Profit, Pollution And Poor

Profit is the biggest polluter. The economy that goes to any length for profit, the politics that stands for profit-thirsty economy, the conspicuous consumption-lifestyle that finds life in profit and considers nothing but self, and that is profit at any cost, pollute most. Ecology, environment, pollution, sustaining life on the earth, and all other issues between heaven and earth turns non-issues to profit-hunting.

Profit generates poverty. Profit pushes the multitude to a poverty-laden life, where the poor find nothing but the only way to scour and forage the dirt, the dust, the mud, the municipal garbage dumping grounds, the last portion of tree felled by the powerful, and all these are simply for survival in a world conquered by monster-profit. In their thirst for life, the poor save every drop of water, every piece of paper thrown away by the paper-rich, every piece of cans and plastic bottles, thrown away foods by the food-rich. They consume these, they use these, they recycle these, they earn by selling these to recyclers. Thus they contribute to the survival journey of this resource-poor planet. Thus they stand opposed to profit, to the rich, to the squandering life style of an irresponsible minority in society. Thus an antagonistic relation is established between profit and poor, between rich and ecology.

Excesses of the filthy rich are unsustainable. They live with $1,350 wedge-heel sandals, $18,400 leather tote bags, $80,000 BMW 750, $130,000 Maserati Quattroporte, $8,600 custom-tailored suit, day shirts in 350 colors, 35 fabrics, 10 different collars and 2 cuff styles, 127 million euro yacht, $35,000 intricately detailed canine palace with “recessed and interior lighting, air conditioning, dry-walled interiors and custom furnishing”, “Mughal-inspired kebabs topped with shaved pearls and plates trimmed with 24-karat gold leaf”, $1,200 a plate meal. (Newsweek, May 26/June 2, 2008) This is a miniscule, fractional-fraction of squandering by the energy-rich. The majestic mansions, the private jets and islands, the luscious parties, the blazing ornaments, the protected neighborhoods, the delicately designed detail arrangement for vacations of the rich exist as an obstacle to the changes the world needs immediately. Their vulgar lifestyle, ab ovo usque ad mala, from the beginning to the end, lives in a system. The shrewd system, economic and political, needed to feed and fuel this idiotic lifestyle is inefficient, energy-hungry, nature-gulping. The system devours environment and ecology. In this economy, it is profit, not necessities of life that determines allocation of resources. This market-driven allocation, as Professor Robin Hahnel explained, is inefficient. (“Against the Market Economy”) No doubt, it is an inefficient compulsion. This allocation, determined by compulsion for profit, all most all the time, contradicts with environment. Should not blame for the environmental crisis be laid on this inefficient, but profit-sensitive economy and the state and the society that this hungry economy creates?

All commodities produced in this world system are not essential for life, are not consumed by the masses of common persons. Rather, a lot of commodities burden life, and take toll from nature while getting produced, but they make profit. Dominating interests enjoy a lot of those commodities. Those lots are also in smaller proportion. But those are needed by the capital to make profit. Section of powerful media manipulates mass psychology so that masses turn consumers of commodities produced for profit, but not essential for life.

Economic-political-social-information structure is so designed that often consumers and, in broader terms, broad society remains unaware of harmful effects of many commodities or material used or processes followed for manufacturing these commodities. The structure keeps them unaware of and incapable to calculate the total cost they pay for the commodity they consume and for the pollution the commodities create in manufacturing and use processes. Most of the time, the consumers remain unorganized that makes them incapable to resist polluting technology. (ibid.) As an arithmetic of profit, technologies that carry risk of reducing profit but helpful for environment are not introduced by capital in control of technology and innovation.

A section of environmental discourse ignores this intricate relation between economy, nature, society, environment, profit for few, welfare of all, politics, distribution system, consumption style, etc. The “Mickey Mouse” model, ozpolitic tells, treats economy as an entity non-dependent on society and environment while the “bullseye” model treats economy as dependent on society and environment. The model followed by mainstream is the “Mickey Mouse” model.

