William S. Lind

The most important, if least remarked, political event in the late 20th century America is the transformation of this country into an ideological state: a nation with an official ideology, enforced by the power of the state. The ideology is Political Correctness, which is really Marxism translated from economic into cultural terms. And nowhere is cultural Marxism more strictly enforced than on most of America’s college campuses.

But cultural Marxism faces some competition. Another ideology also sees its chance. What is it? The ideology of environmentalism.

Like all ideologies, at least until they take power, environmentalism seeks to disguise its true nature and goals. It presents itself as nothing more than a desire for clean water, healthy air, and some green places to walk in. What could be more reasonable? After all, these are things we all want.

The real nature of environmentalist ideology is very much more, and not nearly so nice. It is best seen in so-called "Deep Green" ecologism, and it is perhaps the most anti-human ideology to afflict our ideology-mad century.

Its fundamental principle is that nature is good, man is bad. Absent man, the earth was and again would be a paradise. All living things would rest in happy harmony (despite the fact that 90% of all species are now extinct, with little help from man). Nature, far from being red of tooth and claw, is a benevolent goddess—at whose altar we’d all better worship, or else.

Man, in this scheme of things, is the rogue. Man, by seeking dominion over nature, despoils her, endangers her, and indeed rapes her. So the answer is? Man has gotta go. Already the Deep Greeners—those gentle souls who embed spikes in trees in hope of maiming or killing a logger—demand "parks" where people are forbidden.

More, because every human action, including breathing, affects the environment, the Deep Green enviro-totalitarians demand control of every human action. Those who demur will presumably have a plastic bag tied over their head when the Deep Greens comes to power.

Even the worst ideologies to afflict our time—Communism, Nazism, Political Correctness itself—have favored some humans: workers and peasants, Aryans, or PC’s sweepings of Feminists, homosexuals, and other "victims." Not so environmental totalitarianism. All humans are evil, because all harm nature simply by living. The only benevolent human activity is self-annihilation. If the Deep Greeners haven’t made Pol Pot their patron saint, they should.

Environmental totalitarianism competes with cultural Marxism in America’s ideological winner-takes-all sweepstakes. But the cultural Marxists themselves are not above incorporating environmentalist propaganda into their eclectic message (which already mixes Marx and Freud, with a good salting of Nietzsche). Max Horkheimer, chief guru of the Frankfurt School, (which created modern Political Correctness), wrote that "materialism as far back as Hobbes has led to a manipulative, dominating attitude toward nature." Your local tree-hugger couldn’t have said it better.

What Americans, especially young Americans, need most to understand is that all ideologies are poisonous. America has never been an ideological state, for the simple reason that ideology and freedom are incompatible. Free people ask questions, and no ideology can stand up to rigorous questioning. So ideology must forbid questions—as it already forbids any questioning of Political Correctness on too many campuses. If environmentalist ideology takes over America, of course, questions won’t be a problem. There won’t be any people left to ask them.

William S. Lind serves as director of the Center for Cultural Conservatism at the Free Congress Foundation and is a regular contributor to Campus Report.