Eugenics, Overpopulation, Ecofascism, and Nazi Germany: Let’s Avoid Another Historical Tragedy

Eugenics is making a comeback in environmental “solution” conversation as estimates of when climate change will reach temperatures and cause weather changes that will irreversibly devastate Earth and the human population grow closer to the present day than anyone who believes in the three truths of it which are: Climate change is real, it’s happening right now, and it is anthropogenic, would ever find comforting. On social media, I saw that the estimate of how long we have until climate change is irreversible which was previously 2050 has now become 2030 after news of The Willow Project being approved by current President Joe Biden (Nilsen, 2023). Why would people point fingers at population and birthrate control when there is already tons of information telling us that this would be a waste of time and is absolutely not where attention should be directed? Sure, the population is above 8 billion people now which compared to 1935 was around the 2 billion people mark (which makes the realities that I will discuss that much more idiotic and proves just how based in hate everything was) could raise concerns in those who share and cite Hardin’s “The Tragedy of the Commons”. If you are unaware, this article’s conclusions weren’t backed by any sources, might I add, to support them and Garrett Hardin’s claims that overpopulation is a threat to the environment and communities because resources are finite and the unfair distribution of commons would benefit some, only to then harm everyone else. He says that humans will always want to take more than allowed to as an innate response of human nature. Similar to Adam Smith’s interpretation of humans being pushed by an invisible hand and self-interest and that we must bend our moral code and put a limit on the birth rates, unfortunately, he meant to limit the birth of those who are disabled and or not white (Angus, 2008)! In other words, eugenics will prevent future resource limitations and allow for accelerationism (Adl, 2023) for a longer period of time (Oblivious to the fact that in 1968, humanity was nowhere close to reaching a limit on Earth’s sources and future technological advances) and lead to a better future for humans overall (Hardin, 1968). This is just not an ideology that should be making a comeback in conversation especially when it’s coming from the first world.

The United States of America was built on the horrors of eugenics, the eradication and displacement of Native American tribes all throughout the United States benefited the expansion of the “superior” race after all (please understand the sarcastic undertones of my writing) and it was completely necessary for manifest destiny to be successful and the American dream to be fulfilled (St Cloud Times, 2021). Germany’s colonialism operated similarly to both Germanic and Slavic colonial powers have occupied the Baltic nations under the argument of civilizing the native populations and their untamable forests. Baltic countries have suffered at the hands of Germanic colonialism for centuries and their national identity has been severely dominated by Western colonialism. Even now, Romania continues to commit crimes of environmental racism all stemming from colonialism. For example, what is happening in Bușteni (population: 9000) has had four international hypermarkets built there in the last eight years by invaders of the nation: Belgian, French, Lidl, and German hypermarkets have bankrupted local shops and replaced them with low-paying jobs. Bușteni’s forced neo-colonial rape and rampant deforestation exemplify Romania’s issue. Submissive to the tourist industry, Bușteni is the neo-colonization of today. What I am getting at is that it is extremely jarring that on social media sterilization and environmental racism are somehow hiding the eugenist agendas of the modern day. In fact, Romania is taking inspiration from nineteenth-century German nature mysticism, the themes of which were used to justify violence against European Jews. German manifestos spoke of the importance of humanity and nature while having ethnonationalism sentiments (Cotofana, 2022). Karl Marx wrote that nature requires long cycles of birth, development, and regeneration, but capitalism requires short-term returns, instead of looking internally at the real problems humanity and capitalism points the blame at the average human living in the governed world and relying on us to solve our own problems. While corporations pump billions of pollutants into our environment, rapidly affecting the ability to maintain our resources. Instead of directing attention and money to the electrification of drawn out worn-out processes and industries that continue to put fossil fuels and profit before humanity and Earth’s flora and fauna. 

Nazi Germany demonstrates a piece of history infamous for its extremist nationalist approach to eugenics: the Holocaust. The eradication of all others, majorly the Jewish people in Europe. How is it that people forget that eugenics is what inspired the atrocities that happened to the Jewish people? Ecofascism and eugenics in Nazi Germany were supported by some because of Adolf Hitler, a cutely revisionist historically named “Green Adolf”, and his ecological legislation and environmentalist approach to benefit the environment. In Ecofascism: Lessons from the German Experience by Biehl & Staudenmaier (1995), They write that hiding behind his ‘respect for nature’ Adolf Hitler was able to mutate ecological legislation into an effective reason for his authoritarian dictatorship. Hitler’s idea of a healthy “nature” is a “racially pure” utopia, ecological fascism is a twisted but proven effective method to mystically link environmental concern to creating the fall men for environmental problems. The Third Reich was committed to the new era of environmental protection, despite Germany’s numerous industrial and mining projects, they used ecological verbiage and claimed there were ecological concerns towards Jewish capitalists’ environmental exploitation, this reimagined Germany as environmental protectionists. Just doing their part, green thumb and a long-term “blood-and-soil-based approach” to environmental problems. Hitler used disinformation, misdirection, and lies to justify the othering of Jewish peoples and “outsiders” to reach enlightenment in the name of ecological victory (Cotofana, 2022).

