Anti-Agenda 21 Platform Part of Long Property Rights Tradition

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."