AN ECO-LOGICAL REVIEW OF MIKE JOY (2024) THE FIGHT FOR FRESHWATER. BWB, Wellington, NZ.
This is a heartwarming story of good nature getting the better of bad nurture. Mike Joy having grown up in what he calls a ‘conservative’ environment but what to me sounds more like the archetypal New Zealand red-neck scenario of right-wing politics (National Party), petrol heads, boys being catholic boys, men in the garage fixing cars and drinking beer, women in the kitchen baking pies, ignorant farmers abusing animals, corrupt politicians at federal and local levels, corporate greed … and so the list goes on and on. Not that, generally, scientists are any better. What Joy calls ‘agency capture’ is the well-known (in some quarters at least) story of scientists working for the man rather for knowledge dissemination, the proverbial ‘he who pays the piper calls the tune’. So, the amazing story is not that a working-class boy has many a working-class adventure to slowly but surely turn into an acclaimed academic, but amazingly NOT turning into an academic asshole (excuse my aristocratic language) that populates academia in New Zealand as much as they do across the globe – at least based on my own experiences in academia in New Zealand and a few other places. Indeed, many an academic that arose from the so-called working classes often becomes more ‘conservative’ than his upper-class peers, just to pay the price of admission to the club. As such one would have expected that Mike Joy follows this well-traversed path to academic glory. That he gets to grips with his real human nature and turns into what conservatives generally call a ‘dissident’, makes his memoir a real page turner, a delight to read. Sadly, he is of course preaching to the converted, as evidenced by a radically divided world where the 99% are subjugated by the 1% - mostly willingly it seems (or at least the slaves being manipulated to vote for their masters). Mike Joy addresses this tragic state of affairs, as we are staring into a cataclysm of environmental degradation on the altar of economic growth mantras, promoting his ‘degrowth’ campaign. Of course, it makes sense, but he knows that making sense in this world today (2024) is mostly a ‘complete and utter waste of time’, the only hope being that he must continue his ‘fight for freshwater’. This conclusion is my only misgiving: this is not a ‘fight’ because you are reverting to the ‘conservative’ nurture scenario where fighting is at the heart of being a tough guy, as opposed to all the sissies who refuse to fight. Passive resistance is the way to go, or to use the only good catholic parable of Jesus turning his cheek to be hit again by the bully. Human nature, as nature in general is all about peaceful co-existence, hence the simple solution is to refuse the alternative (e.g. the weird zoologist Lorenz proclaiming that nature, including human, is innately about the survival of the fittest, the one who is most aggressive). To some degree Mike Joy and his partner are very good examples of such a degrowth lifestyle like fixing up old houses to live in, sailing in an old kauri boat, being vegetarian (!), walking where possible, and communicating the truth against all the odds. Mike Joy’s trajectory to this stage in his life at 64 is as remarkable as ultimately contradictory: like a Chomsky (my other working-class hero) style dissident, his brilliance as a scientist propels him into the narrow bracket of permitted conveyers of doom and gloom, in the full knowledge that his impact will be negligible in the face of an overwhelming majority of genocidal bitches (to use the words of a Leonard Cohen song) who decide who is to live and who is to die. Others will be sidelined, as Mike Joy finds out from Vice-Chancellor Steve Maharey who told him the story of Federated Farmers demanding Mike’s sacking. Maharey to his credit stood up for Mike. I can attest to the less lucky ones, like me being associated with the Chomsky side, who as a linguist found the doors always closed when applying for university jobs in NZ – despite my PhD from Auckland University and boasting a considerable number of peer-reviewed articles (and a book about Noam Chomsky), the type that Mike Joy almost religiously cites as the key to academic stardom. Still, after moving to Victoria University and eventually being given redundant notice there as part of the slash and burn, Mike Joy has to rely on the charity of the capitalist Morgan Foundation to keep his research going at the university, and no doubt having to reference the Morgan Foundation in all his subsequent publications. This is testament in itself of the many contradictions his life – and all our lives – is subjected to. His moving account of his father’s death is a classic example: having nearly come to blows with him during the Springbok tour – his father being an ardent supporter – arguing the complete and utter falsehood of it (I was then in the Patu Patu contingent in the Auckland protests), Mike nevertheless acknowledges him as an invaluable source of practical skills transmission that shaped his life to this very day. The sad irony being that while his father had argued for the false