Five Lies Capitalism is based on.

Capitalism is of course failing, it is based on lies. It is polluting, using up the Earth’s ability to support life, and channelling the wealth to less than 1% of the population. Here are five of the lies Capitalism is based on:

1. Lie: We are separate from Nature

Truth: We are a part of Nature and depend upon it for our lives.

2. Lie: Unending growth is possible and needed.

Truth: We have to live sustainably. We live on a finite planet, we depend on a living, fragile web of life which is  based on many interdependent living communities ( forest community, ocean community, plains community etc.), they need resources to replenish themselves. If we take too much and do not leave them enough to replenish, we destroy that which makes it possible for them and for us to live.

Example: Overfishing kills too many fish even sometimes causing them to go extinct. The result is they die, all the species that they interact with are compromised, we no longer can benefit from them, biodiversity is lost and the web of life is weakened.

Constant growth is unsustainable and destroys the living communities that sustain our lives. We cannot take endlessly. When we take we need to leave enough for the living community to replenish itself.

3. Lie: Profit is the highest value.

Truth: Life and the web of life that allows us to live should be the highest value.

Example: Under Capitalism a tree is only valuable if it is cut down and made into a product that can be sold for profit, i.e. paper, lumber etc. In reality a tree (as all life) has intrinsic value.

A tree is also a member of a community (a forest community), it also cleans the air, cools the air, sequesters water, sequesters carbon, provides oxygen, provides habitat and food for many creatures, helps other plants, prevents erosion, provides medicinals and more. It’s true value must be recognized. The rain forests provide 40% of the Earth’s oxygen and we are cutting them down for profit.

Examples: Workers are sometimes forced into unsafe, abusive conditions and not paid a living wage, even though the company is making large profits. Huge profit at the expense of people and environment gives corporations political, media and legal advantage, and defeats democracy. War and pollution are driven by profit.

The highest value should be life and the web of life that supports it.

4. Lie: Everything we have comes from the economy.

Truth: Everything we have comes from Earth / Nature.

5. Lie: all resources should come under the economy and have an economic value.

Truth: Life and that which biologically supports life (web of life) should be the priority and umbrella. The human economy needs to be a subset of and in harmony with that, so it can be life sustaining and not destructive.

Commons such as air, water, earth, biodiversity (which includes humans) with all its integrity intact, should have highest priority and inviolate intrinsic value. A life sustaining human economy should operate within that and abide by Nature’s laws because we are part of Nature and rely on it for life.

What is good for Earth is good for people. We need an economy based on reality, morality, respect for all life including our own, so all life including us can survive and thrive, now and in the future, on this planet  our home.