THE EARTHLING IMPERATIVE

A MANIFESTO

TO BE AN EARTHLING IS TO BE BORN AND TO DIE ON THE EARTH. WE INHERIT THE RIGHT TO SEE AND ACT UPON THE LAND ALONGSIDE THE RESPONSIBILITY TO INHABIT IT. WE CANNOT ABANDON.
WE DO NOT DESERVE TO BE EXILED.


TO BE AN EARTHLING IS TO BE BORN AND TO DIE ON THE EARTH. WE INHERIT THE RIGHT TO SEE AND ACT UPON THE LAND ALONGSIDE THE RESPONSIBILITY TO INHABIT IT. WE CANNOT ABANDON.
WE DO NOT DESERVE TO BE EXILED.


WHAT IS THE RIGHT TO SEE THE LAND? THE RIGHT TO KNOW IT, TO TASTE IT, TO WALK BAREFOOTED ALONG SAND AND SOIL AND ROCK WHICH IS NOT TAINTED BY BROKEN GLASS OR CHEMICALS OR SLIMY ALGAE. THE RIGHT TO RELATE TO IT AS WE RELATE TO OUR MOTHERS. TO SEE IT WITH UNTAINTED EYES, NOT THROUGH A CAMERA'S LENS OR THROUGH A DRUG-ADDLED BLUR. TO UNDERSTAND THAT IT HAS COME BEFORE US AND WILL EXIST AFTERWARDS.


WHAT IS THE RIGHT TO ACT UPON THE LAND? TO MOVE FREELY, TO SLEEP WHERE WE WISH, TO LAUGH AND SPEAK AND EAT AND FUCK SAFELY AND WITH BOTH OF OUR FEET ON SOLID, NATURAL GROUND. TO GROW AND EAT FOOD WE SAW GROW. TO LET OUR ACTIONS HAVE EFFECT AND TO HOLD RESPONSIBILITY FOR THAT EFFECT. TO HAVE OUR ACTIONS BE FREE: UNCOERCED AND UNMANIPULATED BY GOVERNMENT, ALGORITHMS, OR THE CAPITAL-OWNING CLASS.


WHAT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY TO INHABIT THE LAND? TO NOT CONSIDER OURSELVES ABOVE THE SIMPLE AIR, DIRT, AND WATER WHICH SUSTAIN US, TO SEE THOSE THINGS AS MORE THAN STATIC MEANS TO AN END: RATHER, AS DYNAMIC AND ETERNAL MEANS TO LIFE. WE WILL NEVER TRANSCEND THE LAND AND WE WILL DIE TRYING.


WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO ABANDON THE EARTH? IT MEANS TO FLEE THE MATERIAL LANDSCAPE AND KINESTHETIC PHYSICALITY OF THE LAND WE WERE BORN ON. AT ITS EXTREME, IT MEANS TO RETREAT INTO AN ONLINE IMITATION OF REALITY, INTO A SIMALCRUM OF 1S AND 0S WHICH REMAKES OUR EARTH IN THE IMAGE OF CAPITAL. IN LESSER WAYS, IT MEANS TO CLIMB HIGH RISES TO STAND ABOVE THE TREE LINE, TO FLY RATHER THAN WALK, TO HAVE TO WASH AWAY ROUNDUP RATHER THAN EAT SOFT DIRT ENGRAVED IN THE SKIN OF SWEET WINTER CARROTS.


WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE EXILED? TO BE FORCED TO LOSE OUR HUMANITY TO A SPREADSHEET DETAILING EVERY PURCHASE, EVERY MOVEMENT, EVERY RELATIONSHIP WE HAVE EVER MADE, TO BE TRAPPED ON ONE SIDE OF A WALL WHOSE BORDER WAS CREATED BY GENOCIDAL WAR. TO BE FORCED TO FORGET WHAT IT MEANS TO HOLD A CHILD'S HAND OR FORM CLAY INTO A BOWL. TO BE CORRALED INTO CITIES WHERE LIVING IS MADE ILLEGAL, TO HAVE THE STARS HIDDEN FROM US BY NEON SIGNS, TO BE FED CHEMICALS AND COLORS NAMED AFTER FOODS OUR GRANDMOTHERS ATE, TO HAVE OUR VERY DESIRE TO SURVIVE CORRUPTED BY COMMODITY FETISHISM INTO SOMETHING WHICH SERVES THE BOOGEYMAN OF CAPITAL BEFORE US OR THE EARTH WE STAND ON. ★


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