Prometheus, Moloch and Gaia: Paul Hodgkin on the myths behind the Earth crises

‘This is perhaps the heart of what confronts us.’

by Paul Hodgkin 17th April 2026

I’ve been wondering about the nature of the destructive energy that lies behind Donald Trump’s violence, and in particular the vehemence of his attack on nature, the climate and the Earth. Of course, some of this is driven by politics, populism, capitalism – whatever. But while this might explain the policy, it does not, for me, explain the vindictiveness and self-harming stupidity. After all, right-wing authoritarians are not inevitably against nature: Adolf Hitler was a vegetarian and Nazism had deep roots in the German ‘purity of nature’ movement.