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Title: Ecology against Capitalism
Author: Hêlîn Asî
Date: March 15 2019
Language: en
Topics: social ecology, libertarian socialism, Rojava, Feminism, Komun Academy
Source: Retrieved on  2019-08-05 from https://internationalistcommune.com/ecology-against-capitalism-seeking-a-renewed-relationship-to-nature/][internationalistcommune.com]] & [[https://komun-academy.com/2019/03/15/ecology-against-capitalism-seeking-a-renewed-relationship-to-nature/

Hêlîn Asî

Ecology against Capitalism

Around the world, currently, thousands of people, especially youth,

protest and demand action against climate change. Under the slogan

Fridays for future global strikes and mass demonstrations took place on

March 15^(th). In light of the statistics and prognoses about the causes

and effects of climate change over the last few years, the climate

question has become one of the most urgent questions of our time. While

on one side, individuals must bear responsibility, it is clear that it

does not suffice to merely criticize individual lifestyles without

challenging larger structural political and economic conditions.

Analyzing climate change as independent from capitalism means

depoliticizing the issue. In fact, nearly all conditions that have

contributed to climate change can be traced back to the

capitalist-consumerist system. In this sense, ecology will have to go

beyond just “protecting the environment”. Instead, a meaningfully

ecological approach can lead to profound social, political and economic

change and help us develop renewed relationships between humans and

nature and humans and society.

What is climate change and what are its effects? In short, climate

change is an increase of the average temperature on earth resulting from

an increased output of so-called greenhouse gases (e.g. carbon dioxide

or methane) into the earth atmosphere. While these gases are naturally

part of the earth’s atmosphere, through their increased presence the

atmosphere turns into a “roof” that preserves the warmth of the sun, a

process referred to as the greenhouse effect. Like in a greenhouse,

warmth is absorbed on earth through the increased presence of greenhouse

gases. These gases are released due to the use of fossil fuels, which

are currently the world’s most widely used energy source. Cooking,

heating, charging your phone, taking a hot shower, driving a car – these

things mostly go back to fossil sources like petroleum or coal.

Especially the capitalist, consumerist system needs fossil energy to

persist. The production of nearly all industrially-fabricated goods

relies on fossil fuels.

The increase of the average temperature on earth as a result of these

processes does not mean that it suddenly gets hot everywhere. The

effects of climate change are much more complex and vary across

different regions. Some regions are increasingly hit by heat waves,

others by humidity, some by increased precipitation, others by drought.

Generally, more natural disasters occur, for example, as a result of

rising sea levels, which affect mostly people in coastal areas.

Moreover, many animal and plant species and their habitats are

endangered. Many animals are or will not be able to adapt to climate

change. In sum, the capitalist system continues to exploit nature

despite all warning signals and forecasts and to destroy the livelihood

not only of humans but of all flora and fauna. Particularly remarkable,

and indeed scandalous, is the fact that the effects of climate change

especially hit those regions that contributed the least to climate

change and that have the least means to adapt to its effects. In the

meantime, industrialized capitalist states that are considered to be the

“most prepared for climate change” possess the financial means to

protect themselves, while doing nothing significant to stop climate

change.

The capitalist economic system is based on the unlimited exploitation of

earth and its beings for the production of ever-more absurd and

unnecessary products for the market. This surplus is not meant to cover

the basic needs of society or to enhance the life quality of people. On

the contrary, this system can only survive on the backs of exploited

workers and women and on the basis of extreme injustice towards people

in so-called “underdeveloped” countries, whose resources have already

been looted and exploited in the 15^(th) century by Europeans.

Capitalism substantially developed on the backs of colonies, workers,

women and nature.

When we look back in history we discover that so-called holistic

worldviews were prevalent, in which nature was considered alive and

spirited and in which the earth as a whole was seen as a living,

contiguous organism. On the other side, capitalist ideologies have

strongly contributed to an oppressive relationship between humans and

nature and gradually declared nature as dead and inferior. Already in

the 16^(th) century, scientists began to consider the subjugation of

nature as the mission of modern science. Nature, formerly seen as a

whole that also included humans, was now declared as “the other”; a

fragmented, dead and unreasonable nature that had to be controlled. We

can say that today’s recklessness towards nature, especially in the

industrialized countries, is also rooted in this presumption. There is a

prevalent fallacy that humans could, and even should, unlimitedly

exploit nature and put nature at the service of humans. The current

economic system is based on this idea.

