Critical summary on Capitalist and Sustainability looking at Balser, E (2008) 'Capital Accumulation, Sustainability & Hamilton Ontario'
Sustainability is defined within the text through looking at what it is does in both concept and practical. It is said to be defined as concerning itself in the concept or idea of justice in society looking at social, environmental, economic, moral and political gages of society. This tells us of the idea that everything is down to each individual as part of a collective to help with work together, that in theory it is communal. "Sustainable development is the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs", it can never be done by one person and is focussed on the future, the idea of helping those generations still to come.
The main characteristics of capitalism are to have an ever expanding entity as capitalism. It thrives to create, and subsume the other, constantly to gain profit, it is constantly looking for new things to commodify. It is seen as continuously expanding and trapping things, it never confines itself or has its own territory but instead overflows and internalises itself in new spaces.
A crisis of capitalism for example could be the environmental crisis, this is because of the capitalist views of the world, as it isolates and ostracises various populations who cannot afford to become sustainable. It is said that with evert crisis, capitalism will reach a limit, but the reinvention of capitalism ensures that this is not the case. Technologies, policies or ideas constantly push past limitations as time goes on, but this in itself is simply further perpetuates the cycle of capitalism. The only crisis that appears that it could destroy capitalism is one of environmental descent, where humanity can no longer beat the limitations of the earths natural resources, but the environmental crisis has continuously moved past this and reinvented itself. It adapts and acclimatises to capitalism, never ending the cycle but only perpetuating it.
There are four main points outlined for business' to become more environmentally responsible and therefore help with sustainability. These include increasing productivity of resource use, production with no waste, and no toxicity, reinvest in natural and human capital. This itself is said to be flawed simply as influential environmentalist writers validate capitalism which therefore furthers the belief in it. "Sustainability is no longer about the salvation of nature but the prolonging of human life and human social and economic systems, namely capitalism." A way of helping with sustainability is the proposed site for BIOX plant in the North End of Hamilton, which has only been chosen due to its ease and cheapness. The location only a few hundred feet from homes, and on a community green space. The fact it was so close to a residential area violates many health and safety regulations, and has had a a huge negative effect on the area, ruining the houses due to tremors. It has been done at the sacrifice of social equality, for one simple reason, to make profit.
Sustainability and Capitalism are not compatible at least not in the same way, capitalism thrives off of the idea of sustainability and uses it as it uses anything, to make money. Sustainability will never be able to get away from capitalism, it blames capitalism for the current state we are in but at the same time looks to it for solutions. Whilst doing this ostracising plenty of populations who cannot afford what shouldn't cost, being sustainable. It is all for money.
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