How we're accidentally promoting Eco Fascism

I got a lot of support and equal amount of skepticism for this video, the EcoAalltright pipeline. And it really got me thinking like, how can someone align themselves so closely with environmentalism, but also white supremacy? So today, let's talk about ecoascism.

Hello everyone, it's Emma and welcome back to my channel where I talk about all sorts of things, zero waste, focusing on free, easy, and fun ways to live low waist and ways that we can all be activists. I know I might talk a little bit too fast. I'm trying to work on it.

as well as I I bit my tongue yesterday, so it is injured. So, I might just be talking a little bit weird today. But there's a gear icon somewhere over here if changing the speed better suits you.

Let's get into it. Today is going to be dense. It's going to be probably a little bit sad, a little bit concerning.

So, let's get into it because ultimately this topic is really important and we need to stop ecoascism talking points in their tracks. More on that at the end. First, let's define it.

What is eco-fascism? Oh, one more thing. The amount of times that I'm going to be saying fascism in this video, I don't want to censor myself.

So, YouTube probably not going to like this video. So, if you're watching this, if you could please engage in any way, leave a thumbs up, subscribe if you haven't already, leave a comment, hopefully a nice one, share this video with others because again, it is so important and these platforms love to censor topics like this. Okay, first we have to define what even is ecofascism.

We get a few helpful definitions from Wikipedia. Philosopher Andre Gors characterized ecoascism as hypothetical forms of totalitarianism based on an ecological orientation of politics. Another more recent definition arose in 2005 from environmental historian Michael E.

Zimmerman. He defined eco-fascism as a totalitarian government that requires individuals to sacrifice their interests to the well-being of the land understood as the splendid web of life or the organic whole of nature including peoples and their states. Other political agendas instead of environmental protection, prevention of climate change are nationalist approaches to climate such as national economic environmentalism, securitization of climate change and eco bordering.

So because it's not like an official, you know, political party or political movement, there's really not like a solid definition of it. So what are the beliefs? What are the tenants of this movement?

Because also there isn't a prominent threat from like any one entity or any one government. But we should be wary about these things that politicians are saying, the things that like you know billionaires are saying for example and how some of these thoughts and beliefs and things that they are saying really closely align with this like prominent idea of ecoascism. as well as we should also be worried about some of the things that we might be saying and thinking because it might be accidentally eco-fascist.

So, first eco-fascists blame the demise of the environment and society on overpopulation, immigration, and overindustrialization. Does that sound familiar to you? Because I sure have heard the overpopulation argument a ton in the ecoses.

Honestly, it was like one of my first more controversial videos I've ever posted on YouTube. I think it was in 2020 about how overpopulation is not the problem. It is overconumption among other things.

But like I heard so commonly and I think especially during co that overpopulation is what's driving climate change is what's causing the demise of the planet and really that's an eco-fascist argument. So even if you think this or say this not intended to be an ecoascist that's where the idea is rooted in environmentalist and author Naomi Klein who I just talked about in my eco books part 4 her book the shock doctrine so good. She has suggested that eco-fascist primary objectives are to close borders to immigrants and on the more extreme end to embrace the idea of climate change as a divinely ordained signal to begin a mass purge of sections of the human race.

Which honestly makes a lot of sense because right now obviously climate change is impacting us all. But it's like way more impacting people of color, people in the global south, people in coastal communities, indigenous communities. These white nationalist governments don't care about climate change because it's not affecting them.

It's not affecting their people. Again, even if they are ignoring climate change for other reasons, you know, also for money, this is also a reason why they are ignoring climate change because of eco-fascism. Another very common argument I hear a ton, mostly from trolls on the internet, but I've heard it from politicians, too, is that, well, other countries are polluting more.

So, like, the US shouldn't do anything. We shouldn't take climate responsibility because like, you know, that country is going to keep polluting and that country is polluting more than us anyway. So, why should we do anything?

Well, one, you can lead by example. Two, the US is surely also to blame for climate change. And three, that just boils down to a a racist argument.

Another very prominent eco-fascist ideal that I hear a lot in ecoses, even by, you know, not eco-fascists, just by regular environmentalists are that humans are an invasive species. And we are destroying the planet and that the planet would be better off without us. Like, yeah, we are the ones who are doing this to the planet.

It's not the wolves who are doing this. It's not the whales who are doing this. It is the human race that is doing this to the planet.

But that does not mean that we are invasive. That does not mean that we don't belong here. That does not mean we are not part of nature.

And again, this is something that you may say or think in a non-harmful way, but it can spiral into eco-fascist ideas, especially when you know this way of thinking gets into the wrong hands. So, if you've ever said this before or quite frankly anything that I just listed, please be mindful in the future about saying these things. And I understand the sentiment here because yeah, most modern humans care very little about the planet.

