Capitalism is an economic system with little to no government regulation based on the law of “supply and demand” with the prices of the goods being determined by the free market. A Scottish political economist named Adam Smith inquired about the modern capitalist theory in the 18th century, shortly before the industrial revolution.

In exchange for profit, capitalism exploits the working-class majority and deteriorates the environment as a result.

For example, deforestation takes away the food and homes of many animals that used to live there and contributes to climate change when the trees are cut down.

Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, 83 species of mammals, 113 species of birds, 23 species of amphibians and reptiles, 23 species of fish, 100 species of invertebrates, and over 350 species of plants have gone extinct up until 2014. A lot.

The industry, ironically painted in a good picture, is responsible for 22 percent of the production of greenhouse gases through the burning of fossil fuels. The early machines of the industrial revolution used coal as fuel. For example, the steam engine that was used for various machines used coal to boil the water back when the industrial era was still in its infancy.

Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases have raised the world’s temperature and will change how we humans live on the Earth in the future. Climate change is very serious and has a severe effect on how we live a few years from today. The presence of climate change on the Earth can cause great problems for us which pose a threat to not only us but to other species that we share the Earth with.

Other than raising the world’s temperature, it can bleach coral reefs due to the rise of the ocean temperature and melt glaciers in the arctics to raise the sea level. Furthermore, it can transform rainforests like the Amazon jungle into deserts.

The industry is one of the biggest contributors to pollution; it pollutes the water, ruins marine life, and causes algal blooms which are harmful to fish as they feed on the algae and drain the body of water of oxygen.

The waste that comes from the industry is known to pollute the air, soil, and water, and if dumped into the sea, it can make the habitat become unsuitable for life and kill off most of the organisms residing there.

About 60 years after the industrial revolution, Belgian-American chemist Leo Baekeland created the first synthetic, mass-produced plastic. This plastic is called Bakelite and was the result of a key breakthrough in the year 1907

Plastic is, without a doubt, useful. Sustainable, durable, long-lasting, and perfect for our needs, with it being used for medicine, technology, and keeping food fresh. What the majority of the population fails to see is the negative effects of it on our oceans and the air that we breathe.

Plastic is present in our oceans and not just in small amounts, there are currently 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic debris present in our oceans. Some of those pieces float on the surface and accumulate into garbage patches that can be as big as France, Spain, and Germany put together.

Because of these patches, suffocation, ingestion, the entanglement of multiple marine species is rampant because of the plastic patches in the ocean. Marine wildlife such as sea birds, whales, turtles, and fish mistake plastic waste as food and end up dying to starvation caused by the presence of plastic debris in their stomachs.

Big corporations all around the world use plastic, extensively even, and as a result, our environment is suffering in its stead because of all the waste being dumped into places that are prone to pollution.

Yet, we still use their products that range from food, gadgets, cars, and simple improvement of the quality of life and more. As of recent times, environment-friendly options are becoming more available to us customers that will someday replace the current products that are on the shelf. For example, Tesla, a company owned by Elon Musk, provides battery-powered or cell-powered cars that serve as an alternative to the classic internal combustion engine vehicles.

The coronavirus, which popped up not too long ago, actually had a good impact on the environment because it slowed down carbon emissions and human activity, allowing the Earth to take a small break and lets us see how we respond to a cut in carbon emissions.

The result and process of capitalism are both important but we only pay attention to only the result. We have to pay attention to how the process affects us and become aware of our surroundings. Capitalism is a double-edged sword with its pros and cons and unless we devise a new economic system to replace it as it is very outdated, things will stay like this for an undefined amount of time.

Sources:

Data for Vertebrate Extinction due to Industrial Evolution

https://rogerabrantes.wordpress.com/tag/industrial-revolution/

Capitalism

https://www.britannica.com/topic/capitalism

https://www.leftvoice.org/capitalism-is-destroying-the-planet-lets-destroy-capitalism

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions

Plastic Production

https://www.sciencehistory.org/the-history-and-future-of-plastics

https://friendsoftheearth.uk/plastics

https://www.plasticseurope.org/en/about-plastics/what-are-plastics/history

Climate Change

https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/effects-of-climate-change

https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/everything-you-need-to-know-about-coral-bleaching-and-how-we-can-stop-it

Industrial Waste

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_waste