47 words
Greg Johnson was interviewed on “eco-fascism” by Robert Stark on The Stark Truth. Topics include the definition of fascism, Savitri Devi, Martin Heidegger, Pentti Linkola, vegetarianism, the quality of life of farm animals, Henry Williamson, and Jorian Jenks.
To listen to the podcast, click here: http://reasonradionetwork.com/20120402/the-stark-truth-greg-johnson-on-eco-fascism
9 Comments
Thanks for this. You made the connections that I was struggling with and could not articulate.
Where I live, there is lots of organic meat and vegetables locally raised and planted. Young people have arrived wanting to farm. One young man told me with such loving attention to his brussel sprouts, how he carefully divided the good ones to sell and the more wormy ones he ate. I felt as if I was in love. With what, I could not really name.
Is it true that recordings of Savitri Devi still exist? If so, shouldn’t these be posted online so her devotees can deepen their relationship with her genius and learn more of her love for us, as well as invite more into our movement?
Jonathan Bowden says something odd about her that we just can’t picture. He said that she understood that truth lies at the extreme where a line intersects the arc of a circle. We’ve tried to draw that on paper, but get nothing interesting. Can GJ explain?
“Before I saw Al Sharpton on MSNBC, I wasn’t a racist.”
Who was the woman she worked with to revive paganism?
At 38,07 Greg said that it is expensive to get food that is not adulterated. Next we will be talking about races that are not adulterated and after that we will all be telling each other that Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Greg has done a good job in this discussion, though I will say that I have made some contributions that he does not.
I want to note this distinction particularly because other people, myself included, have long been considering ecology as applied to race and White racial defense specifically, without associating it with Nazism and the term “fascism”.
I make this remark in observation of the term “ecofascism” and the image of the swastika, which would have negative associations not only for myself, but probably for the majority of thoughtful, White racial advocates – therefore needlessly turn them off, render them guilty by association or put them in a position of passively legitimizing views (by proximate juxtaposition) which they (rightfully) abhor.
I’m sorry if that hurts the feelings of those who empathize with the Nazis: however, as a term, it has come to mean something other than nationalism and socialism. Even something more than German nationalism and socialism it has come to imply a regime not only stigmatized by homocidal mandate, but also with a rogue attitude toward its neighboring European peoples – the willingness to make them slaves and worse. I have recently heard some foul stories coming from sources which I am not inclined to disbelieve. Acts which would seem to have little strategic value for warfare’s sake, even.
I’m even more sorry if it hurts the feelings of Germans, because I do not mean to – have nothing against them, nor necessarily against nationalism and aspects of socialism.
That regime is in history and I am glad that I, for one, leave it there, rather than drag it into association with human ecology.
Not that Devi is not worthwhile, of course she is, but she is far from the only one thinking in these terms and there is no need to re-animate terms and images with such deservedly negative connotations.
Greg, I hope you find time for the eco-fascism book. I think it’s something a lot of young people could relate to more readily than some other themes, and could be a way to open their minds to racialism.
Daniel probably has a point that one might not want to put a Swastika on the cover, although the picture of the trees is fascinating. (Do you know how it was produced? Did somebody just happen to find the pattern of sick or dying trees?) However I don’t think some discussion or quotes of Savitri Devi would be a turn-off. She didn’t harm any Slavs, or even Jews, and she’s such an interesting character.
The trees were planted in the 1930s by the Hitler youth. When the leaves of one type of tree turn yellow, the swastika appears. It was only visible from the air. Apparently, the hate trees have now been felled, lest they trigger genocide against the Jews.
Greg Johnson,
You might like to know that there’s a new book by Stéphane François, L’Écologie politique: une vision du monde réactionnaire? Réflexions sur le positionnement idéologique de quelques valeurs (Paris: Le Cerf, 2012), which appears to address “right-wing” ecology in detail. I’ll be adding it to my ever-growing list of books to get and read. According to the publisher’s description:
“L’écologie politique est devenue depuis le milieu des années 1980 une force politique majeure dans notre pays, et dans d’autres pays occidentaux. Cependant, elle recouvre des sensibilités idéologiques très diverses allant du progressisme au conservatisme, voire à une attitude réactionnaire. La diversité du tissu associatif montre la pluralité de l’expression. Le mérite de Stéphane François est de nous aider à saisir ces nuances en donnant une présentation précise, érudite même, et pourtant claire des groupes et courants concernés. Son propos pourra parfois apparaître un peu provocateur : alors qu’il est de bon ton de considérer que l’écologie politique se situe à gauche du spectre politique, il présente des aspects de droite qui animent aussi celle-ci, ou qui même déterminent une part importante de sa conception du monde. Cet ouvrage souligne, en effet, les aspects nostalgiques, technophobes et parfois antilibéraux, qui s’expriment dans les textes et les discours. Il montre aussi l’existence d’une écologie d’extrême droite, voire néo-païenne, assez vivace qui coexiste avec des formations plus établies. Cette approche novatrice permet de comprendre cette configuration droitière de l’écologie politique, sans pour autant porter de jugements sommaires sur les discours analysés. ”
The text of François’ article, “L’écologie politique: entre conservatisme et modernité” (Le Banquet, no. 26, juillet-août 2009, pp. 183-198), can be found at:
http://tempspresents.wordpress.com/2012/04/09/stephane-francois-ecologie-politique-entre-conservatisme-et-modernite/
This article indicates that the book should be a serious work of scholarship.
I became an admirer of the ideas and writings of Wendell Berry years ago, reading first his poem Practice Resurrection and Fidelity: Five Stories.
This is from Wikipedia, under Ideas, where it’s filled with links:
Berry’s nonfiction serves as an extended conversation about the life he values. According to him, the good life includes sustainable agriculture, appropriate technologies, healthy rural communities, connection to place, the pleasures of good food, husbandry, good work, local economics, the miracle of life, fidelity, frugality, reverence, and the interconnectedness of life. The threats Berry finds to this good simple life include: industrial farming and the industrialization of life, ignorance, hubris, greed, violence against others and against the natural world, the eroding topsoil in the United States, global economics, and environmental destruction. As a prominent defender of agrarian values, Berry’s appreciation for traditional farming techniques, such as those of the Amish, grew in the 1970s, due in part to exchanges with Draft Horse Journal publisher Maurice Telleen. Berry has long been friendly to and supportive of Wes Jackson, believing that Jackson’s agricultural research at The Land Institute lives out the promise of “solving for pattern” and using “nature as model.”
Here’s an article about his “controversial” 2012 annual Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities, which he entitled It All Turns on Affection.