Guest essay by Eric Worrall
h/t Dr. Willie Soon; Guardian contributor George Monbiot insists we must ditch Capitalism to save the world from climate change, but he doesn’t like any of the alternative economic systems.
Dare to declare capitalism dead – before it takes us all down with it
George Monbiot
Thu 25 Apr 2019 15.00 AESTThe economic system is incompatible with the survival of life on Earth. It is time to design a new one
For most of my adult life I’ve railed against “corporate capitalism”, “consumer capitalism” and “crony capitalism”. It took me a long time to see that the problem is not the adjective but the noun. While some people have rejected capitalism gladly and swiftly, I’ve done so slowly and reluctantly. Part of the reason was that I could see no clear alternative: unlike some anti-capitalists, I have never been an enthusiast for state communism. I was also inhibited by its religious status. To say “capitalism is failing” in the 21st century is like saying “God is dead” in the 19th: it is secular blasphemy. It requires a degree of self-confidence I did not possess.
But as I’ve grown older, I’ve come to recognise two things. First, that it is the system, rather than any variant of the system, that drives us inexorably towards disaster. Second, that you do not have to produce a definitive alternative to say that capitalism is failing. The statement stands in its own right. But it also demands another, and different, effort to develop a new system.
Capitalism’s failures arise from two of its defining elements. The first is perpetual growth. Economic growth is the aggregate effect of the quest to accumulate capital and extract profit. Capitalism collapses without growth, yet perpetual growth on a finite planet leads inexorably to environmental calamity.
…
This drives us towards cataclysm on such a scale that most people have no means of imagining it. The threatened collapse of our life-support systems is bigger by far than war, famine, pestilence or economic crisis, though it is likely to incorporate all four. Societies can recover from these apocalyptic events, but not from the loss of soil, an abundant biosphere and a habitable climate.
…
So what does a better system look like? I don’t have a complete answer, and I don’t believe any one person does. But I think I see a rough framework emerging. Part of it is provided by the ecological civilisation proposed by Jeremy Lent, one of the greatest thinkers of our age. Other elements come from Kate Raworth’s doughnut economics and the environmental thinking of Naomi Klein, Amitav Ghosh, Angaangaq Angakkorsuaq, Raj Patel and Bill McKibben. Part of the answer lies in the notion of “private sufficiency, public luxury”. Another part arises from the creation of a new conception of justice based on this simple principle: every generation, everywhere, shall have an equal right to the enjoyment of natural wealth.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/apr/25/capitalism-economic-system-survival-earth
Monbiot’s reference to top soil for some reason reminded me of my favourite scene out of the movie “Under Siege“, in which the antagonist who has hijacked a nuclear warship is trying to convince the authorities that he is crazy, by making wild claims about topsoil and other fringe eco themes;
Update (EW): The Guardian has published responses from readers to Monbiot’s article.
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“Monbiot shows his commitment to recycling by submitting the same rubbish article he’s been writing for the last fifteen years.”
https://twitter.com/cjsnowdon/status/1121545855859875847?s=19
Confucius answered Moonbat’s question 2500 years ago:
“Better a diamond with flaws than a pebble without.”
“Societies can recover from these apocalyptic events, but not from the loss of soil”
Wrong. Soil is not a naturally occurring substance. Farm land is created. It is a process that takes years. Land that is potentially usable for crops must be enclosed, cleared, drained, tilled, worked with vegetable and animal matter, amended, fertilized, irrigated, and plowed, and planted. Crops must be rotated, and continuous work and attention must be applied.
The alternative is slash and burn (swidden) agriculture. Farmers must move every few years in that type of system and it is not capable of sustaining large populations.
It is possible to abuse and destroy the investments of previous generations. But, American farmers have proven by their ever increasing productivity that high level agriculture productivity are possible over long time horizons.
Further, even land that has been abused to the point of desertification can be redeemed and be productive again. That is what Israel has famously done.
To your last point, Oklahoma as well, in the recovery from the ‘dust bowl’.
I need to add that it was for George Monbiot that the term moonbat was coined.
Have you ever noticed that politicians and pundits on the left almost never make anything better?
Excerpt of the Monbiot quote given in the above article: “Capitalism collapses without growth . . .”
Really, George? You got any evidence to go with that sophomoric, unsubstantiated statement?
As some evidence of the falsehood of that claim, I offer you the facts that capitalism in the US survived, WITHOUT COLLAPSING, the Great Depression and the Great Recession, each lasting about a decade.
Separate from those facts, capitalism survived World War I and World War II . . . periods one would not associate with continued economic growth . . . in the US and other world countries using this economic system during these times. Of course, the two alternative economic systems, communism and socialism, did not fare so well during these periods.
“communism and socialism, did not fare so well during these periods”
There is no period during which communism and socialism have fared well.
It is interesting to watch how income inequality and other problems which as all caused by limited resources, are conflated to political and economic organization like democracy and capitalism. Regardless of the political system and economic system, there are no infinite resources.
