Welcome To Salem
The Federal government has launched a propaganda campaign to label
monkeywrenchers and “eco warriors” terrorists. Not saboteurs. Not
arsonists. Terrorists.
It’s a very calculated, politicized move to play off of the irrational fear of terrorists in a propagandized populace. Similar to a corporate branding campaign, where the ultimate goal is clearly establish an image in the mind of a consumer. Here, the goal is to label anyone that questions the illogic of profits over the environment as a terrorist. Environmentalists are terrorists. Or at least in the minds of Bush, Cheney and their ilk.
Conservatives have been pretty successful with past campaigns. The words “liberal” and “liberalism” have become a pejoratives in the view of many.
Conservative is good.
Liberal is bad.
Neo-cons generalize and portray liberals as weed smokers that kill babies and try to spread socialism and communism. Liberals and “progressives” want to keep America weak and give tax dollars to deadbeats.
Thought McCarthysm was dead? Guess again.
Environmentalists are “wackos and tree-huggers.” All of the diction is designed to brand a person or group as unstable. Irrational. Dangerous and not to be trusted.
Edward Abbey wrote about the differences between terrorism and sabotage,
always careful to distinguish between acts of violence against machines
and inanimate objects and living things.
While I’m sympathetic to their cause and understand their passion, I
think it’s clear that the acts of ELF are in fact damaging to living
things. But this latest effort by the government goes beyond ELF.
In case you’re wondering why the government would do such a thing, there
are a host of reasons. As Abbey once said, “the worse the environment
gets, the more popular environmentalism becomes.” This is a problem for
industries and businesses that profit off of environmental destruction
and therefore a problem for the government lackies that protect their
schemes.
When it comes to terrorism, I think it’s pretty clear who the real terrorists are. The real terrorists are apathetic developers, politicians and corporations that myopically and mindlessly destroy habitat for the sake of amassing great sums of wealth. But that’s not what is being portrayed in the media, by the government and by neo-con propagandists.
They’d have you believe that infinite growth and development is good, and that anything that stands in the way of what Abbey called “the blob” must be eliminated.
That means anyone that values flora and fauna over concrete and steel. If that’s you, you are the enemy.