Dark Green I

By M.K. Styllinski

“Isn’t the only hope for the planet that the industrialized civilizations collapse? Isn’t it our responsibility to bring that about?”

– Maurice Strong, founder of UNEP

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You might be feeling the pressure in the outside world right now – I know I am, which is why I want to go through these next series of posts on a subject that is dear to my heart: environmentalism and its relationship to the Establishment.

The Earth and Nature have been vitally important to my sense of well-being since I was a small child, with environmental activism part of my early youth, through University years and beyond. Yet, I found that here too, the corruption of ancient wisdom principles and the politicisation of a very genuine intent to care for our Earth has been taking place for decades, indeed, a core of corruption may have been seeded in the very institutions and beliefs of people for whom nature is primary to increasing harmony in ourselves and societies at large. Blindness to how belief and ideology can be inverted is never more applicable to environmentalism, to the point that a form of “ecointelpro”  and greenwashing has become quite sophisticated.

Most people will agree that the planet is facing an ecological crisis. Loss of habitat, species extinction, the pollution of our land, sea and air has manifested as a result of embracing a very narrow interpretation of reality. By mid-2012, 3,190,185 hectares of forest had been destroyed; 4,294,877 hectares of land was lost through soil erosion and degradation; 7,361,316 hectare of land lost to desertification and 6,007,084 tons of toxic chemicals had been released into the environment. On top of all that, and intimately connected with the above – 6,860,322 people have died of hunger so far this year; with 908,808,765 undernourished people in the world; 1,104,707 deaths from water related diseases and 815,378,542 people with no safe drinking water source at all. ^[1]

And on it goes…

Yet, we are, in a very real sense an integral part of Nature right down to our DNA; a consciousness pulsating within this precious biosphere which expresses itself in one of two ways: 1) A dynamic that promotes a sustainable, nourishing symbiosis of creativity and which easily sits alongside a cornucopia of meaning and cultivated harmony in relationships. 2) a dynamic that seeks only to take and feed, destroy and separate. It is devoid of meaning and purpose, rattling around in a system predicated on entropy and artifice.

It’s no surprise to anyone that this latter perception of reality has continued to characterise humanity’s socio-economic and cultural “progress” for two hundred years. As a consequence we live in an “Official Culture” which has been forced into being by investing in lies, propaganda, social engineering and over reliance on government and institutions. By now, it must be obvious to most rational people that we are enmeshed in a destructive matrix of consumption which continually mirrors the spiritual loss within, which in turn, manifests in a variety of unconscious ways. This learned pathology has become normal and passed on from generation to generation.

Is it any wonder that the Earth and Nature simply mirror this chaos?

The cause and effects have largely stemmed from a scientific materialism and the political and economic principles it spawned, mostly laid down by the adoption of 19^th Century industrialisation. This in turn, was a process of attrition which had accelerated after the Age of Reason and which saw humanity’s relationship to Nature and aligned spiritual traditions relegated to the background. The consequence of this was a mind-body split as Newtonian and Cartesian thought claimed the high-ground. Not that the dark world of superstition and ignorant belief didn’t need a candle lit at its centre – it most certainly did. But then the illumination turned into a raging inferno.  Our dog-eat-dog Earth has been subjugated, dominated and controlled so that it was inevitable that Capitalism would go beyond its initial remit – which was a short-term illusion in itself – and turn the world into a vast processing plant of consumption reaching deep into the soul of humanity and replacing it with a spiritual abyss.

The deep, multifaceted connection that humanity has with its environment and its present dormancy can be seen all too clearly in the lives of children being shaped by our SMART, technological society. An article from the UK’s Independent newspaper reported on BBC Wildlife magazine’s 2008 survey of British youth the results of which showed: “Children have lost touch with the natural world and are unable to identify common animals and plants … Half of youngsters aged nine to 11 were unable to identify a daddy-long-legs, oak tree, blue tit or bluebell … The study also found that playing in the countryside was children’s least popular way of spending their spare time, and that they would rather see friends or play on their computer than go for a walk or play outdoors.” ^[2]

Studies have also shown that children haven’t a clue about the origins of the food they eat, thinking that cheese comes from plants, and tomatoes grow underground. But this is just a symptom of a more troubling pattern of a growing separation from Nature. A ground-breaking study from October 2013 by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) found that 80 percent of UK children had no connection to the natural world. Higher rates of mental illness will continue to rise among our children as the connection between Nature and their consciousness is replaced by the lure of the digital screen. Inculcated narcissism from entertainment, glamour and the continuing revolution in technology has combined with the last few generations of parents who have grown up with an increasing dysfunctionality. This has had a profound influence on children’s ability to access and build a relationship with the natural world and by extension, their inner world.

