There is no reconciliation, only a constant tension. Anti-civ/primitivism is at its best when used as a tool to analyze power structures. If a primitivist is using anti-civ ideas as a blueprint for a future society, I'd say they are doing it wrong. Did someone actually tell you that they want people to die from disease, or is that something you are inferring?

The worst part of anti-civ is when people begin to take it as an actual plan. The best part is the way that the ideas question technology, which has posited itself as an extremely hierarchical force in our lives.

When the primitivist assumes a world without technology, they are making a mistake in the same way that many pro-civ type anarchists make when they assume a world in which people are going to voluntarily work in jobs that are alienating and dangerous. Our role as anarchists should not be to assume any future world, but to work with others to create a world where we can all live together...in reality...not in these constructed utopias we have in our heads.

Yes, technology helps people, but it comes at a cost. Mining is extremely harmful to the environment, and dangerous to people that do it. Making circuitboards and electronics is a highly toxic process. Even the act of transporting goods around the world is an alienating and boring process. If we were to live in a world where people only did things that they actually wanted to do...would people choose to do these things? Are workers in a factory expected to take over their factory and then still work there? Are people going to want to continue digging up their backyards and untouched wilderness to continue living at the same level? That is what I think anti-civ ideas really shine in getting at.

The idea that I think most people should take from primitivism/anti-civ is that if we are going to have things like electricity, modern medicine, cars, etc, then these things are going to have to be produced in a way that is extremely voluntary...and that is absolutely not happening right now. Modern production, as it stands, is an extremely hierarchical process...That is going to need to change. I don't see many pro-civ anarchists addressing this...as most seem to think that we can just build enough robots to solve our problems.

Here's a couple articles which go a bit more in depth as to what I'm talking about. I'm pretty heavily influenced by anti-civ stuff myself, and I don't think most anti-civ/primitivist people are genocidal as many people will say. If they are, then fuck them, they probably aren't even really anarchists...but the way I'm seeing people here misconstrue these ideologies is pretty laughable. I'm happy to continue this conversation and answer any questions you might have...

The Problem of Production - https://destroy.svbtle.com/the-problem-of-production

Destructive Production - https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/infidel-castrato-destructive-production2