separation of sport and politics, Mike now acknowledges that his relationship with his father continued to be positive as long as they did not mix applied engineering with politics. Sad to learn too that when his father was on his death bed in Blenheim hospital, he was the victim of a deteriorating public health system in New Zealand, what with overworked, underpaid and under-skilled nurses making his father’s last hours as uncomfortable as possible. In terms of not mixing engineering (as a symbol of the natural sciences) with politics as a false premise, Mike Joy correctly dismisses the many bizarre technical and commercial attempts to mitigate or even reverse the disastrous consequences of the climate crisis, from carbon capture contraptions to the utterly ridiculous carbon trading scheme. Greenwashing as the latest commercial opportunity to get rich quick may well be the death knell we all know is knocking on the door. The term ‘ecocide’ was used as early as 2002 by my friend Franz Broswimmer in his book entitled ‘Ecocide: A Short History Of The Mass Extinction Of Species’ and he was tragically removed from the academic world in Hawaii (East-West Centre) by an SUV running him over and crippling him for life, getting only minimal care and support from the US health system because he was not a US citizen. As such Mike Joy is not a single voice in the wilderness but of a band of global voices that can be heard every day, although it is not always clear what exactly their intentions are. Take the seemingly correct call by the governments of Vanuatu, Fiji and Samoa for the ICC to make ecocide a criminal offence. Having worked and lived in Vanuatu (and having visited Fiji and Samoa) and having gained some knowledge of the political situation of these island nations, I am baffled by the call, not only because it seems perfectly insane that one should have to call out ecocide as a crime when it so obviously is. I am baffled because the governments in question use a post-colonial ruse to extract millions and billions in compensation for what they say was caused by the neighbouring metropolitan/colonialist countries like New Zealand and Australia, which in itself is true enough, but then again the successive post-colonial governments of these island nations have not followed environmentally friendly policies either, like selling off mining and forestry licences to the highest bidders who in turn ravaged the delicate island environments and left it in tatters. The much-vaunted income for the governments was mainly squandered on more environmentally disastrous infrastructural projects and palaces for the movers and shakers who continuously battle each other for the baubles of office (cf. Fiji’s military and political coups). It seems that the colonial powers managed to instil a mindset that guaranteed the elite of the indigenous populations a place in the sun, while all around them the living standards of their subjects went down the drain. This brings me to the painful discussion of that what Mike Joy sees as part of the solution, namely in the positive environmental knowledge and practices of indigenous cultures, i.e. that of Māori in Aotearoa. Obviously it is true that Māori culture harbours knowledge and practices that are environmentally friendly but so does any culture worth its salt. As any good anthropologist will tell you, culture is highly contestable and is fought over like any other organisational system. As such we know that contemporary Māori culture also harbours all manner of ecocidal members of the National Party, ACT and NZ First, whom Mike Joy accuses of dismantling Te Mana o te Wai, as soon as they came to power. When accessing the website of Degrowth Aotearoa (DANZ) there is a lengthy homepage statement entitled ‘Solidarity with Māori’ which is fine in principle, as it seeks to counteract the ACT party’s attempt to redefine and diminish Te Tiriti o Waitangi, but it misses the crucial point that Māori culture and society is not a monolithic entity that can be relied upon as a solution to ecocide and genocide that is currently wrought on this earth. As such, I am hesitant to join Degrowth Aotearoa, as it goes against my anarchic instincts to join any organisation that has more than five members, as any more will lead to hierarchical, representational structures that have plagued our world since year dot. I know that many left-wing activists call for ‘getting organised’ to battle the foes on the other side (who are often much better organised), but as I mentioned before this type of martial discourse is self-defeating (sic) since the ‘enemy’ is the one spoiling for a fight as their insane raison d'être. Since Mike Joy, on his own admission, likes nothing better than to educate people (especially the young ones) then let this be his mantra, not to fight for freshwater but to educate people for the absolute need for freshwater – something he does so very well in his book.
Broswimmer, Franz (2002) Ecocide: A Short History Of The Mass Extinction Of Species. Pluto Press.
https://www.theguardian.com/law/article/2024/sep/09/pacific-islands-ecocide-crime-icc-proposal
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