What is eco-fascism, the ideology promoted by the picture of Thanos in real life

carbon emissions The richest 1% of the world’s population has twice the income of the poorest half of the population. The richest countries are failing to deliver on many of their climate change mitigation promises. And yet, many billionaires and other people of high social status continue to argue that the few resources we have left after the slow destruction of the planet should belong to them. This\It\he ecofascism. New “I’m not racist, but I’m decent.” It’s a way to hide reactionary behavior under the guise of environmentalism.

One of the first to use this term was the American integrality theorist. Michael E. Zimmermanwho defined it as “a totalitarian government that requires people to sacrifice their own interests for the well-being of the people.” Earth, understood as the magnificent web of life or the organic whole of nature, including peoples and their states.”

Although, without a doubt, one of the first to use this term, and also defend the concept, was the ecologist Garrett Hardin. In your essay Tragedy of the commons, published in 1968, highlighted the problems of overpopulation in a different way than is usually done. It’s true that this can be a problem because few resources.

Moreover, the more people inhabit the planet, the more difficult it will be control emissions of pollutants derivatives from their activities. Hardin said that “the freedom to beget will be the destruction of all.” But his proposals were not entirely fair to the population. All you have to do is see that his work was supported by funds donated by racist foundations. And this is eco-fascism. Another way racism the situation may worsen with global warming and climate change.

Ecofascism in fiction

Speaking of ecofascism, we can find several representations of it in fiction. For example, Thanos’ snap, supervillain Avengersis a prime example of this.

He complains about the lack of resources received from Surplus population. So instead of trying to find a solution to the lack of resources and how they can wreak havoc on planets, he decides to collect the Infinity Stones to make half the population disappear with one click. This happens by accident. But of course, he’s not hyped about his particular lottery.

Something less fantastic, although taken from fiction, occurs in Don’t look up. In this film, two astrophysicists try to warn of the imminent danger of a comet that could destroy all humanity on Earth. They try to warn the population and governments, appear in the media and talk to the President of the United States, but no one takes them seriously. Vice versa. They consider them exaggerated and launch an advertising campaign aimed at preventing the population from looking up and therefore staying oblivious to the approach of a comet.

However, at the same time, the American President and other great tycoons They are preparing everything for exile to another planet when the time comes. It’s a parody that can be used to criticize everything from the indifference of some Conservative sectors to climate change to the way movements denying the virus that causes Covid-19 have emerged since the start of the pandemic.

Ultimately this is the parody is too real as well as an example of ecofascism. When these people with exceptional economic resources decide to save themselves and sacrifice the rest of the planet, they apply a concept that Hardin also defined: the lifeboat ethic. If things go wrong, only a few will be saved, and in the end they will be the ones who will pay the price.

Movement leading to violence

Ecofascism has caused many violent attacks around the world. For example, two shootings occurred in 2019, one in Christchurch, in New Zealandand another in El Paso, in USAwere associated with this movement.

The Christchurch attack consisted of two attacks on two different mosques. In both cases, the shooter was a 28-year-old white supremacist who had previously declared himself an eco-fascist and accused immigrant birth rate overpopulation and the problems it will bring to the planet. In total he killed 51 people, all Muslims.

In the El Paso case, the perpetrator was a 21-year-old man who began shooting indiscriminately at supermarket employees and customers. His goal was to kill to as many Latinos as possibleas he also blamed them for the lack of resources for the whites.

Later in 2022, there was another supermarket shooting in the US, this time in Buffalo. Again, the shooter was a white supremacist who targeted an area with a high proportion of black people. In fact, of the 10 killed and 3 injured in the attack, 11 were African American.

The killer broadcast everything via Twitchwhere he has already made statements related to ecofascism.

Thus, ecofascism is not simply the result of the thoughtful experiment of a conservative ecologist. It is dangerous to believe that the planet’s resources belong only to a few, namely those who spoil them the most. And we’ve been seeing the consequences for some time now. Thanos doesn’t exist, but he’s scary in real life.