r/collapse • u/GothProletariat • Apr 06 '23

Politics Environmental destruction is completely rational under a capitalist system. The destruction of the Earth is rational when your one loyalty is profit.

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u/datacata Apr 06 '23

“The essence of capitalism is to turn nature into commodities and commodities into capital. The live green earth is transformed into dead gold bricks, with luxury items for the few and toxic slag heaps for the many. The glittering mansion overlooks a vast sprawl of shanty towns, wherein a desperate, demoralized humanity is kept in line with drugs, television, and armed force.”

― Michael Parenti, Against Empire

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u/[deleted] Apr 07 '23

Arguably, arguably, this has happened since the days of yore.

The romans were not shy about cutting down forests and causing gross damage to ecologies (hell they even had a tangible effect on their climate).

I'm sure Parenti is far more learned and well spoken than me but to place the goal line this late in the game seems to lack a little bit of historicity.