Tsunami Exposes the Nihilism of Environmentalism by Eric Englund

The magnitude 9.0 earthquake that set off the deadly Indian Ocean tsunami also set off Jeff McNeely – chief scientist of the Swiss-based World Conservation Union (IUCN). In Mr. McNeely’s December 27, 2004 interview with AFP – the Paris-based news service – he exposed himself as the nihilistic, anti-human, irrational, and biocentric hack so commonly found in the environmental movement. With such a monumental human tragedy unfolding, Jeff McNeely found this an opportune time to place undue blame on the victims themselves – because, in essence, the victims weren’t eco-friendly.

So what did the nihilist, Jeff McNeely, have to say in the AFP article – titled Human Activities Contributed to Tsunami’s Ravages. Here are excerpts from this awful piece (the following commentary is directly attributable to Mr. McNeely):

What has made this a disaster is that people have started to occupy part of the landscape that they shouldn’t have occupied…Fifty years ago the coastline was not densely occupied as now by tourist hotels.
What has also happened over the last several decades is that many mangroves have been cleared to grow shrimp ponds so that we, here in Europe, can have cheap shrimp.
The mangroves…were cleared by people who didn’t have long-term knowledge of why these mangroves should have been saved, by outsiders who get concessions from governments and set up shrimp or prawn farms.
The shrimps and the prawns are sold to Europeans and other foreigners at a price that does not include the environmental cost which is being paid today (emphasis added).

In other words, the price people must pay, for building shrimp farms and coastal resort facilities, is death. People should be ashamed of tourism and of eating inexpensive shrimp. Never mind that many of this disaster’s victims were making an honest living in the tourism and seafood industries. Mr. McNeely conveys the Marxist-tinged message that many of the locals who died were being exploited by Europeans and other foreigners (so these outsiders are at fault too). This exploitation was tantamount to a death sentence for the locals selfish enough to live and work in a coastal setting.

Using Jeff McNeely’s logic, humans shouldn’t inhabit islands nor coastal areas. Consequently, let’s evacuate the Hawaiian Islands, Los Angeles, San Diego, Miami, etc., as it is better to be safe than sorry. Each of these places can be turned back to the native flora and fauna. In turn, all of us can live at peace with nature, as we can never know when Mother Nature will decide to touch off another devastating tsunami. Such thinking is delusional and, frighteningly enough, passes for wisdom amongst environmentalists. Let’s not forget that Jeff McNeely is the World Conservation Union’s chief scientist.

With the death toll expected to exceed 100,000, it is clear that this is a tragedy of immense proportions. Yet, it is in this context that environmentalists have attempted to move forward an agenda of "green" social engineering (i.e., let the green central planners tell you where to live and determine what natural resources will be made available for mankind’s use). Jeff McNeely, the World Conservation Union, and all environmentalists should be ashamed of exploiting this tragedy. Of course, no sense of shame will emerge, as environmentalism is a nihilistic movement.

Eric Englund [send him mail], who has an MBA from Boise State University, lives in the state of Oregon. He is the publisher of The Hyperinflation Survival Guide by Dr. Gerald Swanson. You are invited to visit his website.