Do you think that environmentalism should be anti-capitalist? Humanity at this point is in a global ecological and environmental crisis.

However, it is impossible to explain and try to understand ecological crisis separately from the capitalist system that has led us into it. But what is anti-capitalism, one might ask. To answer this, we must first define what capitalism is. Capitalism drives commerce, it is what creates peoples wants and needs. It is a system that allows oligarchy and puts power and wealth in the hands of a few people in the society. Capitalism, over the years, has been regarded as a system that tries to improve certain aspects of life, such as housing, food, education, health and so forth. The question is: does it really do so? Capitalism is centered in making profits. At first, it was believed to be a system used to better the conditions and comforts of living, and then it became a contest for different merchants, fighting to make the most and get the most consumers. This is where anti-capitalism is introduced, anti-capitalism demands to break this existing cycle that society has been so used to, and find an alternative concept to steer towards a society that abandons the idea of making profit. So how does capitalism fit in the ecological crisis we are facing right now? Simply put, capitalism has pushed us humans into striving for improvement on aspects of human life, without really looking at how those improvements affect the environment. In striving for better technology, products, quality of living, etc., we are also destroying the environment we live in. In doing so, we are constructing a second nature that we should be responsible of. Just think about all the fossil fuel, carbon emission, the drilling of oil in Antarctica, the loss of almost 80% of forestry all over the world in just a little under 30 years, the over exploited fish stocks, the extinction of various species, climate change and global warming thats already well on their way. There are other ways to improve the living conditions of humans, other alternatives, such as renewable energy is an option. So why dont political figures talk about this? Why is it not an issue that is often discussed? Well, I guess we can all say that because talking about it and tackling the issue would result to big business people and companies losing millions, even billions. It makes perfect sense that this is not an issue that is being touched, even if it concerns every living being, because business people losing money means politicians and machines behind governments are going to lose financial support and endorsement. Is environmental degradation really worth to pay this price for a couple of millions that only 1% of the entire human race gets? In Bookchins account of social ecology, he brilliantly explained why we should prioritize economic conflicts in our time as the result of capitalist production schemes, resulting in further damage to the environment. All this to say, is yes, I think that environmentalism
Jessica Lisa Rosimo 6633110 Phil 236, M. Fritsch

should be anti-capitalist. To some extent, I feel like it already is, just not that explicitly anticapitalist yet. But in order to construct a better second nature, and save whats left of the environment, environmentalism should be anti-capitalist.

Jessica Lisa Rosimo 6633110 Phil 236, M. Fritsch