Quick Takes – In Service To Gaia: Science, Schools; Milwaukee County

     Another “quick takes” on items where there is too little to say to make a complete article, but is still important enough to comment on.

     The focus this time: Slaves to an imaginary spiritual Earth

     First, a little mood music:

     Carrying on…

     Ironic that a journal called “Science” is shilling the cultish “nature rights” movement that has nothing to do with actual science.

“The rights of nature–which include geological features–are generally defined as the right to ‘exist, persist, maintain and regenerate its vital cycles, structure, functions and its processes in evolution.’ Nature is, of course, not sentient. So, this campaign is really about granting environmental extremists legal standing to enforce their policy desires through litigation as legal guardians serving nature’s best interests.

“But the movement has a problem. It is clearly ideological rather than rational. So now, three law professors and a biologist writing in Science urge scientists to promote the agenda by giving courts a scientific pretext to enforce nature rights laws, or even, impose the agenda from the bench (as has already been attempted several times). From, “Science and the Legal Rights of Nature:”

“‘By contributing to interdisciplinary analyses of rights-of-nature laws before disputes arise, scientists can help contribute to the effectiveness of these laws. The availability of credible scholarly analysis of legal scientific terms used in law would make these rights more tangible and accessible to the judges whose role it is to apply them. Although scientific uncertainty often cannot be eliminated, it’s reduction in turn reduces legal uncertainty and thus helps meet the objection that rights-of-nature laws are too vague to be applied.’

“And here it really gets irrational:

“‘Another type of interdisciplinary scholarship that would assist the functioning of rights-of-nature laws would be the examination of the duties of nature. Although some rights-of-nature laws grant rights for nature without corresponding duties, others equate nature to a legal person with both rights and duties. Uncertainty over liabilities and duties of nature has been an impediment to implementing some rights-of-nature laws. Scientists can help legal systems comprehend nature’s potential legal obligations (e.g.,“ecosystem services”), and what environmental protection measures may also be legally required to ensure natural entities can continue to fulfill these obligations.”

“Good grief. Such nonsense in a science journal. ‘Nature’ is not a moral entity. It is not conscious. It is not a discrete thing. It includes everything from rock outcroppings, to algae, swamps, oceans, lion prides, earthquake faults, glaciers, and the moon. It–and its constituent aspects–cannot owe anything or anyone duties. No matter how destructive, a river that floods has done nothing ‘wrong.’ The very notion is nonsensical.”

     A school in Leipzig has decided the turning children into good little Gaia Jugend is exactly what Germany needs.

“Last Friday, participation in the ‘Global Climate Strike’ of the radical organisation “Fridays for Future” was compulsory for tenth graders at a Leipzig grammar school. Previously, students had skipped school for this, but this time everyone had to go – even those who didn’t want to.

“This is because participation was declared compulsory as part of a ‘sustainability project day’. Morning and afternoon classes were cancelled for this purpose. But the action violates the legally prescribed neutrality requirement of schools. Political demonstrations are taboo. Beforehand, there had been a vote in the class on several local demonstrations, reports the headmaster. A majority decided in favour of the demonstration.”

     Milwaukee County has now endorsed “nature rights” and supports eco-cultists who have an anti-human agenda.

WHEREAS, major bodies of water within Milwaukee County, including the Menominee River, Milwaukee River, and Fox River as well as Lake Michigan, provide essential biodiversity and wildlife habitats; and

WHEREAS, these bodies of water require a “rights of nature” protection, which will help Milwaukee County to be the healthiest in the State of Wisconsin due to its restoration as a natural wonder; and

WHEREAS, the “rights of nature” policy is symbolic in nature, which recognizes Milwaukee County’s bodies of water as integral and essential to the environment, as this policy returns rivers and lakes to its their natural purpose; and

WHEREAS, the Committee on Community, Environment, and Economic Development, at its meeting of September 11, 2023, recommended adoption of File No. 47 23-785 as amended (vote 4-0); now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED, the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors hereby supports the “rights of nature” movement across waterways and bodies of water in Milwaukee County for protection and ensuring human activities do not interfere with nature and its ability to be healthy, robust, and resilient.

     Ultimately, anything humans do can be seen as “interfering with nature”.

“Almost anything we do, at least in some fashion, ‘interferes with nature,’ including controlling vermin, preventing floods, and building housing projects.

“Waterways can, should be, and are protected from pollution and improper uses through proper regulations. But granting ‘rights’ to nature–including geological features–profoundly undermines the concept of ‘rights’ itself by removing it from exclusively applying to the human realm. Moreover, if ‘nature’ has rights, so does everything within it, from guppies, to mosquitoes, to weeds.”

     TTFN.

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