E.4 Can "education" solve ecological problems under free market
capitalism?
Besides their emphasis on the right to sue polluters, supporters of "free
market" capitalism sometimes also address ecological problems like pollution
and depletion of resources by calling for public education which will raise
people's awareness to the point of creating enough demand for
environment-friendly technologies and products that they will
be profitable to produce.
This argument, however, ignores three crucially important facts: (1) that
environment-friendly technologies and products by themselves are not
enough to avert ecological disaster so long as capitalism is based on
"grow or die," which it necessarily is due to the requirements of
production for profit (see D.4.1);
(2) No amount of education can
countermand the effects of market forces. If faced with a tight budget
and relatively expensive "ecological" products, consumers and companies
may be forced to choose the cheaper, ecologically unfriendly product
to make ends meet or survive in the market. Under "free market" capitalism,
we may be free to choose, but the options are usually lousy choices, and
not the only ones potentially available; and (3) Under the price system,
customers have no way of knowing the ecological (or social) impact of
the products they buy. Such information, unsurprisingly, is usually
supplied outside the market by ecological activists, unions, customer
groups and so on. As is the case today, the skillfully created media
images of advertising can easily swamp the efforts of these voluntary
groups to inform the public of the facts. And the example of McDonald's,
who (until the famous McLibel trial) successfully used the threat of
court action to silence many of their critics, indicates that the money
and time required to fight for free speech in court against large
companies is an effective means to keep the public in the dark about
the dark side of capitalism.
We must also point out that if, as is increasingly the case, companies
fund children's education then there are obvious limitations on the
power of education to solve ecological problems. Companies will hardly
fund schools which employ teachers who educate their pupils of the
real causes of ecological problems! And we may add, alternative
schools (organised by libertarian unions and other associations) which used
libertarian education to produce anarchists would hardly be favoured
by companies and so be effectively black-listed - a real deterrent to
their spreading through society. Why would a capitalist company employ
a graduate of a school who would make trouble for them once employed
as their wage slave?
This indicates the real problem of purely "educational" approaches to
solving the ecological crisis. Even in a "pure" capitalist world in which
private property is protected by a "night-watchman" state or private
security forces, a wealthy capitalist elite will still control education,
as it does now.
Any capitalist elite must control education, because it is an essential
indoctrination tool needed to promote capitalist values and to train a
large population of future wage-slaves in the proper habits of obedience
to authority. Thus capitalists cannot afford to lose control of the
educational system, no matter how much it costs them to maintain
competitive schools. And this means that such schools will not teach
students what is really necessary to avoid ecological disaster: namely
the dismantling of capitalism itself.
“That’s a big honor,” commented Larry. “The passenger, while they were high up, threw something and hit the pilot, the seaplane went out of control, the man jumped—and then cut free his parachute, cut the sack holding the emeralds, and hid in the swamp.” “I see a light,” Sandy said as the airplane swung far out over the dark water. “A green light, but the hydroplane wouldn’t carry lights.” "No, no; it's a good deal, but it ain't too much. Not that it could be more, very well," he added, and he glanced furtively at the woman within, who had stretched out on the lounge with her face to the wall. Mrs. Taylor was fanning her. But though the 21st of January was to be the day of the grand attack on the Ministry, the battle was not deferred till then. Every day was a field-day, and the sinking Minister was dogged step by step, his influence weakened by repeated divisions, and his strength worn out by the display of the inevitable approach of the catastrophe. The first decided defeat that he suffered was in the election of the Chairman of Committees. The Ministerial candidate, Giles Earle, was thrown out by a majority of two hundred and forty-two to two hundred and thirty-eight, and the Opposition candidate, Dr. Lee, was hailed by a shout that rent the House. Other close divisions followed. The fall of Walpole was now certain, and he would have consulted both his dignity and comfort in resigning at once. This was the earnest advice of his friends, but he had been too long accustomed to power to yield willingly. He was oppressed with a sense of his defeats, and the insolence of enemies whom he had so long calmly looked down upon without fear. He was growing old and wanted repose, but he still clung convulsively to his authority, though he had ceased to enjoy it. "Should think they was bride and groom, if they wasn't so old." "March them right over to that shed there," said the Major, "and the Quartermaster will issue them muskets and equipments, which you can turn over again when you reach Chattanooga. Good-by. I hope you'll have a pleasant trip. Remember me to the boys of the old brigade and tell them I'll be with them before they start out for Atlanta." The train finally halted on a side-track in the outskirts of Chattanooga, under the gigantic shadow of Lookout Mountain, and in the midst of an ocean of turmoiling activity that made the eyes ache to look upon it, and awed every one, even Si and Shorty, with a sense of incomprehensible immensity. As far as they could see, in every direction, were camps, forts, intrenchments, flags, hordes of men, trains of wagons, herds of cattle, innumerable horses, countless mules, mountains of boxes, barrels and bales. Immediately around them was a wilderness of trains, with noisy locomotives and shouting men. Regiments returning from veteran furlough, or entirely new ones, were disembarking with loud cheering, which was answered from the camps on the hillsides. On the river front steamboats were whistling and clanging their bells. "Go out and git you a rebel for yourself, if you want to know about 'em," Shorty had snapped at the Orderly. "There's plenty more up there on the hill. It's full of 'em." "Drat 'em! durn 'em!" "He's dead," said Realf. Should you leave me too, O my faithless ladie!" The odds were generally on Reuben. It was felt that a certain unscrupulousness was necessary to the job, and in that Backfield had the advantage. "Young Realf wudn't hurt a fly," his champions had to acknowledge. Though the money was with Reuben, the sympathy was mostly with Realf, for the former's dealings had scarcely made him popular. He was a hard man to his customers, he never let them owe him for grain or roots or fodder; his farm-hands, when drunk, spoke of him as a monster, and a not very tender-hearted peasantry worked itself sentimental over his treatment of his children. Caro was frightened, horrified—she broke free, and scrambled to her feet. She nearly wept, and it was clear even to his muddled brain that her invitation had been merely the result of innocence more profound than that which had stimulated her shyness. Rough seaman though he was, he was touched, and managed to soothe her, for she was too bashful and frightened to be really indignant. They walked a few yards further along the path, then at her request turned back towards Odiam. Calverley reluctantly departed on his mission, cursing the interruption that prevented his enjoying the degradation of his rival, and the baron now inquired whether Holgrave had confessed himself his villein. HoME国家产免费一级毛卡片
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