time learning about cause and effect as well as learning some history.
To put it in perspective, Sam:
– The period of Muslim conquests began in the 7th century (with the conquest of spain in the 8th), the Dark ages are said to have begun in the 5th. How does something two and three centuries later cause the events of two and three centuries prior?
– in 1438, Gutenberg had begun experimenting with printing techniques using metal movable type, how does something 10 centuries later cause the events of 10 centuries prior?
– Martin Luther was pounding nails in the church doors in 1517, how does something 11 centuries later cause the events of 11 centuries prior?
– Galileo was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1633, how does something 12 centuries later cause the events of 12 centuries prior?
As for Hannibal crossing the alps, that happened seven centuries before the Dark ages, so it’s safe to say it wasn’t a factor in the cause of the Dark ages at all (though I eagerly await your theory as to it’s relevance /sarc)
Sam, you need to study *history* and quit trying to warp everything to fit your anti-religion world view. There were many causes to the Dark ages, the Christian religion doesn’t even factor into it: The Fall of the Roman Empire, The Little Ice Age, Famine, and The black Plague were the main factors.
Contrary to what you might wish to think, religion was often a bright spot to the dark ages as religion was a stabilizing influence after the fall of Roman rule. And it was religious monks that toiled away to preserve the writings and art of the past during the dark times when such things would otherwise have been lost.
“There were many causes to the Dark ages, the Christian religion doesn’t even factor into it: ”
OK, then, ……. John Endicott, ….. lets start with you giving me your version of why Galileo was imprisoned ….. and why Martin Luther was pounding nails in the church doors.
What’s a matter, …… “cat got your tongue”, ……. John Endicott?
If not, then give your version of what the Pope (Church of Rome) did when Guttenberg’s “printing press” was used to print copies of the Bible for distribution to the populace.
Sam, you post two in a row in less than a day during time when I’m not online (People do sleep and have lives you know) and accuse me of not responding, that shows your bad faith on the subject. Shame on you. as to your “questions” then have nothing to do with the cause of the dark ages (as pointed out the causes of the dark ages were the fall of the roman empire, the little ice age, famine and the black plague). go learn some history and then get back to us. And unlike you, I won’t be posting a follow up in a few hours wondering why you haven’t done so yet.
Most people, faithful believers or otherwise, ….. are clueless to the fact that if not for Emperor Constantine (272 – 337 AD) ….. there would not be a Bible, let alone a Christian Religion.
Which has *ZERO* to do with what caused the Dark Ages.
And it had *ZERO* to do with the Muslim’s conquest of Spain.
And it sure as ell had “ZERO” effect on Hannibal’s elephants crossing the Alps, too.
Ya got any more childish remarks you need a response to?
Keep shifting them goal posts Sam. Here’s a clue for you, everyone here can see you trying to shift them, so you are not fooling anyone but yourself.
This is not an endorsement of said movement and I understand my views may not be popular, but all is well. Firstly, the person mentions more points than “heteronormativity” so the title of this article is probably not completely reflective of what the original author was attempting to put forth. Secondly and lastly, aside from his points regarding “hetero-sexism/heteronormativity” and “patriarchy”, which I disagree with and find to be total rubbish, his other points are nonetheless valid if looked at with balanced eyes, as uncomfortable as that may be..
You have a reasonable point that the article doesn’t support the claim that XR boils down to opposition to heteronormativity. But you provide no evidence that any of “his other points are nonetheless valid”.
Pretty much the only difference between the violence perpetrated by Europeans and that of non-Europeans is that Europeans have ended up on top. Maybe consider some of the delicate practices of the Aztecs and the Mayans in their interactions with other indigenous cultures before criticizing the Spanish for imposing Christianity on them. Whether one accepts the religious aspects of Christianity or thinks they are simple superstition, at least the Aztecs stopped capturing rival tribesmen and fattening them like cattle and eating them. And the evil Papists also put an end to drowning people in sinkholes as a form of human sacrifice.
You need not restrict yourself to Central America when looking for cruel practices of non-Europeans.
The reality is that these are horrors of human nature. I would submit that in Europe, human nature was somewhat mitigated by judaeo-christian ideas of the sanctity of human life, although human nature often won out. The ideas of Adam Smith and others who gave us theories of free market capitalism have also contributed to make European cultures more successful in the world.
Of course the Europeans have introduced one foul ideology that afflicts much of the world—namely socialism/communism. That aspect of Eurocentrism never seems to be decried by those concerning themselves with the West’s cultural hegemony. I wonder why?
When I read between the lines, with a bit of resource management in mind, I hear a whistle blown by someone disillusioned speaking in a revenge attempt.
Like, we “were doing right until I was misled and betrayed”.
The disillusion of being used, owned, jeopardized a stable normal position in the hope of easy lazy subsidized money that somehow isn’t happening as planned.
