Capitalism vs. Environmentalism: A Neo-Marxist Lens On Why America Refuses to Embrace Truly Clean Energy

Many students and philosophers of Karl Marx will observe in his writing, particularly in Volume 1 of Capital, that man and nature are one; they are inseparable. In that sense, doing damage to the earth is comparable to doing damage to one’s own body. The earth nourishes us and is our home. Why then are there such divisive conversations here in the United States regarding the use of clean energy vs. fracking for oil and natural gas? 

A progressive view would be to immediately phase out all fossil fuel usage and replace it with truly clean energy, which we know as solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, and hydro energy. One might even have the opinion that nuclear energy, while not fossil fuel, still produces toxic waste, which endangers the environment and also needs to be phased out. Capitalists push nuclear power as a fossil fuel alternative for energy, though we know that the aforementioned genuinely clean energy generators are cheaper in the long run and are obviously less harmful to the environment. Why is there such a global problem with resolving natural energy exploitation? There are a variety of reasons, but my thesis aims to prove that there are three main issues which stand out, and they are capitalism, global demand, and media manipulation. Careful analysis shows that demand is fueled by consumerism, which is fueled by our media (contributing to ignorance on the part of the population), and capitalism is fueled by competitive greed. 

First, there is the issue of demand and consumerism, which is what drives capitalism to exploit the environment at a ravaging pace. In the United States, some 23 trillion cubic feet of natural gas is consumed each year, while almost 3 trillion cubic feet was consumed in Canada, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The production from shale gas in North America is expected to increase as much as fivefold in 25 years measured from 2010 up to 2035. Due to the constant demand, conventional natural gas is in decline, non-conventional shale gas will be exploited in order to meet and maintain the rates of consumption, and social and environmental concerns will be neglected. As Marx noted, the more a country starts its development on the foundation of modern industry, like the United States, for example, the more rapid is this process of destruction.

One might wonder why more of the general population here in the United States, and even globally, is not making a more concentrated and aggressive effort towards environmentalism and conservationism in regards to the use of natural energy. A big explanation and area for concern to ponder is that the media is possibly suppressing, misdirecting, and even outright manipulating news coverage about the exploitation of natural energy. According to the Business Insider, 90% of American media went from being owned by 50 companies in 1983 to being controlled by 6 major media corporations in 2011. They are GE, News-Corp, Disney, Viacom, Time Warner, and CBS (Lutz). Why are there not more conversations in the mainstream media about climate change?

It is reasonable to think that big media conglomerates and other capitalistic multinational companies are bedfellows. Big Money needs Big Money in order to stay wealthy and in power. They benefit each other. It is all about money, and they do not want to disrupt a system that is working for them. A scrutinizing look at the assets and holdings of these various media company’s owners and CEO’s could reveal who may have invested in fossil fuels or plastics and what their political persuasions are. For instance, Sumner Redstone, the majority owner and former chairman of Viacom and the CBS Corporation, endorsed Republican George W. Bush in the 2004 election, despite previously calling himself a “liberal Democrat.” Allegedly, it was because he argued that Bush would be better for the economy and for his company. In Hong Kong, where some of America's and Asia's top executives gathered for Forbes magazine's annual Global CEO Conference, Mr. Redstone declared: "I look at the election from what's good for Viacom. I vote for what's good for Viacom. I vote, today, Viacom. We believe the election of a Republican administration is better for our company.” And in response to this, Steve Forbes, CEO, president and editor in chief of Forbes and a former Republican presidential aspirant, replied: "Obviously you're a very enlightened CEO” (Wall Street Journal). It is interesting to note that George W. Bush was linked to Halliburton, one of the world’s largest oil field service companies, via his Vice President Dick Cheney, a former CEO of this multinational company. 

