Undermining Government and Corporate Authority

Photo by Bruno Figueiredo on Unsplash

That is our task, to clear the way for freedom, justice, a moral civilization and a healthy Earth.

There is evil in the world. We need to overwhelm it, disempower it, by nonviolent noncooperation and by setting an example of what people should and could be.

Yes, love trumps hate. And not only in the abstract or as some sort of unrealistic ideal. This is a principle that can, and if our group succeeds (which is absolutely possible), will happen.

Focus First on Yourself

Ah, how often I hear that people won’t change, that they are evil or stupid. Well, yes, there is massive cruelty and stupidity in the world. Let’s set this aside for the moment.

What about YOU? How fixedly stupid and cruel are YOU? And if you are capable of being sensible and kind, are you unique in the world? In a world of billions, are you the good one? The exception?

Or maybe there are just a few more like you, too few to make a difference?

The answer—and if you think about you, too, will realize—is “no.” This may be a bit humbling, but you aren’t that special, at least not in that way. The world is full of people capable of kindness, even great self-sacrifice. Nearly every person who lives to adulthood did so because someone loved and cared for that person.

Without love, few of us would be here. And there are now EIGHT BILLION people. As Led Zeppelin would say, that’s a whole lotta love.

Anyway, YOU are capable of kindness and love and reason and you—along with probably at least a billion others—are here. Perhaps WE can do something?

Somebody’s Been Making Bad Decisions

We haven’t been making the decisions that got us into this awful situation. We’ve made a mistake, though. We’ve obeyed the people who made those terrible decisions.

Worse still, we continue to obey them. I am, to a degree, still making that mistake. As are you.

Admittedly, it’s hard to disobey, to withdraw our active support for the rules and culture and systems that are destroying our planet and wasting our lives. It seems like we know no other way.

It would be so much easier if we weren’t alone doing this.

Guess what? There is a group that is ready to disobey — and to do much more than that. We are ready to introduce and embody a deeply caring and sensible culture, and an end to the shitshow of greed and stupidity and ridiculous competition.

We are ready to prevent climate collapse and to end cruelty and hatred and violence by refusing to be a part of it.

We will do most of this openly and visibly. And those still entrenched in this insane self-destructive civilization will SEE this alternative. Slowly at first, they will join us. They will tire of the exhausting episodes of trumped up imaginary crises and imaginary enemies and threats.

And some will realize that our REAL crisis is our participation in those cruel fantasies.

THIS is how change happens. Not by working within systems that are corrupt to the core. And not by getting angry at those systems and leaders and striking out at them.

No. We win by refusing to extract oil, by refusing to pay for bombs and jails and police and soldiers. By laughing at lies. By producing food and medicine and shelter directly for each other, cutting out the role of superfluous leaders and authorities. By refusing to be owned.

When they need someone to pollute or enforce or destroy or serve them in some other way-we won’t show up. We will be doing kind things, creative things, constructive things.

Others can watch, envious. Or join. That’s their choice. We invite benevolence. From anyone at any time.

The Saners Way

This is the Saners way. We are the movement that uses nonviolent noncooperation—the most effective force for moral progress ever—to fix the polycrisis and save our dying world. We will replace the cruel destructive civilization-the one that’s destroying itself while ruining the planet-with a kind, caring and humane society.

Join us. WeAreSaners.org/join.