© infrakshun

One of the most complex and intractable problems facing humanity at the moment is not just the consequences of the ecological crisis but the beliefs embedded in banking, the economy, culture and the politicisation of science on which so many mere opinions and the actions in response to these crises are now based. If we have learned anything about these current crises and the true lessons of history it would be 1) that our actions are inseparable from our local and global environment 2) the latter has been founded on the power of the State as arbiter of values and the glue of social cohesion. If the whole concept of Statism is to rule from a hierarchical, centralised place of reductionist authority,  which effectively translates as a replacement to true self-sufficient clusters of community, then it is also inevitable that human beings would yearn for true conscience and freedom of mind, even if unconscious in that desire.

That every sentient life form is interconnected and interrelated in extraordinarily complex ways has surely never been a more pressing lesson to learn. We live in symbiotic relationships all the time and it is the denial of that fundamental truth that has left us prey to those who operate outside such laws and thrive on disconnection, separation and irresponsibility. Scientists are re-discovering that a small, “Butterfly effect”, whether seemingly positive or negative by intention, will have short-term and long-term consequences for the whole. Whether catastrophic or creative depends entirely on how well we understand a) the psychology operating in the human sphere which inevitably impinges on our environment in a multitude of ways and b) how well we comprehend the cycles, seasons and knowledge in Nature so that we can use practical, pragmatic and sustainable methods of survival that do not exceed our means; working with Nature instead of exploiting her.

Yet, the authoritarian personalities played like puppets by the psychopath have tutored us from birth to adopt social dynamics which are diametrically opposed to any semblance of harmony. It is little wonder that the world reflects our own confused inner ecology where a sense of the sacred and ancient wisdom lie deeply buried in the shadows of our collective unconscious. If Planet Earth begins to reach a point of no return – which appears to be so at this period of history –  then rest assured, Mother Earth will hit the reset button, something which She and her human brood have been through many times before. In fact, cataclysms are a familiar part of our history. They may even be part of a cosmic cycle of change that visits planets periodically according to a precise set of criteria. Our Earth may simply wipe the slate clean and achieve her chaotic “balance” once more. We, on the other hand, might find ourselves on the receiving end of that planetary spring clean and revisiting the Ice age.

Nothing like a dose of global catastrophe to simplify your life.

© unknown

There is something more to the ecological awareness that is rapidly returning to humanity. Like all positive expansions in human consciousness which are founded on practical methods to nourish, protect and embolden people’s lives, a new paradigm ends up being filtered through the still dominant and crystallized traditions, only to swiftly lose their dynamism and lustre. In other words, truth becomes distorted and turned upside down so that the movement, scientific discovery or humanitarian effort remains transitory. And so it is with our attempts to place biodiversity and the vital presence of our environment at the top of the agenda.

We are lacking knowledge as to just how easily this sincere love for the natural world can be hijacked and used against us.

For instance, that means the fossil fuel lobby, authoritarians in the green movement, the left-liberal mindset as well as the religious right are equally culpable in creating the noise, though for very different ideological reasons. We must transcend the cultivated divisions completely and see it through the eyes of the Establishment and how they benefit from such conflict.

The above quote by green guru Maurice Strong at the top of this page may give you pause. What is the exact meaning behind his idea of “responsibility”? By what means are we encouraged to see the collapse of industrial civilisation?  This raises further questions:

1) What will be replacing this old order?

2) Who will be at the helm?

3) Can we truly trust those in power based on the lessons of the recent past?

4) Are they encouraging genuine, practical environmental solutions or are they merely change agents with another agenda entirely?

That agenda may be gleaned from the past posts in this blog and transposed onto the subject of environmentalism. I certainly won’t be able to answer all those questions – I may even end up going down the proverbial garden path, but perhaps from some of the information presented you can make up your own mind.

