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Hunter S. Thompson’s Wisdom on Courage in the Face of the Green Scare

Feb 6th, 2009 by Will Potter

Hunter S. Thompson on Courage in Face of the Green ScareIt has been a bad week. I know this site is, by its nature, never going to be as comforting as LOL cats (although, we have one of those as well). But many folks have written privately and said how the sentencing of Marie Mason hit them especially hard. I feel the same way.

A consequence of learning more about the “Green Scare,” “eco-terrorism,” and campaigns to silence dissent is fear. After all, that’s the entire point of these disproportionate sentences and sweeping legislation: to have a “chilling effect” on mainstream, above-ground activists.

So if you ever feel that fear creeping into your head, making you second guess whether you should speak out about what you believe, just take remember this “motivational poster” featuring the wisdom of Hunter S. Thompson:

“Never turn your back on fear. It should always be in front of you, like a thing that might have to be killed.”

Have a great weekend. And remember, dear readers, when you see that fear in front of you…

SHOOT IT IN THE F’ING FACE.

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Posted in Activism & Activists' Response

  • I have to wonder if that poster came out before or after Thompson, well, shot himself in the f'ing face.
  • What a great quote. This blog is fabulous, I'm enjoying it so much.
  • My mom always tells me to try to let go of fear and always know that, no matter what, I will have everything I need, some stuff I want, and that everything will be ok.

    It's really tough but I do find that there seems to be less negatives in my life when I try to do this. Nothing bad ever seems to happen to my mom. And, while I don't believe in a lot of the spiritually "set your intention" stuff, it seems to be showing evidence in her life and in others' lives that move forward without fear.

    I think it is good to have things in front of us rather than to hide. I would rather look back on life, knowing I did what I knew to be right, than to look back wondering why I didn't.

    Cool entry.
  • Thanks for sharing that, ARphilo. I think we'd all do well to take your mother's advice.
  • Anonymous
    although these sentences are no doubt frightening to put it lightly, i also think activists now have a clearer understanding of what we are up against and what we can expect. for example, not to say activists in the 60's didnt accomplish anything, but i dont necessarily think they knew themselves how difficult it would be to accomplish their goals. so we should be very very pissed off and also quite depressed at times(how can you not be?). but we still need to keep a level head, continue to organize, and come up with effective ways to address these green scare issues.
  • Hey Will. It's Chris from high school. In regards to fear, here's a good proverb I like to meditate on:
    There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

    Love this site, I frequent it daily:
    http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Category:Proverbs
    Lots of good proverbs.
  • Hey Chris! Thanks for checking out the site, and posting that. Best, Will
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