When we organize ourselves today to protect our habitats and our future,

we must in the first place abandon this approach that sees nature as the

dead, unreasonable, subjugated and exploitable other. Ultimately, this

must mean a break with capitalism. I say ultimately, because it is clear

that at this moment capitalism surrounds us everywhere and all the time,

whether we profit from it or are being exploited by it. For this reason,

a genuine organized struggle against climate change must step-wise

realize an alternative here and now in order to remain independent.

Otherwise, without breaking with capitalism, we will constantly be led

into its traps.

What does a trap of capitalism concretely look like? Here is an example:

The rising environmental awareness in society produces pressure, in

politics as well as in the economy. Many companies adapt to this new

situation and put new products on the market, which are supposed to be

more ecological and which aim at easing the conscience of the consumers.

The packages are provided with markings like vegan or organically

produced and communicate an alleged environmental awareness to the

producer. Likewise, consumers feel like they are “on the safe side” when

they put organic kiwifruits, soy yogurt and vegan zucchini spreads in

their cloth bags. Undoubtedly, vegan and vegetarian lifestyles are to be

welcomed, especially considering the reality of factory farming, which

is a torture to animals and furthermore causes over one-sixth of all

greenhouse emissions. However, even a vegan lifestyle is not

revolutionary or cruelty-free when the underlying relation towards

nature and its resources remain the same. In recent years, being vegan

developed into an explosive new trend and new markets developed around

it. Most of these vegan-friendly companies do not care about ecology

however, but instead lead us into the lie of ethical and ecological

consumption. There are several issues here: Neither the exploitation of

workers, nor the exploitation of nature are challenged when people are

encouraged to engage in so-called ethical consumption. Moreover, most of

the time consumerist, greedy behavior, another crucial aspect, is not

particularly being questioned. Many people actually join mainstream

cultures in this way, constantly in search of new taste experiences and

“exotic” recipes without respecting the resources of nature.

This brings us back to the assumption that nature is fragmented and

lifeless. As long as we intend to move only within existing conditions,

our resistance will also remain fragmented. For example, by adopting a

vegan lifestyle, one can pick out one “piece”, one aspect of the

struggle while, ignoring the other parts.

For this reason, a comprehensive struggle based on a renewed

relationship to earth might be much more sustainable and meaningful. We

must develop an understanding in which humans are part of nature and not

the “rational rulers” over nature. Especially in large cities the

reality is that nature is seen as something external that must actively

sought in order to be experienced. We have to “find” a piece of nature

first to be able to feel its presence. We search for a park, a forest, a

river, the sea deliberately, and for many people, this feels like an

artificial and forced encounter that reminds them of the fact that this

nature is normally missing in their everyday lives. It often reminds

them of their self-alienation. For instance, we visit forests and

realize that we have no idea about which mushrooms and plants are

edible. We don’t know that trees communicate underground, using their

roots. We don’t know which insects, birds and mammals have their habitat

here, how they relate to one another and how we should behave, if we

encounter them. To learn about these things has become a scientific

privilege, which is more often than not used to the detriment of nature.

Generally, there is a lack of basic knowledge about the processes and

organisms of the earth.

Women for example have gradually lost their knowledge of their own

bodies and sexuality over the last centuries, not only as a result of

patriarchy, but also as a result of a general self-alienation in

society. Today, many adults know remarkably little about their own

bodies, their genitals or the natural processes that are involved in

human reproduction. Basic knowledge about ourselves and about nature

must always be actively researched, since there exists no social

structure of sharing this knowledge among the community any longer. As

long as we lack this knowledge, we put ourselves in a permanent state of

dependency. In this sense, we can say that autonomous, self-sufficient

societies are always societies where the knowledge that we need for our

lives is collective. A society that possesses the necessary practical

means and experiences is able to maintain and provide for itself. A

society based on self-sufficiency and radical democracy builds the frame

for a life in which nature is not exploited and left to the rich and the

rulers, but is instead valued and respected.

At the root of ecological activism lies a renewed relationship to earth,

its beings, its water, its air; a relationship that treats all of nature

with respect. On the practical level, this means combating capitalism,

which has always been based on destruction and exploitation, and to

create an alternative which will pave society’s way to a self-sufficient

and self-determined life.