Is Neoliberalism Destroying the Earth?

Thousands of posters, books, videos, and social media exhort us to take four minute showers, eat vegan, carpool, and recycle in order to slow global warming and save Planet Earth, and yet, we have to ask, do these individual efforts really amount to much?

Thousands of posters, books, videos, and social media exhort us to take four minute showers, eat vegan, carpool, and recycle in order to slow global warming and save Planet Earth, and yet, we have to ask, do these individual efforts really amount to much?

Not really, according to this article from The Guardian. In fact, it is neoliberalism, with its emphasis on the free market and government deregulation of corporations, which cons the populace into thinking that an individual’s “green efforts” might bear consequence on the environment. That is, by exalting the power of the individual, neoliberalism persuades consumers to “save the planet” by making expensive or inconvenient “green” changes to their lives, and leaves corporations all the more free to pollute the environment as they want. Thus it is high time that democracies demand more sustainable environmental practices from mass corporations, since Global Warming is too great of an enemy for any individual to combat on their own.

Is neoliberalism destroying the planet? Or might there be some value in telling individuals that they can make a difference? Check out the article here:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/true-north/2017/jul/17/neoliberalism-has-conned-us-into-fighting-climate-change-as-individuals