MARINA DEL REY, CALIF.-The recent destruction of several housing developments in suburban Long Island, N.Y., by a group of idealistic teenagers is disturbing. The fact that they did it in the name of the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) is an ominous sign that America is facing a new, homegrown terrorist movement, said Ayn Rand Institute fellow and Creators Syndicate columnist Robert W. Tracinski.
"The roots of terrorism have been planted much deeper in our culture than most of us suspected," said Tracinski. "The three Long Island arsonists admit that they are self-designated 'members' of the anarchistic ELF, which supplies guidelines and advice over the Internet, but claims to have no central leadership. Despite no organization and no large-scale recruitment, such young idealists still have 'signed up' to commit serious crimes for the sake of their cause."
Tracinski said that there are two criteria needed for a terrorist movement to take hold in America: there must be an ideology that demands the sacrifice of innocent people for an alleged "greater good," and this ideology must be so thoroughly saturated in the culture that it attracts thousands willing to cooperate in terrorist crimes-and millions who are unwilling to condemn them.
"The environmental movement provides such an ideology in spades," said Tracinski. "The ELF hasn't killed anyone-yet. They just want to make sure that we don't own anything, don't eat anything, don't use any power, and have no place to live. Their mission is to defend the 'sacred' earth against humans; thus, the group seeks 'to speed up the collapse of industry, to scare'-read: terrorize-'the rich, and to undermine the foundations of the state.' Today's schools offer fertile ground to grow the ELF terrorists. Today's students are bombarded with environmentalist propaganda. They are taught that humans are a blight on the earth-that our technology and economic development leads to nothing but pollution, global warming, and the destruction of endangered species. By all accounts, the Long Island ELF terrorists learned their lessons well. To oppose eco-terrorism, we must oppose the environmentalist, anti-human philosophy behind it."
Ayn Rand Institute fellow and Creators Syndicate columnist Robert W. Tracinski is available for interviews.
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