So, this book I would argue is probably the most interesting of all that we have read. To some degree it is sort of on par with Che’s Guerrilla Warfare in the sense that there is this sense to rise up. However, the tone of it is slightly different and maybe because in Guerrilla Warfare the context was rising up as guerrilla soldiers and fighting to topple down the government. In this book, there is a sense of an insurrection, but one of younger students who won’t necessarily topple down the government, but rather use their words and ideas to fight back. In this regard, both texts do give us this revolutionary sense but just slightly different. To begin, the book gives us a very negative perspective of the system. They have no faith or trust in the system anymore, and the tone of the author is rather mocking I find. What I found interesting reading this book was yes it’s a very critical piece of work, but to the point that I felt as if there was this sense of duty being evoked by the author and asked upon us. Nevertheless, at the same time it is all very anonymous. I don’t really know who is speaking. These are just the general literary aspects of the book I got and found interesting. However, I would now like to move onto some quotes which merit further discussion.

The first chapter is titled, “I am what I am”. The author dislikes this quote because it is simplistic, unproductive and selfish. It’s all about the me. It also does not really tell much. I like the quote however, because yes everything the author suggests is true, but also because it is a very unique question that inherently  makes people want to ask, “well who I am then?” to which the response would be, “well you are you”. Well what does that mean exactly? What I mean is, the question makes you think critically about yourself and the situation around you which I think is very important for revolution. Further along, the author also mentions this system of power dynamics. He illustrates this by referring to the idea that many of us are being pressured and asked to be someone, and that instead we should be the ones to make that choice, and as he says, we should “liberate ourselves”. All this power dynamics creates a space where war can happen.

Another chapter I found very interesting was that in regards to the environment. It struck me, and I liked very much how the author said, “maybe it doesn’t concern us because it doesn’t touch us…. and that is the catastrophe itself” (28). This quote is very true. We don’t care about the environment because we are not directly affected. We also cannot see the first impact it makes because climate change is a gradual process. If we cannot see it, or if we’re not affected, we don’t care. This is why this quote is great, and yes is the catastrophe itself. However, even talking about solutions to environmental degradation is something that the author looks at in a negative way. This quote really does a great job at expressing his stance and reasoning, “The present paradox of ecology is that on the pretext of saving the Earth, it is merely saving the foundations of what desolated it” (31). He is referring to the fact that the problems we’ve created;  business, corporations, capitalists in a sense are now becoming aware and trying to fix this. Yet, the author is being very critical and arguably cynical as he finds it ironic that we are as he says, “and stupid as we are, we’re ready to leap into the arms of the very same people that presided over causing the devastation, expecting them to get us out of it”. Basically, the author thinks it’s a farce and is very against it.

Finally, I would like to address two powerful quotes that to a certain extent are common. The first quote is, “We have to critique in order to save this civilization” (38). What this suggests therefore is that knowledge, thinking, being critical, reasoning, this is man’s greatest weapon. Would I agree? I could say yes, but I would need more time to reflect. Though the idea makes sense. And lastly, there is this quote, “the circulation of knowledge annuls hierarchy” (55). This is somewhat similar to the first, in that knowledge is not just (the most) powerful tool, but it can “annul this hierarchy”. Basically, what these quotes are therefore saying, is that the greatest weapons are ourselves. Not guns, or tear gas, or tanks. But ourselves. We have the power to think and challenge the system. We have this “cognitive” capacity that is unique to humans. Let us use it therefore.

Overall, a very interesting read.  Unfortunately I don’t have time to say more, for example this quote where the author says, “there is no such thing as peaceful insurrection”. But looking forward to this week’s discussion.