20. And just what is this treadmill of production? How does it relate to the treadmill of consumption? How is it related to the environment (which problems does it affect)? How does regulation affect the treadmill runner? What are their reactions?
The treadmill of production is a concept that focuses on how companies are producing goods cheaply with the ultimate goal of making maximum profit and increasing production of goods. When looking at this treadmill it is actually built around two processes, a society’s technological capacity and advancements and economic growth. The expansion of technology is important because it helps companies to have a surplus in profits from production, reinvestments of profits into their production system,
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As stated in the book, Invitation to Environmental Sociology, “it is mutual economic striving that keeps us always struggling to increase production, often with little regard for social and environmental consequences; in sum, the tendency of unfettered market forces is for increased growth, increased production, increased environmental consequences, and increased inequality” (Bell, 2012, p.60 & 63). Therefore, some of the main problems associated with this treadmill deals with the environment and it’s affects. As stated, the main environmental problems with this treadmill are over use of resources and waste. According to sociologist Michael Bell, “producers wind up robbing both from society and from the land through the destruction of overworked productive capacities,” such as: fisheries, farms, coal mines, oil and fossil fuel refineries, crops, water supplies, and this “extensive consumption leads more efficient production and increase in resources until in the end there is simply nothing left” (Bell, 2012, p.70-71). It is clear to see how overproduction can lead to destroying the environment through over use of resources but it also affects the environment through the over abundance of waste and pollution from factories. The more people consume the more waste and pollution is produced; therefore, this becomes a major issue because it begins to cause for human health to decline as well as the health of the plant it to decline. As waste and pollution builds, the more it causes for negative effects in a vicious cycle that would be hard to reverse after the damage is
On the topic of environmental impacts due to “industrial farming”, Bill McKibben and Blake Hurst share completely different perspectives. McKibben believes that industrial farming has simply left an unexcusable bad impact on the environment, saying that it is unethical and that the meat we eat is potentially killing our environment and us as well. McKibben states that “we should simply stop eating factory-farmed meat, and the effects on climate change would be one of the many benefits.” (page 201). McKibben addresses that the techno fixes brought in industrial farming are simply not enough to help our environment.
“Our Future Selves” by Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen construct views on countries’ technologies that changes the world on a daily basis. Conversely, technologies reconstruct countries in various simpler ways to live throughout economic trends. Furthermore, the quality of life is massively changing with new technologies. Consequently, wealthy countries are viewed differently from poor countries towards technological advantages. Ordinarily, technologies have made the difficult obstacles so much easier than just by hand. Industries have utilized the advanced technologies to provide huge manufacturing productivity. Moreover, Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen have some very compelling reservations within their article, “Our Future Selves”, on the trends
One of the big problems that came along with unsustainable foods is its terrible impact on the environment. The factory farms that have produced these unsustainable foods have caused a lot of pollution.
While humans are becoming increasingly aware of the environmental issues that are occurring in the world, most human systems are still unsustainable. Being sustainable in a society means that humans treat Earth like it has a limited supply of resources that need to be carefully managed in order to prevent damage to the world around us (Chiras, D. D., 2016). So, being unsustainable is the opposite; when humans treat the world like they are dominant over it, as well as believing that the Earth has an unlimited supply of resources that should be consumed by humans. Human beliefs and practices influence unsustainability, which can, and often do, correspond with the root cause of the problem.
...to artificial costs of resources, it is humans that cause it to happen. Not only do these destructions cause global warming, they also put the health of many in danger as the climate often reflects the health of individuals. The gas permitted into the air by hydraulic fracturing and the chemicals from burning forests can all be breathed in and affect one’s health. Even the act of human terrorism, like the 9/11 terrorist attack in New York City, can cause green-house gases to escape into the atmosphere along with other air pollutants. Driving a car also contributes to the quantity of carbon dioxide emitted into the ecosystem. Individuals do not bother to use alternatives because they tend to choose the more convenient way of life. Human activities such as hydraulic fracturing, rice cultivation, fossil fuel burning and deforestation all contributes to global warming.
and is existing surely because of humans themselves- overpopulation. “Overpopulation is the problem” and causes other externalities such as pollution, deforestation, and a greater handful of biodiversity losses. In addition, overpopulation causes economic and political factors such as more consumption per person and the reduction of resources that can be provided per person. This contributes to the strain on ecological systems and the economic and population growth. With overpopulation, many resources become finite and an umpteen amount of ecosystems are being destroyed. Overpopulation relates to the impact of humans on pollution. Obviously with more human life, there is more necessity for jobs such as factories that give off fumes, automobiles, and the use for burning fossil fuels. In greater extent, this leads to an environmental factor in that it accumulates chemicals in food chains such as mercury, arsenic, and copper. It can lead to political problems as well, when trying to interact with other countries and stop the problem of global pollution and eventually endin...
