Scrolling through my Twitter feed is one of the only things getting me through this quarantine right now. I get to see lots of memes and videos, and I also get to be informed of things going on around the world. In such a time of uncertainty, Twitter can be a way to escape. However, because information spreads so fast, some things trending on Twitter are making my blood boil. Its a love-hate relationship I have with Twitter. Its definitely a huge cause of frustration for me because Ive been seeing many misinformed things go viral.

One of my least favorite tweets that have gone viral in the past month are tweets that claim The planet is healing itself. We are the virus, with some relevant hashtags. Some tweets even contained pictures from fish returning to canals in Italy and the water finally clearing up. It is beautiful to see nature thriving, but spreading this kind of idea about humans being the issue in our world in the midst of this deadly pandemic is irresponsible.

This movement is defined as ecofascism, and its becoming a new kind of plague. Grist reports that this is The promotion of authoritarian, fascist ideologies for environmental good. While it is valid that carbon emissions and pollution have decreased around the world due to the widespread lockdowns and quarantine, the idea that this virus is good for the world is foolish. I am an environmentalist myself, and I would never even think about saying anything like this, because it diminishes the loss of many lives around the world due to this pandemic.

According to GQ, ecofascism is the idea that there is only one way to deal with the climate crisis and that is through the use of eugenics and suppressing immigrants/migrants. A man named Madison Grant was the founder of it all. He created the very first organizations dedicated to preserving the Cali redwoods and the American buffalo. While he gave rise to a movement that couldve been great, he was also a huge supporter of race science, the idea that races exist biologically, thus, racists attributing people of other races as different species or different breeds, inferring a racial hierarchy, which was wrong and unfounded.

As Luke Darby of GQ wrote, Eco-fascism relies heavily on a concept called deep ecology, the idea that the only way to preserve life on Earth is to dramatically forcefully, if necessary reduce the human population. Unfortunately, due to ecofascism, some individuals have taken actions to reduce the human population into their own hands. On Aug. 3, 2019, a mass shooting occurred at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, causing the loss of 22 individuals, and the injuries of 24 more people. Before the shooter committed this act of terrorism, he produced a manifesto, in which he talked about stopping the Hispanic invasion of Texas. In this he wrote, If we can get rid of enough people, then our way of life can be more sustainable.

While these tweets arent explicitly stating things or engaging in acts of promoting the loss of individuals, claiming humans are the virus promotes the belief that humans dont have the ability to fix the climate crisis. Essentially, these tweets implicate that mass death is an appropriate solution to climate change. Many eco-fascists attribute the climate crisis to overpopulation when this is simply not the case. Global Justice reports that overpopulation is not the main reason behind the climate crisis, it is in fact, the rich corporations and people that produce the most emissions.

According to the Global Justice article and OXFAM International, it likely draws its claim from, The carbon emissions of just one of the worlds richest 1% of people are equivalent to 175 of the poorest. 50% of the worlds emissions are coming from just 10% of the people. This isnt about population it's about greed. Shrinking the population wouldnt solve the problem.

Quite simply, money controls everything. It equals power, and having power in a world full of greed allows you to break the rules, and not worry about the effects you have on the Earth. Eco-fascists spew ideas of ignorance about individuals who dont even have that much of an impact on the climate crisis, it is hypocritical. If they truly believed in helping the planet, they would attack these wealthy corporations and the system that allowed for the crisis to become so severe.

All in all, ecofascism is a movement that should be put to an end. In society, it is too often where individuals find a scapegoat to blame their problems on. It is unfair to place the weight of the world on individuals who contribute little to nothing to the climate crisis. They are equally struggling and blaming them is not going to solve this issue. What must be done now is stop spreading the notion that humans are the virus when we really are the cure. The 1%and wealthy corporations must be held accountable for their crimes against society. They are aware of the effect they have, and are selfish and will not stop unless people speak up. So, by rising against these individuals, change can foster, and the climate crisis can be mended.

Originally posted here:

OPINION: We are not the virus | Opinion - N.C. State University Technician Online