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Our current state of environmental consciousness and questions regarding the destructive forces of capitalism are not new. In fact, we have known for decades that the world is in peril. So why didn’t we listen and how exactly did we get to where we are today?
Photo by Daniel Grizelj via Getty Images
Nothing like a crisis to focus our attention. The collateral damage from global warming is certainly worthy.
In real time, we are baking in unprecedented heat, feverishly trying to put out global forest fires, building taxes to hold back the melting of glaciers with the accompanying sea level rise and enduring precipitation that flood cities and subways. So, no wonder the urgency to sign global agreements to reduce the use of carbon-intensive fuels.
Announcement A
In the past, people thought their tenure on land was secure, but their children’s tenure was uncertain. Today, climate change is so present on our faces that countless citizens of the world are aware of their own prosperity and, perhaps, that their survival is in danger. This awareness has now translated into individual action.
In America and much of the free world, capitalism is the dominant influence on our lives. Its response to the environmental crisis may well determine our future. However, before exploring his current state of consciousness, it might be helpful to review past attempts to make us aware of environmental concerns. Unlike authoritarian societies, a free market for ideas gave us warning some time ago.
As a conscious (awakened) youth in the 60s and 70s, I was warned. This is why this “new†awareness of what we eat, wear, drive, live in and visit echoes it. I’m glad we’re here now, but why didn’t we listen then?
Announcement B
A good place to start might be in 1947, when Adelle Davis wrote Let’s cook it well. She is then the author of several other Let’s do books. In total, they have sold over 10 million copies. She made it clear that America’s diet of processed foods, meat-based meals, and lack of exercise was going to lead us down the path to poor health. Witness our current obesity crisis. His advocacy for local foods, as well as more fruits and vegetables, is reflected in today’s all-vegan meal at $ 700 per couple at Eleven Madison Park.
Another visionary was Frances Moore Lappe whose Diet for a small planet was released in 1971 and has sold over three million copies. Emphasizing that the growing world population could not continue to eat as we were and that food waste was a problem, she urged everyone to eat less, eat more plant-based foods and stop eating them. environmentally destructive cultivation and food processing practices.
Stewart Brand knew something was wrong with the ecology of the planet in 1968. To help balance big business and big business, he published a magazine and later a book, The whole Earth catalog (WEC). In 2005, Steve Jobs recognized the WEC was a major influence in his life. The book promoted local, practical, low-impact ways to live a more authentic life, long before off-grid was a term of everyday use. the the WEC focusing on less consumption and higher, genuine quality products is reflected in thousands of products today.
Global warming from the greenhouse effect, the collapse of the food chain, a dystopian future of the super-rich isolated in fortified towers while the masses bubble in the hot streets? My favorite movie of all time, Soylent Green, released in 1973 and starring Edward G. Robinson, exhibits it all. Based on a 1966 science fiction novel To make room! To make room!, our overloaded power grid, prone to blackouts when temperatures hit 100 degrees, was exactly what author Harry Harrison envisioned over half a century ago. He also predicted the disastrous effects of income inequality and social violence that would result from excess atmospheric CO.2. (Harrison’s vision of “Soylent Green” is so shocking, I won’t spoil it here.)
The visionary of visionaries is undoubtedly James Lovelock, still productive at 101, who formulated the Gaia theory, which was first published in his 1975 article, and later in his book, Gaia’s Quest. Lovelock then understood what a warmer earth meant. He knew the earth would adapt to the warming caused by fossil fuels in ways that were detrimental to humans. He believes that the earth is a living organism that is interconnected in ways that we refuse to understand. Gaia’s theory warns that the upcoming adjustments will be so disruptive that most of us won’t be able to live our lives the way we used to. Lovelock went on to write many other books on this subject and related themes. If you don’t know this scientist, one of the brightest minds of this century, you should be.
What does all this mean for the future of capitalism? As the Clyde Barrow chair and professor of political science at the University of Texas reminds us, “Marx wrote that capitalism would dig its own grave. His short-term focus on quarterly profits leads him to ignore important issues, even those that threaten humanity. “
But now almost everyone knows that there are real threats to the environment that need to be addressed. The way we live our life will be different. There is not a single aspect of our daily actions that does not need to be transformed tomorrow and every day after.
ESG investing is now the norm for investors. Lending capital through equity or debt to industries that harm the planet no longer makes sense. Building a better and greener world by rethinking the way we eat, travel, shelter, dress and consume energy not only gives us hope for a better future, but can and will also create new opportunities. new profitable industries. All you need to know is that Tesla’s market cap is far greater than that of GM, Ford and the old Chrysler brand combined, all over the span of 18 years. Revolutions within capitalism will be rife as wind farms replace oil derricks, organic food vendors replace toxic products, and even craft vendors like Etsy replace commodity retailers like Macy’s. Solar panels will eventually eliminate oil delivery trucks.
Marx recognized that capitalism was incredibly dynamic, even though he doubted its long-term future. We are perhaps in the first part of his observation. The dynamic part. No system wants to shut down on its own; it is human nature to invent solutions to problems.
The reason why we did not issue the first warnings is also a function of human nature. Just as individuals procrastinate, so do societies. Warnings are not issued until disaster strikes their doorstep. As the citizens of Miami, Greece, the western United States and over 20 other places know, what’s on their doorstep today will only get worse tomorrow. We know that the warmed earth brings destruction. Now capitalism 2.0 has arrived and will have to act faster, with much bigger structural changes in our way of life, if it is to survive.
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