The early origins of capitalism began in parts of Europe such as Italy and Germany coinciding with the fall of the feudal system. Capitalism is an economic system based on wage labour, in which the means of production is controlled by private or corporate interests for the purpose of profit, with prices determined largely by competition in a free market. One of the biggest flaws in capitalist thinking, however, is relying on finite resources like fossil fuels to power this system. The cycle of work and consumerism has, as a result, caused irreversible damage to our planet.
Fossil fuels, the main force behind manufacturing goods and produce, are predicted by scientists to run out within the next century. Drilling, processing, and transporting underground oil, gas and coal has been a huge burden on Earth and its ecosystems. An example is strip mining, where land is blasted away to reveal coal or oil, leaving wildlife disrupted or destroyed. Fossil fuels also threaten our waterways, with oil spilling and leaking during extraction, which pollutes ocean animals and water sources. Since 1900, global population and economic activity have skyrocketed alongside fossil fuel consumption. The atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide, the most consequential greenhouse gas, has also increased at the same time, along with the global average temperature. It cannot be denied that fossil fuels are useful for certain sectors, but with the rise of rampant consumerism, harmful methods of quick production are affecting nature at unprecedented levels.
Capitalism thrives by creating a bigger market for its consumers, at the price of the Earth and its resources. The fashion and food industries are two sectors with the most global impact, and have grown almost out of control in the past 100 years. According to Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy documentary on Netflix, 190,000 items of clothing are produced each minute, with 12 tonnes of plastic produced each second. Industries have created such a vast market, with so many options, that the only way to sustain such demand is to have an over-supply of products at any given time. Methods such as advertisement and social media trends, as well as next-day delivery, have meant that it is no longer a hassle to go out and buy something. Therefore, more people are willing to buy unnecessary products because of how accessible they are. Shopping has become a habit – an addiction – with methods like cheap labour enabling those with less money to buy. However, whilst the consumer can make a conscious effort to only buy essentials, it is ultimately in the hands of producers to make a more sustainable effort in production.
The biggest consequence of consumerism is the waste it produces, and the effect this has on the environment. Over two billion metric tons of human-made waste are thrown away every year, and only 62% of this is collected in controlled facilities. These facilities, such as landfill sites, can allow different types of harmful waste to leak into the soil, as well as allowing greenhouse gases to be released into the atmosphere. Microplastics have even been found in the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the ocean, as well as a study by Kahane-Rapport finding that a blue whale ingests 10 million pieces of microplastic per day.
In 2019, it was found that the richest 1% of the population, the people responsible for enforcing capitalism, account for more greenhouse gas emissions than 66% of the rest of humanity. Their lifestyle, which includes the frequent use of heavy carbon-emitting private jets, as well as investment in corporations and significant influence over the political landscape, gives them a great amount of responsibility for the environment. Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, currently has a net worth of around $400 billion. To comprehend this, if you earned $100,000 a day for 2,030 years, you still wouldn’t have a 5th of the amount Musk has. There is no way to be an ethical billionaire. This inconceivable amount of money shared out to charities could end issues such as hunger as well as recovering endangered animals and ecosystems at the risk of extinction. Climate change scientists have calculated that Earth cannot reach above 1.5 Celsius if we do not want irreversible damage, and yet the 1% are predicted to emit more than 22 times the amount of carbon it will take to stay under this in 2030. The carbon emissions from billionaires also cancel out the benefits of 1 million wind turbines every year – to grasp this, it took over 40 years for America to make nearly 80,000 turbines.
Capitalism has brainwashed us to think of nature as a separate being, a necessary sacrifice for upholding our consumerist lifestyle. Our lives are based on an exchange of time for resources that are not essential for survival – pursuing a career based on competition for material gain. We have forgotten we are entirely dependent on nature. Animals, ecosystems, the ocean, and the air, are all crucial for life on Earth. Capitalism, however, thrives on inequality. As long as the poor are kept poor, the rich continue to get richer, climate change cannot be stopped.