We are so disconnected from the natural world, but that does not remove us from the web of life. We are still connected to the planet whether we see it or not. We can live sustainably right here, right now without justifying the offing of other humans.

And we do belong here. What eco-fascism essentially boils down to, according to the University of Connecticut, is that it is basically environmentalism that suggests that certain people are naturally and exclusively entitled to control and enjoy environmental resources. The main idea is about population and an eco-fascist thoughts on it are dictated by racism.

A common eco-fascist argument then links national environment to population, contending that certain and often especially non-white populations within the US or beyond it are the primary cause of climate change and other environmental issues. And you can probably see how this is a extremely slippery slope down the alt-right pipeline. Some of these arguments absolutely I have seen in the ecos by well-intended individuals.

For the most part, a lot of these like talking points I have never seen in the ecospaces, but I have really seen them a lot in mega spaces. One of them precisely I have heard almost word for word in mega spaces is that climate change is God's plan and that's why climate change is happening because God ordained it. So I think that this can pave a perfectly clear path for somebody to fall down the alt-right pipeline by accident.

You know, if you for some reason think that humans are an invasive species on the planet and then you get onto the wrong Reddit thread or you watch the wrong YouTube video that plants these other racist white supremacy ideas in your mind. It is totally possible for you to be an environmentalist and slowly but surely and eventually fully get sucked into full-blown eco-fascism and regular fascism. Though, I'm very curious to hear from folks in other countries about like this overlap between environmentalists and the alt-right because quite frankly in the US, the alt-right in particular, again, I'm not saying all conservatives.

I think there are conservatives who believe in climate change, but like on the alt-right, they just truly don't even believe in climate change. Think about Donald Trump. I don't really know what he actually believes.

He could just be lying. He continuously says that climate change is a hoax, it's fake news, etc. , etc.

You know, his followers believe that too. So, in the US, I find it hard for me to understand how somebody can be an environmentalist and on the far right because like the far right just doesn't believe in climate change. So, I could see this happening much more in other parts of the world, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Europe for example, where climate change is not a contested debate.

You know, it doesn't matter what you believe politically, everybody believes climate change because it's a fact. In the US, it's just deemed as an opinion, which is crazy. But anyway, like is this why Europe is also falling down the fascism route?

Is it because they're using eco-fascism as an excuse? I'm very curious if you're from Europe or Canada or wherever you're from. Let me know because like in the US it's I find that environmentalists and far right are just really really separate.

Broadly speaking, ecofascism isn't terribly common in the US, but there are eco-fascist origins in the US. Let's talk about Madison Grant. According to Wikipedia, he is sometimes deemed as the founding father of eco-fascism.

He was a pioneer of conservatism in America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and Grant is credited as a founder of modern wildlife management. In addition to his conservationist work, Grant was a trenchant racist and eugenicist. In 1916, Grant wrote the passing of the great race, a work of pseudocientific literature which claimed to give an account to the anthropological history of Europe.

The book divides Europeans into three races, Alpines, Mediterraneans, and Nordics. And it also claims that the first two races are inferior to the superior Nordic race, which is the only race that is fit to rule the earth according to him. And you'll never guess who really loved this book and deemed it their own personal bible.

Yeah, this guy, Mustache Man. I'm not going to say his name. Hopefully.

Hopefully that'll keep me monetized and not censored. So, all these arguments for ecoascism are proven false because ecoascism is rooted in one thing, that is white supremacy and racism. I guess that's two things.

These arguments are not factually based. They are not based in science and research. Every self-proclaimed eco-fascist that has committed heinous acts have their ideals rooted in hate, not actually the environment.

They just kind of use that as a guise. They just use the environmentalism angle to justify their hate and racism. And again, it's not 100% these eco-fascists saying and thinking these things.

Some of them are mainstream, which is a big concern again from the University of Connecticut. And they say what makes these arguments most concerning is that they are increasingly circulating on the left and among political moderates at the center as well as on the right. This is how fascism has worked historically.

Fascist movements are rarely ideologically rigorous. Instead, they draw on commonplace existing ideas about national, ethnic, racial, and environmental belonging that reinforce lines between in-groups and outroups. That is one of the reasons why otherwise well-intentioned environmentalists risk reiterating eco-fascist arguments.

So, let's bust a few common myths that eco-fascists spread as truths. Myth number one, that overpopulation is the root cause of climate change and other environmental problems. No, this is false because in reality, the growth rate is in decline from 2.

2% 2% per year 50 years ago to 1% per year. The wealthiest 10% of the world population emits 50% of the greenhouse gases whereas the poorest 50% of the world's population emit less than 7%. The root problem is not population.

It is specific patterns of resource extraction, consumption, and distribution. Myth number two, humans are inherently selfish and will deplete Earth's resources unless they are consolidated. No, in reality, humans have been managing the Earth's resources for millennia.

