Edward Abbey held views that don’t align with our current political dimensions. He was an environmentalist, he was against immigration, he wanted people to have fewer children, he was pro-gun and as against economic growth. He also is one of my favorite writers, and one of the few miracles I’ve experienced happened while I was reading Desert Solitaire.
This is from a 1982 interview:
Interviewer: What do you see as being the major environmental problems in Arizona today?
Abbey: Progress. Development. Growth. Industry. Everything that the politicians and the Chamber of Commerce loves, I’m against. I think it’s gradually destroying Arizona.
I think he’s wrong about economic growth, but I’m unsure about population growth. He also has positive things to say:
America has led the way in [environmental protection]. We are probably the most environmentally conscious big industrial nation on Earth. Getting the parks established little over a century ago, the first nation on Earth to do that. Good thing we did, too.
Nehaveigur 