The ever alarming environmental issues at hand will continue to escalate as long as capitalism is in place, as the demand for constant growth and increased consumption and profits is an intrinsic cog in the capitalist machinery. As long as the pursuit of profit is the core of the economic system future ecological disasters await. This situation arises not only from a malice or ignorance of this or that part of the elite, but as implied from the fundamental laws of capitalism. The goal of the production in capitalism is not based on actual and physical requirements, but market values – goods must be sold regardless of the consequences for humanity, nature and the planet in order to make profits.
Human activity has always had an impact on nature, but since its first days, capitalism has shown a contempt for nature, matched by its contempt for the people who have worked in its factories, mines and fields. Industrial cities in Britain in the 1800s were drowned by dirt and pollution, which undermined the health of the population as a whole and especially the working class. More recently Stalinism transformed large parts of Russia into a dumping place, and in today’s China the poisoning of rivers and land is vast. In only 100 years we have managed to destroy the ecological system of earth in the name of “free market” capitalism. It is clear that we need a radical shift in society very soon as we already are in an ecological disaster. 60% (16 of 24) of the earth's vital ecosystem services (the benefits provided by ecosystems. These include provisioning services such as food, water, timber, fiber, and genetic resources; regulating services such as the regulation of climate, floods, disease, and water quality as well as waste treatment; and supporting services such as soil formation, pollination, and nutrient cycling) are at the limit of their capacity, and most of them with declining ability. Over 90% of the biomass of the oceans is gone because of the oversized, high-tech fishing fleets, and currently more forest is cleared than what is re-created.
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the international Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) are making big money on “green-washing” corporations and handing out certificates to companies that are supposed to be “environmental friendly”. The increasing demand for the so-called “green fuel” in the western world send the remaining rain forests of South-east Asia up in smoke at an ever faster pace. Once the land has been cleared by fires, oil palm plantations are planted. Since oil palms are trees which carry out photosynthesis and which store carbon dioxide, they are classed as “climate neutral” and can be traded as carbon sinks under the Kyoto Protocol. The rain forests of Latin America are mainly pushed aside by soy plantations for the meat industry. The whole “green” and “bio” movement is clearly nothing but a capitalist marketing trick that we gladly swallow without any questions. The production of palm oil is in fact a major environmental disaster that is the basis for the pillaging of natural environments that undermines biodiversity – oil palm plantations support very low levels of biodiversity, meaning most of the plants and animals once found in the rain forest must either move or perish. Furthermore, the working conditions at these plantations are quite horrible with extremely low wages and unsafe working conditions where the workers are forced to work with lethal pesticides without any protection.
The deforestation leads to natural catastrophes as the forest more than often act as a natural protection net against storms, cyclones and water masses. This is also something the corporations and the whole capitalist machinery gain on because: disasters equals rising profits. When an area is struck by disasters, such as in Sri Lanka and Thailand after the tsunami, the corporations rush to the disaster area like hungry sharks.
Profits and competition is what drives capitalism and its consequences now threaten the world. In contrast, capitalism is presented by its defenders as something that is based on human needs, and argues that it responds to the "consumer demand" for life’s necessities and luxuries, and points to improvements in income and quality of life reached only by a minority of the world.
The trading of the earth as the physical platform we are birthed from and sustained by for mental based desires fueled by the consumerism system has to stop. The consumerism apparatus brainwash us with the idea to never be satisfied and always chase after new products that fool-fill our mental desires. An Equal Money System will show ecological consideration within ending the disastrous and unceasing pursuit for profit and the whole consumerism brainwashing apparatus and acknowledge the physical reality as the essential life-line and “god” to honor. To solve the major environmental problems – the cleaning up of areas that are destroyed by oil spills and the oceans that are suffocated by plastic waste for instance, a suitable and centralized administration that has no interest other than what is best for the collective is required.
