By Rich Kozlovich, Updated 8/21/21
Editor's Note: Since all of this started I kept having past articles that I had written years ago coming back into my mind. What was most disturbing is how right my analysis was as I re-read all of these old articles. I have posted some of them recently and this article below is a combination of articles with some adjustments.
Originally I intended this as a part of my five part “common sense” series. However, after reading some of the details of the NPMA/NRDC agreement in Pest Control Technology magazine, and talking to Bob Rosenberg, I believe that things have gotten so bad I intend to do a separate series on the National Pest Management Association (NPMA).
They have shown a pattern of activity that has led to what I believe is a serious betrayal of the pest control industry by our “elected” representatives at NPMA. Part I was informational, Part II challenges the philosophy behind this action, and Part III will challenge the people behind this philosophy.
Now it appears NPMA has decided to embrace the Church of Wokeness, and the betrayal is more dangerous than before. RK
No industry is capable of preserving its viability without meeting the challenge of unending and ever increasing attacks on what they are and what they do. Yet we have in our midst “intellectuals” who believe that in pest control it will be different. At the head of our national organization our “elected leadership” believes by adopting “green” initiatives that it is possible and desirable for us to negotiate an end to the use of pesticides, for the good of the industry. The claim will be that they are not negotiating the end of pesticides.
There can be no other ultimate alternative to this act of appeasement. Neville Chamberlain trusted Adolf Hitler and Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Harry Truman trusted Joseph Stalin. They all attempted to appease these people and failed because you cannot appease someone who had an agenda and is implacable in their goals. Winston Churchill knew that and stated that "an appeaser is someone who feeds the crocodile hoping that he will be eaten last."
An industry can survive those who are foolish and careless. It can survive the overly ambitious, but it cannot survive those who attack an industry and what it stands for from within. The activists are more to be desired because they present themselves as the enemy at the gate. Although they may use deceit and cunning they are known because they carry their banner openly.
No matter how formidable they may be they cannot be as serious a threat as those who wear the garments, speak the language and share the customs of those within an organization while secretly working that which is harmful. They rot the heart of an industry, undermine the pillars of support and infect the industry with their treason to the point that those who see clearly and understand what is really going on are left standing alone.
That industry will no longer be able to resist those who would destroy it. Can any crime be feared more? Paraphrased from a quote by Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC)
(Editor's Note: This quote has been attributed to Cicero, but he didn't really say it. However, does it matter who did? RK)
The leadership of the National Pest Management Association (NPMA) has embraced the latest philosophical flavor of the day and partnered up with an organization, the National Resource Defense Council (NRDC), which I believe has some serious problms with integrity; after all, along with being clearly, adamantly and unendingly against pesticides, these were the people who were instrumental in promoting the fraudulent Alar scare as was outlined in Part I. Not to mention all the other misanthropic organizations they have been allied with, also outlined in Part I.
This brings me to this question. Have they repented of their mischief regarding Alar? I have deliberately used the word repent here, because the root meaning is to “turn about”. Have they apologized for their actions in this matter? Have they attempted to make restitution? Even Don Hewitt of 60 Minutes fame told Dr. Elizabeth Whelan, of the American Council on Science and Health, “that he regretted having done the Alar segment, but Ed Bradley, the producer of the piece, refused to retract it.”
Have they admitted that what they said about Alar simply wasn’t true? I haven’t noticed it if they have! And if they haven’t “repented” or "turned about" on this issue, which clearly shows their misdeeds; why then would we wish to partner with them?
I do have a problem with that, especially since they have a chair at the table and I don’t think that the industry’s views are being properly represented. I believe that it is clear that the rank and file and the leadership have two different views about the pest control industry. No matter how it is spun, the NPMA leadership has now bonded with them! And for what purpose? To determine what constitutes “green pest control” for the pest control industry.
It turns out that this group, whose core values have to be seriously called into question, wasn’t happy with NPMA’s QualityPro Green program. Last October the NRDC contacted Bob Rosenberg telling him that they wanted to get behind NPMA’s QualityPro Green program, but they weren’t happy with it in the program in its current state and “wanted” four changes made in order for them to support NPMA’s program.
Bob Rosenberg says that NPMA agreed to three of their ….oh, let’s just call them what they are….demands. NPMA’s leadership stood strong though….they only accepted three out of the four.
