Mischief (fasad) has appeared on land and sea because of what men have earned by their (own) hands, thus (Allah) gives them the taste of some of their actions… (Al-Rum: 41)
Air pollution: The balance in the composition of the gases in the atmosphere has been severely affected due to the unceasing emission of hazardous gases. The ozone belt – shield from the perilous ultraviolet rays – has been severely damaged. Carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, lead, nitrogen dioxide, asbestos, beryllium, mercury, vinyl chloride, arsenic, radionuclide, benzene, etc. are some of the pollutants that remain a threat for the very survival of the living beings on earth. Such pollutants have caused a myriad of diseases such as respiratory problems, lung diseases, cancers, mental retardation, brain damage, liver diseases and leukaemia, etc.
Land pollution: Despite warnings at local, national and international levels, the policy of severe deforestation is still being implemented. This policy is particularly responsible for both erosion and degeneration of soil. Nitrogen and other fertilizers, used on an ever increasing scale (the present consumption being around 100 million tons annually) to maintain the agricultural productivity of the soil, now polluted the world’s ground water.
Water pollution: Water has remained the most used, the most exploited and the most polluted resource over the years. The vast oceans, after being turned into dumping grounds for all nuclear tests, and for the sewage and industrial effluents, have poisoned the whole natural environment.
Noise pollution: Noise pollution tells upon psychological, mental and physical well being of human beings. Ringing of bells, car horns, vibrations of fireworks, disorderly crowd, dance, music and songs, etc. are the sources that cause noise pollution. All these noise pollutants are persistent, excessive, offending and irritating yet these form order of the day.
Nuclear pollution: Of all the pollutants, nuclear pollution is the most lethal one. The US alone possesses enough nuclear power to destroy the earth hundred times over. Accidents of Chernobyl and others have also proved that nuclear fusion even for peaceful purposes is not safe. Nuclear power in irresponsible hands of countries like Israel & Co. – indifferent to anything except its short-term extremely selfish goals – are horrendous.
Other ‘pollutants’: Urbanisation – or mad race of villagers to cities (for whatever reasons) is causing several environment problems like dirt, diseases, sanitation, housing, water supply and depletion of natural resources. Automobiles are also a big contributor to keeping the scale of pollution high. Consumer waste ranging from electronic wastes to plastic wastes has now become a headache for concerned people. Over-fishing has posed threats to the very life in water; several species have gone extinct.
Results of these pollutions are manifest today. Global climate warming, acid rains (un)natural disasters, etc. have forced people to seriously think upon the callous degeneration of the environment by its own inhabitants.
ROLE OF CAPITALISM
Greed and selfishness: The history of capitalism is replete with examples of disregard for the environment and the lives of the common labours. Industrial revolution witnessed the creation and excessive use of technology. This laid the foundation of the rise of capitalism as an imperial and colonial power. Since capitalists exploited these new technologies to maximise their profit, widespread pollution resulted. There was no space in newly emerged industrial towns for green spaces. The sky was filled with thick smoke that polluted the lungs and homes of the workers that were forced to live in the city. We can imagine the plight of other industrial cities by giving a look to Manchester, England – an important industrial town. David Hoskins said regarding the city, “Fifty seven per cent of working class children there died before they reached the age of five. The average life expectancy for the poor was just 17 years. A government report issued in 1842 left no doubt, that many of these deaths were the consequence of severe environmental degradation”.
These things are natural under capitalism, where short term ‘economic growth’ prevails over long term sustainability because of the drive for profits. This fact can be understood by an illustration, “The firm produces iron and steel. It gets paid for these outputs. It also produces smoke which is a nuisance, but the firm is not charged so it doesn’t bother how much smoke it belches out.” The same phenomenon is more scholarly discussed by Owen Greene, he says, “The owners of a factory have interest in continuing to produce goods in the cheapest way, even if that involves dispersing untreated pollutants into the rivers or atmosphere. They gain most of the benefits of cheap production, while the pollution costs are uncertain and in any case shared by the whole ‘downstream’ community and other species of life. That is the costs of pollution are externalized, since the pollution does not have to include them in its production costs. In this way some governments have been relatively tolerant of sulphur emissions from power stations in their territory, since the resulting acid rain was dispersed over a number of down wind states. Moreover, the damage caused by acid rain to buildings and forests typically does not appear in power-generation budget, whereas the cost of cleaning the emissions would do so.” Greene here has successfully exposed the typical capitalist mentality.
