subject other than the local humidity.nTechnology of the same principle, ofncourse, is already widespread in Americannstores for the purpose of detectingnshoplifters and purse snatchers, and thisnsummer Maryland and Virginia statenpolice were seeking federal funding forna combination radar-photography systemnthat would take pictures of vehiclesnexceeding the 55-mile-per-hour speednlimit and their license plates. Vehiclenowners would then be sent a summonsnthrough the mail and held liable for thenspeeding fine. In deference to the matingnhabits of the Beltway, the photographnitself would not be mailed to thenpresumed ofFendei’ “for fear that itnmight reveal the embarrassing presencenof another party in the car,” accordingnto The Washington Post. “The evidencenin photo radar is almost ironclad,”nspouts William T. Newman ofnthe Arlington County Board. Think ofnthe cosmic harmony Deng Xiaopingncould create if the Red Guards were asntechnologically advanced as Arlington.nStripped of its pseudotheologicalnplumage, the faith of the New Agenright in a technological salvation fornmankind reduces to nothing more thannthe superstitions of the Enlightenmentnand its Marxist and behaviorist inheritors:nthe belief that human beings arenthe products of their historical environmentnand that with the amelioration ofnthe environment, men and women willnalso be improved — “will be as gods,”nas someone once said. Historical realitynhas exploded this myth many timesnover, from the Reign of Terror to lastnsummer’s bloody picnic in Beijing,nbut, like any superstition, the mythnseems to be impervious.nIn the last couple of centuries, thenmyth has gone through three distinctnstages and now seems to be metamorphosingnyet again. In the first stage, thenhostile environment was political, andnthe myth promised that if dynasties,naristocracies, and established churchesnwere overthrown, and at least some ofnthe people given the vote, the problemsnof mankind would be solved. Thensecond stage, after political emancipationnproved to be pretty much of a flop,ncentered on the economy. Politics wasnonly a mask for property, you see, andnif only wealth were redistributed andnequality established, humanity wouldnreally be on the move.nBy the mid-20th century, when thisnstage of the myth began to come ancropper as well, the myth entered itsnthird stage by concentrating on socialnand cultural institutions as repressivenforces. On the left, this stage is stillnkicking in the form of crusades againstnthe family, “racism,” national andnregional identities, and the chief villainnof the age, the white heterosexualnmiddle-class male.nBut already the myth is beginning tonshift its shape again in the form of anrevolt against nature itself throughntechnological thaumaturgy. In thisnguise, the environmentalist myth identifiesnas its chief enemies the biology ofnhuman reproduction and the socialninstitutions based on that biology, asnwell as such inconvenient facts of naturenas the inevitability of death and thenconfinements of time and space. Oncenmankind has been photosynthesizednthrough technological globalism, paradisenis sure to be just around thencorner. This time, however, the revoltnagainst nature is not confined to thenleft but also envelops the “right.” Indeed,nif anything is being transcendednin the last years of the century, it’s notnnature and its rules, but rather anynmeaningful distinction between rightnand left, as both camps regurgitate thensame superstitions of the Enlightenmentnin new and more dangerousnforms. And people wonder why it is, innan age that considers the constraints ofnnature to be as obsolete, repressive, andnirrelevant as chastity belts, that bookstoresnare full of volumes on astrologynand occultism, that teenagers practicenSatanism, and that cults, pseudoscience,nand all kinds of nutty socialnirrationalisms flourish.nSamuel Francis is deputy editorialnpage editor of The WashingtonnTimes.nLetter From thenHeartlandnby fane GreernGarbage In, Garbage OutnIt’s bound to happen.nAs the prodigal metropolises east andnwest of North Dakota accumulate gar­nnnbage, after they’ve tried and failed atnrecycling and incineration, they’re goingnto want to put that garbagensomewhere — stuff it where if^on’tnoffend a constituent or blemish a perfectnurban concrete-scape.nThese folks are naturally going tonthink “wasteland” when they thinknabout where to send their waste, andnthis life being what it is, they’re goingnto send it right up here to us.nThe North Dakota State HealthnDepartment’s division of waste managementnsays that no waste companynhas overtly expressed an interest innNorth Dakota, but the EPA oEce innDenver says that Wyoming and SouthnDakota have received proposals. Peoplenin Burbank and the Bronx figurenthat we have so much room, so fewnpeople, and so much sinfully clean airnthat we’d be glad to take in theirngarbage. They’re willing to pay a lot tonget rid of the stuff, and private companiesnmay be willing to share some ofnthat money with a state or locality, justnfor the privilege of doing business. It’snsimply a matter of time before NorthnDakota is approached.nA Colorado-based company, SouthnDakota Disposal Systems, Inc., hasnproposed a dump to handle up to 1.5nmillion tons of municipal solid waste anyear, most of it—surprisingly—fromnother states relatively near Edgemont,nSD, in the extreme southwest part ofnthe state. The EPA in Denver hasnreviewed this plan for the “Lone TreenBalefill Facility” (sounds like a greatnplace to vacation, doesn’t it?) and hasnfound no major problems, adding thatnmost regulating of nonhazardous solidnwaste disposal is a state responsibilitynand that some states’ regulations arentougher than the EPA’s.nIn North Dakota, the State HealthnDepartment regulates landfills butnonly localities can prohibit them. Andnthe assistant director of the waste managementndivision doesn’t think landfillsnare so bad, if they’re managed properly.nQuite frankly, I think this is excitingnnews. We’ve got a little unemploymentnproblem here in North Dakota; thinknabout the jobs this would create. We’dnneed people to build the landfill plantsnand supervise them, and scads of truckersnto drive to New Jersey and LosnAngeles to pick up the stuff and haul itnback here. No one but stolid NorthernnOCTOBER 1989/47n