1. They wanted the program re-written to make sure that companies that had bought into this “green madness” were “mandated” to follow “program standards”.
Actually, I don’t mind this! After all, if you claim to follow a certain religion you should be required to follow the tenants of that religion. Green certainly falls into the category of neo-paganism.
2. They also wanted “independent, third party field audits” and those audits were to be “beefed up” at $600.00 per audit for the corporate office and $300.00 for branches with 15% being audited randomly, not exceeding 30 offices.
This was the big change. So, having state and federal bureaucrats violating the 4th and 5th amendments isn’t enough. Now we have regulators for hire violating them! And of course we have to pay additional taxes (fees) to fund them in order to keep this program viable because we apparently don’t pay enough taxes nor do we have enough regulations at the federal, state and local level. Apparently we don’t have enough regulators searching our businesses either. We need “regulators for hire” who will add a further regulatory burden on the industry.
Apparently that is what the leadership at NPMA believes. You may call them self imposed rules, but they will in fact be de facto regulations. And how do I know that they will create new rules (regulations) as time goes by? Because that is what regulators do, create regulations. Bureaucrats have one goal…to grow and perpetuate themselves and they can only do that by promoting new regulations. These regulators for hire will in effect be a de facto bureaucracy; one that is bound to be heavily influenced by the NRDC or one of their fellow green radicals.
3. The NRDC wants to “make sure that we walk the walk” and have demanded and received a representative from outside the industry on the NPMA advisory board, if NPMA is to expect their endorsement.
Everyone should be upset about this outrageous capitulation on the part of NPMA. This and the idea of inspectors acceptable to the NRDC should send chills down our backs. Who will determine what constitutes independent? Will they eventually demand that only they can determine who those independent people will be? It may not start out that way, but you can make book on it that it will turn that way!
Did you ever wonder why so many in the structural pest control industry are so hot to embrace IPM or “green” pest control; when both are so obviously destructive to our industry? Did you ever wonder why so many in the pesticide application industries are so hot to understand and find common ground with the environmentalists, who would dearly like to see us all commit suicide?
The first thing some of you will say is; who says it is destructive to our industry? I do! The reason why I say this is because it will ultimately take away everything we use. Green pest control will ultimately create a system of micro management, (we are not far from it now) through regulatory agencies, regarding everything we do to rid homes and businesses of pests. It will ultimately give veto power to the greenies over everything we do. They and their lackeys in industry, media and government. If you don’t believe me, then ask any greenie what he thinks about what we do and what they want to do about it.
It is clear there is an element in the chemical manufacturing, distribution and application industries that believe all the environmental claptrap. It is also clear there is an element that believes they can gain ground on their competitors by embracing the environmental movement. I have always found this to be incredible. Initially, I thought this must be some kind of weird sort of Corporate Social Responsibility syndrome. However, I believe I have found the answer.
An article, rich with symbolism, by Dennis Prager called “Explaining Jews, Part VI: Jews who aid those who hate Jews (and America)" exposes how prominent Jews and rabbis actually make statements supporting the terrorist organizations that are working to destroy Israel in particular, and Jews in general. Throughout the course of the article he keeps coming back to the same question; why? I found his explanations, which I am reproducing with his permission, most fascinating.
He states:
“How is one to explain these Jews who work to hurt Jews? I think the primary explanations are psychological. As I wrote in a previous column, it is almost impossible to overstate the pathological effects of thousands of years of murder of Jews -- culminating in the Nazi Holocaust, when nearly all Jews on the European continent were murdered -- have had on most Jews. “
He goes on to say:
“...........even Jews who lost no relatives in the Holocaust fear another outbreak of anti-Jewish violence, and given the Nazi-like anti-Semitism in the Muslim world today, that is not exactly paranoia.”
His analysis continues:
“One way to deal with this is to side with the enemy. Consciously or not, the Jew who sides with those dedicated to murdering Jews feels that he will be spared. He becomes the "good Jew" in the anti-Semites' eyes.”
As I read this I came to a realization that this sounds like a variation of the “Stockholm syndrome”. For those that are unaware of what the Stockholm syndrome is, here is the explanation from Wikipedia:
“The Stockholm syndrome is a psychological response sometimes seen in a hostage, in which the hostage exhibits seeming loyalty to the hostage-taker, in spite of the danger (or at least risk) the hostage has been put in. Stockholm syndrome is also sometimes discussed in reference to other situations with similar tensions, such as battered woman syndrome,child abuse cases,and bride kidnapping.”