The diagnosis of this disease (capitalistic effect on environment) is not the revelation of this modern age; even the cofounder of Marxism, Engels. He said conspicuously, “As individual capitalists are engaged in production and exchange for the sake of immediate profit, only the nearest most immediate results must first be taken into account.” He illustrates this capitalistic mindset with examples, “What cared the Spanish planters in Cuba, who burned down the forests on the slopes of the mountains and obtained from the ashes sufficient fertilizers for one generation of highly profitable coffee trees – what cared they that heavy tropical rainfall afterwards washed away the unprotected upper stratum of soil, leaving behind only bare rock!” he concludes, “in relation to nature, as to society, the present mode of production is predominantly concerned only about the immediate, most tangible result, and then surprise is expressed that the more remote effects of actions directed to this end turnout to be quite different are mostly quite opposite in character”.
Lavishness: It is well established that much of what is produced under this capitalistic system is unnecessary and wasteful. William Rees of School of Community & Regional Planning at University of British Columbia, has most aptly remarked, “We are consuming 25% more than the earth can give us each year.” USA is the specimen of most ‘developed’ capitalistic society. World Wild Life Fund’s Living Planet Report has this to say regarding US, “If everyone lived like the US population, we would need five planets to provide the necessary natural resources.”
In short, we can borrow from ‘Philosophy and the Ecological Problems of Civilization’, that “Going beyond the mentioned limits no longer means consumption but something opposite, nearly consumerism, consumer gluttony which leads to degradation and impoverishment of the individual instead of his real development.”
Because of this lavish and lustful consumption today, oceans are over-fished, soil is being degraded and evaded, air is full of venomous gases and is good for everything except breathing. If we go deeper into the matter, we can easily find out that it is the wasteful (abundant) production that is leading to over consumption. Earlier in history the same mad-race to dump these waste-products in non-industrialised nations led to colonialism and imperialism. History is repeating itself; the same phenomenon is now leading to neo-colonialism and neo-imperialism.
ECOLOGICAL IMPERIALISM
Zambia is the world’s seventh biggest producer of the metal. In 2007 the country generated 521,984 tonnes of copper, this year the government expects production to rise to 600,000 tonnes – BUT – the Zambian government receives only 0.06% of annual profit. Meanwhile the mining companies are getting richer and ecological problems keep accumulating.
Developed countries are threatening the humanity by pursuance of a suicidal policy of incessant ecological damage. This ecological damage hastened by the rush for nuclear weapons. There are nearly a dozen of legitimate or illegitimate nuclear powers on the surface of earth. The warring foreign policy of the “Super power of the unipolar world” is lethal for ecology. According to a report of 1995 United Nation’s food and agricultural organisation, 560,000 Iraqi children died as a consequence of Gulf war and US sanctions upon Iraq. The situation is worst after 2003 invasion. The use and open use of depleted Uranium, white phosphorus, MK77, Mod5 Napalm and other incendiary weapons (for example, cluster bombs) in Iraq has an immediate and devastating effect on the health of soldiers and civilians.
The Sierra club of Canada pointed out as early as 1999 that, “The environmental consequences of DU (Depleted Uranium) weapons residue will be felt for thousands of years as its decay products continually transform into other hazardous radioactive substances in the Uranium decay chain.” Who can forget the havoc wreaked on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by USA? Who can forget crores of people (both civilians and military) slain on the altar of capitalistic turned imperial ambitions during both the world wars?
Dumping of hazardous imperialist-country waste on neo-colonised land and water has become a common phenomenon. Criminal reticence of developing country’s governments over this happening is un-pardonable. Talking specifically regarding India, any one with two eyes and one reasonable mind can conclude that India has become a major dumping ground for rich countries’ wastes. In 1993 alone, India imported 74,000 kgs of plastic waste. US dumped 7.8 million kgs of lead ash and 14,500 kgs of lead-acid batteries. UK shipped 2.5 million kgs of lead waste. Canada sent 96,000 kgs of copper waste, 1.2 million kgs of ash, 1 million kgs of lead waste and 106 kgs ferrous waste. Germany dumped 2 million kgs of metal waste. Every year this dumping is increasing.
