In the past, capitalism has been a necessity so that the population as a whole could progress, and expand. However, times have changed now. We have expanded as far as we can, and we are not progressing in ways that are helpful for our population. But capitalism keeps pushing. “We are facing a historic juncture in which, for the first time, the limits to increased prosperity are not the lack of man-made capital but the lack of natural capital” (Paul Hawken) and if we fail to recognize this fact, and take action for the betterment of our world, and not for profit, we could potentially change the world as we know it for the worst. It endorses the selfish side of people, and encourages a drive for money, no matter what the cost to the environment, as well as those who are less fortunate. And in today’s society, shouldn’t we be above that?
One of the main reasons capitalism is considered by many to be a good thing, is that it encourages competition. Competition gets things done, and helps keep our economy from tanking. But Competition is not always a good thing. As pointed out by Michael Parenti, “enterprises must expand in order to survive”. Sooner or later, this leads to only big companies surviving, and now we have the problem that “Approximately 1.6 percent of the population own 80 percent of all stock, 100 percent of all state and municipal binds and 88.5 percent of corporate bonds…Some two hundred companies account for about 80 percent of all resources used in manufacturing” (Parenti). Capitalism is advertized as a system that allows people to go from “rags to riches”, because supposedly if you work hard, your hard work will pay off and you will move up and earn more money. This is rarely the case, with big companies out there having so much power. As Parenti, cites from “the people”, “Far form being a machine for bringing people out of poverty, capitalism perversely condemns millions to poverty in the midst of the means sufficient for creating an abundance for all and in the midst of the obscene luxury enjoyed by the capitalist minority”. This leads to even greater social problems, people see all that people have and want to have it too. They soon come to the realization that they will not ever be able to attain it, and this leads to hatred towards those who are more prosperous, which in turn, leads to the development of crime, and terrorist groups that cause problems all over the world.
There is another side to capitalism that is even more detrimental. As Paul Hawken points out “industry still operates by the same rules, using more resources to make fewer people more productive. The consequence: massive waste—of both resources and people”. We are operating under the idea that there will always be enough environmental resources for continuing to operate as we do. But at the moment natural capital is considered a minor contributor, even though we receive “trillions of dollars of critical ecosystem services” (Gretchen C. Daily), Like clean air and water, climate stabilization, and many other services, including waste production, which is typically overlooked. Waste production is one of the most important for a capitalist economy, because “about 94 percent of the materials extracted for use in manufacturing durable products become waste before the product is even manufactured”(Hawken). The bottom line is that if we continue with our capitalist society as it is now, which endorses as much production as possible; we will get ourselves into a situation that will be hard to reverse. But as Hawken puts it “The future belongs to those who understand that doing more with less is compassionate, prosperous, and enduring and thus more intelligent, even competitive.”