Capitalism is fueled by greed, power, and the need for short-term profit. There is little question now that the dominant capitalist economic system is not able to be sustained. There is a harrowing connection to be made between the increasing inequality between the very rich and the very poor which is causing social tensions with the severe breaching of ecological boundaries and biodiversity loss. Private enterprise and free market have been given too much reign over the global capitalist system and not enough aggressive measures have been taken to shift levies from income to waste and pollution. One possible conclusion for this is resistance from those in charge who have vested interests and large control of the voting percentage of their shareholders. “This is made worse by how even the progressive investors and companies who see the need for change remain largely silent. Not rocking the boat, they mainly go with the flow, even as they drift toward collective disaster” (Juniper). This ties in with a quote made by Marx which implicates that capitalism is exploiting the fertility of the earth to the point of its eventual ruination: “Capitalist production…disturbs the metabolic interaction between man and earth, in essence, prevents the return to the soil of its constituent elements consumed by man in the form of food and clothing; it therefore violates the conditions necessary to lasting fertility of the soil…all progress in increasing the fertility of the soil for a given time is a progress towards ruining the more long-lasting sources of that fertility." Capitalism, such as is seen in industry-driven nations, like the United States, is pushing the environment towards disaster.

Climate change is all the more impossible to resolve without the cooperation of the worldwide community. A good start to improving this situation is by making others aware of what is going on, assist them to become conscious of it, which leads to research, which leads to increased passion, which leads to a strong desire to want change. As noted by Robert C. Tucker in Philosophy & Myth in Karl Marx, “knowing is spirit’s means of reintegration or ‘return to itself’ out of the state of self-division that obtains when spirit as conscious subject (man) is confronted with spirit as external object (the world). Hegel calls this state ‘self-alienation’ or ‘self-estrangement” (Tucker, 49). Indeed, if man and the natural world are one, then causing damage to the natural world is causing damage to ourselves…our innermost self. 

Once we know of the facts and ramifications of how much environmental damage is being done by companies exploiting natural energy, and perhaps even realize we have been complicit in the global consumerism for these natural commodities, particularly oil and gas, what might we be motivated to do about it? Well, again as noted by Marx on his eleventh thesis on  Feuerbach, “the point is, to change it." That begins by turning to search inwardly “of a solution for self-alienation” and indeed, when one realizes that he/she is one with nature, then damaging it is a course of self-alienation (Tucker, 101).  A good form of taking action could be by writing letters to one’s local paper when environmental exploitation is witnessed. Activism is another form. A good example of effective protest happened this past year in British Columbia against Kinder Morgan, the largest oil and gas pipeline company in the U.S. Their motivation to stop Kinder Morgan was in defense of the indigenous peoples, fish, and water which would have been harmfully affected. The residents of eastern Georgia took similar action recently in protest against Kinder Morgan condemning their land in order to continue its Palmetto Pipeline project, and as a result, were able to get the project suspended. It is interesting to note that Canada has used far less natural gas by cubic feet annually in comparison to the United States. In addition to protesting and writing to local papers, it is effective to write and call your local and state representatives and to be aware of which political candidates are 100% anti-fracking, CLEAN ENERGY supporters, as well as proponents for the removal of special interest money in politics. It is only by the cooperation of the global community to resist exploitative capitalism that damage to the environment can be reversed.

Resources

Marx, Karl. Capital, Volume I. 1867.

“Guess Who’s a GOP Booster? The CEO of CBS’s Parent Company Endorses President Bush.” The Asian Wall Street Journal. Web. 24 September 2004. Retrieved 13 April 2016.

Lutz, Ashley. “These 6 Corporations Control 90% Of The Media In America.” Business Insider. Web. 14 June 2012. Retrieved 13 April 2016.

Juniper, Tony. “Capitalism v Environment: Can Greed Ever Be Green?” Web. 26 November 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
Tucker, Robert C. Philosophy & Myth in Karl Marx. Transaction Publishers, 2001.

