Cactus Ed

Edward Abbey
University of Utah
1988

The big system can be pretty overwhelming. We know that we can’t beat them by competing with them. What we can do is build small systems where we live and work that serve our needs as we define us and not as they are defined for us. The big boys in their shining armor are up there on castle walls hurling their thunderbolts. We’re the ants patiently carrying sand a grain at a time from under the castle wall. We work from the bottom up. The knights up there don’t see the ants and don’t know what we’re doing. They’ll figure it out only when the wall begins to fall.
It takes time and quiet persistence.
Always remember this:
They fight with money and we resist with time, and they’re going to run out of money before we run out of time.
—Utah Phillips