Environmentalism: A New Political and Social Ideology

Many years ago, on an island in the South Pacific Ocean, there was a thriving and prosperous society. The people who inhabited this island possessed a crude but effective democratic governmental system, they redistributed their wealth amongst the general population, they engaged in subsistence farming on their small but very fertile island, and they had in place a very strong religious institution. But because of this prosperity their population exploded out of control and put a huge amount of strain on their fragile ecosystem. They continued to develop and exploit increasing amounts of arable land, making it barren and empty in less than a decade. The people became hungry and restless due to their deprivation and revolted against their heads of state who, in turn, began to use increasingly violent measures to bring the population under control.
In their distress, the religious hierarchy sought to appease the gods and built gigantic stone statues as a monument to them, hoping that they may take pity and ease their circumstance. But they got worse. The island soon experienced a drought, and this became the precipitating factor for a widespread and violent revolt during which many people died. The government was overthrown but the new ruling faction failed to allocate the dwindling resources and a majority of the population starved. This once beautiful island is now sparsely populated and barren. The wind that buffets the island from the Pacific sways but a few palms left on the beaches; the only tall tress left on the island. The only evidence that a great civilization once existed there are the hundreds of tall, stone sculptures which stare blankly out into the Pacific Ocean.

The above anecdote about Easter Island is not a unique occurrence in history; many civilizations have prospered and then perished due to the failure to manage their resources effectively. Nor is the above anecdote limited to history. Many conflicts that are presently occurring on a global scale are directly or indirectly influenced by issues pertaining to the degradation of the environment and the depletion of resources. The increasingly pertinent ideology of Environmentalism and Ecologism has gained a greater following throughout the political spectrum because these issues are affecting such a large portion of the earth's population. This new ideology is becoming a pertinent force in the global political system, and this article will seek to scratch the surface of what this ‘new ideology’ entails.

The origins of what we call today Political Ecology or Environmentalism in the Western World can be traced back to the Romantic period. Many writers, thinkers, and artist from that period called for a return to the natural environment as a means of gaining spiritual and philosophical enlightenment. One of the greatest proponents of this natural mysticism was the poet William Wordsworth, who set some of his most memorable verses amidst the lakes, trees, and valleys of the English Lake District. Other literary giants such as Kelly and Yeats also called for a return to nature as the ultimate realization of the soul of man.

On the socio/political front, many writers and scholars were calling for a return to man’s natural state, one of the earliest proponents of political ecology was the social philosopher John Stuart Mill who emphasized the importance of natural beauty, pointing out that these will be destroyed by industrial growth unless measures were put into place which sought to protect these resources. Much thought was also given to the economic implications that would have caused serious negative affects to society if the environment were not protected. Malthus, a political economist, suggested in his theses that population growth as a result of industrial growth would cause a decline of food resources which would result in a majority of the population experiencing a hunger based deprivation resulting in civil unrest. This hypothesis, often called the Malthusian Curve, says that the more the population increases the more the resources that that population needs will decrease. Many political economists have disregarded this hypothesis based on the evidence that Malthus’s dire predictions have not yet happened, but his ideas are garnering renewed attention due to various crises that are occuring throut the developing world as a result of habitat destruction and improper management of national resources.

The Romantic ideas with regard to nature were a direct result of the conditions brought about by the Industrial Revolution. People who once lived in rural areas now found themselves living in industrialized big cities, far away from their ‘natural environment’ if you will. The novels of Charles Dickens are set in Industrial Era Great Britain and offer a glimpse at the harsh conditions experienced at that time.
The Industrial Revolution caused a great deal of discontent amongst the rural peoples, but the spread of industry continued on a global scale. Since then the world has been faced with increasing industrialization, not just in western countries, but also, with the affects of Globalization, in lesser-developed countries that are not able to cope with the strains put on their natural environment and resources.

The current ideology of political environmentalism saw gain in the 1960’s and 1970’s, when reactionary movements in the American West and in European industrialized cities organized themselves into now well known organizations such as Greenpeace and the Sierra Club. Environmentalism has increasingly become viewed as a full-blown political ideology that argues for a managerial approach to environmental problems.

Many modern day Environmentalists see their ideology as not only a socio-economic discipline concerned with the management of resources as it pertains to population consumption and conflict. This new breed believes that it is the duty of man to protect his or her natural environment because he or she makes up an inherent part of the biological and ecological system or because religious tenants dictate that man must act as a ‘shepherd’ to the earth’s organism; the ‘Noah Hypothesis'. Environmentalists believe that man has evolved as a life form of the planet and therefore is intimately connected with all of the species that live on Earth (The Gia Hypothesis). The traditional view is that human beings are seperate from the natural environment so it is by natural right that the environment exists for exploitation for the benefit of human beings. We have inherited a planet teeming with life forms which are intimately connected by evolutionary history. This idea, called the Human Theory of Ecologism, suggests that humans have evolved with fellow life forms and are a part of the natural system and therefore share genetic material with other life forms on the planet. Human beings have evolved within, depend on, and are a part of the world of nature and because of this it is in the best interest of humans to protect the natural environment and to ensure that it continues to exist. Environmentalists argue that if the environment suffers so will humanity.

Thus the ideological base for environmentalism varies, but fundamentally calls for an ecological, non-violent, non-exploitative movement which transcends the political spectrum from left to right. The political system, like any system on the planet, is merely a part of the greater earth.

It is also impossible to neglect the changes that are occurring on our Earth. This is not only limited to major disasters that have occurred and their socio-economic after affects. The 2005 Hurricane Season and the oil crises; the 2004 Tsunami and the socio-economic crises in south-east Asia; and the economic fallout of the Benzene spill in the Harbin province of china as well as spills off of the coasts of Spain, France, and Alaska have not only impacted the environment but society as a whole. On a smaller scale, one could call local beach erosion caused by coral reef damage on beach tourism oriented economies, red tides on local fisheries, flooding due to deforestation and soil erosion, and the poaching of wild animals on wildlife sanctuaries dependant on tourism as ecological disasters in their own right. One can then assume that the ideology of environmentalism is based on a set of very gloomy facts and predictions about the current or impending environmental catastrophe.

Environmentalism is a relatively new player on the ideological scene, but it is an ideological and political force to be reckoned with. It has, however, faced opposition because of its non-human tenants, which may be new to political philosophy, but this may be the exact reason that this ideology will be extremely important in the future, taking into account that the earth is undoubtedly undergoing ecological degradation brought upon by human hands.

Easter Island is a lonely and very desolate place, but the voices of the majestic people who once inhabited the island still echo between the massive stone heads that mournfully look out to sea. These voices may be saying that one of the greatest lessons of history is not to let history repeat itself, and environmentalism may prove to be the way in which the human animal may prevent this.