Anarcho-Primitivism 101 John Zerzan Twilight Of The Machines Full Book Overview

Chad Haag discusses the full book Twilight of the Machines to show that Zerzan argues that no rebellion against industrialism can be taken seriously if it does not favor suspending agriculture and returning to hunting and gathering
/ chadahaag
1:28 Preface
5:59 Ch 1 Marvelous Beyond Words
10:08 Ch 2 Patriarchy, Civilization, and the Origins of Gender
11:20 Ch 3 The Origins of War
16:45 Ch 4 The Iron Grip of Civilization
19:27 Ch 5 Alone Together: The City and Its Inhabitants
21:29 Ch 7 Beyond Symbolic Thought
22:12 Part 2 Crisis of Civilization
24:28 Ch 9 Exiled from Presence
26:10 Ch 10 The Modern Anti World
28:08 Overman and Unabomber
29: 20 Ch 13 Why Primitivism?

[@chadahaagphilosophychannel7329]

1:28 Preface 5:59 Ch 1 Marvelous Beyond Words 10:08 Ch 2 Patriarchy, Civilization, and the Origins of Gender 11:20 Ch 3 The Origins of War 16:45 Ch 4 The Iron Grip of Civilization 19:27 Ch 5 Alone Together: The City and Its Inhabitants 21:29 Ch 7 Beyond Symbolic Thought 22:12 Part 2 Crisis of Civilization 24:28 Ch 9 Exiled from Presence 26:10 Ch 10 The Modern Anti World 28:08 Overman and Unabomber 29:20 Ch 13 Why Primitivism?

[@kosherwhitewine5879]

I'd love to see you make a video about Derrick Jensen!

[@DamonD_Absences]

Wow, that was eye-opening, I seriously enjoyed that (besides a few cringy pictures-which, however, I do understand your reasons for using) and took a ton from it. I would actually LOVE to see a dialogue between Zerzan and Nick Land, if only because the differences could become war-like-but perhaps that’s my domination talking ;)

[@chadahaagphilosophychannel7329]

I agree. Maybe someone can arrange to have this debate happen.

[@DamonD_Absences]

Chad A. Haag Peak Oil Philosophy that would be incredible! This already spurred a brand new discussion within my upcoming book. I have some cool ideas for this, but hearing them dialogue would be of immense value.

[@chadahaagphilosophychannel7329]

@@DamonD_Absences Excellent. I look forward to reading it when it is released.

[@DamonD_Absences]

Chad A. Haag Peak Oil Philosophy Thank you! I’m releasing it under a pseudonym, so I’ll be sure to let you know directly when it’s out. It’ll be a bit, for sure.

[@chadahaagphilosophychannel7329]

@@DamonD_Absences Sounds great. I'll look forward to it

[@gurchtschalllly]

yaaaaaaaas i rly subscribed to you channel and patreon for hardcore anprim theory

[@chadahaagphilosophychannel7329]

Thanks, more content coming soon

[@NoOne-uh9vu]

80% of diet from gathering? 80% of which is 80% in useless fibre? I call bullshit on this. A good diet is quality over quantity. To substitute 100 grams of fresh deer liver your need at least 1-2 kilos of tubers which have to be fermented first to be even edible without the risk of severe poisoning. The anti nutrients and nutrient inhibitors of plants make sure that our digestive systems gets as little as possible of the nutrients. Another important factor is that game can be eaten raw and plants have to be at least fermented or cooked to not cause poisoning and indigestion very fast. Cooking causes a lot of essential nutrients to degrade or to perish like vitamin C which gets destroyed at temperatures above 45 C. Our ancestors used to hunt and kill megafauna which could easily provide multiple hundreds of kilos of muscle and organ meat. A grown man needs about 1 cow per year to thrive without ever running the risk of poisoning himself through plants other than fruits which are all of course seasonal.

[@NoOne-uh9vu]

@Erik Schmunzeler The general bioavailability of fibre rich plants is abysmal even when cooked. Potatoes are around 50% plants in general rarely have BA of above 60%. I dont see how that makes up for the other problems plants bring as I explained. And its not just that, its also plant agents that attack the thyroid and the pseudo hormones causing all kinds of issues and other things our ancestors had to deal with. Nobody can tell me it wasnt preferable to sit next to a river all day and catch some fatty fish than to chewthehogwashagriculturehadsicknessesnever

[@NoOne-uh9vu]

Erik Schmunzeler the dietary requirement of fibre for humans is exactly zero. Fiber is not a nutrient and thus not essential. In fact the gut lining gets roughed up pretty badly from fiber and can lead to leisure’s and leaky gut syndrome if it’s combined with other nasty anti nutrients like oxalates. The only real study (that wasn’t just observational / questionnaire nonsense) that was ever done on fiber in all of medical literature was exposing fiber as the main cause of constipation. Look it up it’s not hard to find. As I said fiber and phytonutrients are basically just marketing buzzwords to sell inferior foods. And people are falling for it like sheep

[@NoOne-uh9vu]

@Erik Schmunzeler Sure, as long as there are no prior deficiencies and dysfunctions there won't be any issues. On a strict animal diet I'd definitely argue for a nose to tail approach and not just muscle meat. At least a bite of liver or kidney once a week.

