Jack Burns Lives!

Liberals And Atheists Are Smarter…but Not As Smart As Anarchists

At least according to this study. But I’m not so sure I consider myself a liberal these days. Too many liberals are supporting nuclear energy, bank bailouts and war. I much prefer Abbey’s term “agrarian anarchist.” Or even another, an “earthiest.”

Abbey also considered himself a libertarian and was a NRA member; however, I’m not sure he would closely align himself with today’s libertarians, much less the NRA, the latter of which has morphed into a para-military lobbying machine stocked full of weekend Rambo’s that enjoy killing wolves. Somehow I think Ed would pray for more hunting “accidents” the same way he prayed for earthquakes.

Abbey was concerned with the rights of the individual, but he was more concerned with the rights of all living things in community, a position which is more left biocentric than libertarian. And while Ed was certainly an anarchist that had major issues with the Federal government, I would be shocked if he didn’t see strong central government as a temporary and necessary evil to combat growing corporate power, a position espoused by Noam Chomsky. We need people like Dennis Kucinich in Washington to help protect the natural world from corporate monsters, at least for a short period.

And Libertarians are resolute in their belief in the free market and unrestricted competition, a position that’s not even remotely compatible with sustainability. You just can’t expect to have a decent environment with an economic system that has no restraints, so I have to think Ed would quickly drop this label if he were alive today.

Regarding God, Abbey was pretty clear on his views. He made it clear that all things, even rocks, were important, equal even, in the grand scheme of things, a position that has zero compatibility with the Judeo-Christian position. In his essay, Science With a Human Face he wrote, “Even a rock is a being, a thing with character and a kind of spirit, an existence worthy of our love,” and concludes with “Don’t talk to me about other worlds, separate realities, lost continents, or invisible realms-I know where I belong. Heaven is home. Utopia is here. Nirvana is now.”

I agree.