Root
of Resource Crisis: Overpopulation or Capitalism
-Subhrajit Roy
We are passing on to our inheritors the task
of struggling on a planet of degrading soils, acidifying and rising oceans with
a depleting fish stock, in a hostile climate, in a scarcity of natural
resources, problem
of sources in the form of shortages of raw materials such as fossil fuels,
basic minerals, topsoil, freshwater, and forests. Another one very stringent
crisis is mounting pollution in the environment. Primarily, the environmental problem limits
to economic growth manifest themselves as either: (1) shortages in the natural
resources, and thus a problem of depletion, or (2) as a lack of sufficient to
absorb wastes from industrial pollution, which cause harm to the environment.
Now in the today’s scenario the focus of environmental concern has shifted more
to the later one. Nevertheless, the crisis of the depletion of resources used
in production remains critical, as can be seen in discussions of such issues
as: declining freshwater resources, peak (crude) oil, loss of soil fertility,
and shortages of crucial minerals like zinc, copper, and phosphorus. In
conventional environmental analysis the matter of a shortage or depletion of
natural resources has often been seen as principally a problem of
overpopulation. The view point clearly states that current or future shortages
of natural resources resulted from a population explosion overshooting the
carrying capacity of the earth.
It is a
very common thought process that we must drastically reduce the human population
because we will soon run out of non-renewable resources. Behind the difficulty
in tapping resources lies the fact that too many people are accessing them.
There are currently approximately 7 billion people in the world and, given
current trends, the population is expected to be around 9 billion in 2050. If
we assume that all people will live at a particular standard of living, there
is a finite carrying capacity of the earth, above which population growth will
not be sustainable because of rapid depletion of too many resources and too
much pollution. For example, it is impossible for all those currently alive to
live at what is called a “Western middle-class standard”—for to do so we would
need more than four Earths to supply the resources and assimilate pollutants.
The grave concern is that the resource problems are
going to get worse under the current political-economic system. The general
resource depletion and ecological problems—at the global scale, as well as
within most countries and regions—are principally the consequence of the way
capitalism functions and economic decisions are made. Central to this is the
continuing exploitation of the resources of the poor countries by corporations
and private capital. Maximizing short-term profits trumps all other concerns.
The origin of the problem
lies in the mode of production. Capitalism is an economic system that is
impelled to pursue never-ending growth, which requires the use of ever-greater
quantities of resources. When growth slows or ceases, this system is in crisis,
expanding the number of people who are unemployed and suffering. Through a
substantial sales effort that includes a multi-faceted psychological assault on
the public using media and other techniques, a consumer culture is produced in
which people are convinced that they want or need more products and new
versions of older ones—stimulating the economy, and thus increasing resource
depletion and pollution.
One
stunning fact is that the 10 percent of the world’s population with the highest
income, some 700 million people, are responsible for the overwhelmingly
majority of the problem. It is not just an issue of the rich countries. Very
wealthy people live in almost all countries of the world. When looked at from a
global perspective, the poor become essentially irrelevant to the problem of
resource use and pollution. The poorest 40 percent of people on Earth are
estimated to consume less than 5 percent of natural resources. The poorest 20
percent, about 1.4 billion people, use less than 2 percent of natural
resources. If somehow the poorest billion people disappeared tomorrow, it would
have a barely noticeable effect on global natural resource use and pollution.
However, resource use and pollution could be reduced to half if the richest 700
million lived at an average global standard of living.
So,
we may conclude that when considering global resource use and environmental
degradation there really is a
“population problem.” But it is not too many people—and certainly not too many
poor people—but rather too many rich people who are consuming too much. The
common problem of rapid resource depletion that occurs in the poor countries of
the world is often a result of foreign exploitation and not because of a
country’s growing population.
Thus, we are forced to
conclude that the problem of global resource crisis primarily has two
dimensions. One is too much resource consuming by too many rich people and the
second one is overpopulation. However, overpopulation is secondary issue in the
context of resource crisis. The 20th century was one of the rapid increase
in population and consumption per capita by using energy from non-renewable
fossil fuels. Our goal for the future must be to reduce population and only
produce what will enhance our quality of life. But prior to that, a
non-capitalist society is needed. Capitalism is the underlying cause of the
extraordinarily high rate of resource use, mismanagement of both renewable and
non-renewable resources, and pollution of the earth. It is clear then that
capitalism, that is, the system of the accumulation of capital, must go—sooner
rather than later. But it is not enough. People must create a socio-economic
system that has as its very purpose the meeting of everyone’s basic material
and nonmaterial needs, which, of course, includes healthy local, regional, and
global ecosystems. This will require modest living standards, with economic and
political decisions resolved democratically according to principles consistent
with substantive equality among people and a healthy biosphere for all the
earth’s inhabitants. This is the most efficient way to combat with the outcomes
of our traumatic life and wasteful economy.
