Live Wild or Die! no. 1

from Multimedia Library Collection:
Earth First! Movement Writings

Live Wild or Die! no. 1

Live Wild or Die!, the most radical of the publications to derive from—even reject—the Earth First! movement, was published in various locations along the west coast of the United States starting in February 1988.


Chaco and Mikhal, eds., Live Wild or Die! no. 1 (1988). Profiled by the Environment & Society Portal, Multimedia Library. http://www.environmentandsociety.org/node/7121.

In the introductory editorial to this first issue of Live Wild or Die! The editors explain the reason for its name. In addition, Toby discusses how biocentrism can lead to destruction of nature; Feral Faun explains why there is more to the Earth First! movement and why the name should be left behind; Sneaky Driller sheds light on tree spiking; and Sheriff Jim Weeds explains the deeper meaning of ecoterrorism.

In this, the first, the world premier, the grand opening issue of Live Wild—we’ve included much material that we hope is reflective of the title and what we dream of and we’d like to see these ideas discussed and expanded further. Personally, I’m looking for a way out of industrialism, a way out of the global MegaWorkPillageMachine of civilization. I’m looking for the end of domination and boredom along with a solution to the ecological crisis. I wish for a re-enchantment of everyday life, a life of free-play and dreams, a planetary wilderness, a marvelous, daring interaction with the earth, each other and all of nature. And I want it now. Hope is suppressed desire, projected into the abstract Future; it allows us to bear a miserable present. I have no hope, only demands. There is no future, only Now. So why be modest in the face of impending doom? Live wild or die! 

— Editorial introduction


This issue is available at the library of the Rachel Carson Center at the LMU Munich. To request access for research purposes, contact us at portal@carsoncenter.lmu.de.

Creative Commons License CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0).
The original publication carries an anticopyright statement.

The Rachel Carson Center’s Environment & Society Portal makes archival materials openly accessible for purposes of research and education. Views expressed in these materials do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of the Rachel Carson Center or its partners.

Further readings: 
  • Lee, Martha. Earth First!: Environmental Apocalypse. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1995.
  • Manes, Christopher. Green Rage: Radical Environmentalism and the Unmaking of Civilization. Boston: Little, Brown, 1990.