AMERICAN HISTORY X and PRECIOUS - comparing media to analyze factors contributing to the self-identity of urban youth

Two movies that are useful for analyzing specific examples of the socio-economic factors which shape the formative identity of youths growing up in large cities and how they ultimately are transformed are the independent films, AMERICAN HISTORY X (Dir. Tony Kaye. Perf. Edward Norton, Edward Furlong, Beverly D’Angelo. 1998) and PRECIOUS (Dir. Lee Daniels. Perf. Gabourey Sidibe, Mo’Nique, Paula Patton. 2009.)

An important historical context given in AMERICAN HISTORY X is the Rodney King Riots which happened in South Central Los Angeles, circa spring of 1992, in which ethnic minorities made up the majority of the victims. In the film, we see Danny Vinyard (the younger brother of a skinhead living in a suburban area of Los Angeles) whom he remembers leading a small mob of rioters into vandalizing a business owned by an Asian man who employs Hispanics. In comparison, PRECIOUS (adapted by Sapphire’s novel, PUSH) portrays an overweight black teenage girl named Claireece Jones, (Gabourey Sidibe), who goes by her middle name “Precious” and lives in a low-rent apartment in New York City. They both have been victims of extreme violence (Danny’s father having been killed by a minority while on the job and Precious attacked by young men while she is walking down the street.) With the loss of his brother (who is imprisoned for 3 years due to a hate crime witnessed by Danny) and his mother (Beverly D’Angelo) in increasingly frail health, Danny turns to Cameron (Stacy Keach), the leader of the Neo-Nazi gang his brother formerly belonged to for guidance. When Derek is released from prison, he rescues Danny from a rally, confronts Cameron and then compels his brother, Danny, to leave that way of life by telling him what happened to him in prison (being raped by a gang of Neo-Nazis and befriended by his laundry partner, a black male) which led to his transformation of thinking. The image of the two of them stripping away the White Nationalist paraphernalia that decorates the walls of Danny's bedroom, as though they are removing layer after layer of dead useless skin, is a powerfully visceral one. At the end of the scene, they are both standing together silently staring at the now clean wall with an unknown identity that has not yet been cultivated and, like new skin after an old scab has been removed, both are left feeling uplifted yet more vulnerable as a result.

As for Precious, one of the most moving scenes is also one without dialogue. On her way out to school, she views herself in the mirror and the reflection we see looking back is that of a slender blonde white female dressed identically to Precious, down to the single hair curler resting on her forehead. Precious gazes at this imagined alternative identity, gives a sigh, and then walks out. Her transformation is encouraged by the feeling of love she gets from her teacher (Paula Patton) and the emotional support of her fellow classmates in the alternative school she is sent to, where there is a feeling of solidarity among this talented, albeit misfit, group of young women. She begins to have confidence in her imagination and storytelling skill and knows that if she continues her education and learns to write, she can improve her life and progress beyond her given circumstance. In similarity, both the Vinyard brothers are encouraged by their professor (Avery Brooks) for being intelligent students with a gift for writing and having the right charisma for leadership, which should be used for positive influence.

In the final scene of American History X, Derek’s brother, Danny, is shot and killed by a young African-American male, so it could be reasoned that Derek might revert to his former skinhead way of thinking, but most likely he recognizes his own role in the fallout of these events and can choose to influence the future by his own thinking and actions. Likewise, we see Precious leaving her domineering welfare-abusing mother (Mo’Nique) and walking away, holding her childrens’ hands, determined to continue her education so that she can get a job and provide for them.

Works Cited

“Identity and Inner-City Youth: Beyond Ethnicity and Gender.”
  Heath, Shirley Brice, Ed.; McLaughlin, Milbrey W., Ed
“Urban Youth Culture: Forging a New Identity”
Youth Supplement. Growing Up Urban. www.unfpa.org/swp/2007
“American Politics and Pop Culture”
Lung, Katherine, April 24, 2008
“Socioeconomic Disadvantage and Child Development”
McLoyd, Vonnie C. American Psychologist, Vol. 53 (2) Feb. 1998 185-204
“Globalization, Culture, and Neighborhood Change”
Mele, Christopher. State University of New York at Buffalo