As we know now, that was a whole lotta bullshit. Mystification and eugenics should not be today’s pro-environment movement. Overpopulation is not and should not be our focus, the average citizen that doesn’t identify as a white person should not be blamed for the current climate issue. People are so quick to point a finger at China, India, and South America to hide the real reason China is the World’s factory, they didn’t ask to suffer health issues in their high industry high population cities. That is the only option: We forget that the world’s economic leaders have pushed their greenhouse gas emissions to these areas for cheap labor and high production rates. I mean come on, the Boy Scouts of America uniforms are produced in China. American flags and American flag products are made in China… I would encourage you to fact-check me yourself.

Hitler’s legislative element and movement for green ecology is an example of material determinism in their environmental racism towards Jewish peoples because to accomplish this, Germany had to be Hilter’s ideal“pure” population (Delgado, 2012). As Biehl  (2011) put it:

“The confluence of anti-humanist dogma with a fetishization of natural ‘purity’ provided not merely a rationale but an incentive for the Third Reich’s most heinous crimes. Its insidious appeal unleashed murderous energies previously untapped. Finally, the displacement of any social analysis of environmental destruction in favor of mystical ecology served as an integral component in the preparation of the final solution: This is the true legacy of ecofascism in power: “genocide developed into a necessity under the cloak of environment protection.” ”

Although eugenics programs connected to Nazi Germany, they could, and did, happen everywhere. Eugenic sterilization laws were passed in 24 US states, Canada, and Sweden in the 1920s and 1930s eugenic sterilization laws were passed in 24 of the American states, in Canada, and in Sweden. If you are shocked by that fact, 63,000 individuals in Sweden from 1935 through 1976 (St Cloud Times, 2021. Eugenics is a violation of human rights and an invasion of our autonomy. I encourage us to learn from these histories so that we don’t repeat or cause the beginnings of another Holocaust because that’s the future I see if collectively powerful countries deem overpopulation as our environmental solution to everything wrong with today’s climate. Humanity shouldn’t suffer under environmental and climate change solutions more than those issues are already causing irreversible devastation for many already. Do everything in your power to get our voted-in representatives to represent our need for greenhouse gas solutions and for our tax money to be put toward renewable energy. Protest. March. SCREAM. Do something about the state of the world right now with any amount of privilege that you possess because there are many other people that don’t have a voice in what our world is going to look like. If they don’t hear you, say it louder. The Willow Project is our enemy right now no matter what propaganda reasons the government gives you that tell you otherwise. Hitler justified genocide under his environmental propaganda. Jobs from this project are temporary, we don’t need to accelerate the end of humanity and resource depletion because capitalism says money is what we live for. We only have seven years till 2030.

References:

Adl, W. S. E. “. |. (2023, February 21). White Supremacists Embrace “Accelerationism” | ADL. ADL. https://www.adl.org/resources/blog/white-supremacists-embrace-accelerationism

Angus, I. (2008, August 26). Debunking the `Tragedy of the Commons’. Links. https://links.org.au/debunking-tragedy-commons

Biehl, J., & Staudenmaier, P. (1995). Ecofascism: Lessons from the German Experience.

Cotofana, A. (2022). Xenophobic Mountains: Landscape Sentience Reconsidered in the Romanian Carpathians. Springer Nature.

Delgado, R., & Stefancic, J. (2012). Critical Race Theory: An Introduction. NYU Press.

Hardin, G. (1968). The Tragedy of the Commons. Science, 162(3859), 1243–1248. 

http://www.jstor.org/stable/1724745

Kevles, D. J. (1999). Eugenics and human rights. BMJ, 319(7207), 435–438. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.319.7207.435

Nilsen, E. (2023, March 14). Biden administration approves controversial Willow oil project in Alaska, which has galvanized online activism. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/13/politics/willow-project-alaska-oil-biden-approval-climate/index.html#:~:text=The%20Biden%20administration%20has%20approved,owned%20by%20the%20federal%20government.

St Cloud Times, L. T. (2021, January 4). How American fascism inspired the Holocaust. St. Cloud Times. https://www.sctimes.com/story/opinion/2021/01/04/how-american-fascism-inspired-holocaust/4131329001/