E Prime and my new language...

E Prime or English Prime, a language developed by scientists as the verb "to be" and all conjugations thereof are physically impossible.

Wow. Imagine that, our language, and all civilized languages use a verb that does not fit with the structure of the universe and implies a state that cannot physically exist.

Check it out, I write in E Prime and hope to change the way my mind operates!

Writing in E Prime and speaking in E' is EXTREMELY difficulty as we have been trained since birth to speak, and think, in a manner inconsistent with the universe. And, does this surprise anyone? Our culture teaches us that "we are gods upon the earth!" and loads of such hubris and nonsense. The verb "to be" implies mastery of the universe. To say "I AM!" is a subtle and, yet, not so subtle way of stating our hubris and godhood.

Whenever I say anything like this, civilized humans try to argue that point with me and their arguments remind me of the arguments my students toss up when I point out the fact that "humans are animals".

Almost all of my students, especially the "christian" ones, argue this vehemently. I usually respond with something along the lines of "denial is just a river in Egypt" or I ask them, "Do you eat?" Yes. "Do you drink?" Yes. "Do you breathe?" Yes. "Do you poop?" Yes. "Do you pee?" Yes. "Will you die?" Yes. "Then you're an animal."

What bothers me though, is that I have not yet found a way to do this without reverting to the use of "is, are, was or were" and it also frustrates the crap out of me because I have the ability to speak and think without it, but my mind boggles at a way around this corner. Gah!

Anyhow...I have made the decision that my science students will have to write all of their papers in E' this year. Maybe this way, I can at least force their minds around a corner and find new ways of referring to life. For instance, they will not be able to say, "that is a Chickadee," and will instead have to say, "we call that a Chickadee" or "he/she makes the sound 'Chickadee'". Hrmmm... needs work. Anyhow, I will try and try again until my students are ready to take the necessary measures to stop industrial civilization's march towards death.

Until then, the gf and I have agreed to start creating a pidgin language that will combine Spanish (minus the verbs ser and estar), English, Powhatan, Shawnee and Iriqouis to create a new, rewilded language. Ought to have fun with this, eh?

Wondering...

Here I sit, wondering, wondering if any of what I do means anything anymore.

I started this blog in order to, well, basically, gain some notoriety and make friends with similar interests, and maybe set up a blog of my teaching, what it entails and how others could lay the groundwork to help free the minds of other students in other classrooms everywhere.

I now know that this was some sort of hubris in the highest order. The reason I could never find the time to blog about any of my experiences or anything else for that matter were not because that I am a self-sabatoging hypocrite (though I sometimes feel that I am), but rather that I wasn't sabotaging myself at all. I was simply preventing myself from my own inflated ego and narcissistic pride and grandiose ideas. Now that I took some time to shed my expectations, I can try to write about some of my experiences and ideas (not all of them, though, mind you), successes and failures, my dreams and nightmares (much more of the latter than the former), and all of the events that are currently shaping who I am.

Maybe one day, people will read this and say, "wow, that sounds like me!" Or, most likely, maybe not. It really doesn't matter.

What matters is what I do.

My way of teaching is a form of resistance in, and of, itself. I like to think that I am laying the groundwork for the survival of life after the collapse of civilization, but I know that that is too grandiose of an idea. Basically, I have to understand that I can only do that which I can do. I can help students break free. I can teach them that trees and animals DO speak. I can teach them how to be self-sufficient. I can teach them to rebuild tribal networks. I can teach them that they belong to no one but the earth. I can teach them to begin finding a connection with all the life around them. I can stop being a teacher in their eyes and begin to become something else. I can become what I was always meant to be. I can be me and stop trying to put masks on all the time. I can accept that I am not the insane one here, but that I am a sane person in an insane culture running off a cliff and I'm trying to find a rope to hold onto. If that means I have to trip a few people here and there, then so be it. To say "I am" is incorrect. I exist, I resist and I fight, and I will keep fighting until no breath flows through my lungs. Then I will go back to the earth from whence I came and focus my energy on life and helping all life survive.

Yours truly, in rage, love and resistance,

Michael C. Stange

[One name] to my life and love...

