Enviroreductio ad Absurdam

Book Review: Envirotopia

Walking. Boredom. Hunger. That’s the life of Eugene Ward, protagonist of Envirotopia.

In a hugely entertaining novel, American Thinker contributor Kyle Nathaniel Alfred Becker portrays a grim future which projects the ideology of the environmental movement to its logical conclusion. “Eugene Ward was a member of a group,” the book begins. “Group 3124, as a matter of fact, which was unbeknownst to him. What he did know was that he had been wandering in the wilderness for as long as he could remember.”

Eugene knew nothing of how he came to be in the group, of the technologies that had once existed on earth, or where the new socks that occasionally seemed to appear in his knapsack came from. He only knew that a false step on a mountain trail meant death and any infraction of the group’s rules meant harsh punishment at the hand’s of the shaman Logan and his guardians.

But there’s something different about Eugene. When he’s caught giving some blueberries to a starving mother and her child instead of turning the berries over to the group, he refuses to accept his punishment. Instead he challenges Logan’s authority. This rebellion leads him on a path to discover that neither the world – nor his place in it – are what they seem.

Becker’s writing is beautiful. His descriptions of nature are lush and vivid, and the ECO-NOW Council, which monitors Eugene's every move, is staffed by unique and colorful characters. But this is also a novel of ideas. Becker offers keen insight into the philosophy underlying environmentalism and is adept at weaving it into his story without being preachy. In particular, he understands that environmentalism is not merely an attack on technology. It’s also an attack on individualism and rationality – and environmentalists must wipe those things out in order to achieve their goals.

Michael Isenberg is the author of Full Asylum, a novel about politics, freedom, and hospital gowns. Check it out on Amazon.com

How to Save the Massachusetts GOP

This afternoon I joined Republican politicians, activists, and journalists for a forum on “How to Save the Massachusetts GOP,” with host, The Natural Truth’s Michael Graham.

The webpage for the event explains that, “If Massachusetts is going to have a viable two-party system, then the Republican Party needs a statewide strategy for attracting more voters and expanding the party’s overall appeal. Hunting for a ‘magic bullet’ candidate who can win despite being a Republican simply isn’t enough.

“The goal of this symposium is to get candidates, activists, campaign professionals and regular Republican voters together to talk about strategies for the party as a whole and help all GOP candidates become more competitive in 2014.”

Some of the key points:

Several speakers pointed out that the Massachusetts GOP is winning in the suburbs and losing in the cities. Need to go after the latter. Chase 100% of the vote.

Christine Morabito of Greater Boston Tea Party urged Republicans to end the circular firing squad.

Former state auditor candidate Mary Connaughton advised picking winning issues where Republicans can show people how their lives can be better, such as education.

Several speakers urged that Republicans stop allowing the Democrats to define the Republican brand. It’s all very well and good to say we’ll focus on economic issues and stay away from social ones, but the Democrats will bring up the social ones anyway and the media will report it. The Young Republicans’ Katie Regan put it best: "We're losing the war because the Republican candidates are not able to reframe the argument in the media." Holly Robichaud of the Boston Herald advised that when the Democrats bring up issues that we don’t want to talk about, hit them back hard enough that they’ll never want to do it again. Turn it back on them by pointing out their own extreme views.

The young people who are the future of the party are more libertarian than conservative and were inspired to join the GOP by Ron Paul.

Best line of the afternoon: Michael Graham welcomes trackers from the Democrat Party, but warns them, "No pot. This is not a medical marijuana facility."

Here are a few pix:

The event was held at the F1 Boston Formula One Track and Conference Center.

Does anyone else think this looks like the set from You Only Live Twice?

Obligatory audience applause shot.

US Senate candidate Michael Sullivan works for my vote (I stole this photo from John LaRosa’s Twitter feed. Thanks, John.)

I told Mr. Sullivan I was interested in one thing from my next senator: smaller government. He replied that he would do three things to make that happen: 1) Across the board cuts on discretionary spending. 2) Targets for future spending growth less than the inflation rate. 3) Additional cuts by attrition.

Michael Isenberg is the author of Full Asylum, a novel about politics, freedom, and hospital gowns. Check it out on Amazon.com