Thanks for speaking up FM. Don't give up.
...I am extremly pecimistic as to the changing course of consumerism and the ability for Capitalism to plow ahead as it has done. For furture reference, and this can be found on any number of posts I have made, I hate corporations, nate the IMF and World Bank and loath the current consumer culture...
FM was correct about the inflexibility of Capitalism. Because if capitalism were to actually change or evolve, then it would stop being capitalism. I differ from the common definition of capitalism as an economic system, in that the reason capitalism seems to “plow ahead” is that it is part of a specific worldview. So it’s fundamentally more than an economic system to me.
As FM has also referred, capitalism is about socio-economic relationships. But I’d also add to that by saying it’s based upon how one relates to their environment. I don’t think you can have capitalism without relationships based upon the concept of property. With capitalism we’ve been able to subjugate our environments by disconnecting ourselves from it through the concept of property.
Also, I don’t think that the point about eliminating capitalism has to do with our fear of limited resources. Rather, it’s about arresting and repairing the environmental and social damages which the system is inflicting. How do we change that? We need to restructure those relationships. Which brings me to another point:
speaking about water being a consumable product: http://www.canadians.org/action/2010/RTW-June-18.html
Just in case this hadn't yet been noted elsewhere?
As another objective of the dismantling of capitalist infrastructure we could pursue a process of extricating parts of our environment from the institution of property rights. At least partly realigning these capitalist relationships.