Lizzi Philokyprou discusses the effects that consumerism and capitalism are having on our planet, asking, is there anything we can do to save the Earth, or is it too late?

According to the philosopher Sinnott-Armstrong, there is no valid theoretical argument which expresses that we have any moral obligation to refrain from engaging in acts which harm the environment. If we take Armstrong’s conclusion as rule, then we can, without guilt, indulge ourselves in the increasingly fast-paced, consumer-based society which caters, unsustainably, to our every whim, regardless of the ecological effects. From the fashion industry and consumer commodities market, to the ways in which we travel, eat, and socialise, so much of our modern-day culture and lifestyle revolves around either the production or endorsement of cheap, disposable goods, and environmentally harmful activities. We are constantly bombarded by advertisements, which infiltrate every microcosm of our everyday lives, driving our insatiable desire for status for consumerism, with devastating effects. Historians have explored the emergence of such a material based, capitalist culture over the past century, with statistics indicating that, in the West at least, we are now experiencing the best standard of living in human history; the same, however, cannot be said for our ecosystem.
Scientists shed a far more worrying light on our current situation. The majority of us are aware of the ticking time bomb that our capitalist societies have attached to the planet’s ecological system. We have reached peak environmental distress, in which the indisputable consequences of our steam roller economy, the dire predictions and horrifyingly impertinent concerns that the worlds leading scientists hold, in regard to the future of our planet, can no longer be sidelined.
There is a lot of commotion, in terms of media coverage, surrounding this crisis, and yet little seems to be happening. It is clear that there is a gaping hole of responsibility in terms of environmental change, which neither the worlds leading companies, nor western governments, seem keen to fill.

Comments