Philosophy and the Environment

Running Head: Philosophy and the Environment
Philosophy and the Environment: Is Sustainable Capitalism Possible?
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Table of contents
Introduction ………………………………………………… 3
Is Sustainable Capitalism Possible? ……………………….. 4
Sustainable Capitalism Cannot Be Achieved ……………… 6
Sustainable Capitalism Is Achievable ……………………... 7
Conclusion …………………………………………………. 10
References …………………………………………………. 12
Philosophy and the Environment
Introduction
Mike Davis`s Planet of Slums and John Foster`s The Vulnerable Planet have discussed the ecological problems relating to the capitalism. This report evaluates the chances of having a sustainable capitalism based on arguments brought about by these two authors as they describe the relationship between the ecological crises and capitalism. Many efforts made are by environmentalist that demand regulation of the capitalist economy but little has been achieved due to conflict of interests. As a result, the ecological problems continue to thrive in the economy.
Davis argues that the increased capital accumulation in the capitalism has resulted to increased poverty among the slum dwellers while the wealthy few have continued to dominate the poor. He puts it across that in the developed countries, the slum dwellers are the minorities in the cities while the slum dwellers in the less developed countries dominate in the cities. Davis notes "neoliberal capitalism since 1970 has multiplied Dickens's notorious slum of Tom-all-Alone's in Bleak House by exponential powers. Residents of slums, while only 6% of the city population of the developed countries, constitute a staggering 78.2% of urbanites in the least-developed countries" (Davis, 2007, p. 23). Davie further argues that the majority of the world population live in poverty. This due to the fact that the majority of the world`s population lives in the developing economies that are characterized by high birth rate compared to the developed countries.
Davies argues that, in the future, there will be more residents living in cities than in the countryside. The city lifestyle is characterized by decayed moral fiber, poor living conditions, and illiteracy. A capitalistic economy results to urban sprawl. The problems in the cities are attributed to capitalism. This because of the "neoliberal restructuring of Third World urban economies that has occurred since the late 1970s" (ibid 147). This involves people preferring to live in suburbs while working in the towns. This is caused by the fact that in the suburbs, the houses are more spacious and live is calm compared to living in the town centers that are mostly congested.
In the book The Vulnerable Planet, the author, John Foster makes efforts to explain the relationship between environment, politics, and the economy. Foster reveals that the environmental destruction has been an ongoing process since time immemorial. He argues that the relationship between the corporate world and the environment has been problematic. Though scientific strategies have been employed by economies since World War II, efforts to achieve sustainable capitalism has not yielded any fruits. This has been attributed by the nature of the capitalism economy that dominates the world.
Foster blames the problems in the environment on the economic and social problems rather than on industrialization. He displays that prior to industrialization, communities used environmentally unfriendly mechanisms of production in order to produce surplus. "The history of pre-capitalist and pre-industrialist societies is thus full of examples of social collapse brought on by environmental degradations" (Foster, 1999, p. 36). In efforts to make profit from any profit making activity, the environment sustainability is ignored. Thus, everything in the environment is turned into unlimited raw material that must be processed to make profits. Even if, one capitalist does not utilize the unlimited raw material, competitors will. As a result, the ecosystem problems have been increasing year after year due to unlimited exploitation.
Foster proposes a link between poverty and capitalism and a necessity for the survival of the capitalism. In efforts to link capitalism to the ecological problems, he uses Commoners four casual laws that revolve around money, wastes, markets, and capitalism.
Is Sustainable Capitalism Possible? By O`Conner
This book Is Sustainable Capitalism Possible? By O`Conner, is a diverse perspective on the issues of sustainable capitalism. The arguments brought about by O`Conner bring about the literature of economy of the ecology. This is because sustainable capitalism has been taken over by the need by the corporate firms to make unlimited profits. The main theme for this paper is addressing whether capitalism is sustainable given its negative impact on the environment. More so, the book also addresses the biological and the physical needs that are essential for human development in capitalism economy.
The book addresses the issue on whether there can be capitalism without any destruction on the environment. O`Conner argues that sustainable development can only be achieved through radical, green movements organized at the grassroots. Through those movements, the destructive nature of the European political and economic systems that are characterized by numerous negatives externalities. Negative externalities are the consequences that do not cost the producer in monetary terms but affect the living standards of the community negatively, an example is disposing wastes into the drainage system. These systems have resulted to free global markets that are characterized by inequalities and injustices. O`Conner argues the need for the, ecofeminists, ecoMarxist idnegenous people, and ecosocialogists need to revolt against capitalism. The practical and theoretical problems need to be developed in order to counter these real problems on mother earth that are attributed to capitalism.
The economies do not exist as autonomous; it must coexist with other spheres in the world. Features such as the gender, government legal framework, and environment among others influence all the spheres. Sustainable economics plays a pivotal role in ensuring that there a balance of all the factors within the ecosystem. The traditional economics of capitalism must be done away with and be replaced with democratic capitalism. Through the democratic capitalism, there shall be neither injustices nor inequalities. This solves the ecosystem crisis since it focuses on the impact of the economic development on the environment. In so doing, democratic capitalism makes certain the ecosystem is not injured. Democratic capitalism will ensure that there is sustainable capitalism achieved after a fair play between the democracy, capitalism and ecosystem.
Sustainable Capitalism Cannot Be Achieved
Economics tries to explain the manner in which the human beings interact with the environment. This strives to produce some goods required by human beings. As man interacts with the environment, the environmental problems arise. The problems that arise in the environment occur due to mismanagement of the environmental resources by man. The mismanagement of the environment is closely linked to capitalistic economies.
Increase in human activities negatively affects the ecosystem. The ecosystem is being degraded with increased green gas emission, and some species of animals required for a balanced ecosystem have become extinct. This is because capitalism economy focuses on private ownership of property. This is characterized exploiting the poor by the few rich through unethical management of resources. Among the resources exploited as the rich make efforts to become richer is the ecosystem. The unethical practices of capitalism include low wages, externalizing costs such as pollution and waste disposal and use of cheapest resources. Some of these conseque...