I was once asked to explain conservative ideology. Without thinking, I reflexively replied that conservatism is the absence of ideology. It is based on an impartial understanding of the real world and the application of common sense to solve problems. It does not, however, imply anything like broad agreement as to the details.

In the epilog to The March of Folly, Barbara Tuchman asks rhetorically how is it that we can send astronauts to the surface of the moon and bring them back safely while we still have so much difficulty in governing ourselves. Her answer was that space travel is mostly just a “screwdriver” problem… while governing is much more complicated. Competing interests constantly need to be pacified while essential functions continue to be performed.

Ideologies are the products of wannabe tyrants also known as social engineers. The most notorious being the 19th-century “intellectual” Karl Marx. His machinations are still heaping misery on hundreds of millions of captives of his contrived ideology.

The ideological toolbox has two very effective weapons: race and class. Race relies on ancient gene pool superficialities that have little, if any, relevance to an individual’s actual qualities. Class is mostly an Old-World artifact based on hereditary privilege or servitude.

I was taught while studying Physical Anthropology that there are no races of humans, just historically isolated populations. This was before DNA analysis became state of the art, so blood typing was used instead to determine genetic statistics. The greatest diversity was found in Africa, which also had the poorest transportation infrastructure.

Marx introduced class struggle to the pre-existing socialism, resulting in what we now call Communism. Manufactured hate worked, at least, among the poorest Europeans… especially the Russians. Others eventually fell into place, sometimes as a result of Soviet “liberation” during World War II.

The United States is essentially a classless society, where inheritance affects only wealth and not social position. It can therefore be considered a middle-class paradise. Marx hated the middle class… the bourgeoisie. Why? Because they can attain wealth and comfort without any inherited privilege or government-imposed benefit.

Late in the 1960s, a new ideology emerged: environmentalism. Various “influencers” contributed to its principles. Primarily, humans are causing tremendous damage to our “fragile” world. Ironically, the early beginning of conservation was the result of hunters choosing to protect their ability to stalk and kill wild game. To this day the National Wildlife Federation remains a major player for the protection of species and habitats.

A particular catalyst for the promotion of this ideology was the publication in 1962 of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring. The pesticide DDT was the primary target of the book, mostly because of its globally profligate use to suppress insect-borne diseases such as malaria and typhus. Besides its toxicity, DDT is persistent… it remains effective in the environment for quite a while. Breeding failure among pelicans and other bird species was an alleged consequence of its use.

To suppress harmful impact on the global ecosystem, reducing the size of the human population was promoted, contraception and abortion being the preferred means. In today’s world, naturally collapsing birth rates have changed the subject. Such a development may have been inevitable since the Earth’s human population has been gradually urbanizing for quite a while. Historically, urban people have lower birth rates than those in rural agrarian circumstances, since they don’t need as many children to help them work the farm. Other factors, such as economics and social dynamics, are also involved.

Today’s world is now supposed to have a different impending environmental disaster: “anthropogenic” climate change. All along, gas-guzzling trucks and automobiles have been a focus of attention. Smog used to be the main concern. Then came the catalytic converter and unleaded gasoline and “Oops! Problem solved!” Now mostly inert carbon dioxide is grist for the environmental activist mill. I may suggest that, knowing how typically ignorant most folks are about the details of Earth science, evoking hysteria over the imaginary threat of “greenhouse” gasses was a slam dunk for the enviro ideologs.

Such true believers are more than eager to impose draconian edicts on the huddled masses. It is no longer legal to buy or sell gas-powered gardening tools in the enlightened land of California, much to the delight of hardware dealers on the western side of Nevada. In ten years, the same will be true for motor vehicles. That’s assuming that the already fiercely angered voting public will pull in its horns and willingly accept undeserved punishment. This could be fun to watch.

Image: Lbeaumont