Income inequality is caused by a disparity in skills and drive.
No matter how much stuff there is, there will always be people who either work harder, work smarter, or both.
These people will always succeed, unless the government imposes a system that doesn’t allow anyone to succeed.
It is interesting to watch how income inequality and other problems which as all caused by limited resources
Unless the resources you are talking about is skills and abilities, then nope. Imagine a genie gave you one wish and you wished the worlds wealth to be evenly divided among the worlds population. Once the genie granted your wish, inequality would immediately vanish. for all of a few seconds. almost immediately inequality would begin again. as some individuals would use their skills, abilities, and ambitions to better their lot/increase their wealth while others would sit on their laurels (lacking useful skills and the ambition to gain such skills) and fritter away their wealth. In less than a generation, inequality would be significant again.
Monbiot is a liberal without critical facility, but with the ability to articulate anything that comes into his head.
Capitalism started a very long time ago when our ancestors moved beyond having a rock as a hand axe to chipping a blade. Then he made a spear out of it and then made it more effective with a special spear thrower. The came the bow and arrow.
Increased productivity.
Then came agriculture.
Etcetera.
There are many fantastical imaginary worlds – Middle Earth, the Marvel Universe, Westeros, etc. But none of them are as far removed from the reality of the actual physical universe we inhabit as the one George Monbiot so passionately believes in. A padded room is the most suitable accommodation for one so utterly deluded
Leftists insanely think everyone has a “right” to equal outcomes, which is achieved though theft from from those who are hard working, virtuous and productive and handed out to those who are lazy, unethical and unproductive, only after the ruling class keeps 50% of the stolen funds as their vig…
Sure, for a time, some immoral people can survive under such tyranny, but eventually the ruling class runs out of people to steal from and the whole system collapses..
Capitalism is the most moral and ethical economic system as it is solely based on two parties cooperating together to reach a mutually beneficial agreement without coercion or the initiation of force.
The sole role of the government is simply to protect individuals’ natural rights to life, freedom from government oppression (aka liberty), and property (both physical and intellectual).
+100
Unfortunately peddling lies and snake oil to the poor and disadvantaged is what the left does.
So Saint Monbiot defends Austerity… I am also seeing him starting a Temperance Movement…
I have the patriotic duty to point out that however much of a w*nkstain Mr Monbiot is he has never confused a 1960 anti-Nazi showtune written by two Jewish guys with the Horst Wessel Leid….
I’ve heard that referenced before, who did confuse the two?
That would be NYT White House correspondent and CNN analyst Maggie Haberman… :
https://twitter.com/maggienyt/status/1118886051962134528
Winner of this months “Why is our circulation shrinking” award…
Loss of soil is straight out of the Tim Flannery play book. Neither Flannery nor Monibot know their James Hutton. It was the ‘”problem of the soil” that led Hutton to discover “deep time” and contribute to the founding of geology as a science in its own right.
The COGS desire to return the world to the dark ages (literally) remains a puzzle. People like Monbiot, Caroline Lucas, AOC and GT, etc, all share a vivid imagination that lacks any reality.
I would pay to send George or Caroline Lucas to stay in a Venezuelan slum for a year. Venezuela would be the choice, because it has all the energy available it would ever need, but the socialist regime there, refuses to allow its production. That is exactly what Lucas and Monbiot and other Green Socialists are demanding, “leave the energy in the ground”.
Let us see how they feel about their Green Socialist ideas, after that year without energy or even toilet paper.
Of course it would enable him to explore “peak soil” as he occasionally squats there, contemplating life.
No, no. Not the Venezuelan slums. They have some facilities, even if it means having to haul their drinking water from a truck to their squat.
The people you mention should be required to spend a minimum of a year in a rainforest jungle like the Amazon or the parts of Borneo that are still like that, with no supplies of any kind.
I doubt that they will last even two days.
That’s 3 Guardian linked articles in 2 days… it really has got under your skin… look: just stop reading it!
Not inform yourself of the enemies plans, and not impede them. No that would be ignorant and careless.
griff believes that ignorance is bliss. It’s the motto that he lives by.
griff must be the most blissful person on earth by now.
Moonbat is embarrassing, isn’t he. He lets the crazy cat out of the bag for everyone to gag at.
griff is still upset that we are ridiculing his paymasters.
+1
His paymaster aren’t getting their moneys worth so they deserve to be ridiculed just for that alone.
He doesn’t yet have an alternative yet but I’ll bet I can guess who he has in mind for being in charge.
In Britain, it is almost compulsory to read the Guardian in school staff rooms and university lecturers offices!
The BBC famously orders many copies of it each day for staff to keep up to date!!
This from a guy who wants to deplete our atmospheric CO2.
I do not read the Guardian, and have even avoided the Telegraph since it turned all “girly” (in order to attract the lucrative female advertising revenue presumably) so I did not know much about Monbiot until I turned to Wiki.
