Organized around exchange-value, not use-value, the capitalist system is over-productive and steadily worsening a multi-faceted ecological crisis. Is a post-growth, post-capitalist world conceivable?
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The emergency brake
Step 1. End planned obsolescence
“We like to think of capitalism as a system that’s built on rational efficiency, but in reality it is exactly the opposite. [planned obsolescence] is like shovelling ecosystems and human lives into a bottomless pit of demand.” For instance, every year, “150 million discarded computers are shipped to countries like Nigeria, where they end up in sprawling open-air dumps that leak mercury, arsenic and other toxic substances into the land.”
Blaming consumers for buying too many things misses the point; people fall victim to the production logic of capitalism. The issue is the logic itself. If washing machines or smartphones lasted four times longer than they currently do, we would consume 75% fewer of them. Not only would it be a huge reduction in material throughput, but people wouldn’t have to deal with the frustration and expense of constantly replacing some piece of equipment. How to achieve this? For starters, a mandatory extended product warranty and a “right to repair” with affordable replacement parts could be introduced. A leasing model could also be used, requiring manufacturers to assume full responsibility for all repairs and regular upgrades.
Step 2. Cut advertising
“A survey conducted in the 1990s revealed that 90% of American CEOs believed it would be impossible to sell a new product without an advertising campaign; 85% admitted that advertising ‘often’ persuaded people to buy things they did not need; and 51% said that advertising persuaded people to buy things they didn’t actually want.”1 Since then, browser cookies and social media profiles used on the internet by big data companies have allowed firms to present us with ads tailored to manipulate consuming anxieties and even to match our likely emotional state at any given time.
In the brave new world of advertising, people are constantly interrupted in their personal thinking, imagination, and creative processes. The little space left in many minds for art, poetry, or meaningful messages that build community may explain why loneliness is so prevalent today in our societies.2