Who We Are
We are an ever-growing community of people who are committed to taking action for life on Earth. Our strength is in our connection to each other, and this connection gets stronger the more we make good trouble together.
We cannot stand aside while racial capitalism and neocolonialism destroy this beautiful planet, all for the benefit of a few. As residents of the United States we are benefiting from this injustice, even if we don't want to.
We can resist the corporations, governments, and institutions that are locking us into a terrifying future--and also resist a so-called eco-fascist response that means we're only looking after those we perceive to be "our own."
Troublemakers is a community. We like a good party. And we have each other’s backs. Join us and meet the crew. We’ll be throwing parties, going on hikes together, and having a good time. We’re going to enjoy life while raising a ruckus.
What We Believe
We believe that humanity has the creativity, resources, and commitment to end within a decade the pollution that threatens all life on the planet. Being alive in this moment is a great gift and a profound responsibility; every fraction of a degree of heating means the loss of countless human and other-than-human lives, and increases the risk of collapse. If we stop the heating, we save those lives.
We come together to reject the extreme inequality and the culture of impunity that have brought our beautiful world to the brink of catastrophe, and we know ourselves to be capable of building human societies aligned with the living world.
“Smoke season”
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Our mission is to disrupt the extractive systems that are devastating millions of lives worldwide, and that will be catastrophic to us all if we continue on the existing path. Connecting, supporting each other, and finding joy in community and resistance, we can help bring about an urgent end to the devastation—especially the burning of fossil fuels, industrial logging, and industrial agriculture—so that Earth and her ecologies can begin to heal.
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Stable ecosystems: The vast majority of greenhouse gas pollution must end within ten years.* Technology will and should be part of our transition, but so must a profound respect for the value of the living world and the complexities of natural systems, which have intrinsic value. To minimize the damage of the ongoing extinction, we must immediately reduce resource extraction to sustainable levels.
Economic justice: the people who have benefited the most from existing systems (especially resource-extraction capitalism) must bear the costs of the transition–and those who have benefited the least must be among the first to see the benefits of the transition.
Reparations and racial justice: Countries that have built their wealth by polluting, colonizing, and enslaving must provide recompense to the peoples and nations that have been thus devastated. This is not a question of individual guilt, but of historical fact and simple justice.
An end to militarism: Neither military aggression nor a disproportionate defensive response to aggression can secure a genuine or lasting peace among or within states. Furthermore, the U.S. Military is the world’s largest user of petroleum and emits more carbon than many nations, and the use of weapons results in vast amounts of toxic waste and requires intensive resource use for the rebuilding of communities.
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We find joy in our work. It’s an honor to be able to serve this world, and we value humor, beauty, and love in our actions.
We do our best to meet people where they’re at, and welcome all in.
We will treat all who come to us with respect and care.
We are in solidarity with front-line communities. We work to align our actions with social, racial, and economic justice movements.
Succeeding will require unity, which means we’ll need not just tolerance for one another, but tenderness. All of us are here to do what we can for this world and all that we love. We seek to build a strong community of activists who support one another even in disagreement and frustration.
The people most impacted by a given decision will have the most say in it.
We will frequently disagree with one another. Because we value the health of the group, if there is a decision that is not going the way we prefer, we respect one another and stand aside with grace when appropriate.
We utilize only nonviolent action. We understand that violence is endemic to the system that we resist, and believe that we open possibilities for a better future by engaging in a movement that wields power without violence.
We work to equalize power. We are aware of privilege and power discrepancies conferred by the society we live in and attempt to organize in ways that bring forth more equitable participation.
We are always learning. Our activities and gatherings are intentional and we seek to observe their effects and learn from our successes and failures.
We are a regional group, focused primarily on the area from the Cascades to the Pacific and between the Columbia River and Semiahmoo Bay.
*Skeptical? We made it to the moon, people. Have a little faith.