{"id":1174,"date":"2026-06-12T11:37:56","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T11:37:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=1174"},"modified":"2026-06-12T11:37:56","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T11:37:56","slug":"the-liberal-call-of-the-wild","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=1174","title":{"rendered":"The Liberal Call of the Wild"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Occasionally, a video pops up on my screen of wild creatures fighting to the death: a lion and a hyena, an anaconda and a crocodile, and so on.\u00a0\u00a0These videos prove that the natural world is not all peace and love.\u00a0\u00a0Most wild creatures are either predators or prey, and there is nothing innocent or idyllic about life in the wild.<\/p>

Read more Diagnosing the Canadian disease<\/a><\/p>\n

Granted, some humans are \u201cpredators,\u201d too, but most of us are far more civilized than a mountain lion or an alligator.\u00a0\u00a0Most humans have learned to respect others, obey the law, support and nurture their families through decades of growth, love their country, and worship God.\u00a0\u00a0This is the meaning of civilization, and it is an enormous step above what happens in the wild.<\/p>\n

Radical environmentalists teach that wilderness is superior to human civilization.\u00a0In fact, one of the guiding tenets of environmentalism is the quasi-religious belief that wilderness takes precedence over human civilization.\u00a0\u00a0From an environmental point of view, it is human populations that should be reduced in number, whether by forced sterilization, euthanasia, or other means, and wild animals that should be protected at all cost.<\/p>\n

One can see the effects of this belief in the liberal opposition to growth.\u00a0\u00a0When a new subdivision goes up, environmentalists bemoan the loss of \u201chabitat,\u201d as if humans don\u2019t need a habitat as well.\u00a0\u00a0When an obscure species is threatened \u2014 or not even an established species, but a questionable sub-species \u2014 environmentalists sue to place vast regions off limits to development, especially to fossil fuel development.\u00a0\u00a0If it\u2019s a choice between water for agriculture that provides food for humans or water for Pacific salmon, liberals choose the salmon.<\/p>\n

If wildness is one\u2019s touchstone, the radicals\u2019 ultimate goal is to eliminate human civilization altogether: no more fossil fuels, no more industry, no more subdivisions, and certainly no more data centers.\u00a0\u00a0But radicals cannot see the great virtues of human civilization: the security that we enjoy as well as the comfort of nice homes, a secure food supply, the value of education and culture, the contribution of medicine, the opportunity to work and then enjoy an abundant life in retirement.\u00a0\u00a0Wild animals do not enjoy a retirement; when they become too old to compete, they are killed and eaten.<\/p>\n

Environmentalists have a right to express their opinion, but their opinions are often nonsensical and contradictory.\u00a0\u00a0Liberals proclaim the need for species protection, yet in a state of nature, species are constantly being driven to extinction and replaced by stronger or smarter species.\u00a0\u00a0Liberals believe that very large areas should be preserved for wilderness, but for what purpose?\u00a0\u00a0Without human beings, there would be no one to continue protecting species and maintaining diversity.\u00a0\u00a0The Mississippi River would be taken over by carp with no food for native species, and no\u00a0\u00a0threatened species would be kept live in breeding programs at zoos.\u00a0\u00a0It is human beings who work to maintain a balance.<\/p>\n

Some would say that non-profit groups like the Sierra Club seem to be more interested in promoting the liberal ideology of wildness \u2014 and in fundraising for their own benefit \u2014 than they are in actually preserving wilderness.\u00a0\u00a0(The Sierra Club CEO\u2019s reported salary and benefits was over $5 million in 2023, the most recent year for which I have information.\u00a0\u00a0Though this is less than most CEOs earn, it is still a lot of money.)\u00a0\u00a0Anyone who donates to such groups could simply purchase a plot of land and allow it to go wild or remain wild.\u00a0\u00a0If enough people truly cared about preserving wilderness \u2014 say, just 10 million in the U.S. \u2014 and each one worked to donate ten acres, that would produce an enormous reserve, the size of 80 Yellowstone National Parks.\u00a0\u00a0Environmental groups have not done this; the fact is that those who contribute to such groups enjoy the status <\/em>of contributing to groups that talk about<\/em> saving the Earth.\u00a0\u00a0They are supporting the ideology <\/em>\u2014 the talking points \u2014 of environmentalism rather than the environment.<\/p>

Read more Steven Spielberg tries to define God<\/a><\/p>\n

How many environmentalists have actually climbed Mt. LeConte or Mt. Cammerer in the Great Smoky Mountains \u2014 difficult 10- and 20-mile hikes \u2014 as I have many times?\u00a0\u00a0How many of them have spent hundreds of days in true wilderness?\u00a0\u00a0How many of them actually know the flora and fauna they claim to protect?\u00a0\u00a0On a hike with members of one such group, I found that they stopped after less than a mile of easy walking, pulled out and consumed a delicious lunch and bottle of wine, and then decided to return to their starting point.\u00a0\u00a0They drove off satisfied that they had \u201cspent time in nature\u201d when they had barely gotten out of their cars.<\/p>\n

Conservatives truly care about nature.\u00a0\u00a0We do not want to live amid unhealthy air and water, and we want to allow wild creatures to live in protected domains such as Yellowstone.\u00a0\u00a0African elephants, especially \u201cforest elephants,\u201d now face extinction, as do tigers (with three subspecies already extinct), something that should concern everyone.\u00a0\u00a0Overall, half of all animal species are declining in numbers, and tens of thousands face extinctions.\u00a0\u00a0These facts are worrisome because animals deserve compassionate treatment, and most of them enrich our lives as long as we respect the fact that they are<\/em> wild animals and sometimes dangerous.<\/p>\n

But talking about the environment and suggesting that conservatives don\u2019t care does nothing to preserve species.\u00a0\u00a0Nor does using species protection as an excuse to block development of human resources or needed living space.\u00a0\u00a0That approach only creates hostility and backlash.\u00a0\u00a0Those who really care about species protection could work to expand protected areas so that humans and wilderness can exist together.<\/p>\n

The most misguided behavior is the inflated claim of some environmentalists that \u201chumans are the problem\u201d and thus human numbers should be reduced.\u00a0\u00a0Human civilization is remarkable beyond anything that wild creatures can achieve.\u00a0\u00a0In ancient times, it was recognized that human beings possess an element of divinity that should be recognized for what it is: a higher order of life than that of wild creatures.\u00a0\u00a0We must protect the environment and the habitats of wild animals, but we must always remember that civilization is superior to wilderness.\u00a0\u00a0In the words of Sophocles, \u201cnumberless are the world\u2019s wonders, but none more wonderful than man.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeffrey Folks is the author of many books and articles on American culture, most recently <\/em>Heartland of the Imagination (2011).<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

Read more The U.S., Israel, and the Traditional Family<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Image via PickPik.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Occasionally, a video pops up on my screen of wild creatures fighting to the death: a lion and a hyena, an anaconda and a crocodile, and so on.\u00a0\u00a0These videos prove that the natural world is not all peace and love.\u00a0\u00a0Most wild creatures are either predators or prey, and there is nothing innocent or idyllic about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1172,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,534],"tags":[535],"class_list":["post-1174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-environmentalism","tag-related-topics-environmentalism"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Liberal Call of the Wild - Interstate Logistics Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=1174\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Liberal Call of the Wild - 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