“Anyone who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.”

Attributed to Voltaire, this quote holds great significance, even in our modern times.  In the twentieth century, we saw absurd ideologies like communism and Nazism take root in modern states and drive civilized people to commit unfathomable atrocities. The popular notion of race-poisoning propelled the Nazi regime on a militant crusade to purge the European continent of inferior peoples, as the regime defined the term. In the second half of the twentieth century, the equally absurd notion of ubiquitous ecological poisoning took hold in the West, spawning a new movement, which in our century, has resulted in a crusade to completely refashion the energy sector. The movement has widespread popular support, especially amongst Western administrative elites. We have seen that support erode only recently as people realize the consequences and cost of the crusade upon which they embarked.

Along the way, this so-called “green” movement has shown its true colors to be red, having no qualms about imposing its will from above. I was only half jesting, when I intimated in an earlier article about the fruits of green ideology, suggesting that the specter of being herded into the countryside to work on irrigation ditches was not unthinkable. After all, if you informed the average German in 1938 that in a few years hence his government would embark on systematic mass murder of large populations in Europe, he would not have believed you. Voltaire’s words resound to our present day, where we fool ourselves into believing that we are sophisticated and moral.

Image generated by ChatGPT.