Apart from his obsession with climate change I actually found much to like and even admire .
His books on the exploitation of indigenous peoples in Indonesia , Africa and Amazonia must surely deserve respect even if you don’t fully agree with the anti- capitalist conclusions.
There is some similarity to the case of David Attenborough , a much liked and respected figure until the topic of climate change changed his personality completely ( see the note in Paul Homewood’s site
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2019/04/27/sending-food-to-famine-ridden-countries-is-barmy-attenborough/#comments )
The topic or subject of AGW or climate change is like a brain rotting disease that is removing from us our best and most admired people.
Nonsense. Paleologists who study soil layers have told us that during warm periods, soils increase. It is cold periods that decrease soil layers. So plant baby plant!
“Another part arises from the creation of a new conception of justice based on this simple principle: every generation, everywhere, shall have an equal right to the enjoyment of natural wealth.”
Send the guy our Declaration of Independence. But highlight the part that says, “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, That they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”
Just in case he hasn’t read it.
The problem with the notion that future generations have a right to the resources available today is that since there are an infinite number of possible future generations, that’s a recipe for never developing anything. Ever.
We are rich because our ancestors ignored morons like Moonbat and utilized the resources available to them to create that wealth.
Our descendants will be wealthier because we continued that wealth creating trend.
Using the wealth that we leave to them, they will have the resources to solve the problems of their day.
Leaving wealth is a side issue. I have taught my children, with some success but not entirely, that their life, liberty, and happiness is theirs to make or squander. But more importantly, they must be willing to defend the individual right to pursue it free from governmental heavy handed control. If we lose the individual right to pursue, we lose the individual result to have.
The problem with the notion that future generations have a right to the resources available today is that since there are an infinite number of possible future generations, that’s a recipe for never developing anything. Ever.
It’s worse than that. Even is there was only a single possible generational path, if we can’t use the resources because they need to be saved for the future generations, then the next generation can’t use the resources because they need to be saved for future generations, then the generation after that can’t use the resources and so on… Meaning no generation is ever allowed to use the resources because there’s always a “future generation” to consider. That’s a recipe for a stagnating, never progressing society. Had our ancestors followed that idea, we’d never have left the caves/trees/whatever natural habitat we came from. There would be no plumbing, no heating, no AC, no literature, no TV, no houses, no cars, no computers, no iPhones, etc. we’d be subsistence living hunter/gathers living short brutal lives no different than any of the other animals we’d be competing with for our food. We’d be prey as much as we would be predator.
Poor George. Increases in productivity drive wage increases, standard of living gains and growth. You can easily have fewer people working and still have economic growth.
Free capitalist societies are well positioned to deal with problems that inevitably arise.
God knows what he’s talking about in regard to top soil.
Capitalism is merely a natural law, similar to the thermodynamic laws whereby low grade wealth(energy) is harvested from stored resources(lowgrade energy) and utilised for benefit.
The harvesting requires the use of energy to upgrade this energy to usefulness as with the second law of thermodynamics; hence the agricultural scene in subsistence farming. So too with manufacturing both requiring that the harvesting wealth(energy) must be less than the useful energy won. Ie: the profit, without which it fails. (starvation at the subsistence level)
How the won energy(wealth) is distributed is NOTHING to do with capitalism. That is a matter of politics. ALL left wing attempts to replace capitalism HAVE to rely on it to provide the wealth(energy) to feed their aspirations.
It is a sad fact that the sins of humanity are being placed upon this innocent natural law; usually, IMHO, by the left wing which carries a great deal of the sin itself, in its aim of world state domination of the means of wealth creation.
The current attack on fossil fuels is a good example of the strategy. BEWARE the sins of the left wing😲😲😲😲. There are enough sins on the right to keep us busy.
Monbiot: Capitalist Climate Change will Kill Us by Irrecoverably Depleting Topsoil
___________________________________________________
Every archeological site has to get excavated, UNEARTHED :
https://images.app.goo.gl/kUFPcTK6ASpkpFHq6
The planet BUILDS UP TOPSOIL from outer solar dust, in ~2500 years by > 10, 12 meters.
Those Monbiots are just shrill stupid that must hurt all day long.
Yeah that’s why this building
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erechtheion
was excavated rencently by young Greeks in a program to reduce unemployment.
(Sarcasm off)
In case “shrill stupidy hurts all day long”, you must be on opioids.
MFKB, young Greeks today are mostly academics.
Anyway they don’t need your uninformed ‘sarkasm’.
https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=2QrGXPmgDJDrrgTPnb2wBg&q=greek+chrysi+avgi&oq=&gs_l=mobile-gws-wiz-hp.
The embankments of these Celtic-Roman roads were covered by falling dust over the millennia.
to the actual carts tracks on the original stone streets one would have to dig more than 6, 8 meters.
https://images.app.goo.gl/YDvtd9PNE9ADU9US7
https://images.app.goo.gl/D67SFF2F7Ny6WhCD9