ATWA (an acronym for Air, Trees, Water, Animals and All The Way Alive) stands for the uncompromising ecological mandate propounded by the infamous American convict Charles Manson. ATWA names the interrelated life support systems of the Earth. Charles Manson and his associates, most notably Lynette Fromme and Sandra Good, use the term to name the forces of life which holds the balance of the Earth.[1]
|
Contents
|
Manson was paroled in 1967 and found a welcoming environment in the burgeoning counterculture. Together with a small retinue of disaffected young people, he took flight from the madness of the cities and established a communal colony at Spahn Ranch in the Santa Susana mountains outside of Los Angeles, California. The group began to make survivalist forays into Death Valley in order to scout out more remote areas of the desert, and in September 1969 some members attempted to thwart nearby road developments by deliberately setting an expensive piece of earth-moving equipment on fire. This early act of monkey wrenching occurred a number of years before the concept would be popularized by Edward Abbey, Dave Foreman, and other radical environmentalists. In December 1969, Manson was arrested for arson of a Michigan Loader earth-mover in Death Valley. Manson has remained in custody to this day due to a conviction of conspiracy of first-degree murder.
ATWA’s proponents emphasize the unity of life on Earth, which is often spoken of in religious terms.
In the years following Manson's conviction and imprisonment with a life sentence, his close associates Lynette Fromme and Sandra Good became increasingly active in their efforts to raise awareness of the present system's failure to properly steward the Earth.[2]
In 1975, Lynette Fromme was found guilty of the attempted assassination of then president Gerald Ford. While questioned in custody she was asked why she had pointed the gun; she stated for the redwoods.[3] She was also involved in murders of many people. In August 2009, Fromme was released from federal prison after serving 34 years.
Sandra Good was imprisoned for 10 years for conspiracy to send threatening letters to corporate executives unless their corporations ceased polluting the environment.[4] After her release in 1985, Good led a campaign against International Paper Co. in defense of Lake Champlain.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This California-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)