A little bit weird, a little bit political with a lot of humor.
I am sure that many of you here have just read something that someone else has said and it made you literally stop in awe of the sheer lack of forethought in a statement.

I was flipping through a copy of "The Big Ideas of 2006", put out by Adbusters and I just happen to stop on a page with this gem on it:

"When are we going to take action and truly stop this disease called civilization?"

HUH? Since when did civilization become a DISEASE? Is it a mental disorder, a virus, a degenerative disease? I guess it is something you develop the symptoms of from birth and it just eats at you inside like... well, like cancer.

Yes, it is true that forests are getting knocked down, kids are being born with heavy metals in their bodies and yes, there is war. But does that mean that to try to cure these ills that the ENTIRE recorded history of the world must be ripped down to bring 6 billion people back to the level of hunter-gathers. Wow... that is really going to work.

I like language, art, culture and philosophy. And contrary to popular belief, agriculture, architecture and technology are not sins against the Earth. Leisure is not a sin. Education isn't a sin. I like being able to articulate thoughts in an organized and efficient manner and not have to root around in the ground or hunt for everything I need to eat. And what would happen to the forests if we all just decided to give up on civilization? I think they'd be burned to a crisp as people sought out new ways to keep themselves warm... and think about all the species that would be killed by that.... especially over the fires by hungry people seeking out something to fill their bellies.

I think Mr. Guer has missed all the important points of just how truly wonderful civilization is. I mean, he hypocritically writes his comments down and uses the mail system or *gasp* the internet to deliver his message to a magazine that is disseminating information through modern printing methods rather than grunting a message in a primitive ape-like language to others of the species who are abstaining from participation in civilization themselves in a small geographic radius from where he was born.

Nicholas Guer... you claim that you are willing to eat rats for revolution... well, without the tools of civilization, you can't have a revolution... and now I want to see you try to do it without anything that civilization provides... and that includes the rats too.

Comments
on Dec 19, 2005
Like all inventions of man, Civilization is not perfect.  But it is a damn site better than all the alternatives, and it has 'civilized' man so that his ONLY actions are not fighting.  Civilization, like Penisulin, is the cure, not the disease.  And like Penisulin, it does not cure all diseases.
on Dec 19, 2005
See, I probably would have shrugged if it was any other word but Civilization. Capitalism, Republicanism, Liberalism , Socialism, democracy, fascism, extremism, fundementalism, moderation.... the list goes on.

The ironic thing is, on the next page there was a short piece basically taking the left to task for being a bunch of whiners that needed to basically step over the body of the OLD left and get some big ideas and activism on their side.