SOSTENIBILIDAD, CAPITALISMO Y EVOLUCIÓN

Jorge Luis Velasquez Lopez

Institución Universitaria Visión de las Américas

Ingeniería Administrativa

Microeconomía

Medellín – Colombia

2022
 Introduction

Capitalism emerged in the 16th century, and played a progressive role in the development

of society, reaching a significantly higher labor productivity than feudalism. After the first half

of the 20th century, it has been admitted that capitalism has weakened and that a revision is

necessary, since its theory no longer corresponds to the structure of the markets, nor to that

of the states. According to (Ortiz & Vergara, 2016) "When the transformation process of

sustainable development begins, analysis begins to take on great importance, clearly

recognizing a systemic and relational approach between the natural system and the

socioeconomic subsystem." For this reason, it is necessary to recognize the key terms or

words that allow us greater precision in their differences and why these concepts have been

the subject of great discussion and controversy for decades, of questioning and theoretical-

practical debates in the economic disciplinary field.

1. What is sustainable development and how is it related to capitalism?

 Sustainable development is defined by the Brundtland Commission, by the United Nations

General Assembly in 1983 as "meeting the needs of the present generation without

compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs", having as its main

objective the balance in all dimensions (economic, social and environmental) since, it is more

than evident the degradation and damage that the environment has had throughout all these

years and that it has become stronger with the arrival of capitalism that what he seeks

exclusively is purely economic growth.

2. Why are capitalism and sustainable development mutually exclusive?

When we refer to mutually exclusive, we want to imply that they are two things

that cannot happen at the same time, and sustainable development with

capitalism is clear evidence, since the capitalist mode of production cannot in any

way renounce the exploitation of labor or the abusive use of natural resources,

since these two factors are, to put it in a certain way, fundamental towards only

economic growth, which is what capitalism has always sought. The need for

accumulation and for profits to be constantly high "forces" them to resort to new

sources of production and consumption, which ultimately results in a massive and

irrational use of new natural resources. for example, building a road through a

forest is done at the expense of the forest, that is, the natural capital. (O'Connor,

2002)

3. According to the document, why has a socioeconomic change towards

sustainable development not been possible?

In addition to the aforementioned problems, such as the depletion of natural

resources, the integrity of ecosystems and sustainable development imply the

existence of limitations in the Earth's capacity to assimilate the use that social

groups make of natural resources. and we are facing an evident unbridled human

development. In other words, overpopulation. Even if capitalism, as the dominant

 economic model, incorporates natural capital into its cost-benefit analysis, nature

still loses. (Segrelles, 2002)

4. According to the document, what are the nine critical planetary boundaries

and what do they mean for the planet?

(Rull, 2011) points out that humanity has already transgressed three of the nine

critical planetary limits, such as climate change, integrity of the biosphere, change

in land use, use of fresh water, biogeochemical flux, ocean acidification , aerosol

loading in the atmosphere, stratospheric ozone depletion and chemical pollution

and the introduction of new entities. This means that nature is subsidizing the

capitalist mode of development.

On the other hand (Boltvinik, 2015) assures that the president of Bolivia points out in the

Conference on Climate Change (COP20) that the true way to solve climate change will be

"defeating capitalism and saving the peoples who are in the hands of those who They profit

from the destruction of nature. Boltvinik also states that “While global warming is the most

serious and destructive trend, it is not the only one. Two additional ones are growing

inequality and the end of the society centered on paid work, a consequence of automation.”

5. How does the anthropocentric vision affect the preservation of the planet?

(Rull, 2011) writes in his scientific journal, that the cultural revolution has replaced

the biological revolution in humans, however, our biology responds to

environmental change, so there is no guarantee of future evolution, although it is

ensured that the human model is not the limit of this.

"When the problem is about the environment, the human race is simply stupid" (Meffe,

2009). We also "must realize that the 'real world' is not the transient socio-economic scenario

in which we live, but rather the Earth which is evolving at a rate and magnitude that exceeds

our ability to understand and appreciate it." (Rull,2011)

 On the other hand, (Amérigo et al., 2005) state in their scientific journal that Aragonés,

Izurieta and Raposo (2003) showed how the definition of the concept of "sustainable

development" acquired different nuances depending on the position that people hold towards

nature: the category «progress» in the anthropocentrics, compared to the «conservation» of

the ecocentrics. In his work, it is also hypothesized that those egocentric and/or

anthropocentric people will reflect environmental problems with a local impact, while

ecocentric or biospheric people will have more accessible environmental problems with a

global impact on the environment.

6. Why is sustainability not enough from an evolutionary perspective?

Human life depends on the preservation of the planet, even though we should not worry

about nearby generations, it is important not only to take care of nature, but to ensure its

conservation, (Rull, 2011) also writes that sustainability is not an option, since this would

benefit the exploitation of natural resources. We must move from sustainability to nature

conservation and it would require a less anthropocentric and more evolutionary perspective.

So this would mean stopping thinking of ourselves as a superior species, and of our own

ends, being less selfish and consuming, and projecting a new mutualistic and cooperative

vision for the benefit of all.

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