Reason behind Anthropocene epoch- Capitalism or Socialism?

Source: Indian Express

Gs3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution, and Degradation, Environmental Impact Assessment.

Synopsis: Human race should respect the carrying capacity of the environment in order to survive.

Background

• After World War 2, there has been a significant rise in the emission of carbon dioxide.
• Emission was caused by the rapid advancement of the manufacturing sector and the global market system.
• Along with this, the rapid rise of digital, virtual, and biotechnological systems from the 1990s, have pushed mankind to a new era of Anthropocene from the Holocene era.

Is capitalism the reason for the Anthropocene epoch?

1. The Capitalistic economic system is blamed for the arrival of the Anthropocene epoch. But even the Socialistic economic order could not have prevented this.
2. If the world had followed Socialist economic order it would have contributed more to the problem of the greenhouse effect. Because its core principle of equitable distribution of resources would have meant more purchasing power for everyone. It would have resulted in more consumption of resources.
3. Hence, mere criticism of Capitalism won’t solve the issue of sustained “Ecological disaster” by Human Species.

What needs to be done?

Human efforts to control nature through technological developments have backfired. It is evident from the impact of the Pandemic and the negative consequences of Climate change. We need to make the following changes;

• First, we need to think of an alternative development model. It should include the ecological impacts of development into serious political considerations.
• Second, societies must plan for Population control to reduce the ecological footprint on nature.
• Third, the need to shift from “materialistic culture to conservatism. This will also help to reduce the ecological footprint of nature.

Hence, it’s important, for the Human race to continue, should understand its “Species sense”- to live in harmony with nature.