[mobglob-discuss] (en) Slingshot #75 Grow or Die: The Death of the Earth by Capitalism - Squirrel (fwd)... (fwd)

Mon Jul 1 01:22:23 PDT 2002

Subscribers,  A couple of us on this list talked "anarchy" out there on the
road to Kananaskis last week, and well, at this moment I can't remember who
was in the dialog...maybe a Jil and Chris if i'm not mistaken, but whoever..
this particular post from "Slingshot" in San Francisco brought to mind the
"anarchy" discussion and thought was worthwhile to pass on as a forward.  We
need to think of these things as the systems of governance go haywire on us
and our world falls apart..   Regards,  -tc 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  ---- Forwarded message: ----
From: Worker <a-infos-en at ainfos.ca>(http://slingshot.tao.ca/)
To: <a-infos-en at ainfos.ca>
Subject: (en) Slingshot #75 Grow or Die: The Death of the Earth by
                 Capitalism -  Squirrel

Date: Mon,  1 Jul 2002 02:08:05 -0400 (EDT)

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      A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
            http://www.ainfos.ca/
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Capitalism and a healthy environment cannot coexist together
because of the economic theory behind capitalism and it is
consistent need for new frontiers of exploitation.

Environmental damage has reached alarming proportions.
Almost daily there are new upwardly revised estimates of the
severity of global warming, ozone destruction, topsoil loss,
oxygen depletion from the clearing of rainforests, acid rain,
dioxins in our body, pesticides residues in our food and water,
the accelerating extinction rate of natural species, and so on.
Or, as Kirkpatrick Sales puts it, ?the planet is on the road to
and perhaps on the verge of global ecocide?.

So how have we reached this point of almost ecological
disaster? Many anarchists view the ecological crisis as rooted
in the psychology of domination that emerged with the rise of
patriarchy. Over time as these institutions took form and
social domination became commonplace, these ideals were
carried over into humanity?s role with Nature. The patriarchal
belief system places higher value on linear, mechanistic,
analytical, and rational qualities. Under patriarchy the
intuitive, emotional, anarchic, and earthy are negatively
perceived as passive, weak and irrational within patriarchy.
Within the realms of this definition, nature became
increasingly regarded as a mere resource, an object exploited
and ruthlessly enslaved.

Capitalism is the vehicle through which this psychology of
domination finds its most ecologically destructive outlet.
Capitalism causes the wasteful use of energy and material far
beyond that needed for everyday living at a comfortable level.
When one adds up all the raw materials and energy that go into
the goods and services consumed over a lifetime, the toll on
the environment is staggering. When this cost is multiplied out
over the lifespan of families, cities and countries, the
proportions are incredible.

An example of wasted natural resources are the 200 Billion
cans, bottles, plastic cartons and paper cups, are thrown away
each year in the "developed" world. Corporate production
focuses on "disposable" items rather than on quality or
reliability, products are made for a one-time use because it
ensures greater profits.

Many eco-anarchists give the highest priority to dismantling
capitalism. Bookchin states that capitalism ?in its endless
devouring of nature will reduce the entire biosphere to the
fragile simplicity of our desert and arctic biomes. We will be
reversing the process of organic evolution, which has
differentiated flora and fauna into increasingly complex forms
and relationships, thereby creating a simpler and less stable
world of life. The consequences of this appalling regression are
predictable enough in the long run -- the biosphere will become
so fragile that it will eventually collapse from the standpoint
human survival needs and remove the organic preconditions
for human life.?

Capitalism must be eliminated because it cannot reform itself
to become ?environmentally friendly?, despite what many
green individuals believe. One might more easily persuade a
green plant to desist from photosynthesis than to ask the
bourgeois economy to desist from capital accumulation.

Industrial production has increased fifty fold since 1950. Since
capitalist corporations must continuously grow and expand, it
can only mean disastrous consequences in a finite
environment. Therefore, it is not practical to look for a
solution to the ecological dilemma within the workings of
capitalism, because ?grow or die? is inherent in its nature.

What is the principle of grow or die?

Capitalism is based on production for profit. In order to stay
profitable, a firm must be able to produce goods and services
cheaply enough to compete with other firms in the same
industry. If one firm increases its productivity (as all firms
must try to do), it will be able to produce more cheaply, thus
undercutting its competition and gaining more market share,
until eventually it forces less lucrative firms into bankruptcy.
Moreover, as companies with higher productivity/profitability
expand, they often realize economies of scale (e.g. getting bulk
rates on larger quantities of raw materials), thus giving them
even more of a competitive advantage over less
productive/profitable enterprises. Hence, constantly increasing
productivity is essential for capitalist survival.

There are two ways to increase productivity, either by
increasing the exploitation of workers (e.g. longer hours and/or
more intense work for the same amount of pay) or by
introducing new technologies that reduce the amount of labor
necessary to produce the same product or service. Due to the
struggle of workers to prevent increases in the level of their
exploitation, new technologies are the main way that
productivity is increased under capitalism (though of course
capitalists are always looking for ways to increase the
exploitation of workers on a given technology by other means
as well).

But new technologies are expensive, which means that in order
to pay for continuous upgrades, a firm must continually sell
more of what it produces, and so must keep expanding its
capital (machinery, floor space, workers, etc.). Indeed, to stay
in the same place under capitalism is to tempt crisis - thus a
firm must always strive for more profits and thus must always
expand and invest. In other words, in order to survive, a firm
must constantly expand and upgrade its capital and production
levels so it can sell enough to keep expanding and upgrading its
capital -- i.e. "grow or die," or "production for the sake of
production."

Thus, it is impossible in principle for capitalism to solve the
ecological crisis, because "grow or die" is inherent in its nature.

As long as capitalism exists, it will necessarily continue its
"endless devouring of nature," until it removes the "organic
preconditions for human life." We do not have to wait until
after the revolution to save the earth. Saving the earth is the
revolution.

Good Books to Read:
Morris, Brian. Ecology and Anarchism: , Images Publishing
(Malvern) Ltd, Malvern Wells, 1996.
Bookchin, Murray, Toward an Ecological Society, Black Rose,
Montreal, 1980.
The Ecology of Freedom: The Emergence and Dissolution of
Hierarchy, Cheshire Books, Palo Alto, California, 1982.
Which Way for the Ecology Movement? AK Press,
Edinburgh/San Francisco, 1994.
The Philosophy of Social Ecology, Black Rose Books,
Montreal/New York, 1990.

     slingshot at tao.ca

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