Terrorism on the Street of Dreams
McMansions and rural cluster developments were targeted by the Earth Liberation Front in Seattle. Five homes that were under construction were burned to the ground by people claiming to be involved with the Earth Liberation front. This was not a singular incident with little motive, but a response to the growing devastation wreaked upon the environment by expanding clusters of housing. This neighbourhood in Seattle was advertised as a “green” suburban area but developing the land led to the destruction of much swamplands.
These houses were touted as being “green” because they were scaled down to the size of 4,500 square feet. However, they still appeared to be McMansions, which Wikipedia defines as, “gaudy, sterile, mass-produced design of the homes that is akin to the designs of the McDonald's restaurants; and perceived negative effects on nature and neighborhoods. Additionally, allegations that many examples of this style of house are cheaply and hastily built have been leveled by critics.
According to its website, the Earth Liberation Front or ELF, is an underground movement with no leadership or spokesperson. In a statement by the FBI after the fires in Seattle, ELF was described as more of an ideology than an actual organization. But is classified as a domestic terrorist organization.
Was this an act of protest or an act of terrorism? Branding someone as a terrorist can lead to a loss of some of the most important legal rights and connotations in the media. Do we declare something as terrorism if it impedes development? This would mean that high school aged vandals that destroy construction equipment may be labeled as terrorists.
But then let us look at the root of the word terrorist. Are there people in their McMansions living in fear that someone will throw a Molotov cocktail through the living room window? From what I have read the houses targeted by the ELF were being constructed and empty as are most of the similar arsons conducted by followers of ELF.
Yes, it was illegal. Yes, it was wrong. But we need to think about this logically before we brand this as terrorism. The crime should have a punishment but the severity of the punishment may be the label handed down by the government and the media.
No, I do not condone the ELF, I just think that they are far too ridiculous to be taken as serious as they have been.