Resource depletion is a result of cultural norms as well as economic systems and patterns of consumption. All of these which have mostly benefited those at the top, those who have consolidated control of the resources to begin with. Just going to show you my shirt for no reason.

Myth number three, I'm sure you've heard it. Humans are like a disease on the planet and disasters and pandemics are nature's revenge. It kind of goes along the lines of like God ordained climate change.

Once again, this is false. A small proportion of the human population is responsible for a major share of greenhouse gas emissions and stands to suffer least from their global consequences. Another commonplace eco-fascist talking point is that any human death is good because it means fewer people are consuming things and contributing to the environmental degradation.

But blaming all humans ignores these massive disparities. I think another common like subargument here is that like people shouldn't be having children when again the the birth rate is in decline throughout the entire world. The overpopulation argument is just null.

And again, like the few people we have on the planet, the fewer resources we're using. Just stop over consuming. Like if you consume at a natural rate, among other things, you know, taxing the rich, holding these pollutive companies accountable and things like that.

Like one person having one child is not why climate change is happening. Quit blaming people for having children. That's not to say like your own personal conviction for having or not having children is not for the sake of the planet.

Like if if you're scared of climate change and you don't want to have children for that reason, that's valid. But like I'm saying that every single pregnant person that you see and you're blaming them for climate change because they're bringing a child into the world. No, we know what ecoascism is.

We have busted the myths. What can we do about this? Well, now that you're familiar with the man talking points and you're familiar with the myths and how they are myths and and the facts behind them, shut them down.

Especially when you see somebody who's a well-intentioned environmentalist saying things like this, please let them know kindly that what they are saying is based in eco-fascist ideals. When you're correcting somebody, it is always best to do so in private. Like, you know, DM them or if they're a friend in real life, talk to them in person, text them.

Don't publicly ridicule people. That is how you exclude them. That is how you get them to, you know, further double down on their arguments.

And it might push them further into ecoascism. So, correct people, yes, but please do so kindly and privately. And let them know the facts.

Let them know the things that we talked about in this video. All the resources are linked in the blog post, by the way. Let people know that some of these popular lines of thinking like humans are an invasive species and overpopulation is a problem are prominent eco-fascist ideals.

When these phrases are said by folks who don't believe in eco-fascist ideals, that is how these phrases become mainstream and how these ideas may come to fruition if they become normalized enough. As climate change gets worse and fascism continues to rise globally, these phrases and myths above are likely to become more mainstream. So, let's stop their casual use.

Now, honestly, simply just learning what ecoascism is, the myths, what their ideals are is important. So share this video, share this blog post as well. And truly, this goes for everybody.

Just embrace true climate science as well as true climate solutions that are rooted in science and fact and not in white supremacy and hate. Things like switching to green energy. Yes, I'm aware of the nuance.

Holding major polluters accountable, consuming less, making our cities more walkable and bikable, enacting national level climate policy, and much more. And this also includes thinking about your environmentalism in an intersectional light. More on intersectionality in this video.

And ultimately like we just need to stop the main pillar of fascism because like this is fascism this umbrella and then like each little like stream coming off of the umbrella are different forms of ecoascism. So we're like yeah we can stop ecoascism sure but that's not going to stop bigger forms of fascism. So if we stop the main culprit then all these little pillars will stop as well hopefully.

So if you want to get educated about fascism, about politics, about tyranny, some books that I have really enjoyed over the last about year or so are the anatomy of fascism on tyranny, how democracies die, how fascism works, reign of terror, and the shock doctrine, which I mentioned earlier. And again, I just posted it last week, my ecobook rex part 4. So I have what is that 40 books now up on my page.

All these different ecobook wrecks to include politics as well. If I missed anything about ecoascism that's really important, please let us know down below. Let's talk about it down below respectfully.

Let's keep getting educated. Let's keep spreading the word. And if you're also interested in reading with me, I host an eco book club for $1 a month that you can join down below with the join button or on Patreon.

As always, thank you so much for watching this video and making all the way to the end, especially on a topic like this that is unsexy that I'm sure I'm going to be getting censored for, but I'm going to post it anyway because it is important. We need to be talking about this. We need to understand what this is and we need to shut down these arguments when they happen because I'm sure we've all thought or maybe even said some of these out loud, well-intentioned, right?

And that is ultimately the biggest problem is making these ideas mainstream. So, let's rework our thinking. Let's shut these things down and let's keep learning together.

I will see you in the next video. But until then, remember that your small actions make a big difference in the long run. Bye, guys.

Hey, the lighting. The lighting is about to get bad again. [clears throat] Mhm.

Called it. The lighting is really bad. The lighting is so bad.

I don't know if I want to go go on.