There is nothing new about this, even Paleolithic Man’s hunter-gathering had a damaging effect on nature’s ability to produce and renew itself. But in the past, Early Man, due to his small numbers, primitive technology, and relatively humble survival requirements, had a minimal effect on the world. Today, the growth in our numbers and the power of our machines are rapidly outstripping the carrying capacity of the planet, which is enormous but finite. But more important than that, we no longer consume resources simply for our own use, our economic and technological systems themselves require the systematic exploitation of nature merely to sustain themselves, with the resulting desolation of natural systems of the world.

The naive conception of the farmer who took care of his land, or the fisherman who protected his coastal environment because his children would inherit his land or his boat, no longer applies. Today, collective organizations like corporations and governments will devastate environmental systems in order to maximize productivity and efficiency. And production and efficiency are always defined in terms of profit; short term growth and return on investment as opposed to long term productivity and sustainability. When the land is ruined, or the fish run out, they just move on and invest in something else, somewhere else. Or even better, they go into management and financial services so they can profit without having to worry about actually producing anything, or competing against someone who does.

Everyone reading this already knows this, I don’t have to preach to the choir. Neither do I have to remind any of us that we are a clever species, we CAN learn to live within nature’s constraints and live a wholesome and prosperous life without devastating the planet. We can certainly have our cake and eat it too, providing we all show some common-sense restraint and no one has more than their share. With what we now know about natural systems and industrial methods, we can still create a paradise for everyone on this planet without destroying it. And that paradise can persist indefinitely because nature is capable of renewing itself. If enough of the world is wilderness, the rest can be made into parks and gardens, and we can live a civilized and enriching life.

But it stands to reason that those who benefit the most by controlling and administering the present system have no incentive to promote long term sustainability. Why should they live on milk and cheese when they could gorge on steak every day? By the time the cattle are all gone they will be too.

This is why “they” don’t want to hear about “global warming”, or anything else that might involve a cut into their profits. All these planetary parasites and vampires on humanity really want is low taxes, no regulation on their activities, and a work force so impoverished, intimidated and terrified of being unemployed that they are willing to put up with any indignity and exploitation for just one more paycheck. And for that threat to be taken seriously by enough people, some people have to go hungry, live rough and die before their time.

The ultimate source of all wealth is human labor and the natural resources of the Earth. As the latter diminishes, to maintain and increase profits the former must be squeezed ever the harder. The “middle class”, that sector of society which helps the elites administer the machinery of production, are forced to take up the slack; they must be diminished in both numbers and rewards. Partly due to the greed of the elites, and partly due to historical circumstances, the promises that were made to the middle class can no longer be honored, and there is less and less room for them at the top. This is the Trump constituency: the diminishing center, or those who think they are middle class, or think they (or their children) are entitled to some day be middle class.

I heard an author (I regret I don’t recall her name) who has written about this being interviewed on the radio yesterday. She described the phenomenon as follows (I paraphrase, of course):

These people have been standing politely in line, waiting their turn, congratulating themselves on their civic virtue, patience and industry. Now they are losing their place, for a variety of reasons, but they see it as primarily the fault of those who are cutting in line ahead of them; the poor, the foreigners, the blacks, primarily with the aid of the Obamas and Clintons of this world. They are angry, and they are quickly becoming desperate. The Trumps of this world are pandering to them, telling them what they want to hear, what they need to believe.

Environmental policy and political economy are intimately related. It should be no surprise that Republican legislators want to ignore the monitoring and maintenance of natural planetary systems and instead are promising their constituents freedom, adventure and entrepreneurial fulfillment in the Wild Black Yonder. “Outland” and “The Expanse” have a much more realistic idea of what it really might be like. Yeah, The Moon will indeed be a Harsh Mistress: Corporate Sharecropppers and Indentured Servitude in space. Its the California Forty-Niners and the Oklahoma Land Rush all over again, except we can’t all strike it rich on the Mother Lode, can we? And if you press any of these modern day pioneers and their boosters on this, (have you ever wondered why so many space groupies are wingnuts?) they’ll always answer with some highly euphemized variation of this:

“Well, after we fuck up this planet, we can always go to some other one and start all over again.”

I suppose its their Manifest Destiny.