It Is Important Not To Confuse Freedom

We Can Do Anything We Like As Long As It Is Unimportant.

The Techno-industrial System Is Exceptionally Tough Due To Its So-called "democratic" Structure And Its Resulting Flexibility. Because Dictatorial Systems Tend To Be Rigid, Social Tensions And Resistance Can Be Built Up In Them To The Point Where They Damage And Weaken The System And May Lead To Revolution. But In A "democratic" System, When Social Tension And Resistance Build Up Dangerously The System Backs Off Enough, It Compromises Enough, To Bring The Tensions Down To A Safe Level.

Rebellion Against Technology And Civilization Is Real Rebellion, A Real Attack On The Values Of The Existing System. But The Green Anarchists, Anarcho-primitivists, And So Forth (the "ga Movement") Have Fallen Under Such Heavy Influence From The Left That Their Rebellion Against Civilization Has To Great Extent Been Neutralized. Instead Of Rebelling Against The Values Of Civilization, They Have Adopted Many Civilized Values Themselves And Have Constructed An Imaginary Picture Of Primitive Societies That Embodies These Civilized Values.

Crowding, Rapid Change And The Breakdown Of Communities Have Been Widely Recognized As Sources Of Social Problems. But We Do Not Believe They Are Enough To Account For The Extent Of The Problems That Are Seen Today.

A Theme That Appears Repeatedly In The Writings Of The Social Critics Of The Second Half Of The 20th Century Is The Sense Of Purposelessness That Afflicts Many People In Modern Society.