Nudging the United Nations (UN) to the Outhouse! (published 3-26-2023; article #399)

“Outhouse in rural southwest Colorado,” by Tanner Marquis, 7/26/2021, on Unsplash. Free to use under the Unsplash License.

 

Photograph of old outhouse, on House Mountain hike #75, by M. Fearghail, 12/26/2010.

Introduction

I might use that outhouse in Colorado. The one on House Mountain has several holes, from shotgun blasts. (The photograph is the eighth, of fifteen, in my 12/26/2010 article.) I've never used it. Trees and rocks provide cover. Leaves are wiping material, if needed.

This is the eleventh article on Worldviews in Conflict. It explains the inspiration for this article. It will numb your mind a little, with a note on United Nations (UN) bureaucracy. It mentions the “little green nudges,” by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). Mainly, this article nudges the entire United Nations (UN) to the outhouse, since they need to go! The conclusion explains the worldviews in conflict.

Inspiration for this Nudge

Dr. Ileana Johnson Paugh's website, Ileana Writes, is one of four listed under “Folks, to Whom I Subscribe” (lower right hand column of my website). Dr. Johnson Paugh's articles are often published on Canada Free Press, where she is listed as a member:

Dr. Ileana Johnson Paugh, Ileana Writes is a freelance writer, author, radio commentator, and speaker. Her books, “Echoes of Communism," "Liberty on Life Support," "U.N. Agenda 21: Environmental Piracy," and "Communism 2.0: 25 Years Later," are available at Amazon in paperback and Kindle.

Dr. Johnson Paugh -- or Ileana, as I believe that she prefers – emigrated, from Romania to America, in 1978 (when I graduated high school), as her inaugural article states. Please read her first article: "American paradise - January 13, 1978," on Ileana Writes, 4/22/2010.

Early Wednesday morning, I read "Indoctrination Nation, Sustainable Development, and Nudging," on Ileana Writes, 3/20/2023. The article published a day later, on Canada Free Press: "Indoctrination Nation, Sustainable Development, and Nudging," on Canada Free Press, by Dr. Ileana Johnson Paugh, 3/21/2023. The reading of Ileana's article, on either website, is highly recommended.

Later that same morning, I commented favorably on Ileana's article. A little later that morning, Ileana replied, kindly, as follows (with my emboldening added, for emphasis):

Mr. Feargail, I agree with your suggestions entirely. Perhaps you should write an article with that exact topic: How socialists should follow their own advice and regress to their favorite times by living by what they preach to the rest of us.

Thusly, Dr. Ileana Johnson Paugh (Ileana) inspired this article. I enjoy Ileana's articles, and I have commented on several. I imagine how her younger years, under communism, must have been. Her articles often denote details of her early years in Romania. By having serving as missionaries in Russia (10/1/1994 – 9/30/1999), my wife and I understand how life under communism must have been. Once we had established friendship, many Russians opened up to us and shared their stories. Some of them still glanced around, to see who may be listening or to find the hidden microphone.

Mind-numbing UN Bureaucracy

In her article, Ileana, as I think that she prefers, referenced: "Nudge to action: Behavioural science for sustainability," on United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), 3/3/2017. Please remember the key word “nudge,” as I will return to it. I was inspired to investigate further. I have not walked into such a labyrinth of spiderwebs, by hiking in the woods! My apology in advance, for numbing your mind by the bureaucracy.

The UNEP is part of the United Nations (UN), which was founded in 1945. The UN consists of 193 “Member States” (or countries). Our planet includes 195 countries, according to Worldometers, How many Countries are there in the World? The source lists each country and states:

There are 195 countries in the world today. This total comprises 193 countries that are member states of the United Nations and 2 countries that are non-member observer states: the Holy See and the State of Palestine.

The UN is part of the larger UN System. The UN System has layers. There are six “Funds and Programmes,” one of which is the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).” There are fifteen “UN Specialized Agencies.” There are nine “Other Entities and Bodies.” Finally, there are eight “Related Organizations.” The UN System chart is downloadable. This is a labyrinth of global bureaucracy that spiderwebs out from the six “UN Principal Organs.” I apologize for the mind-numbing that this point may have caused.

UN Environment Programme (UNEP) – Little Green Nudges

Ileana's article focused on the UN's nudging toward “environmentally friendly” (as it's called) lifestyle changes. Scrolling down the UNEP main webpage, I found their “Sustainable Development Goals,” which are (with my emboldening added, for emphasis):

A clean and healthy environment is required to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Efforts to counter the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste must be ramped up in order to truly transform societies and economies for everyone, everywhere.

The words that I emboldened are another way to state nudging. Everyone, everywhere, must be nudged, to save the planet, according to the UNEP. They even have The Little Book of Green Nudges, which primarily targets universities.

Once stuck on the UNEP spiderweb, I further tangled myself onto several spiderweb pages, such as About UN Environment Programme, UNEP and the Sustainable Development Goals, and Why does UN Environment Programme matter? Thankfully, I managed to untangle myself. If you get caught in those spiderwebs, please free yourself quickly!

Similar to the tower of Babel (Gen 11:1-9), the United Nations (UN) is an ongoing effort to unify all nations into one global nation. The UN is following a humanistic and socialist worldview – as the inhabitants of the ancient city of Babel were.

Nudging the UN to the Outhouse!

Following the biblical worldview, as a Christian and as an outdoorsman, I affirm that we must conserve, sustain, care for, and improve the environment – as practically as possible, with consideration to modern comforts. God created the earth to sustain us, and He expects us to sustain the earth.