It is not that the pecuniary dominating classes are ignorant of the science, economics and politics of ecology. It is oligarchy’s, and now in countries, plutocracy’s class interest – light speed-super-ultra-profit – that keeps them indifferent to environmental problems, to environment-destitute, to ecology-poor, to climate-refugees, to unequal access to ecology, to injustices of inequality, to indecencies of life, to indignities of poverty. The system standing on immense wealth power excludes the poor. The poor are excluded from fora for voicing concern with the defaced ecology they live in, excluded from getting aware of ecological devastations that degrade their life to the level even miserable than the living condition of pet dogs and cats of the rich. Most of the time, the poor are kept unaware of this despicable reality of I-enjoy-you-to-doom. (Keeping the poor unaware is another complex story, told elsewhere.)

Dominating capital and the state machine it controls benefit from processes harmful for environment. (A. Dobson, Green Political Theory: An Introduction) There are cases in this world when state protects environment plunderers as the party of plunderers has assigned state the task. State faithfully carries on this assignment, at times, with a mask of a blind-deaf-dumb-inefficient-worthless-broken down-hapless machine, at times, turning captive to detail, imposing legal edifice its masters have erected, at times, suffering from scarcity of resources required to enforce steps essential for environment, at times, presiding over distribution of chunks of land to its masters and masters’ underlings, at times, “benevolently” concerned with imaginary-trickling down growth only. Although, there are times, states in this amazing world act swiftly, unerringly, efficiently, delicately, smartly, secretly, head-hands-legs not tied or smoothened by legalities and legitimacies. Those are moments for maintaining status quo. Those are issues and times for its survival of its masters, not for survival of environment of/for common community. At times, state turns ignorant; it does not know the way to use taxation-tool to fight pollution. But, at times, it knows smart ways to use tax-tool to benefit polluters, at least not to harm those actors.

For earning bread, the working people have to take dangerous jobs, jobs harmful for their health and head and for environment. Environmental problems severely affect the working class. Many reports, studies, books and essays including Rod Crompton and Alec Erwin’s “Reds And Greens: Labour And The Environment” in Jacklyn Cock and Eddie Koch’s Going Green, D E Morrison and R.E. Dunlap’s “Environmentalism And Elitism: A Conceptual And Empirical Analysis”, (Environmental Management, vol. 10, no. 5), K D van Liere and R E Dunlap’s “The Social Bases of Environmental Concern: A Review Of Hypotheses, Explanations And Empirical Evidence” (Public Opinion Quarterly, vol. 44, no. 2), State of India’s Environment, Citizens’ Reports, People’s Reports on Bangladesh Environment provide evidence of the suffering.

Resolving the crisis requires replacement of the system and relation of production that cannot sustain without expanding always and without devouring the nature, and the political arrangement that the relation and system build up. It has to be replaced by a society that organizes production and distribution democratically in the interests of all. The social system that now governs human society blindly stands against the indispensable changes as Hervé Kempf, environmental editor, Le Monde, tells in his book How the Rich are Destroying the Earth.

Reality that appears puts forth the following urgent, immediate task: seriously review the political and economic power, processes, institutions and relations that maintain and control inequality in distribution pinning down multitude to an ecologically intolerable life – ramshackle, dingy, windowless, dark hovel adjacent to or amidst heaps of garbage, where stagnant water subdued by mosquitoes dominates with its odor, where water and energy are extremely scarce, where unhealthy little kitchen and toilet are disproportionately shared by too many, where it turns difficult to identify whether drains are in courtyard or courtyard is drains, where sons of Adam consume bare minimum but work for hours and hours, where park, play ground and affordable amusement are unknown facilities, where fresh air is a forgotten dream, where similar innumerable descriptions make perception unmanageable. The review will lead to increased space – ecological, economic, political, information – for the poor.

Mainstream environment dissertate don’t go for this review, don’t raise the issue of remodeling distribution and consumption. It keeps itself busy and vocal with the very important task of saving trees and rivers while it forgets the issue of the living condition of the poor, an essential part of environment. It denies looking at the reasons behind reaching the critical ecological threshold. It is a denial of connivance.

Today’s ecological equity demands: increased consumption of the poorest, for the sake of their survival, and reversal of consumption of the insensitive top 20% of the world population consuming 80% of the planet’s wealth. Common persons have direct interest in environment. For having a dignified human existence, a vibrant ecology is common persons’ requirement. For their survival, they have to stand for it. Communities of common persons have to take initiative identifying sources of environmental crisis, fighting the crisis out, regenerate environment.