Lebensraum, Evolution, and Environmental Fascism
Timothy Birdnow
Readers of this website are familiar with Mark Musser's work. Mark and I both share an interest in this topic, and he and I have corresponded ever since I wrote Return of the Old Gods; a Challenge for Green Evangelicals http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/08/the_return_of_the_old_gods_a_c.html at American Thinker some years back. His book Nazi Oaks is outstanding, a must read for anyone serious about understanding the Left and Environmentalism in particular.
It was Mark's explanation of "Blood and Soil" that came to mind when I read that research paper about Environmental Determinism, and so it we have Mark to thank for it. I cited him in the blogpost at AT
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/12/green_is_the_new_brown.html
At any rate, he discovered the article quite independently at Junkscience, and left the following comment there - and e-mailed it to me as well!
Here is the e-mail:
"The very architect of Lebensraum, Karl Haushofer, following the German father of National Geographic (pun) Friedrich Ratzel (1844-1904), who believed that history was largely a natural evolutionary movement of peoples (volkisch) looking for space (raum), believed in environmental determinism along with other Nazis. They thus emphasized soil rather than blood. However, other Nazis like the SS Walther Darre (and even Heidegger) believed that blood or race plays a more independent role in developing a culture within its own space. The two views collided in the 1930’s when the Nazis developed their environmental policies. Walther Darre’s version of blood and soil won out, but there was a compromise between the two groups which both could accept – the green idea of sustainable development. Thus, sustainable development as an applied political policy was first tried in Nazi Germany under the blood and soil slogan. The early German green Riehl was the father of sustainable development, but the Nazis tried to put into practice – which is precisely what Lebensraum was all about. “Living Space” essentially means living room for sustainable development.
After the war, Haushofer tried to distinguish his own version of Lebensraum from Hitler’s, claiming that only Rudolf Hess in the hierarchy of the Nazi Party understood it properly. Haushofer and his wife then committed suicide in 1946."
End quote.
This gives you an idea of the level of scholarship employed by Mark in his book; as I have said, it is a must read. You can purchase it from Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Nazi-Oaks-Mark-Musser/dp/1597551929 or you can find Mark's work on the web at American Thinker, Accuracy in Media, or a score of websites.
Also, William Kay is another excellent source for material about Nazi Environmentalism and the Browning 'O the Green. His website is www.ecofascism.com.
Readers of this website are familiar with Mark Musser's work. Mark and I both share an interest in this topic, and he and I have corresponded ever since I wrote Return of the Old Gods; a Challenge for Green Evangelicals http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/08/the_return_of_the_old_gods_a_c.html at American Thinker some years back. His book Nazi Oaks is outstanding, a must read for anyone serious about understanding the Left and Environmentalism in particular.
It was Mark's explanation of "Blood and Soil" that came to mind when I read that research paper about Environmental Determinism, and so it we have Mark to thank for it. I cited him in the blogpost at AT
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/12/green_is_the_new_brown.html
At any rate, he discovered the article quite independently at Junkscience, and left the following comment there - and e-mailed it to me as well!
Here is the e-mail:
"The very architect of Lebensraum, Karl Haushofer, following the German father of National Geographic (pun) Friedrich Ratzel (1844-1904), who believed that history was largely a natural evolutionary movement of peoples (volkisch) looking for space (raum), believed in environmental determinism along with other Nazis. They thus emphasized soil rather than blood. However, other Nazis like the SS Walther Darre (and even Heidegger) believed that blood or race plays a more independent role in developing a culture within its own space. The two views collided in the 1930’s when the Nazis developed their environmental policies. Walther Darre’s version of blood and soil won out, but there was a compromise between the two groups which both could accept – the green idea of sustainable development. Thus, sustainable development as an applied political policy was first tried in Nazi Germany under the blood and soil slogan. The early German green Riehl was the father of sustainable development, but the Nazis tried to put into practice – which is precisely what Lebensraum was all about. “Living Space” essentially means living room for sustainable development.
After the war, Haushofer tried to distinguish his own version of Lebensraum from Hitler’s, claiming that only Rudolf Hess in the hierarchy of the Nazi Party understood it properly. Haushofer and his wife then committed suicide in 1946."
End quote.
This gives you an idea of the level of scholarship employed by Mark in his book; as I have said, it is a must read. You can purchase it from Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Nazi-Oaks-Mark-Musser/dp/1597551929 or you can find Mark's work on the web at American Thinker, Accuracy in Media, or a score of websites.
Also, William Kay is another excellent source for material about Nazi Environmentalism and the Browning 'O the Green. His website is www.ecofascism.com.
posted by Timothy Birdnow | 5:19 AM
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