Similarly, it is not my intention to discredit the passion and relevance of environmentalism or ecological concerns. As stated, I have a deep connection to Nature and consider myself one of its many advocates. But we need new eyes to view this complex subject without recourse to a juvenile interpretation of reality. We must employ a cold-blooded evaluation of our cherished beliefs regarding environmental activism just as we would any politicised and abused arena of social discourse and action. We must do this so that the manipulation of our green emotions does not blind us to following the same pied pipers who have led us down so many dead-ends while reaping the socio-economic benefits. This is especially important, not just in relation to climate change and our disappearing biodiversity but how best we can prepare for what is to come, rather than try to prevent what may be unstoppable.

Ceasing all production and use of gases and chemicals which destroy the ozone layer is admirable and doable. Yet, can we for instance, halt climate change if it is actually a natural – albeit complex – cycle of global warming and cooling? And what if there is huge capital in promoting iffy science and divisions so that the bigger picture of cosmic influences and Earth changes are obscured? Similarly, are there benefits to the Elite by pushing through an environmental agenda on top of a SMART society for further control rather than a benevolent protection of all our futures? We’ll look at both those issues later on.

The history of ecology and the environmental movement has gone through considerable change in the last 100 years and it is only now that many are able to see how compromised it has become, not just from behind the biased purview of conservative thinkers It is vital to wrest back some kind of sanity from those who want to exploit genuine concern for the Earth and to divert the altruism of many involved in environmental activism and animal welfare. But where there is unregulated emotion “to save” and “do good” along with a good dollop of dogma and militancy then you will find ample opportunities for ponerological influences to find their way in. Perhaps it is for this reason that the Irish politician and philosopher Edmund Burke warned: “It is a general popular error to suppose the loudest complainers for the public to be the most anxious for its welfare.”

getdegrees.com/ | Activism for the Earth is constructive in principle, but what about change agents and the infiltration of very different agendas?

At no other time can we see how strongly these negative attributes are being displayed within the various environmental fields. The love of this Earth and the profundity of Nature means that passion to protect runs very deep indeed. Accordingly, the ideologies which have grown out of that devotion to save and nurture through various indigenous cultures and historical groupings has meant the seeds of inversion were always there, since the concept of protection, wildness and purity instantly aligns itself with so many authoritarian principles. As a result, we are now seeing a mixture of fascism, fanaticism, bad science, tribalism and tunnel-vision battling for supremacy in environmental science and activism. Its complete co-option is on a knife-edge, if it hasn’t happened already. That possibility may be a very hard pill to swallow for environmental activists but equally important that such awareness is part of the movement as a whole. If such a scenario seems like nonsense to you then you need to read on and try to observe your reactions rather than to dismiss the source of these uncomfortable truths out of hand.

The subject is huge and rather complicated. Nothing is simple nor is it black and white. However, only the briefest look at some of the relevant themes and protagonists which have helped and hindered the cause will be possible. In terms of an emerging Pathocracy, ecological ideology has long played a part in neo-feudalist aspirations. Our focus is on those who opened doors to its ponerisation as a counterbalance to the positive work that is undoubtedly being carried out day after day around the world. It is imperative that we become aware of the spectre of eco-fascism in order to do justice to true environmentalism and the emergence of sound socio-ecological principles.

Ironically, It is through the romantic desire to “save” or “heal the Earth,” force change and halt industrial “progress” at whatever the cost, which could enable the channels for inversion to such a degree that it will be extremely hard to reverse it once completed. That is not to say that the mindset which produced industrialisation wasn’t a disaster on many levels – it most certainly was (and is). The key issue remains the subversion of sound ideologies and intents and a) to learn its methods and manipulations b) to look at our personal and often unconscious role in its genesis.

The next post will explore the relationship between fascism and ecology and how the Establishment psychopaths have gradually infected the movement as a whole.

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Important note

I want also to reiterate the fact that this series does not in anyway suggest a wholesale negation of the importance of environmental activism and the responsibility we have for caring for our local and regional ecology. It is frustrating in the extreme that people continually succumb to a binary view of life which is highly complexed and nuanced. Just because I offer a critique of modern enivronmental activism and conservation does not mean I am automatically “anti-green” or somehow seek to diminish the value of ecological awareness. The same applies to many sociopolitical subjects on this blog. It is vital that we continually watch for the many ways truth can be subverted, even if that makes us very uncomfortable.

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Notes

[1] http://www.worldometers.info/
[2] ‘Children Have Lost Touch With Nature’ The Independent January 8, 2008.

See also: Environmentalists damage environment as much as anyone else – study

The Skeptical Environmentalist – Measuring the Real State of The World By Bjorn Lomborg

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