Happy Mother Earth Day, Citizen! - Ben O'Neill - Mises Daily

Happy Mother Earth Day, Citizen! - Ben O'Neill - Mises Daily: "The proposed UN treaty will recognize the Earth as a living entity that humans have sought to 'dominate and exploit.'"

If humans have sought to dominate and exploit the earth, then all organisms have also done that. What about how organisms on earth have tried to dominate and exploit the light from the sun?

"Since rights are a moral concept, it follows that they can only pertain to things that have some interests and will of their own. In particular, it is clear that moral obligations can only accrue to beings in need of moral guidance and are capable of sufficiently high levels of abstraction to understand and apply moral principles. Such beings must be conscious and must also be capable of sufficiently high levels of abstraction to understand moral principles and obey them — in short, they must be rational, conscious beings. If they are not, then they lack the means to understand and apply moral principles, and it is senseless to ascribe such principles to them."

"There can be no rights without corresponding moral obligations"

"In fact, it is highly dubious even to classify the Earth as a living thing. It is an entity composed mostly of nonliving material, and covered, relatively sparsely, with living plant and animal life."

"The Earth-rights doctrine has no basis in reason. It is pure mysticism, resting, as it does, on the attempt to ascribe interests and moral prerogatives to a nonconscious entity. Nor is the actual purpose of this doctrine the protection of the environment. Its real purpose is the acquisition of power, not for nature, but for people — or rather, for certain people."

"Since all physical resources required for human survival come from the Earth, and are a part of this 'living system,' this implies that humans cannot do anything — they cannot even exist on Earth — without the permission of the Earth. And if governments are the representatives of the Earth in exercising its rights, then this logically implies that people cannot do anything without the permission of their government."


"The fact remains that the principle of Earth rights leads logically to the conclusion that these rights must expand, and expand, to the point that they eradicate human rights."

"Some would probably argue that the state-representation doctrine is just a practical means of allowing for the Earth to exercise its rights." "Once we are through the looking glass, I suppose it is just as 'practical' to say that Morales is the representative for talking walruses as to say that I am. Nevertheless, the point remains that any such representation is a fantasy"

"This theory (which is itself hopelessly flawed) holds that the state is the representative of 'the people' by virtue of their ability to vote in its elections, and from their choice not to leave its jurisdiction. Clearly both of these are impossible for the Earth, and for the plants that live upon it."

"The notion that governments should 'represent' the will and interests of a giant ball of minerals with no mind or desires is the outcome of environmentalist philosophy in action. It is as absurd as a ficus tree running for Congress, or a barrister attempting to take instructions from a blade of grass."