On Wed, 8 Mar 2000, Michael Hoover wrote:
> Principle exponent of eco-fascism was Walter Darre, Hitler's agricultural
> minister from 1933-42. Darre's ideas were mixture of Nordic racialism &
> idealization of rural life: 'Blood & Soil' philosophy that helped Nazis
> gain support in German countryside. Darre held that Germany's well-
> being was tied to recreation of peasant society, living close to nature,
> organic farming.
That's a good point to keep in mind. The voelkish ideology that led to Nazism posited a mystical connection between the features of a people and the land that gave them birth -- i.e., Germans were deep because they came from forests, and Jews were shallow and rootless because they came from deserts. It's not organic farming that has a natural affinity with Nazism. Rather it's the idea that land determines race, a key voelkish idea that was important to both Nazis and organic farming types at the time. And this is an idea that's completely missing from modern American environmental and vegan consciousness, whatever it's other faults. You can say many bad things about Americans and veggies, but our mystical attachment to our rural birthplaces is not one of them.
Personally I think I get closer to the Nazis when I stand up for the national anthem in a sports stadium.
Michael
__________________________________________________________________________ Michael Pollak................New York City..............mpollak at panix.com