- published: 01 Oct 2010
- views: 2868
Ecofascism, can be used in two different ways:
Accusations of ecofascism can come from either the left, as in social ecologist Murray Bookchin's use of the term, or the right, as in Rush Limbaugh and other conservative and Wise Use Movement commentators. In the latter case, it is sometimes a hyperbolic use of the term that is applied to all environmental activists, including more mainstream groups such as Greenpeace and the Sierra Club.
In the former case, Bookchin criticizes the political position of Deep Ecologists such as David Foreman:
Such observations among the left are by no means exclusive to Bookchin. In his critical review of Anna Bramwell's biography of Richard Walther Darré, Japanese-American Marxist-Leninist-Maoist J. Sakai observes the fascist ideological undertones of natural purity. Even prior to the Russian Revolution, the Tsarist intelligentsia was divided on the one hand between liberal "utilitarian naturalists", who were "taken with the idea of creating a paradise on earth through scientific mastery of nature", and influenced by Nihilism as well Russian zoologists such as Anatoli Petrovich Bogdanov, and on the other hand "cultural-aesthetic" conservationists such as Ivan Parfenevich Borodin who were influenced by German Romantic and idealist concepts such as 'Landschaftspflege' and 'Naturenkmal'.
Randal Howard "Rand" Paul (born January 7, 1963) is the junior United States Senator for Kentucky. He is a member of the Republican Party. A member of the Tea Party movement, he describes himself as a "constitutional conservative" and a libertarian. He is the son of Republican Congressman and 2012 Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul of Texas and had never previously held political office. Paul first received national attention in 2008 when making political speeches on behalf of his father. Rand Paul is the first United States Senator in history to serve alongside a parent in the United States House of Representatives.
A graduate of the Duke University School of Medicine, Paul has been a practicing ophthalmologist in Bowling Green, Kentucky, since 1993, and established his own clinic in December 2007. In 1994, he founded Kentucky Taxpayers United, of which he is still the chairman.
In 2010, Paul ran as the Republican candidate for the United States Senate seat being vacated by retiring Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky and defeated Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway. As a supporter of the Tea Party movement, Paul has been vocal in advocating for term limits, a balanced budget amendment, and the Read the Bills Act, in addition to the widespread reduction of federal spending and taxation. He has gained prominence for his independent positions on many political issues, often clashing with both Republicans and Democrats.