 "Photo: Photo Courtesy of www.csuchico.edu/sustainablefuture/conference")
By harming the Earth, a person is committing hateful acts of violence.
This is a topic that will be discussed by Derrick Jensen at the This Way To Sustainability V Conference. The event, which is held annually, will take place Nov. 5-8 and host 10 keynote speakers along with numerous conference speakers.
“I talk about how this culture is inherently unsustainable and how we need to do whatever is necessary to stop it from killing the planet,” Jensen said. “I mean, because the planet is the most important thing there is.”
Jensen is a philosopher and author of 15 published books, including “Songs of the Dead,” and “A Language Older than Words.” He discusses the abuse he suffered from his father and relates it to people who abuse the environment.
Mark Stemen, a professor of geography and planning, accompanied a group of students to see Jensen speak at the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference at the University of Oregon earlier this year. Stemen thinks inviting Jensen to conference is a revolutionary step for sustainability activity on campus.
“He is a great speaker,” Stemen said. “You expect someone like this to come in and be depressing and a downer, but he is witty. He is self-deprecating, which is ultimately endearing.”
Stemen referred to Jensen’s point that people do not appeal to the abuser’s self-interest to get the person to stop in an abusive relationship. The same goes for abusers of the environment, he said.
“So, why in a system of abuse in a larger, planetary view would we ever tell anybody that abusing the planet is going to save you money?” Stemen said.
Jensen will shock students and “rock their world” with his analysis and introspection, Stemen said.
“Seeing a lecture by Derrick Jensen is why you go to college,” Stemen said.
Deanna Dottai, the student conferences coordinator, and senior Gavin Dixon, the assistant sustainability coordinator, went to see Jensen at the University of Oregon.
Dixon was moved by Jensen’s presentation and thought Jensen had a different perspective on the world and the ability to bring out emotions in people, Dixon said.
“I think that people will be inspired by him and he will kind of recharge their batteries and inspire them to change the world to be a better place,” he said.
Dottai said Jensen gave a “refreshing” talk in Oregon. Unlike other sustainability speakers, he did not shy away from talking about how people are on a destructive path with their lifestyles, which is why she helped invite him to the conference.
“Jensen is not overly optimistic — thinking that we can all just buy Klean Kanteens and ChicoBags and save the world,” Dottai said.
Jensen brings up very deep points about violence in society and civilization in general and relates a lot of things to sustainability that people may not hear from other speakers.
Jensen’s talk of domestic abuse relating to the environment goes back to the abuse he endured as a child from his father, said Mary Jensen, Derrick Jensen’s mother.
Mary Jensen, 72, and her children were abused after she married Derrick Jensen’s father, she said.
Abuse happens all over the world on many different levels and, because of this, she doesn’t understand people’s ignorance, Mary Jensen said.
“Why does it surprise us then that we allow abuse of the environment?”
Kim Sloan can be reached at
ksloan@theorion.com
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