The anthropogenic circumstance of Climate Change engenders the phenomenon whereby humanity must attempt to save itself from the problems of its own doing. As global conditions destabilise, drastic international action is required to mitigate climate change (Bierman, 2014). This essay will analyse the current capitalist neo-liberal system to determine its capacity to facilitate collective international action. Such analysis will draw upon examples of the Kyoto Protocol and China’s integration into the global market as cases of the influence of neo-liberalism. Marxist theorists Harvey and Cox are utilized in order to evaluate these influences of the current framework, revealing patterns of labour and environmental exploitation as key features (Harvey, 1998). In gaining a critical perspective of the influence of capitalist neo-liberalism on global politics, it is possible to derive the need to consider the reconstruction of the currently idolised eco-political system. Although a cautious approach is required in criticising neo-liberal capitalism, its influence on global exploitation is indisputable.
Capitalist industrialisation appears as a key catalyst for the drastic increase of emissions, deeming global warming “rooted in historical patterns of capitalist development” (Vlachou & Konstantinidis, 2013 pp.33). Scientists claim that today’s environment has been influenced by humanity to the extent that a new epoch in geological time has been reached (Bierman, 2014). This
Capitalism is a system where the sole goal is for private owners to gain profit. In the 1930s’ Dust Bowl, private owners, such as farm owners did not pay laborers enough money. In addition, minimum wage laws did not begin until 1938. Wages dropped so low because of the contradicting owner and laborer goals. Moreover, the stock market crash caused demand to drop and jobs to disappear. Overproduction also contributed to elimination of jobs. The wage gap between the wealthy and poverty further increased over time. Despite, the huge elimination of many jobs during the stock market crash, the changing seasons created some cotton and fruit picking jobs because certain plants are ripe for a certain period. However, laborers had to travel to other states or even countries to look for jobs only to face ostracization from the natives. In pursuit of capitalistic goals, the government promoted harmful DDT chemicals and nuclear weapons to keep the chemical and weapons industry alive.
The idea of Liberalism, especially in the United States, is centered about the unalienable rights of an individual such as the freedoms found in the United States Bill of Rights. In the book, The Strange Death of American Liberalism by H.W. Brands, Brands says that liberalism in the United States could only survive during times of war. The United States retreats into liberalism when there is a war going on and they need the federal government’s assistance. On the other hand, the book, Liberalism: The Genius of American Ideals by Marcus G. Raskin, argued that there was no escaping from liberalism. According to Raskin, liberalism has not faded into history like many people think. Liberalism is important in the United States because it drives
Neo-liberalism is associated with economic liberalism whose campaign support provides economic liberations, free trade and open markets, privatization, deregulation and promoting the role of private institutions present in new society. Classic liberalism criticizes the neo-liberalism objective of introducing liberalization to bring about gradual increase of wealth and freedom among nations, however, classic liberalism explains that instead of realization of wealth and freedom, liberalization resulted to constant fight proposals that threatened the progress of achieving wealth and freedom among nations. Neo-liberalism aimed to prevent and control monopoly situations such that if there are no bodies
nation's great cities and as oil refining rose so did the popularity of the automobile. With these
The Post Liberal Era begins with the presidency of Ronald Reagan. Although Ronald Reagan was one of the most popular president in United States history, the years he served were not beloved by many. One example of this was Reverend Jerry Falwell. Reverend Falwell believed that “our grand old flag from going down the drain.” according to the Reverend Jerry Falwell, Moral Majority Fundraising Letter. He was against homosexual people and the distribution of pornography and R/X rated movies. He seemed to believe that the sex and violence they contained were bad for America as a whole. Lastly, he brought up the controversial subject of abortion, believing it to be synonymous with murder.
The Western existence of modernization, especially technological and industrial development, economic growth, material prosperity, urbanization, and democracy, has been built upon a long line of industrial capitalism, an economic system predicated on the accelerating extraction and consumption of fossil fuels for energy (Clark & York, 2005). A major unintended consequence of the use of fossil fuels is an increase in the average temperature of the earth; known as global warming or climate change. Recognizing and responding to climate change, arguably the most challenging social problem of the modern era (Giddens, 2009), thus poses a fundamental critique of continued modernization processes around the world (Freudenburg, 2003). Climate change is a major issue that affects all life across the
Karl Marx, in the Capital, developed his critique of capitalism by analyzing its characteristics and its development throughout history. The critique contains Marx’s most developed economic analysis and philosophical insight. Although it was written in 1850s, its values still serve an important purpose in the globalized world and maintains extremely relevant in the twenty-first century.
‘Is climate change the new apocalypse? Are Western Nations too influenced by capitalism to effectively deal with the problem?’
American Capitalism Capitalism - "An economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state." America was an ideal breeding ground for capitalism, a relatively new country, in need of young entrepreneurs to kick start it's already buoyant economy. The country was an ideal place to get rich quick, an idea that inspired the immigrants that poured into it each year. In America it seemed you could turn your rags to riches in no time at all.
‘Neo liberalism is responsible for most of the global economic problems we are experiencing today’
By definition, Capitalism is an economic system controlled chiefly by individuals and private companies instead of by the government. In this system, individuals and companies own and direct most of the resources used to produce goods and services, including land and other natural resources labor, and “capital”. “Capital” includes factories and equipment and sometimes the money used in businesses (Friedman, 5).
promoted a half way approach to liberal ideas while they incorporated parts of a social
Current data reveals that the concentration of Carbon Dioxide in the earth's atmosphere is approximately 387 parts per million, which is roughly a 31% increase in the period 1750 to 2009. Consequently, it is evident that such increases in temperatures have caused a warmer planet (7). It is also evident that it is impossible to reverse the developments of industrial revolution. This means that as the advancements of industrial revolution continue and as energy demands increases, it is possible that this trend of climate change will continue for decades to come (McAloon, 8). The consent of the climate research community is that it most likely already affects climate noticeably and will compel significant
Due to the rapid process of globalization, the issue of whether socio-economic institutions and policies are converging or diverging across different nations has become controversial. Various literatures on comparative institutional studies has been developed, in which the Varieties of Capitalism approach by Hall and Soskice (2001) is one of the most significant concepts that is being widely discussed. According to Hall and Thelen (2005), the ‘varieties of capitalism’ is a firm-centered approach where firm is placed as a key actor and is being considered relational. It emphasizes the concept of institutional complementarities, which ‘…one set of institutions is complementary to another when its presence raises the returns
There is a heated debate on this concept during the past 20 years and is somewhat named as exhortation. Many authors have tried to describe this concept and related it with the spread of capitalism and along with a proactive welfare state.