The first and foremost ecological truth of capitalism

The first and foremost ‘ecological truth’ of capitalism is that it is destructive to
the environment. One needs to simply look at fossil fuels and the ramifications it has had
on climate change to see the inherently destructive nature of capitalism. The economic system
is liable to fail unless wealthy individuals and corporations acknowledge that the very same
planet that they and everybody else lives on is gradually deteriorating and is bound to be left
unhibatable sooner or later due to their greedy, capitalist profit-maximization machinations. Not
only is capitalism's destruction of the environment an inherently awful thing, but it also has
severe effects on the economy and industry. For example, the World Health Organization and the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development estimated that the economic cost of
premature death and disability from air pollution, a major environmental issue that has arisen
from capitalism, in Europe is close to USD 1.6 trillion. Environmental damage has consequences
on the economy in multiple ways: it costs human lives, it reduces productivity, it affects vital
industries like the fishing and agricultural industry, it reduces the ability of ecosystems to

perform the functions societies need, and it costs money in remediation or restoration. All of
these issues can be traced back to the ecological damage capitalism has on our environment. And
the reason as to why this has happened is because the classical liberal economic principles of
capitalism allow wealthy individuals and corporations damage the environment despite the
economic ramifications of doing so. In pursuit of their self-interests, which is predominantly to
maximize profit and amass the most capital possible, they can do nearly anything; such as
destroying the environment despite the future economic costs. This is otherwise known as the
classical liberal economic principle of economic freedom, in which these wealthy individuals
and corporations behave however they want in the economic sphere despite the fact that their
actions are having severe repercussions on the future environment and economy.
The second ‘ecological truth’ of capitalism that must be acknowledged is that the
economic system is not sustainable. To function properly, capitalism is contingent on continuous
growth. This is because production is reliant on consumption. Capitalism does not function
without consumption, as the latter creates more demand for production, and in turn, more
opportunities for profit-maximization for wealthy individuals and corporations. Therefore,
consumption is embedded in the core tenets of capitalism, and by extension, classical liberal
economics as well. The higher the consumption, the higher the production. And the higher the
production, the higher the sales, and with higher sales, higher profits are generated much to the
delight of wealthy individuals and corporations. The sustainability issues of capitalism and all
that the economic system entails (production, consumption, classical liberal economic principles,
etc.) arise from the fact we live in a finite planet with limited ecological and natural resources.