Amerika

Environmentalism projects itself as a solution to our environmental problems that came from the Left, when really it is a pale imitation of conservation, a tenet of the Right. Conservatives conserve things, and this includes the environment. The difference is that Rightists go to the core of the problem instead of treating symptoms.

When we list environmental problems — pollution, ecocide, over-utilization, and disruption of natural activity — we can see that each has the same cause and the same solution: there are too many people, everywhere, and if we set aside half of the land for nature, we no longer have any of these problems.

The Left, which supports the create of a mass mob instead of an orderly society which rewards quality over quantity, naturally opposes this. To them, the most important thing is “muh freedom” and this means that every person has the right to be on this Earth anywhere they desire. The Left created this problem.

Environmentalism generally consists of applying band-aids to the situation that the Left created and will not control. If everyone drives a Prius, lives in a giant apartment building, and eats at the company cafeteria, maybe we can reduce our resource footprint… so that another dozen people can be born, canceling out any gains.

A more sensible approach, called deep ecology, consists of designing our society around co-existence with nature, which starts with having a hierarchy of people intelligent enough to set aside half of the land as entirely natural, much as happened under the aristocrats in England and Germany who set up “green belts” that were theoretically hunting preserves but essentially, unbroken forest.

In addition, conservatives generally support laws that are strict enough to serve as cultural values signals, such as the laws picked up by the National Socialists from the German Old Right, which resulted in the only serious commitment to ending animal cruelty on record since the French Revolution:

For example, in Nazi Germany, people who mistreated their pets could be sentenced to two years in jail. The Nazis banned the production of foie gras and docking the ears and tails of dogs without anesthesia, and they severely restricted invasive animal research. The Nazi Party established the first laws insuring that animal used in films were not mistreated and also mandated humane slaughter procedures for food animals and for the euthanasia of terminally ill pets. (The Nazis were particularly concerned with the suffering of lobsters in restaurants). In addition, the German government established nature preserves, a school curriculum for the humane treatment of animals, and they hosted one of the first international conferences on animal protection.

While concern for animal suffering was not universal among the Nazi hierarchy, Arluke and Sax convincingly argue that pro-animal sentiment was widespread. In 1933, Hermann Göring announced he would “commit to concentration camps those who still think they can treat animals as property.” The feared Heinrich Himmler once asked his doctor, who was a hunter, “How can you find pleasure, Herr Kerstein, in shooting from behind at poor creatures browsing on the edge of a wood…It is really murder.”

While the Nazis committed their typical error here, which is converting values into ideology as Himmler’s statement does, the general principle remains: nature is not property, neither of the markets nor of the herd, and while the Left wants to limit markets, the real solution lies in changing behavior at the most fundamental level.

A Rightist would also reverse toxic Leftist policies that encourage higher population density such as property taxes, which encourage people to cluster together on tiny yards in suburban homes that take up most of the yard, eliminating space for natural growth.

If the West were to again set aside half of its land for nature, abolish property taxes and replace them with consumption taxes, then use strong signaling laws to protect animals, land, and ecosystems, our environmental problems would go away quickly and no one would have to buy a Prius or use an inefficent EnergyStar appliance.

Tags: conservationism, deep ecology, energystar, environmentalism, national socialism, prius