Like everyone in my generation, I am finding it increasingly difficult not to be scared about the future and angry about the past!
The word economy comes from the Greek words οίκος — “household” and νέμoμαι — “manage”. It has developed with mankind, from the barter paradigm to the industrial economy. The advancement in this system came with ‘necessity is the mother of invention’. Human interests have grown and become more diverse as the human social network has grown and become more complex. Every epoch gave rise to an economic structure that served as a solution to the needs of the moment.
The 1950s and 60s are considered the golden year of capitalism. Europe saw post-war economic growth and increased living standards. There was also an increase in the birth rate, known as the baby boom. They were important because Europe need more labour force to reconstruct itself from war catastrophes. Post War states were welfare states which means that health, education, social security, and labour rights were up to the state. Moreover, the popular idea that capitalism could lead to a better life was in people of that time.
John Maynard Keynes was an intransigent enthusiast of capitalism, but he also recognizes its flaws and gaps. He gave his theory of political economy which later known as Keynesian Economics Theory. Keynesian economics is a theory that says the government should increase demand to boost growth. Keynesians believe consumer demand is the primary driving force in an economy. As a result, the theory supports the expansionary fiscal policy (Kimberly Amadeo, 2021).
The 1970s is the end of the golden age of capitalism and the origin of a new economic crisis because the west had to face series of events. 1971: The end of the gold standard by US President Richard Nixon. 1973: First Oil Crisis due to Yom Kippur War; most OPEC countries halted the oil supply because they were Arab. 1979: Second Oil Crisis due to Islamic Revolution in Iran. Before 1979, Iran ruled by the monarchy of Shahs, which endow the west with substantially low-cost crude oil.
In the same period, Milton Friedman (July 31, 1912 — November 16, 2006) and Friedrich Hayek (May 8, 1899 — March 23, 1992) contested Keynesian ideas. Their views gave inspirations to US President Ronald Reagan (1981–1988) and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (1979–1990) (The School of Life, 2016). They stress that a state is a dilemma rather than a solution. In order to deal with it, they requested privatization and economic deregulation. In their opinion, there exists a false dichotomy of State and Capitalism, Politics and Economy, Power and Money. Their ideology focuses on capital mobility, freedom of commerce everywhere — abolishing tariffs and taxation — and flexible labour laws.
Neoliberalism did not reject the state; rather, it reconstructed the general premise of a state. The state has become a market player itself. Rather than acting as an umpire, it showed up as a player. In other words: instead of catering to the common good, it became committed to private interests and required to assert the neoliberal agenda. By aiming at deregulating the economy, neoliberals ended up leading to new forms of regulation. Regulate economy to enhance profit, not to meet public interests.
Market depoliticization has produced a scenario in which markets are crucial than votes. Purchases are prevalent rather than votes. Consumers have more value than people. All this has led to our strong conviction that all our needs can be met by the economy. Politics is subjected to the laws of the economy. No political power exists without capital. People vote by attractiveness, charm, best talk, clothing, and picture, not by competence. Both areas of neoliberal economies are subject to the logic of open rivalry. The chief source of national development is no longer the state, but rather the private sector. Neoliberalism also claims to protect civil society from the tyranny of the Leviathan. But they do so by forcefully enforcing the tyranny of the market.
So, what do we do in the light of these scenarios? Challenge all necessitarian narratives, no more TINA (There Is No Alternative). What is necessitarian narratives? It means there is nowhere to go because the only solution to our problems is capitalism, the markets and neoliberalism. The first step in overcoming these neoliberal crises is to take account of other alternatives. Communism collapsed after the fall of the Soviet Union; does it mean that capitalism has succeeded? Certainly, a greater structure than capitalism might exist. Instead of voting as we buy, can we buy as we vote? Instead of pushing the market into politics, politics have been forced into the market. This chaos is door to door. Wonder what else is also door to door? Climate change.
‘Anthropos’ means men and ‘cene’ means epoch. Anthropocene is an unofficial unit of geologic time, used to describe the contemporary period in history — when human activity began to have a significant impression on climate and ecosystems (National Geographic Society, 2019). It is also termed as Capitalocene means the epoch of capital or capitalism.
