Home > Work > Plain Radical: Living, Loving and Learning to Leave the Planet Gracefully

Plain Radical: Living, Loving and Learning to Leave the Planet Gracefully QUOTES

Plain Radical: Living, Loving and Learning to Leave the Planet Gracefully QUOTES

1 " In talks I was doing on racial justice, I began talking about the United States’ three racialized holocausts: the large-scale death and destruction of cultures that resulted from the genocide of indigenous people on which the country was founded; the African slave trade that was central to the country’s emergence as an industrial power; and the post-WWII assault on the developing world that secured the country’s dominance in the contemporary world. Millions died in these projects, in which hideous levels of violence to expand one group’s wealth and power were justified, overtly or covertly, by the alleged racial superiority of whites. Some people were turned off, objecting that my language was too strong, but many more found the bluntness refreshing and told me the framework was helpful. These experiences taught me that watering down analysis and language to reach the largest possible audience often backfired—people who disagree aren’t persuaded, and those looking for a compelling argument tend to drift away. "

― Robert Jensen , Plain Radical: Living, Loving and Learning to Leave the Planet Gracefully

2 " What made Jim truly mystical was his ability to live fully conscious of how, every day, a bit more of the sacred becomes desecrated. Still, Jim’s awareness of how much had been lost didn’t stop him from appreciating what remained. "

― Robert Jensen , Plain Radical: Living, Loving and Learning to Leave the Planet Gracefully

3 " On the Lake Street sidewalk, in front of the In the Heart of the Beast Theatre, were two big planters made of concrete and found materials, and Jim made a point for several years of trying to keep flowers alive in them: I walked over to HOBT to check on the flowers planted in the concrete sculpture constructions. As with the last two nights, several of the marigolds had been pulled out and left lying on the sidewalk. I push them back in the dirt and watered, but there is likely no winning this one. A measure of the level of alienation at large in the culture. (July 18, 1993) The sacred is everywhere, not just what has been touched by the ritual of the church and not just what is beautiful because it is untouched by human hands. Years later I found the philosophy behind Jim’s approach to this articulated with Wendell Berry’s typical clarity in his poem, “How to Be a Poet,” 2 and I called Jim immediately to read it to him. I choked up when I got to these lines: There are no unsacred places; there are only sacred places and desecrated places. "

― Robert Jensen , Plain Radical: Living, Loving and Learning to Leave the Planet Gracefully