Wage Slave News - Contents
22 October 2009
At a recent bookfair in Toronto, members of an organization called, “Supreme Master” (www.suprememastertv.com) handed out leaflets on climate change. The main thrust of their argument is that greenhouse gases are not the major cause of global warming, but de-forestation for cattle grazing land is. To support this contention they offer various statistics, some of which are interesting, and could well be true, e.g.
To remedy this situation, it is suggested that we should,
To a scientific socialist, #5 is out of the question as it has never been proved to solve any problems. That the other four ideas could be realized or, if so, whether they could solve the problem, shows a lack of understanding of how capitalism works. Remedies may have a small effect for a short period, but will never change the system that is the main cause of this and other major problems through its very operation. The profit motive is the engine that drives capitalism and it will continue so even if it means damaging the very environment in which we, and all species, live. Meat products are, like all commodities, sold top make a profit and through their organs of propaganda, particularly advertising, capitalists will constantly exhort people to buy them. As long as profit is realized and a company remains in business, it doesn’t matter to the capitalist that the environment is destroyed. The fact that such destruction affects him/her is beside the point, capitalist production must continue. Long- term effects are ignored until they become critical or affect profit. Socialism, when established, will have the task of reversing the damage done to land, sea, and air by the effects of capitalist production. Chances of success would be good because the majority of the world’s population, being socialist, would cooperate in whatever ways would be necessary to make sure the environmental madness of today is stopped and replaced by clean production.