Industrialization is viewed as the start of the Anthropocene since it was the first time that human actions defied natural forces in a way that had never been done before. The main consequences of the Industrial Revolution are Greenhouse Gases emission. These gases retain the heat of the Earth and lead to the phenomena called Global Warming. They chiefly consist of CFCs (Chlorofluorocarbon) and PCBs (Polychlorinated biphenyls). The increasing use of coal caused the concentration of carbon dioxide to surpass the peak of the Holocene. Humanity saw the highest concentration of Carbon-12 and lowest concentration of Carbon-13 in the atmosphere since the Holocene. The reason for this is a fossil fuel carbon dioxide depletes in C-13, but plants prefer to eat carbon dioxide consist of C-12. Consequently, when we burn fossils of these ancient plants, the fraction of C-12 increases while C-13 decreases in the atmosphere (It’s Okay To Be Smart, 2019). Besides Global Warming, humans have impacted the ecosystem so strong that degradation of the biosphere, i.e., inhabitants of the different living organism and collapse of biodiversity, i.e., extinction of species, has commenced.
The Anthropocene involves an abnormal upsurge in energy provision from sources such as coal, hydrocarbons, uranium, and plutonium. Coal, hydrocarbons, and other petroleum sources are the principal roots of Carbon Emission. Nuclear power plants have been seen to be cost-effective, but there is no way to eliminate radioactive pollution. For tens of thousands of years, nuclear waste is dangerous. It is unprecedented and poses an enormous threat to our future generations, as well as it is unparalleled and a huge challenge for them. In 1750, 5% of the world was canopied with concrete, and today it stands at almost 30%. We live in a world that is somewhat more tropical than our parents. Global warming is one of the most devastating expressions of the destructive nature of the capitalist system toward the environment. But it is not the only one. Capitalism also leads to the pollution of our air and water, soil degradation, deforestation, and the destruction of biodiversity (Trotskyist Fraction — Fourth International, 2021).
The main concern is that the past generation has not worked on environmental sustainability. What is environmental sustainability? A manufacturing operation’s potential impact on the environment. Plastic is the most obvious case. Plastic is a non-biodegradable synthetic compound. Its possible environmental risks remained uncertain, causing trillions of dollars to cost a future generation. Instead of the environmental threats imposed, the capitalists concentrated on the commodity.
A capitalist hopes, like King Midas in Greek mythology: that everything he touches turns to gold. Similarly, all are oblivious of the potential dangers it brings to their surroundings. Today, the whole world is fighting back against the ill will of previous generations. We may argue that previous generations contributed to the world’s present environmental situation.
In the case of Anthropocene, we can also raise the flag of TINA. Effective measures are required, or humanity would have to migrate to another exoplanet. Global Warming predictions indicate that the average temperature would rise by up to six degrees Celsius by the end of the century. It’s enough to transform the whole world into an oven. Our forefathers have formed and left us with these issues. If there is a will, there is a way; every drug has a cure that will show sooner or later. Any approach that does not have those consequences can be pursued. Or as an alternative, we can compromise on some aspects of Neoliberalism and the Anthropocene but not on others. Like tyranny of the market, the welfare of citizens and climate change are uncompromisable.
We certainly agree that neo-economic crises, global warming, and climate change have been passed on to us by the decisive decisions of previous generations. But they are now our responsibilities and it is up to us.
References
It’s Okay To Be Smart. (2019). How Ancient Ice Proves Climate Change Is Real [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myxVsYI4WZk
Kimberly Amadeo. (2021, January 31). How Keynesian Economics Works. The Balance. https://www.thebalance.com/keynesian-economics-theory-definition-4159776#:~:text=Keynesian%20economics%20is%20a%20theory,supports%20the%20expansionary%20fiscal%20policy.
National Geographic Society. (2019, June 7). Anthropocene. National Geographic Society. https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/anthropocene/#:~:text=The%20word%20Anthropocene%20is%20derived,chemist%20Paul%20Crutzen%20in%202000.
The School of Life. (2016). POLITICAL THEORY — Friedrich Hayek [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHsCkinrCPE
Trotskyist Fraction — Fourth International. (2021). Capitalism Is Destroying the Planet — Let’s Destroy Capitalism! Left Voice. https://www.leftvoice.org/capitalism-is-destroying-the-planet-lets-destroy-capitalism