“The syndrome is named after the Norrmalmstorg robbery of Kreditbanken at Norrmalmstorg, Stockholm in which the bank robbers held bank employees hostage from August 23 to August 28, 1973. In this case, the victims became emotionally attached to their victimizers, and even defended their captors after they were freed from their six-day ordeal. The term was coined by the criminologist and psychologist Nils Bejerot, who assisted the police during the robbery, and referred to the syndrome in a news broadcast.”
“An offshoot of the Stockholm syndrome is the aptly-used term capture-bonding defined as a bond that in some instances develops between captor and captive. The term is modeled on the Swedish woman who became so attached to one of the bank robbers who held her hostage that she broke her engagement to her former lover and remained bonded, or in bondage, to her former captor while he served time in prison.”
One might say, “neither they nor we are being held captive”, and that would be true; physically. Captivity is merely one of the tools used to implement a fearful state. That fear is what effects a change in emotion and psychology. Eventually the intellect will supply the needed rationale to take you where your emotions already are.
Being constantly under attack creates sense of psychological or emotional captivity and works much the same way as being held hostage. In fact, they are all are similar because we are being held captive by our fears. Fear is the tool that is used to prompt changes in who and what we are, whether the captivity is physical, psychological, or emotional or all three. As a result, some will attempt to find common ground with those that would destroy them, in effect whining, “don’t hurt me, I’ll be a good greenie’, in hopes that they will be spared while all others are sacrificed.
I keep saying it over and over again; the thing that all people have in common is they are all people, and as a result the historical patterns keep repeating over and over again. We, the pesticide manufacturing, distributing and applications industry are the figurative Jews of this article.
We are a bit paranoid in thinking that no one likes or respects us. Well, just because we are paranoid doesn’t mean people aren’t against us. We are vilified by the environmental movement, self-serving politicians who spout environmentalist nonsense against us as if everything the greenies say is established fact, and a radicalized and compliant media prints reams of misinformation about us.
We are constantly under attack by bureaucrats. Worse yet there are substantial numbers of the population who have been trained to believe we are one of the world’s greatest evils. Why? Because they believe the propaganda that claims we are killing future generations and destroying the environment. These are the ones who represent those practicing figurative jihad against the pest control industry. As for those within our industry who support them; these are the same as those ones defending and supporting these figurative anti-Semites against their own people.
Silly us for having a sense of paranoia!
Obviously, the environmentalists regard the pesticide application industries open embrace of “green” in some form as a victory. Soon they would require some other forms of “green” by redefining what will constitute a “new green”. They have already succeeded in getting NPMA to alter their “green” certification program…substantially. They and their allies in the pesticides industries are jumping on board claiming that this is needed to have consistency nationwide and is good for the industry.
Soon they will demand the total elimination of pesticides and their allies in the pesticide applications industries would find value in this view and claim that this is good for the industry and for society and the environment, but to no avail as the greenies cry out with righteous indignation over what we will be doing with what is left. Their enmity is everlasting and nothing will ever placate them. Whatever we agree to today will be unacceptable to them tomorrow. At some point it won’t matter if their allies in the pesticide industries agreed with them or not, because there will be no pesticide application industry left.
We have to recognize what is happening. We have to understand that everything the greenies want is antithetical to what is good for the pest control industry and humanity as a whole. We must stop appeasing those who cannot be appeased and be willing and able to defend that position with irrefutable facts and logic. We need to regularly state those facts categorically and forcefully wherever this kind of contamination appears in our industry. Finally we must become aware that those in our industry who support, promote and believe in the green movement and are willing to compromise the structural pest control industry (actually all the pesticide application industries) might be psychologically impaired.
The only conclusion I can come up with regarding those within our industries that continue to support “green” pest control, or even IPM, is that they are afflicted with some variation of the Stockholm syndrome. What other conclusion can you come to when people work to destroy that which puts food on their tables, clothes on their children’s backs, roofs over their heads? If that is the case, there isn’t any reasoning with them. Make no mistake about it; green is a weapon of mass destruction! To be green is to be irrational and misanthropic!
Our ignorance of history causes us to slander our own times. Gustave Flauber