[@NoOne-uh9vu]

@Ojuara Onateac Truth. I've nothing against plant foods in general but people need to be educated that plants are not and could not have been the one stop solution. It just makes no sense and defies observable reality

[@victorvaughn2]

Why do you say 28:55 Kaczynski is for anarchy "pre-arrest"? It seems clear that that's always been his position even up to his latest book. It's just that he believes in order to arrive at that environment, a revolutionary vanguard is needed to topple the industrial system. The way you phrase this could be misconstrued to mean that Kaczynski no longer favor's anarchy and face to face community.

[@chadahaagphilosophychannel7329]

Sorry what I meant to say was that there was a particular letter written in the pre-arrest era in which he provided the particular quote I had in mind where he openly espoused this belief. I didn't mean to suggest that he stopped supporting it afterwards, though I admit my wording was pretty unclear. Thanks for the correction

[@victorvaughn2]

@@chadahaagphilosophychannel7329 got it.

[@GrewWheat]

It is physically impossible to stop farming once you start farming because in the process of farming people will always have to keep a surplus of food every season to replant for next season. This forces people to store the surplus food and settle and live in one area (urbanization). The surplus amount of food created allowed an increase in the number children people have, which creates greater labor to generate greater yield of food output. The development of the division of labor caused by agricultural and industrial revolutions that happens to society is not reversible like a chemical reaction (you can't turn burnt bread back into the original wheat used to make it). Thus, society can only develop forward and people can only be free when the necessities of life no longer need people to engage the the existing relations of society. Additionally, in a hunter-gatherer society thinking about philosophy or anything abstract would probably be the the last thing anyone has time care about.

[@frans7995]

And maybe there's nothing wrong with that. Philosophy is a surrogate activity. Perhaps in replacement for spiritual practice which was real and visceral, looking a prey dead in the eye, the cold,, the rain,, etc . In bhuddism we consider the mind luminous but tainted by thoughts, desires, and emotions. Silence is praised, it is wise. Not attaching to thought. Being more instinctive, ultimately, to be awakened

[@GrewWheat]

@@frans7995 Yes, I agree that philosophizing is a surrogate activity, but that would also include all abstract mental activities which does not contribute to our survival. However, the main point is about human freedom, and in a society where people must spend almost all of their time fulfilling the basic needs of survival, does not seem to me to be a society that is free (neither is the current society we live in). We can idealize the tranquility of primitive life and its beliefs, but that does not mean it is possible for the whole of society to go back to a primitive state.

[@thetedpill3147]

Really good stuff.

[@GreyRock100]

Early into the video you mention that "communism is more industrial than capitalism." I would be interested in hearing more about this topic.

[@chadahaagphilosophychannel7329]

In retrospect ,I think a better way to phrase it would be "Communism is more technological than capitalism" because it requires greater levels of psychological control as well as a state with much greater power to produce, distribute etc. It just so happens that I discussed this in my latest livestream from just a few days ago

[@GreyRock100]

@@chadahaagphilosophychannel7329 Aw snap. I'll have to listen to that. Thanks!

[@samizdat8518]

The “volume one:” in being and oil implies there might be a volume two? Will there be? And what can we expect?

[@chadahaagphilosophychannel7329]

Thanks for asking, yes eventually there will be a second volume but in the course of writing other books since then I've basically changed my "main work" of original philosophy to Hermeneutical Death: the Technological Destruction of Subjectivity, a 500+ page book I am nearly finished writing which will be released in just a few weeks.

[@tirig6346]

I overall agree, but there are big mistakes in his work: his views on language, extreme primitivism.

[@kaspermuje9597]

could you elaborate on why communism is more industrial than capitalism? not that i necesarily disagree but i would just want to hear what your reasoning is.

[@jafeelme8995]

A common argument against this type of thought is that humanity has benefited from technologival advances in the medical field, ie surgical procedures. Does Zerzan address this? Perhaps he would think that we should'nt live that long if it means we would need to get advanved medical attention...

[@FrogChoir]

Most illnesses and diseases are caused by the unnatural and technological world we live in, and in a hunter gatherer society those diseases wouldn't exist, or wouldn't be prevalent enough to be a serious issue. If someone requires serious surgical attention they will likely die, but since the most common causes of death now are related to industrialization, you could see it as a trade off.

[@Knaeben]

The environment where humans could be hunter/gatherers is really gone... Any stress that would return the world to that state would be more likely to sterilize the planet. Short of that, the situation can never return as a general state of humanity. Given that, Zerzan's ideas have some descriptive merit, but also seem to have no real goal.