Charles C. Mann would describe that strain of moralist, prosperity = ruin, return-to-nature type thinking as a “Prophet” mindset, traceable back to even before

Charles C. Mann would describe that strain of moralist, prosperity = ruin, return-to-nature type thinking as a “Prophet” mindset, traceable back to even before William Vogt and the early 1900s of, among other things, eugenics, Malthusianism, and an unshakeable fear of the masses in e.g. Delhi (but not Paris!). On the other side, and especially here on HN and the like, the tech building, win-win seeking, prosperity maximalist “Wizards” essentially just keep trying to build their way out of problems, e.g. massive gains in ag productivity of pesticide treated, fossil fuel fertilized, genetically modified high yielding, mono cropped strains that have already saved a billion. Cannot recommend “The Wizard and the Prophet” enough, a great history of environmentalism in the 20th century and how this split evolved, and it’s not nearly as biased as I am (though still clearly leaning “Wizard” in its text). https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34959327-the-wizard-and-the-prophet https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34959327-the-wizard-and-...