Mrs. Appalachian Irishman and I live in a comfortable house. We have central heat and air-conditioning. We drive gas-powered vehicles, which include environmental protection features. We use electricity, propane, and indoor plumbing. We are connected to municipal water. (I wish that we'd had a water well drilled instead.) We recycle all that is allowed. We, however, feel the environmentalist nudging -- under the scientific fallacy of so-called human-made global climate change – to “live green.” (Yes, so-called human-made global climate change is faux science. This article, however, will not unpack the facts that support the statement. That could be a future article.)

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is an example of the environmentalist worldview. My comment, in part, on Dr. Ileana Johnson Paugh's article stated (emboldening added, for emphasis):

Logically, to be consistent, since the socialists worship the creation, not the Creator, they need to return to living as our ancestors did, in the 1700s to early 1800s, before the industrial revolution. Their nudging to save their god (creation) is a half-measure. If they truly worship the creation, then they should live in very modest homes, with no electricity or sources of heating or cooling, except for a fireplace or stove. (Cutting trees for firewood would have to be allowed.) They should feed and clothe themselves, by what they produce on their small farms. Fruit trees, gardens, and livestock would provide food, milk, and clothing. Water would come from a well (dug by hand, of course) or a nearby source of clean water.

Perhaps we should nudge the “green new deal” socialists to live as our ancestors did.

I call a spade a spade. I do not mince words. This article nudges, challenges, and demands that all these “green new deal” environmentalists put up or shut up!

I'll bet a hundred dollars -- not a dollar, since a dollar ain't worth much nowadays -- that most of these environmental nudgers live on elaborate estates in fine houses, have plenty of central heat and air-conditioning, use way more utilities that we do, drive expensive vehicles (probably electric), jet set around the globe in airplanes that emit tons of pollutants, and so forth. (I'll avoid unpacking the fallacy that electric vehicles are better for the environment than gas vehicles. That could be a future article.)

This article demands (as my Irish dander rises while writing) that these environmentalists – to be consistent and not hypocrites -- return to life as it was for my ancestors, in the 1700s to early 1800s! If they truly want to “save the planet,” then they will do so.

• Live in basic houses, with no electricity or indoor plumbing!

• Drill a water well or get water from a nearby and clear spring!

• Cut your own firewood, to heat your houses in winter!

• Plant trees to replace the ones that you used.

• Use only fireplaces, chimneys, cast-iron stoves, and wood-burning ovens!

• Refrigerate with a cellar!

• Bathe once a week, in a creek or a tub!

• Travel by wagon, mule, horse, or on foot!

• Raise livestock, grow a garden, and have fruit trees!

• Can your gardening, for food in the winter!

• Make your own clothes, buying only what you can't make!

• Go to church on Sundays! Live as the Good Lord wants you to live!

• Use an outhouse!

These environmentalists must stop their half-measured nudging and start practicing what they preach! If they do, then my wife and I will join them. I'll guarantee that it would be easier for us, to transition to living as our ancestors did, than it would be for them to do so.

Don't hold your breath, however! These environmentalists will continue their hypocritical nudging, while they enjoy their twenty-first century lifestyle.

Conclusion

This article has explored the contrast between conservation and an environmentalism. The opposing worldviews are in conflict.

By following the biblical worldview, I am a conservationist. All who share this view, as good stewards, use natural resources in an ethical manner, to better humankind. We, however, care for and manage those resources, to improve them, for future generations.

Environmentalists, in contrast, follow a pantheistic worldview, in that they worship god (the creation), instead of God (the Creator). Deifying nature, they subjugate human needs to protect nature, which has preeminence. They see all humans, including themselves, as parasites and disrupters of nature. They, however, see themselves as “noble parasites,” while looking down on us, as “disrupting parasites.”

These are not my thoughts only. See, for example, "Conservationist or Environmentalist?" On Mackinac Center for Public Policy, by Russ Harding, 10/2/2008. (An online search by “conservationist versus environmentalist?” finds similar articles.)

God -- the Creator of the universe and planet Earth – created humankind in His image and likeness. As such, we “have dominion” over His earthly creation, since God formed the first man from the earth. (See Genesis 1:26 - 2:7.)

“Dominion” means that God has appointed us to use, care for, and maintain the earth, under His guiding authority, as Creator. We are accountable to God, as to how we manage the earth. We must manage it, according to His creative pattern of “very good” (Genesis 1:31). The earth, however, is not deified as god. We harvest natural resources, to improve our lives, but we ensure that the earth is improved by our use of its resources.

Of course, the earth has been and continues to be harmed, by the improper use, waste, and destruction of natural resources. Conservationists, however, have never intended that to be the case.

As a personal note, Friday was the anniversary of my father-in-law's birth. Family gathered yesterday, to celebrate with him. This article is published in honor of my father-in-law. He often talks about how he was raised on the family farm, similar to how my parents were.

I have childhood memories of my paternal grandparents' home. They heated and cooked with wood. Baths were taken in a cast-iron tub. A hand pump drew water from the well. Livestock, hunting, apple trees, and gardening produced most of the food. A cellar stored the canned goods, for winter meals. They had finally connected to electricity for lights, but they still used coal oil lamps and candles. There was no indoor plumbing. A two-seater outhouse was nearby. (Two seats were so one could encourage the other!) As a child, I used that outhouse several times. Sears catalogs or corn cobs were the toilet paper.

To the pantheistic, socialist, environmentalists out there, here is my challenge. My wife and I are ready to return to life, as my paternal grandparents lived. Are you? Take the first step! Put up or shut up! Practice what you preach! Stop your hypocrisy! My wife and I will follow your first step -- if you are man or woman enough to take it!

What do I hear? Nothing but crickets chirping, so far.