Stange to my friends...

Michael to my blood relatives...

Cuauhtemoc to the Volcano...

Call me...

This post is for the very intelligent and inquisitive young lady (I won't post her name out of respect) I met at Barnes & Noble this evening. I wish I had had more time to discuss "how things came to be this way," but, I realize that other obligations can come up. I didn't even get to discuss 1/2 of the things I would have liked to so that you could understand the predicament we are in as a species and so that you could understand some of my more cryptic comments.

But, as you asked for, here is a list of books to start you on the path. I hope I didn't scare you or intimidate you at all, as I am known to do so at times. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me through comments on this blog and I will respond in kind.

Aaaaand...the list:

Books (I know it looks like a lot, but check them out one by one. You won't be sorry!):

• Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
• The Story of B by Daniel Quinn
• My Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
• Original Wisdom, Stories of an Ancient Way of Knowing by Robert Wolff
• Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond
• Collapse by Jared Diamond
• Endgame Volumes 1: The Problem of Civilization by Derrick Jensen
• Endgame Volume 2: Resistance by Derrick Jensen
• As the World Burns, 50 Things You Can do to Stay in Denial by Derrick Jensen
• A Language Older Than Words by Derrick Jensen
• The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
• The Paleo Diet By Dr. Loren Cordain
• Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
• Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers by Stephen Harrod Buhner
• Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
• The Way of the Scout by Tom Brown Jr.
• How Shall I Live My Life? On Liberating Earth From Civilization by Derrick Jensen
• The Culture of Make Believe by Derrick Jensen
• The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice and Sustainability by Lierre Keith
• Primal Body - Primal Mind: Empower Your Total Health the Way Evolution Intended (...and Didn't) by Nora Teresa Gedgaudas

Videos:

• Zeitgeist (http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/) - check out the whole thing, but start watching at the 11 minute (11:00) mark. THAT will throw you for a loop!
• Robert Newman's "A History of Oil" (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5267640865741878159#) - This will change the way you see our current predicament.
• AVATAR - But you know this one!
• CRUDE - The Movie
• FLOW (For Love Of Water)

I know that I have lots more, but I don't want to overwhelm you!

Good Luck!

BTW - I will be at B & N most Mondays (including next week) around 5:30 at the same spot if you would like to learn more firsthand. Simply post a response here to let me know and I will be there.

Now this is cool! The "HAVE YOU SEEN THIS MAN?" website talks about this guy who many people claim invades their dreams and either menaces them or helps them with problems. What a wicked skill to have!

Check it out! http://www.thisman.org/

Inaugural blog of self-importance

Hello everyone and welcome to my self-important waste of time, energy and yadda, yadda, yadda...

My name is [edited for content] and I teach honors civcs & economics and physical science to 8th graders in Richmond, VA. I am a relatively new caveman, and, as such, am dealing with the loads of all that entails; talking trees being the least of my worries! I have struggled as a middle/high school teacher over the years as I struggled to figure out, "just who the hell am I and why do I feel like there's two animals inside me beating the shit out of each other?" Many of my students over the years felt that I was full of shit, just like the rest of their teachers, and, for the most part, I was.

Luckily for them and for me, however, that has changed.

Over the last few years, I have learned much and, I am working on what the Zen teachings dictate; that, in this life, we must all kill three things. First, we must "kill" our parents. Second, we must "kill" our religion. And, lastly, we must "kill" our teacher. I have become a gleeful participant in the dismantling of my belief systems.

Long story short, I have evolved from fat, lazy, McDonald's-munching, consumero-christian Republican to a modern primitive (caveman, if you will), who is re-learning what it truly means to be human.

I spent most of the last year developing and have just finished my first full year of teaching an anarchoprimitivist, anticivilizationalist curriculum that I developed. It was an immense success, with LOTS of room for improvement.

I now have no less than 20-30 students who want to tear down civilization brick by brick. Most likely, of the 90+ students I taught this past year, most, if not all of them now accept that civilization is a cancer on the earth.

Is it true that Mr. Durden is building an army? Yes, and my class is where you can sign up.