While it might seem like the Agenda 21 conspiracy theorists have arisen quite quickly out of the murky backwaters of the Republican party, Llewellyn Hinkes-Jones traces the lengthy enti-environmentalist roots of the movement.
According to Hinkes-Jones, the vocal conspiracy theorists that posit a 1992 United Nations resolution (Agenda 21) that encourages sustainable development is really a global elitist land grab, "are actually part of a longstanding tradition in
American politics of grandiose paranoia as political shibboleth against
environmentalism. That these theories have now been officially adopted into the GOP platform is less surprising than you might think."
"The Agenda 21-related conspiracies are only the most recent incarnation
of this country's property rights movement," argues Hinkes-Jones, "which has long used
disruptive techniques to foment dissent against environmentalists and
land regulations. Often associated with groups like the John Birch
Society and the Heartland Institute, and seen most prominently in the
1990s as the Wise Use movement, property rights groups oppose any government interference in land rights."
"In the case of the UN's Agenda 21 and the anti-smart growth fervor it
has spawned, the attention is largely coming from development and
construction companies. Their ire is aimed more specifically against
septic tank regulations, wetlands protections, and any other
restrictions on new construction in rural areas."
FULL STORY: The Anti-Environmentalist Roots of the Agenda 21 Conspiracy Theory
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