--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Further, any way of life based on the…" description: "\"“Further, any way of life based on the importation of resources is also functionally based on violence, because if your way of life requires the import..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce0/aric-mcbay-53895_anti-civ_further-any-way-of-life-based-on-the-imp_2607348.jpg" --- # Further, any way of life based on the importation of… ![“Further, any way of life based on the importation of resources is also functionally based on violence, because if your way of life requires the importation of resources, trade will never be sufficiently reliable: if people in the next watershed over won't trade you for some necessary resource, you…” quote by Aric McBay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce0/aric-mcbay-53895_anti-civ_further-any-way-of-life-based-on-the-imp_2607348.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce0/aric-mcbay-53895_anti-civ_further-any-way-of-life-based-on-the-imp_2607348.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce0/aric-mcbay-53895_anti-civ_further-any-way-of-life-based-on-the-imp_2607348.jpg) > ““Further, any way of life based on the importation of resources is also functionally based on violence, because if your way of life requires the importation of resources, trade will never be sufficiently reliable: if people in the next watershed over won't trade you for some necessary resource, you will take it, because you need it. So, to bring this to the present, we could all become enlightened, and the US military would still have to be huge: how else will they get access to the oil they need to run the economy, oil that just happens to lie under someone else's land? The point is that no matter what we think of the irredeemability of this culture's mass psychology or system of rewards, this culture–civilization–is also irredeemable on a purely functional level.”” [Aric McBay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aric-mcbay/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote argues that societies reliant on imported resources inherently depend on violence to secure those resources, making large militaries unavoidable and the system fundamentally irredeemable. **In simple terms:** Dependence on imports forces violence and endless militarism. Key Takeaway Recognize the hidden costs of resource dependence. Themes politics economics violence environment military culture Mood critical concerned reflective Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - energy policy - foreign policy - defense budgeting - environmental activism - academic research Key Concepts resource dependency geopolitics systemic violence imperialism sustainability Questions to Reflect On - Can we redesign economies to eliminate resource‑driven conflict? - What policies could reduce militaristic reliance on oil? A Different Perspective It overlooks potential for cooperative resource sharing and renewable alternatives. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anti-civ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anti-civ/) [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [Climate change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/climate-change/) [Deep-green-resistance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deep-green-resistance/) [Economy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economy/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Military](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/military/) [Violence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/violence/) [Way of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way-of-life/) ## Related quotes > [Many scientists and economists also say putting a price on carbon through carbon taxes and/or cap-and-trade is necessary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-suzuki/many-scientists-and-economists-also-say-putting-a-price-on-carbon/) [David Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-suzuki/) > [“Humans aren’t going to do anything in time to prevent the planet from being destroyed wholesale. Poor people are too preoccupied by primary emergencies,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aric-mcbay/humans-aren-t-going-to-do-anything-in-time-to-prevent-the-planet-from/) [Aric McBay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aric-mcbay/) > [“The ultimate goal of the resistance movement is a planet not just living, but in recovery, growing more alive and more diverse year after…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aric-mcbay/the-ultimate-goal-of-the-resistance-movement-is-a-planet-not-just/) [Aric McBay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aric-mcbay/) > [“No successes we might have are guaranteed to last as long as industrial civilization stands. Conversely, most of our losses are effectively permanent. Extinct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aric-mcbay/no-successes-we-might-have-are-guaranteed-to-last-as-long-as/) [Aric McBay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aric-mcbay/) > [“Humans are only one species of millions. To kill millions of species for the benefit of one is insane, just as killing millions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aric-mcbay/humans-are-only-one-species-of-millions-to-kill-millions-of-species/) [Aric McBay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aric-mcbay/) > [“This culture destroys landbases. That's what it does. When you think of Iraq, is the first thing that comes to mind cedar forests so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/this-culture-destroys-landbases-that-s-what-it-does-when-you-think-of/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [“So while this is a book about fighting back, in the end this is a book about love. The songbirds and the salmon need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/so-while-this-is-a-book-about-fighting-back-in-the-end-this-is-a-book/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [“Someone once told me his idea for surviving a crash of civilization was to be a lone wolf, heading for the hills, with his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-carter/someone-once-told-me-his-idea-for-surviving-a-crash-of-civilization/) Michael Carter > [“If we can't love our one and only home, what can we love? If we're unwilling to defend what we love, then what are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-carter/if-we-can-t-love-our-one-and-only-home-what-can-we-love-if-we-re/) Michael Carter > [“The role of smart, radical activists is to encourage, protract, organize, and multiply the chipping away not only at the mythology of presumed supremacy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-carter/the-role-of-smart-radical-activists-is-to-encourage-protract-organize/) Michael Carter > [“Our best hope will never lie in individual survivalism. Nor does it lie in small groups doing their best to prepare for the worst.