PWI Editor’s Note: This text originally appeared in the liner notes for the ¡TCHKUNG! release Dogs and Gears.

THE TERRAN WORLD VIEW

We are alive within a sick unbalanced human culture. Consequently the very planet that supports our culture is ailing, with much of the life on it in a critical condition. To understand why we are destroying each other and our global habitat, it is necessary to understand the parasitic civilization. This is a comparatively recent trait to humans, and is by far the most prevalent in the dominant "Western" cultures. Preservation, or return to, balanced life on this planet requires that we combat, undermine, and change this destructive world view.


Efficiency Of Destruction

The rulers of this world and their media spend a great deal of energy attempting to categorize problems as separate isolated incidents. Relying on the "Divide and Conquer" approach, we are told that there are such separate problems as sexism, racism, environmental destruction, poverty, homelessness, political/religious oppression and overpopulation. "They" believe that if the "Unity of Oppression", the interconnectedness of problems, were generally recognized that "they" (those of great wealth and power) would lose their special positions. They are correct.

The same mindset that designs efficient death camps for the mass killings of political or racial "undesirables", designed efficient money making clearcuts for the mass killings of forest ecosystems. The same culture that would create and FUND the production of missiles for killing thousands to millions of "enemies" will also design driftnets that strip-mine entire oceans of life. The Parasite Civilization sees all activities through the eyes of mass engineering in the short term. Strip-mining, institutional racial oppression, and on-the-job sexism come from the SAME drive. The drive to ruthlessly acquire the most possible for oneself.

To counter this, we must realize our solidarity with our planet and its peoples. This needs a two-fold approach. We must fight the battles and the War. The battles are the myriad of issues confronting us. Struggling to protect one desert or forest is a delaying tactic. Gaining rights and toleration for homosexuals is a toe-hold. Autonomy for an indigenous peoples is one step of many, and equal opportunities for women would be progress. However, solving any of these problems is not truly an end, for they are but symptoms of a core illness, a disrespect for life. Infighting between activists only works against us all. We should aid and abet all who work in different ways against cultural oppression.

Faith, Perception and Power

Reality is no longer based on the forces of the natural world. Reality (palpable, physical reality for all life on Earth) is controlled by a collection of consensual human beliefs. Our collective belief in automobiles, for instance, created thousands of miles of highways. Within the continental U.S. the farthest point from a paved road is 21 miles. Nature constrains the force of our ideas less and less each minute. We have blasted holes through mountains, built tunnels under oceans and bridges over seas to use our cars. If our human collective of consent decided against cars (in favor of mass transit perhaps?), we could physically do away with them in a matter of days. In fact the technology exists to place all of them in west Texas, and could resemble a giant Smiley Face from orbit if we so desired. 99% of the struggle to change our transit system is within our minds- convincing people to make that decision. Thus, Cars are not reality. Perception is reality. Opinions, fluid and ever-changing, Are reality. One opinion levels mountains, another replants forests. Power is perception. "In God We Trust" marks the ultimate symbol of faith - money. Those who control perceptions, in WHOM we put our faith, pilot planetary reality for personal profit. Three pillars uphold American faith; Business, Church, and the Military Governments. Without our participating faith they would vanish like a mirage. To dissent is to erode these already crumbling pillars. "Jesus Christ"warned (Mathew 7, vs 15-20) to beware of false prophets, watch for wolves in sheep's clothing, and judge a tree by the fruit that it bears. Surely if we hold the "fruit" of our society to the light of scrutiny, we have much ammunition for erosion.
The first and most important step towards change occurs within the individual mind.

The primary revolution is the withdrawal of consent.

A consensus reality exists only when supported by faith.

When enough people refuse to believe, an unknowable threshold is crossed. Once that occurs, creating the actual change in the Physical world is the last and easiest step.

Realizing this, those with a stake in the status quo wage an unrelenting battle against consciousness. Through commercials, programmed news, the co-option of alternatives, and the (il)legal systems, we are bombarded with reassurances and attacked with scary visions of the futility of resistance. Their best defense is a loud offense in the cultural war.

Communication is the weaponry. Whether visual, musical, emotional, or written, it is the transfer of information that forms the battleground. There are no civilians. All are participants, perhaps unwittingly. All actions are votes, all opinions shape reality.

Terran World View

Cultural war is not new. The Native American experience since Columbus screams that message. When one set of values, religion, language, or technological system imposes itself upon another, that is cultural attack. The killings and devastation that accompany such an attack are secondary. An embattled people with their culture intact will rebuild. Where there is doubt, confusion, and loss of identity, there is defeat. The missionaries were much more lethal than the soldiers.

To "save the Earth", we need to change our perspective. We must nurture an alternative view within the shell of the dominant "civilized" world view. Where is this great "new" perspective? It lies in the ruins of the indigenous cultures. It is in the ancient history of the European peoples. It is found in the future of friendly intentional technology. A simple respect of life, an intelligent control of progress. To shun false idols and disobey irrelevant authorities.

I call this emerging force the Terran world view. However it is termed, I believe it's basic tenets necessary. The Terran view seeks the wisdom found in all of the worlds cultures. It embraces the reverence of nature that many more balanced societies observe. It is repulsed by the indiscriminate proliferation of harmful technology. It loathes pointless "progress". However, it grows with the caring of intentionally produced advancements. To select the best of the new, and enjoy the rebirth of the ancient: this is the Terran world view. For this I ask you to declare with me cultural war against the parasite civilization. I will use any means necessary to communicate beliefs made through conscious choice. Whenever possible, I will subvert and undermine support for the dominant society. I withdraw my consent.

- Wrick Tahoma, 1993