Eco-Terrorist – Peter Jay Brown & the Evolution of Sea Shepherd
Eco-Terrorist, The Battle for Our Planet, is a new movie of the evolution of the Sea Shepherd Society by one of the founders, Peter Jay Brown.
Eco-Terrorist, The Battle for Our Planet – An Interview with Peter Jay Brown
Interview by Liane Buck
Say it if you will and want about the Sea Shepherd modus operandi, but undoubtedly, they’re the primary cause for the huge progressive steps on the conservation Movement worldwide; also they were uniquely responsible for the raising of awareness regarding the predicament of our Oceans, its creatures, and the present condition of our other Global Commons.
Eco-Terrorist: The Battle for Our Planet is a groundbreaking documentary that recounts the extraordinary journey of The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society from its early days of 101 style Activism, to the modern-day, technologically Savvy Eco-wars.
The Sea Shepherd Society with their fearless demeanor and chess-like strategies brought to the center stage the plight of diverse species; from the baleen whales from the South Ocean to the slaughtered Canadian baby seals. Confessions of an Eco-terrorist is a movie that explains not only the whale wars from an insider point of view, but also the tactics that made SSCS highly effective on their Eco-Wars, and somewhat unique in their brand of activism. This documentary is a significant page, a landmark, if you will, on the history of Eco-Activism on this planet. Breaking Glass Pictures brings Peter Jay Brown’s follow-up to the multiple-award-winning, behind-the-scenes feature-documentary on Captain Paul, Whale Wars and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and dives into the depths of the environmental movement to audiences across the US on October 2019.
OMTimes sat down with the Director and Producer, Peter Jay Brown, to discuss Sea Shepard Activism, new environmentalist movements, and Climate Change.
Courtesy Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zl65LdHESvQ
Enforcing International Laws
OMTimes: You have mentioned several times that you and the Sea Shepherd crew were enforcing International Laws already written but not enforced. Do you think this is still the major problem the conservationist movement faces today, the lack of the political will for enforcing International Laws?
Peter Jay Brown: I do believe that the navies of the world should be enforcing existing laws. Governments are as small-thinking as many humans in general. We talk about future generations, but we act for our own benefit. The polarization of today’s populations and the issues deemed important today proves this. Americans and others ban plastic straws (a good thing ), and ignore the long term gutting of all US environmental protections, many of them enacted by Richard Nixon… no matter our IRAs are doing great, maybe technology will save us, NOT! Humans are very short-sighted. What EPA???
On the environmental movement front; the problem, in my opinion, is a movement founded by concerned individuals who have been taken over by the very corporations they at one time fought. The environmental movement is now the eco-business, which is really the ego-business. Groups such as Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd should have joined forces years ago, but ego and money would not allow it. It became clear to me that the huge salaries of those at the top negate any possible success. You see, the groups all go after the same money. To solicit funds, leaders inevitably have to bad-mouth all others to build their own reputations.
Greenpeace is a huge international business with offices and ships around the world. Other than raise huge amounts of money to staff and fluff their own pillows, yet what have they accomplished lately? IFAW builds an 11 million dollar headquarters on Cape Cod with funds secured from individuals to save whales… did this building save one whale? IFAW and others continue to raise money showing baby seals being beaten… a hunt that has been non-existent for years. Sea Shepherd spent millions to try and stop Japanese whaling in Antarctica only to stay so long as their Reality Television program existed. Although bragging that they saved thousands of whales, they ultimately paid the Japanese whalers 2.5 million dollars and mysteriously never harassed them again. Political deals and pay-offs to and from corporations have become the norm. As pogo once said: “We have met the enemy, and the enemy is us!
OMTimes: There is no doubt the Sea Shepherd methods are unconventional. How do you conciliate the concept of Eco-Activism with one of the eco-vigilantes? In your opinion, is it ok to be violent to assure the legitimacy of your conservationist intentions?
Peter Jay Brown: The “Internet definition” of the word vigilante: (noun) “a member of a self-appointed group of citizens who undertake law enforcement in their community without legal authority, typically because legal agencies are thought to be inadequate.“ The health of the planet is not an isolated issue. All residents, be they human or otherwise, are affected. Over the years, governments and corporations have proved to be only after one thing… the bottom line. Jobs and money get governments installed, and the deaths of a few individuals due to pollution or environmental neglect means little or nothing.
If a criminal enters your house to harm your family, does one have the right to defend one’s family? Ultimately, governments, due to their power, will judge that individual. The public will decide their guilt or innocence. I believe each and every one of us must do what is necessary to protect ourselves, and be ready to defend our decisions in a court of law.
The meaning of the word “violent” is in the eye of the beholder. Is it violent to destroy a gun aimed at your children? Is it violent to stop an individual from ramming their automobile into a crowd? We Americans seem to have no trouble dropping bombs on wedding parties in Afghanistan and calling it an unfortunate military response, yet if the same actions are taken toward us, it becomes “unholy” violence. I believe that violence begets violence, no matter the source.
I am not a pacifist by any standards. History teaches us that humans rule by violence. Wars fought over religion, and the property is human history. We are a violent species. Oh, we can couch our deeds with a multitude of excuses, but we as a species often react violently. I would like to believe that civil discourse rules the world, but it does not.
One has to stand up against violence with intestinal fortitude. Violence against the powerful gets you stomped, pure, and simple. To believe otherwise is naive. I believe that to win this battle for the planet, we must choose violence sparingly. We lose the war if we become “them,” and kill or injure just one individual no matter how deserving, but sinking a death-dealing ship or ocean destroying net is, to me, acceptable. The violence against the residents of our great oceans is real. We are facing the extinction of earth’s creatures at an alarming rate. We must do what we can as individuals to stop it. If that includes violence, then I say let society decide and judge me. We must do what is right, because it is right and be willing and able to defend our choices.
Every day we hear of new mosquito bourn viruses that threaten humanity, and new diseases being transmitted between nonrelated species. Are we in denial, or do we really not understand why? The laws of nature are three: 1. Biodiversity 2. Interdependence. 3. Finite resources. Unfortunately, we have reached a place where discussion is useless, and action needs to be taken. Some actions need to be taken to stop the destruction as it exists, and some need to be taken to make the point so that we humans wake up. Violence against death-dealing machines is sometimes necessary.
I believe that whatever action one deems necessary must be owned. I have never taken action. I felt I could not stand up in a court of law and defend. Although I might lose in court, I will be able to look at myself in the mirror without shame. There will always be consequences, but sometimes things just need to be done.
My criticism focuses on those who take action and hide. In the early days of Sea Shepherd, I believed that this was rule #1. If you were willing to do the crime, you must be willing to do time.
Continue to Page 2 of the Interview with Peter Jay Brown
