Derrick Jensen Bringing It, Per Usual

Wow...Derrick Jensen continues to inspire and to call people on their proverbial shit. If you care about sustainability and consider life to be a good thing worth continuing, you should watch or listen.

Comments

Kendra said…
I found this video quite intriguing... The fact that the speaker (Derrick Jensen) could keep me (the audience) interested for so long was quite impressive. I like his analogy of the death star in star wars. Throughout his jokes and funny comments, he actually has quite valid points. He is a very knowledgable "activist", who strongly believes in his opinions and holds true to his beliefs. Jensen asks, "Do you believe this culture can voluntarily change to a sane and sustainable way of living?" I think that this question highlights his overall purpose of his work. By using history, books, and movies he compares our environmental problems to other problems, I think in hopes to help makes other not only understand but also to listen. I would recommend watching this video to anyone who cares about our Earth.
January 17, 2011 at 3:32 PM
Gwynhwyfyr said…
Derrick Jensen makes very well thought out and coherant points, whether you agree or disagree with his decisions, it is undeniable that he is not just making things up. He also conveys an earnest desire to educate about his premises, but does so in a charismatic way that doesn't come across as overzealous. It was especially interesting when he started talking about the relationship of sex and violence and the hierarchy that has been created and that is accepted with any sexual relationship. Upon reflecting more on the violence within and without civilization, it seems that violence is part of the biological condition. As Derrick Jensen says when he mentions talking to a tree about using toilet paper and causing harm 'you're an animal, get over it.' Which is a very telling statement. Impact and harm will be caused no matter what, it's the regulation, restitution, and sustainability factors that need to be addressed.
January 22, 2011 at 2:51 PM
Princess said…
I found it amazing that I could be smiling while watching a video clip about sustainability. The fact that Derrick Jensen could keep his audience interested throughout the entire clip was truly astounding. His comparisons between movies, history, and politics with the environment were a different way to relate the material so that all audience members could relate in one way or another. One quote which stood out to me was when he said, “there is only one level of technology that was sustainable and that was the Stone Age... we’re going to be there someday but the only question is, what will be left of the world when we get there?” (15:00). After further thought, I realized how powerful this statement was to human kind. I think Jensen is saying that if we use up all of our available resources, there might not be anything left for us to use up. Derrick Jensen was very blunt with his use of language to keep his audience’s attention and I thought it was a video worth seeing.
January 22, 2011 at 7:12 PM
Heather said…
I found this video about sustainability to be very interesting. I love how he uses humor to keep his audience hanging onto his every word. He obviously knows what he is talking about and has a way of explaining his opinions and beliefs to his audience in a way that they would understand. He does this so well that even non-believer members of his audience may find themselves slipping into Jensen's way of thinking. Overall, I found that watching this video was very worthwhile and have definitely taken away information that I feel is very useful.
January 23, 2011 at 12:48 PM
Ashley Klein said…
I’ll admit that I only listened to the first 20 minutes of Jenson’s spiel, but I felt that he made several valid points. One remark that Jenson made, that made me questions my own beliefs when it comes to sustainability was at 12:50. Jenson asks “If you don’t believe the culture is going to undergo a voluntary transformation to maintain a sustainable way of living, and you care about the land where you live, what does that mean for your strategy and tactics? The answer is we don’t know. And we don’t know because we don’t talk about it because we are too busy believe we have hope.” This statement struck me, because it’s so true. We don’t talk about what may happen to our world if we don’t change the way we live, voluntary or not, because we have this uncertain belief that hope is enough. And I fear the truth, hope is not enough.
January 23, 2011 at 2:55 PM
Jenny Gough said…
In the Star Wars example, the rebels used passive means to try to save planets- and their attempts with letters, petitions, and peaceful uprisings resulted in the destruction of the planet and some meager mention in newsprint. This example can also reflect the idea of violence flowing downhill. The rebels feared to use drastic means because violent action/words might upset Vader. This fear is the result of a social structure that gives power to those higher on the hill and permits the violence to flow downwards, and not upwards. In order to do away with the allowance of downhill violence, social structures must be formed that eliminate the fear to fight back. Restructuring social norms is not something people will do voluntarily (just as how Jensen mentions in his 6th premise that people will not change to sustainable living voluntarily). Social norms are built into the entirety of society- in the perception of resources, language structure, and interactions within the community. Therefore, the change to sustainable living must first be a social change. I am very skeptical about wether social change (in the right direction) is possible. I think current generations will be unable to make enough significant changes to sustainable living because they have already been raised in and accustomed to a culture and society that is not sustainable.
January 23, 2011 at 5:32 PM
Megan Williams said…
I really enjoyed listening to Jensen speak. I believe he could captivate an audiance regardless of what he was discussing. I am not personally a fan of starwars, but was interested and enjoyed his references and analogies to the movie. Although I have not seen Star Wars, he did such a thorough job of explaining it that I was not left behind. I like that he speaks to everyone as an collective audience, bringing us all together for a common cause. My favorite point he brought up was that if we continue to import the way we currently do, violence will always exist. Many people think of the strain on the enviornment, and not the strain it creates between cultures-both of which are very important.
January 23, 2011 at 7:27 PM
Cooper Hatch said…
I really enjoyed this video and found it quite interesting. I think it’s amazing how he can get the attention of his audience no matter what they believe. He really keeps people interested in what he’s saying. And he knows a lot about what he was talking about. He’s not just repeating the same facts that support his topic and you can really tell he supports and believes in this. He got me to really think about the environment and other problems, and I hope he does the same for more people.
January 23, 2011 at 7:39 PM
William Swanek said…
I found myself actually being interested in what this man had to say about environmental change, due in large part to how he can put the issues on a level that I can easily understand without having to know a lot of buzz words. He can effectively hold the attention of his audience and he certainly seems to know what he is talking about with his spiel. His comparison of current attempts to help the environment and stop the destruction of it to Star Wars really made me realize that what is currently being done is nowhere near enough.
January 23, 2011 at 9:24 PM
eliane said…
Derrick Jensen makes many interesting points about sustainablity,although he does not give the audience enough ideas of how to solve the problems.I would have liked to hear more scientific facts to support his claims.Perhaps these facts can be found in his books. The use of poor language was disappointing. It is hard to convince an audience of your ideas by using such language.I presume he is a smart person who could make a better speech on the subject.
January 24, 2011 at 2:21 PM
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