photo: Douglas Muth/Gage Skidmore
This one came to our attention thanks to Senator Ted Cruz who removed it from his website. I’ve heard people whispering about Agenda 21 since it was Agenda 20 with one to grow on. I have never paid much attention to it. Why? Because it is a UN initiative and that always makes me think of people wasting time, money, and maybe even talent on an organization that seems to mainly exist to ensure it continues to exist. But I digress.
Agenda 21 is an “action plan” about sustainable development. To me, it sounds like the kind of techno babble that will let lots of people attend lots of conferences and write lots of white papers for grant money. The real conspiracy is who the heck is paying for this? I’m not kidding when I say there’s a section of Agenda 21 that says fragile ecosystems are fragile and that makes them important so we need to prevent them from being destroyed. We also need to avoid making deserts. Unless that desert is “fragile” in which case we need to keep it as it is because its important. Yep. That’s the basis of a paper right there. Someone is setting up a conference at this very moment to discuss, debate, and present papers on the topic in a nice, mid to large size city, in an over-priced hotel. (I recommend the Galt House in Louisville, KY for it’s fine conference rooms of varying size and plethora of nearby restaurants and tourist attractions. I’ve heard ecologists love bourbon.)
I’ve never read the whole thing, nor do I plan to, but it’s available here if you have the time and inclination. Glenn Beck has also written a lot about it and done a bit of crepehanging from the sound of it. His worst case scenario turned into a sci-fi novel. Neither his observations or his noveling led to this week’s Conspiracy Theory Thursday post. No, we went with a very specific conspiracy theory because of Ted Cruz.
Ok, it was actually because of an older, computer un-savvy, but keen relative of mine who asked “How do you get a web page to come up if the page was taken down?” I explained that step one is to look up the page on the Wayback Machine Internet Archive. I then asked what the page was. She said she found a link on a forum and it says Ted Cruz says the UN is trying to destroy golf courses.
Huh. I wasn’t aware of that. You’d think that might make the news. She sent me the link to look up for her. Sure enough, the page had been removed from Ted’s page (a conspiracy a brewing in itself!) and replaced with an opportunity to watch bacon be cooked with a firearm. Thankfully, the Wayback Machine preserved it for us!
To break the conspiracy theory down, and feel free to correct me in the comments if I get this wrong, the UN convinced representatives from all over the world to sign Agenda 21. On the surface, Agenda 21 is about sustainability, poverty, climate, and the like with attached action plans. Having skimmed it, these action plans seem to consist of “stop it” and “prevent further harm”. It’s not what I’d call an action plan – more of a plan to make an action plan. At any rate, the conspiracy theory is this is part of the plan for global governance and destruction of private property rights. Organizations are being funded by whack job, er, political activist George Soros including one that focuses on the use of “open spaces”. What do they consider an open space? Yeah, that bit gets murky, but in looking for the answer, I did find the connection to golf courses. (Finally!)
Golf courses are not natural. I’m with them on this because a golf course is just a step away from a lawn, and I’m always looking for an excuse to let my side lawn go fallow. Returning to the theory, golf courses are not naturally sustainable. It takes effort to sculpt the land into a course complete with water hazards, sand traps, holes with flags, clubhouses…It turns acres of natural land into a cultivated game. The average golf course is around 75 acres. How is that affecting the environment with their special water needs, riding lawn mowers, and non-indigenous grass species? I don’t know. I doubt it’s enough to matter, but that’s where golf courses can be tied back to Agenda 21.
The real question is does Ted Cruz believe George Soros donated over $2 million to eliminate golf courses? No, I’m guessing that’s a bit of hyperbole. Is Agenda 21 a toe dipping into the global governance pond? I think that’s giving the UN a lot of credit. I see it as a way for academics to make a living off their passionate-but-not-always-scientific theories.
On the other hand, have you ever seen George Soros play golf? Me neither. Know who I have seen play golf? Donald Trump. Is this conspiracy theory not about global governance and private property, but really about Soros shutting down the Trump National Doral Miami golf resort? I’ll leave that to you (and history!) to judge.
Meanwhile, if you have a conspiracy theory you think we should discuss here or on our podcast, let us know! If you’re an expert of Agenda 21 and would like to break it down for us in short words, we’d be happy to hear from you!
