{"id":26222,"date":"2013-03-04T12:00:40","date_gmt":"2013-03-04T12:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=26222"},"modified":"2013-03-13T15:42:10","modified_gmt":"2013-03-13T15:42:10","slug":"active-nonviolence-southern-ocean-style","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2013\/03\/active-nonviolence-southern-ocean-style\/","title":{"rendered":"Active Nonviolence, Southern Ocean Style\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Sea<\/a>

Sea Shepherd Captain Paul Watson<\/p><\/div>\n

We live in an age of holistic knowledge. We live in an age where we increasingly see Planet Earth, or more specifically, all the biological organisms that live on it, and their respective environments, as interdependent.<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n

Watch Confrontation in Accompanying VIDEO<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

We have come to realize how fragile our Planet can be. With the current rate of \u2018extinction of species\u2019 vs \u2018new species\u2019, this Earth will be a barren landscape in under 1000 years. We know this must be reversed. While Climate Change is the main concern now and rightfully so, people are fighting daily against the direct impact of consumerism and mindless economics upon the Environment. Since the 1960s we have seen thousands of grass-roots organizations influence Government policy and legislation, but still there remains a real need to defend the Environment.<\/p>\n

Indeed, the Environmental Movement has emerged as the largest \u2018alternative\u2019 political force in many western Nations and indeed, the \u2018Greens\u2019 Party has held Seats in Australian Parliament for some time now.<\/p>\n

Right now, Sea Shepherd Australia is running its first annual campaign defending the whale populations of the Southern Oceans from the Japanese Government. Previously controlled by the US based Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, the fleet has been forced to change its \u2018control\u2019 to Australia by continued litigation by Japan in the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.<\/p>\n

Judge Kozinski said Japan\u2019s \u2018researchers\u2019 were authorised to conduct their Antarctic activities by permit under the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling \u2013 \u201cNonetheless, it (Japan) has been hounded on the high seas for years by a group calling itself Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) and its eccentric founder, Paul Watson\u201d. The judgement continues with accusations of Piracy upon Sea Shepherd \u2013 \u201cThe activities that Cetacean alleges Sea Shepherd has engaged in are clear instances of violent acts for private ends, the very embodiment of piracy\u201d<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, I must agree, as do thousands, with Sea Shepherd in its claims that the Japanese fleet has been systematically abusing this \u2018authorisation\u2019 by running a de facto whale fishing expedition on an annual basis in foreign territory for commercial gain. The Australian Government even recognizes this, having lodged documents with the International Court of Justice over Japan\u2019s activities. Of course, these \u2018complaints\u2019 have yet to be addressed.<\/p>\n

Do Sea Shepherd\u2019s actions transgress the often thin line between violent and non-violent action? I think not. While we have clashing of metal and certainly lives have been placed in danger in the Southern Ocean over recent years, with plenty of drama fit for media attention, there have been no serious injuries recorded. Relative to all the violent acts committed by Humanity, Sea Shepherd records a near zero activity classification.<\/p>\n

I place the activities of Sea Shepherd firmly in the category of \u2018Active Nonviolence\u2019. Paul Watson, Bob Brown, et al are not simply doing justice to those magnificent mammals that roam our oceans, they are protecting our fragile ecosystem, Humanity included.<\/p>\n

Within their actions, Sea Shepherd are displaying something that we could use plenty more of right now \u2013 bringing ethical and moral injustices to a head with an intuitive understanding of the boundaries of Active Nonviolence and with solid organization, intelligence, forethought.<\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 pressenza.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Right now, Sea Shepherd Australia is running its first annual campaign defending the whale populations of the Southern Oceans from the Japanese Government. Previously controlled by the US based Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, the fleet has been forced to change its \u2018control\u2019 to Australia by continued litigation by Japan in the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Watch Confrontation in Accompanying VIDEO<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61,59,45,139],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-environment","category-nonviolence","category-activism","category-justice"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26222"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26222\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}