nvm
31st May 2008, 01:16
Despite appearances, the Kyoto conference is but a feeble facade of our leaders where they can carefully avoid any discussion or debate about the real nature of the ecological crisis: the global system of capitalism. Clearly then, Kyoto is not attacking the root of the environmental problem. Its objectives and platform are inadequate and propose no change that will be durable in the long run.
The capitalist system is based on the dogma of continuous growth and profit maximization. Within this framework the best way for capitalists to achieve these objectives is to pitilessly exploit our natural resources. The owners of the means of production have never hesitated and will never hesitate to pillage the environment, and to use the earth's resources as cannon fodder for their destructive profit. They have no interest in preserving these resources, as this would challenge their sacrosanct necessity of maximizing profit and furthering capitalist growth.
We have tried with utmost effort to put environmental constraints on capitalism, but these will always have the natural tendency to undo themselves. We have seen it clearly; despite the efforts of a lot of people to control the environmental situation, it has only gotten exponentially worse. The multiple summits and protocols such as Kyoto are only a drop of water in the ocean of capitalist pollution.
Currently, the capitalist tendency towards the globalization of markets drastically amplifies this destruction. The pollution caused by long distance transport of merchandise is growing considerably, due to the decentralization of the industries. Multinational corporations can freely establish themselves in the “Third World” where environmental regulations are almost non-existent, where they can kill two birds with one stone, by not having to respect “costly” environmental constraints while having access to unlimited pools of cheap labor . These are but a few examples of this phenomenon.
In light of this, it appears essential that we wage our environmental fight within a broader perspective and include within it, political and economic analysis of the questions we seek to address, especially since environmental groups have traditionally failed to do this adequately, if at all. From our perspective, it is impossible to solve environmental problems without attacking the tyrannical power of capitalism that is the principal cause and agent of these problems.
The doublespeak that is transmitted by the dominant ideology linking ecology with capitalism cannot improve things. Accords like Kyoto cannot save us from the miserable fate that capitalism has in store for our planet.
In a society driven by profit, the environment and its protection inevitably becomes just another obstacle for the big multinationals and the owners of the means of production in general . So we cannot expect from them and their accomplices, the Conservatives and the Liberals to put an end in this destruction. It is the task of the workers to create a society, with a democratically planned economy whose principal task is the satisfaction of human needs, with all respects to our environment. Only socialism can bring the salvation of the environment from the destructive force of capitalism.
by Dimitri Sideris
The capitalist system is based on the dogma of continuous growth and profit maximization. Within this framework the best way for capitalists to achieve these objectives is to pitilessly exploit our natural resources. The owners of the means of production have never hesitated and will never hesitate to pillage the environment, and to use the earth's resources as cannon fodder for their destructive profit. They have no interest in preserving these resources, as this would challenge their sacrosanct necessity of maximizing profit and furthering capitalist growth.
We have tried with utmost effort to put environmental constraints on capitalism, but these will always have the natural tendency to undo themselves. We have seen it clearly; despite the efforts of a lot of people to control the environmental situation, it has only gotten exponentially worse. The multiple summits and protocols such as Kyoto are only a drop of water in the ocean of capitalist pollution.
Currently, the capitalist tendency towards the globalization of markets drastically amplifies this destruction. The pollution caused by long distance transport of merchandise is growing considerably, due to the decentralization of the industries. Multinational corporations can freely establish themselves in the “Third World” where environmental regulations are almost non-existent, where they can kill two birds with one stone, by not having to respect “costly” environmental constraints while having access to unlimited pools of cheap labor . These are but a few examples of this phenomenon.
In light of this, it appears essential that we wage our environmental fight within a broader perspective and include within it, political and economic analysis of the questions we seek to address, especially since environmental groups have traditionally failed to do this adequately, if at all. From our perspective, it is impossible to solve environmental problems without attacking the tyrannical power of capitalism that is the principal cause and agent of these problems.
The doublespeak that is transmitted by the dominant ideology linking ecology with capitalism cannot improve things. Accords like Kyoto cannot save us from the miserable fate that capitalism has in store for our planet.
In a society driven by profit, the environment and its protection inevitably becomes just another obstacle for the big multinationals and the owners of the means of production in general . So we cannot expect from them and their accomplices, the Conservatives and the Liberals to put an end in this destruction. It is the task of the workers to create a society, with a democratically planned economy whose principal task is the satisfaction of human needs, with all respects to our environment. Only socialism can bring the salvation of the environment from the destructive force of capitalism.
by Dimitri Sideris