How do I know ? In 2015, after Germanwings flight 9525, we had a talk by a profiler. About how to spot potentially dangerous colleagues. Namely disillusioned whistle-blowers ready to commit the unthinkable to draw attention.
Which is what awaits most of these exalted for now green zombies.
The whole XR is a delusion. There, saved a bunch of words and covered everything.
How long did he “earn” 52 grand a year, after tax and expenses? I reckon he has rich parents, as he does not have to work.
Basically a synthesis of ideas motivating the Western Left for the past 4 decades since Andre Gorz. It is a kind of post-marxism. His original essay contains none of the terms: capital, capitalism, “working class”, communism, socialism found in actual marxism.
Yet some people here still call this “marxist”?
He admits it’s not about the climate. The funny thing is, I think 99% of other greens and environmentalists don’t think it’s about the climate either. I say this, because none of them offer a quarter descent scientific argument why “climate is breaking down”. So I don’t think they believe it, any more than parents believe in Santa Claus. It’s rebellion for its own sake.
In my world, anyway, countries have the right, and many do, to reject Western civilization. You can easily identify them. They are the ones constantly asking the West for aid.
Right you are, jtom, …. just like the large group of “westerners” that rejected Western civilization and founded the country of Liberia.
But no one ever wants to talk about that successful venture of “nation building”.
Once again, you are inventing your own history.
Liberia was formed by individuals who freed slaves and then shipped them back to Africa.
YUP, that is where they wanted to go, …… to establish their own nation.
And they did it by them selves, …… no whites needed or wanted.
And what was the basis of Liberia’s nascent economy? And what happened to that economy after the civil war that broke off those economic ties?
These twits have convinced themselves that violence and conquest began with whites and Europeans.
Conquest and oppression are as old as humanity itself.
The European conquests were far from the most violent or oppressive.
You made me think of Ginghis Kahn.
The rich are rich because they have a history of making better decisions.
Way too simple. In that statement you declare that everyone that has volunteered for positions of lower pay with no opportunity to garner significant wealth have made bad decisions. Military service, call to the cross, etc, etc, etc.
You also ignore things like nepotism and inheritance. Did Hunter Biden make good decisions? Then there is lawlessness. Al Capon was rich.
There are small exceptions to every rule. However 95% of the people who are rich, are rich because they made better decisions.
95% of those who are poor and remain poor, are in their situation because they made poor decisions.
I suggest that most of those who are rich, are rich because their parents, grand, or great grand parents made very good decisions and they haven’t managed to blow it all yet.
You can suggest all you want, but you are still wrong.
The vast majority of those we call rich are first generation.
Ill Tempered Klavier, the fact is your suggestion, while it might sound “right” to you simply is wrong. According to Thomas J. Stanley’s book, “The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy,” only 20% of millionaires inherited their riches. The other 80% are what you’d call nouveau riche: first generation millionaires who earned their cash on their own. Many millionaires simply worked, saved and lived within their means to generate their wealth, most millionaires didn’t get their riches overnight when a rich relative died – they worked for the money.
You mean like the famous political family who made the decision to illegally sell alcohol during the prohibition years?
We need to remember that XR is just the extreme, hideous face of a putrid, corrosive ideology which has infested governments, schools, and NGOs, which has already done incredible damage. The extinction we may be facing is that of modern civilization. We have seen a temporary holding of the line with the election of Trump, and heaven help us if he is not reelected. Thankfully, he most likely will be, thanks to the dems shooting themselves in the foot. Thanks, dems! What I fear is that even another 4 years of Trump may not be enough to set them permanently back. Will people wake up in time is the question.
Well, if it was about the belief in CO2 changing climate, these people would be jetting (or sailing) to China and protest there. Strangely they have no problem with China emitting any amount of CO2, while they exclusively go crazy over the west emitting any CO2 at all. Why would that be??
Is there a Nobel Prize for psychobabble? This person is in a class by itself. Literally. The thing is, in the dark ages (1980s), when you sat around at college, stringing all of the goofy things you believed into a Unified Theory of everything, your inebriated state, and the ridicule of your peers kept you from sharing your newfound “wisdom” with the rest of the world. Nowadays, nobody will gainsay the loonie pronouncements from the various axe-grinding “Studies” departments, so now this claptrap gets shared to all, with all of the earnest conviction that a sophomore could muster.
The very institutions we created to spread knowledge and the ability to think and learn have created morons like this who have turned off their ability to do anything but spout nonsense ideology.
“The delusions of class hierarchy uphold the theory that the rich elite are better/smarter/nobler than the rest of us, and make therefore better decisions.”
Well, he’s got one right. Down with the aristocracy!
I tend to pay attention to the part about wanting to utterly destroy our civilization. I couldn’t care less about the idiocy they would put in its place.