Table of Contents
Underminers - Table of Contents
Part 1: Groundwork
Chapter 1: Shake Yourself from Sleep
We are born as connected human beings, and for many of us that is the last time we are connected to the real world. This is a chapter about the nature of connection and why it is the most important thing to reclaim if we are to allow humanity to continue on Earth.
Chapter 2: Undermining The Tools of Disconnection
The Tools of Disconnection dominate every aspect of our civilized lives, from the seemingly mundane to the terrifyingly direct; from how we speak and how we learn to the theft of time and our insistence on hope over action, this chapter dissects these Tools in order that we can understand what we are up against. It also reveals why we don’t know many of these Tools exist at all.
Chapter 3: Who Are The Underminers?
At one time it was hoped that the environmental movement could save the Earth from the worst excesses of humanity. Now it is clear that the environmental movement includes some of the worst failings of humanity. Underminers are a unique breed of activists who eschew traditional ideas of what “change” really means; this chapter explains who they are.
Chapter 4: The Principles of Undermining
Undermining is not something to just fall into or carry out in haste: it is a deliberate and careful process that has to be properly planned in order for it to succeed. It also requires a surprising number of personal attributes, all of which are explained in this chapter. If you want to become an Underminer here is where you will learn the basics.
Chapter 5: Ground Rules
With great power comes great responsibility. Undermining is potentially the greatest force that will ever be unleashed on the destructive industrial machine, and thus it must be carried out with care and compassion. There are rules to undermining, and this chapter explains them with refreshing clarity.
Part 2: Undermining
Chapter 6: Removing The Veil
The most powerful Tool of Disconnection is the one that prevents us from perceiving how we are being kept as disconnected parts of Industrial Civilization. This chapter explains a number of ways that the Veil of Ignorance can be torn, allowing people to finally see through to the workings of the machine.
Chapter 7: Undermining the Machine
The great edifices of civilization are about to be brought down, but not with force – with cunning and care. This chapter addresses the systems that control communication, learning, consumption and wealth and the very way we perceive what is “good” in civilized society.
Chapter 8: Real Activism
Undermining the industrial system is anathema to the desires of the environmental and social movements that claim to speak for the Earth and humanity. This chapter addresses that conundrum and help to build a real movement for change through the power of undermining.
Chapter 9: Building Community
The future of humanity - how we live, work and thrive as a species - lies not with civilizations, but with communities. We have to undermine the civilized (and divisive) ideas that we must at once be homogenous, global citizens and atomised, selfish achievers. This chapter is about learning to live together once more.
Chapter 10: Reclaiming Ourselves
We are increasingly defined not by who we are but the way we live: we have “lifestyles” not lives; we do not work, we have “jobs”; we network rather than relate to each other. What Matters is What Matters To Us – here we will learn to do possibly the most difficult thing of all, tell ourselves the truth about who we are.
Epilogue: A Last Toast to the Old World
As of September 2012 guest essays by Dr Carolyn Baker (Speaking Truth to Power), Dave Pollard (“Finding The Sweet Spot”), Professor Guy McPherson (Nature Bats Last), David Edwards (MediaLens), Richard Reynolds (Guerrilla Gardening), Ana Salote (“Tree Talk”) and the first ever “hive essay” by Anonymous, had been included in the text with full permission.
