|
Who are the environmentalists? commentary
By Fred Gielow 2/2/04 I bet millions of Americans think of environmentalists - I mean those environmentalists in positions of power - as loving, caring, thoughtful people, concerned about nature and living conditions on the planet. And, I bet millions upon millions of Americans consider themselves similarly disposed. They think the "eco" movement is non-political, non-threatening, and dedicated to the wise and proper husbandry of world resources. In a Human Events article (12-5-97, page 11), Walter Williams blew that naive and dangerous idea into a thousand bits. He wrote, "While the Soviet Union has collapsed, communism is not dead. It has [been] repackaged under a new name: environmentalism. Communism is about extensive government regulation and control by elites, and so is environmentalism." And that's what makes the environmental movement so dangerous. Because it sounds so benevolent, so honorable, so gallant, it entices countless citizens into donating to "the cause," when in truth, "the cause" is the overthrow of capitalism, democracy, and the American way of life. "[I]f we don't overthrow capitalism, we don't have a chance of saving the world ecologically," stated Judi Bari of Earth First!. "We were out to whip the public into a frenzy about the environment," admitted Jim Sibbison, former EPA press officer. "In searching for a new enemy to unite us, we came up the the idea that pollution, the threat of global warming, water shortages, famine and the like would fit the bill...," averred the Council of the Club of Rome. "[W]e have to offer up scary scenarios [about global warming and destruction of the environment], make simplified, dramatic statements, and make little mention of any doubts one might have... Each of us has to decide what the right balance is between being effective and being honest," counseled Stephen Schneider, a Stanford University environmentalist. (Note "being honest" is viewed almost as an irritant, getting in the way of "being effective".) "[Do the] "Wild Earth" and the "Wildlands Project" advocate the end of industrial civilization? Most assuredly. Everything civilized must go!" wrote John Davis, editor of Wild Earth and the Earth First Journal. As Dixy Lee Ray, author of Trashing the Planet (1990) and Environmental Overkill (1993) summed up quite succinctly: "[W]e must recognize that the environmental movement is not about facts or logic. More and more it is becoming clear that those who support the so-called 'New World Order' or World Government under the United Nations have adopted global environmentalism as a basis for the dissolution of independent nations and the international realignment of power..." (Quotations are from Fred Gielow's book, You Don't Say, 1999, pages 153, 159, 164, 165, and 166.) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fred Gielow is the author of "You Don't Say," and is involved in property rights activities at: www.youdontsay.org.
|