Jensen’s Core Claim

• Civilization as inherently violent: Jensen argues that what we call “civilization” (especially industrial civilization) is not a neutral cultural achievement but a system that requires ongoing destruction of both ecosystems and human communities to sustain itself.

• Ecocide and genocide as structural: He insists that the killing of species (ecocide) and the killing of peoples (genocide) are not accidents or aberrations but built into the logic of civilization.

• Violence as foundation, not exception: For Jensen, civilization is founded on systemic violence—against land (through extraction, agriculture, industrialization) and against people (through conquest, colonization, slavery).

Structural Mechanisms of Violence

• Agriculture: Jensen often points to agriculture as the original form of ecocide—requiring deforestation, soil depletion, and the displacement of indigenous peoples.

• Industrial extraction: Mining, fossil fuels, and industrial production are seen as systemic assaults on land and water.

• Colonial conquest: Genocide of indigenous peoples is not incidental but necessary for civilization to expand and secure resources.

• Cultural erasure: Beyond physical killing, civilization enacts epistemic violence—destroying languages, traditions, and ways of living that resist industrial logic.

Paradigm Examples

• North American colonization: Genocide of indigenous peoples paired with ecocide of prairies, forests, and rivers.

• Global industrial economy: Ongoing destruction of biodiversity, climate systems, and traditional lifeways.

• Collapse as necessity: Jensen argues that only the dismantling of industrial civilization can halt this structural violence.

Philosophical Stakes

• Civilization as pathology: Unlike thinkers who critique specific regimes (totalitarianism, colonialism), Jensen critiques civilization itself as pathological.

• Permanent war against life: Civilization is framed as a permanent war against both human diversity and ecological integrity.

• Radical alternative: His work calls for re‑imagining societies that are not founded on domination, extraction, or systemic violence.