Derrick Jensen:During Collapse, Stand Up for Likely Victims

Looking at the depletion of oil, forests and other resources, Derrick Jensen believes that our global economy is due for collapse. Our current world empire, and possibly even our civilization, is likely to fall with it.

Examples of social collapse in recent years show that women and members of socially rejected groups such as immigrants, often fall victim to resulting rage and conflicts. Now is the time, says Derrick, to pledge allegiance to women, and to make sure that "outsiders" are given an equal place in the new community.

In this 45-minute interview, ShiftShapers co-host Daniel Kerbein talks with Derrick Jensen, author of 12 books on environment and consciousness, including A Language Older Than Words, End Game, and his most recent work, Dreams, which was published in the fall of 2011.

He is also a teacher and holds degrees in creative writing and mineral engineering. As an activist, he has spoken at several Occupy demonstrations across the U.S.

Derrick has made a study of the ways in which the earth around us attempts to communicate with us, and the ways in which we could be listening.

Animals, forests, trees, and even our bodies give us messages every day if we would only listen to something other than our spoken languages.

Part of the problem, he says, is that most of the time we simply aren't interested. Trees in a forest are nothing more than dollar signs, to be silenced, exploited and clearcut.

Derrick urges us to see the connection between this silencing of the natural world, and what is being done to millions of people forced into slavery, prostitution and sweat shops world wide.

In order to coerce we must first silence. And now, the true fruits of centuries of coercion are about to be borne - it is about to destroy us. To survive, we need to start listening again.

Derrick's books and other written work can be found at derrickjensen.org