The 1984 union carbide corporation gas leak in Bhopal is yet another example of the environmental imperialism on the population of neo-colonies. This pesticide formulation unit’s gas leak killed 16000 people and affected hundreds of thousand more. Union Carbide did not warn the people of Bhopal about the dangers of the chemical plant in their city, and continued to repress the information after the disaster. When doctors called the plant medical officer for advice the following morning, he informed them that the leaked gases were similar to tear gas and that all the exposed people needed to do was wash their eyes with water – ludicrous, isn’t it?
The story is same even within the borders of a nation; no border is recognised by the capitalists. So, within the US territory – the heaven of capitalism – the Lakota nation is subjected to radioactive waste dumped by Uranium Mining Corporation. The Western Shoshone nation is subjected to the affects of US nuclear weapon’s testing at the Nevada test site on their land. Waste incinerators are often located in black and Latino populated ghettos where the people are relatively disenfranchised politically, and less prepared than wealthy white communities to prevent incinerators constructions.
WHERE TO GO?
After going through all the above Mick Brooks seems to be just when he asserts, “The environmental problems, and the potential environmental catastrophe, we face are creations of capitalist system.”
The irony however remains that a plethora of exponents ranging from environmentalists, social activists, scientists and humanists are astute in discerning the root cause of this ecological peril that has well shrouded the globe but the remedies they propound are farfetched and superficial and that’s why unappealing to common masses.
The most brazenly put ‘solution’ to these evils is prescribed by the agents of this ecological imperialism themselves. Deliberately they want people to believe that the cause of environmental degradation is third world ‘Over population’ and not the first world ‘Over consumption’. This theory of Malthus has been duly rejected by the experience, logic and history; we need not bump into this debate here but still ‘some’ people are trying to persist with this hypothesis. These people are indulged in criminally diverting the attention of concerned people and governments towards (most charitably) unproductive works.
Another farcical solution to these evils of capitalism is referred to as neo-Luddite approach that is opposition of machines and industrialisation per se. This is an escape from the challenges, an ascetic and despairingly negative attitude to face the crisis.
Globalisation – in the form it exists, is nothing but furtherance of the policy of neo-colonisation; and that’s why instead of being any solution it is ‘The Root Cause’ of several environmental mishaps itself. In the guise of beautiful slogans of free trade and free market, the MNCs have ruined the local industries and caused economic shocks in third world countries. Instead of bringing any development in developing countries, millions of people have starved to death due to the ‘developmental’ policies pursued by these MNCs.
Economic and technological assistance from developed countries or international institutions like IMF and WTO is a web of interest and intrigues. Countries that are ensnared in this net – with the plight of people and plummeted economy – are divulging the true face of these ‘Solutions’.
Confessions of an economic Hitman by John Perkins is an eye opener for all those who genuinely believe in IMF, WTO and assistance from developed nations are in the interest of developing countries.
International commissions, treaties and agreements are also only ‘pain-killers’. They hardly aim to eradicate the problem root and branch. In 1987 the world commission on environment and development, established by the United Nations’ general assembly, issued a report, “Our common future”, after a 3-year study. It said, “We are unanimous in our conviction that the security, well being and very survival of the planet depend on changes [In attitudes and re-orientation of policies and institution] now”. But these solemn words (as expected) were not acted upon. Kyoto protocol was another failure. Though it was discriminatory and biased, it introduced some good changes, and paved way for further such reforms. All such hopes were dashed when Bush Sr. administration rejected the protocol on the grounds that it would have a negative impact on the US economy.
A diametrically opposed and hostile to capitalism but egregious and utopian solution is propounded by socialists and communists. An article entitled, “On capitalism and the environment” written by “A Comrade” posted on web in March 1996 claimed unequivocally, “The best way forward for the environment is socialist revolution.” Mr. Comrade! I pardon you by not raising questions on the very practicability of the socialist system as a complete system of life and governance. Recall the peaceful demise of Soviet Union despite several concessions to capitalism (as Soviet Union was compelled) and genuine attempts of Gorbachev to breathe life into the dead corpse of communism. But please allow me to ask about the environmental conditions of that ‘ideal’ state both in its prime and twilight years. Let me break your silence…The truth is that the Soviet Union caused no less pollution than its counterpart US and allies and if we talk about nuclear pollution, Soviet Union was the most magnanimous contributor.
WHERE THEN ARE YOU GOING? (Al-Takwir: 26)
Where should then we go? Let me proclaim that Islam is the ultimate solution not only to the environmental degradation but also to all other evils from corruption to bad governance, from economic exploitation to social inequalities, from each and every grievance to each and every anguish and discontent.