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lierre-keith/our-best-hope-will-never-lie-in-individual-survivalism-nor-does-it/) [Lierre Keith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lierre-keith/) > [“Even if we're among the lucky few who benefit from civilization, we find ourselves curiously unsatisfied, plagued by stress, worry, and conflict... Like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-carter/even-if-we-re-among-the-lucky-few-who-benefit-from-civilization-we/) Michael Carter ## More by Aric McBay > [“Humans are only one species of millions. To kill millions of species for the benefit of one is insane, just as killing millions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aric-mcbay/humans-are-only-one-species-of-millions-to-kill-millions-of-species/) [Aric McBay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aric-mcbay/) > [“The dominant culture eats entire biomes. No, that is too generous, because eating implies a natural biological relationship. This culture doesn't just consume ecosystems,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aric-mcbay/the-dominant-culture-eats-entire-biomes-no-that-is-too-generous/) [Aric McBay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aric-mcbay/) > [“No successes we might have are guaranteed to last as long as industrial civilization stands. Conversely, most of our losses are effectively permanent. Extinct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aric-mcbay/no-successes-we-might-have-are-guaranteed-to-last-as-long-as/) [Aric McBay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aric-mcbay/) > [“The ultimate goal of the resistance movement is a planet not just living, but in recovery, growing more alive and more diverse year after…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aric-mcbay/the-ultimate-goal-of-the-resistance-movement-is-a-planet-not-just/) [Aric McBay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aric-mcbay/) > [“Humans aren’t going to do anything in time to prevent the planet from being destroyed wholesale. Poor people are too preoccupied by primary emergencies,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aric-mcbay/humans-aren-t-going-to-do-anything-in-time-to-prevent-the-planet-from/) [Aric McBay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aric-mcbay/) [Explore all 6 Aric McBay quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aric-mcbay/) ## More Anti-civ quotes > [“Even if we're among the lucky few who benefit from civilization, we find ourselves curiously unsatisfied, plagued by stress, worry, and conflict... Like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-carter/even-if-we-re-among-the-lucky-few-who-benefit-from-civilization-we/) Michael Carter > [“So while this is a book about fighting back, in the end this is a book about love. The songbirds and the salmon need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/so-while-this-is-a-book-about-fighting-back-in-the-end-this-is-a-book/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [“Humans are only one species of millions. To kill millions of species for the benefit of one is insane, just as killing millions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aric-mcbay/humans-are-only-one-species-of-millions-to-kill-millions-of-species/) [Aric McBay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aric-mcbay/) > [“No successes we might have are guaranteed to last as long as industrial civilization stands. Conversely, most of our losses are effectively permanent. Extinct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aric-mcbay/no-successes-we-might-have-are-guaranteed-to-last-as-long-as/) [Aric McBay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aric-mcbay/) > [“This culture destroys landbases. That's what it does. When you think of Iraq, is the first thing that comes to mind cedar forests so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/this-culture-destroys-landbases-that-s-what-it-does-when-you-think-of/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [“The ultimate goal of the resistance movement is a planet not just living, but in recovery, growing more alive and more diverse year after…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aric-mcbay/the-ultimate-goal-of-the-resistance-movement-is-a-planet-not-just/) [Aric McBay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aric-mcbay/) > [“Someone once told me his idea for surviving a crash of civilization was to be a lone wolf, heading for the hills, with his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-carter/someone-once-told-me-his-idea-for-surviving-a-crash-of-civilization/) Michael Carter > [“If we can't love our one and only home, what can we love? If we're unwilling to defend what we love, then what are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-carter/if-we-can-t-love-our-one-and-only-home-what-can-we-love-if-we-re/) Michael Carter > [“The role of smart, radical activists is to encourage, protract, organize, and multiply the chipping away not only at the mythology of presumed supremacy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-carter/the-role-of-smart-radical-activists-is-to-encourage-protract-organize/) Michael Carter > [“Our best hope will never lie in individual survivalism. Nor does it lie in small groups doing their best to prepare for the worst.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lierre-keith/our-best-hope-will-never-lie-in-individual-survivalism-nor-does-it/) [Lierre Keith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lierre-keith/) > [“Humans aren’t going to do anything in time to prevent the planet from being destroyed wholesale. Poor people are too preoccupied by primary emergencies,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aric-mcbay/humans-aren-t-going-to-do-anything-in-time-to-prevent-the-planet-from/) [Aric McBay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aric-mcbay/) [Browse all 12 Anti-civ quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anti-civ/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Further, any way of life based on the importation of resources is also functionally based on violence, because if your way of life requires the importation of resources, trade will never be sufficiently reliable: if people in the next watershed over won't trade you for some necessary resource, you will take it, because you need it. So, to bring this to the present, we could all become enlightened, and the US military would still have to be huge: how else will they get access to the oil they need to run the economy, oil that just happens to lie under someone else's land? The point is that no matter what we think of the irredeemability of this culture's mass psychology or system of rewards, this culture–civilization–is also irredeemable on a purely functional level.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Aric McBay" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aric-mcbay/further-any-way-of-life-based-on-the-importation-of-resources-is-also/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Anti-civ" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aric-mcbay/further-any-way-of-life-based-on-the-importation-of-resources-is-also/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce0/aric-mcbay-53895_anti-civ_further-any-way-of-life-based-on-the-imp_2607348.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce0/aric-mcbay-53895_anti-civ_further-any-way-of-life-based-on-the-imp_2607348.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce0/aric-mcbay-53895_anti-civ_further-any-way-of-life-based-on-the-imp_2607348.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Further, any way of life based on the importation of resources is also functionally based on violence…” — Aric McBay", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Aric McBay", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aric-mcbay/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Further, any way of life based...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aric-mcbay/further-any-way-of-life-based-on-the-importation-of-resources-is-also/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aric-mcbay/further-any-way-of-life-based-on-the-importation-of-resources-is-also/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```