...nd again resulting in creation of bigger markets and pulling large competitors and creating new job opportunities, but the problem is with undefined factors like outsourcing, lack of skill development in respect with technology advancement. Technology advancement may be causing huge impact on employment but it is also making human living better. Technology as became part and parcel of our life so we can’t think of life without technology, but to make sure that the same does not harm our livelihood we should keep in track and sharpen and hone our skills with advancement of technology. (Brynjolfsson & McAfee, 2011)
Throughout the Industrial Revolution in 1780 there were many positive and negative effects that resulted during this time including technologies were improving, machinery that was making travel, luxuries and comfort better, and poor working/ living conditions. The Industrial Revolution was when societies in Europe and America started invent machines, which made manufacturing of products quicker, easier, and cheaper. Before all these machines in factories were created, the economy was all based on farming and peoples abilities to make products to sell. The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain in the 1780’s and to Western Europe and the United States throughout the 18th Century. It began in Great Britain because there was good weather
Throughout history there has been a vast development of organisation which has led us to today’s modern factory systems. Machinery and the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century obviously play a vital role in these changes however before we can analyse how they have influenced the system greatly; we have to understand how the organisations came about in the first place and how they have changed in order to have created the demand for machinery and therefore the industrial revolution. There has been much debate over what prompted development and change. Marglin (1974) states that it wasn’t the new machinery and industrial revolution that prompted change it was in fact, the control and new efficiency from the old organisation systems to the more modern factory system that created the demand. He questions whether work organization is determined by society or technology and asks whether hierarchical authority is really necessary for high levels of production (Marglin 1974 p19). However others disagreed and it is still an ongoing debate eg. David Landes (1969) argues that the symbol of revolution was a combination of technological and cultural factors.
Every day when looking out a window, people see a beautiful earth. The earth is intriguing, but hinges on a delicate balance. Many natural resources keep the grass green and the sky blue. Man has made quite an impression on our world, and has transformed the earth's resources into tools to make life easy. However, mans' manipulation on earth has become detrimental to the health of our planet and the safety of mankind. Through the use and production of resources such as oil and energy, man is gradually poisoning the earth. Pollution has become such a dilemma in society; there is no real control or a feasible solution to society's recklessness. Without complete change, our system will collapse. The earth will eventually retaliate with disaster, or corporate control of our economy will cause hysteria and depression. Evaluation of the consequences and repercussion of worldwide pollution, may give people a better idea of what the future holds.
...pollute the Earth with massive waste. Society has the choice between wasting life on working in order to purchase good which contribute to the destruction of the environment or living a ‘full satisfying life’, occasionally scavenging or working your self-sufficiency skills to obtain the necessities for contentment, eliminating waste, and boycotting everything.
Jeff Butcher and Rachel Hill pointed out the impacts of businesses on environments, by stating “The more of a product that is consumed or produced, the more of an externality that results” (Butcher, Jeff, & Hill, Rachel, 2006). Obviously, we can see that one product produced will bring benefit to consumer, sellers, and manufacturers. Meanwhile, one produced and consumed will cause negative externalities for environment. There is one fact we cannot deny that the more social life develops, the more externalities will be produced to the society. Daily living garbage, industrial wastes, carbon dioxide from factories are most outstanding examples to describe negative externalities to environment (Butcher, Jeff, & Hill, Rachel, 2006). In “The tragedy of the Commons”, Hardin showed us causes of negative externalities. He proved that people assume a...
Economic growth and social development are complementary and they have a close but complex relationship. With the economic growth, it is clear that there are many environmental concerns in today’s society. Air, water, and land pollution have worsened; the environment of wild animals and plants has been seriously damaged; many species are threatened with extinction, deforestation and over-exploitation of mineral resources.
In conclusion, we can now see that the more production humans need and want, the more harm we do to ourselves. It not only affects us but the animals also have to suffer the consequences. Moreover, if we ignore the fact now the result could be catastrophic and the future generations will have to pay for this. For the good of ourselves and the good of our next generations, we should do whatever we can now to help it. We can’t stop it but we can reduce it.
Sustainability Revolution: Earth, the planet we call home, is a complex system made of interdependent parts and pieces of life that are constantly changing. Earth’s planetary system has maintained a balance of dynamic equilibrium—it has been sustainable— since its beginnings about 4.5 billion years ago. This balance, however, has been progressively disrupted by us—humans— especially during the last few decades. Mother Nature has provided us with natural resources and the habitat for all species to sustain life on our planet. Since the industrial revolution, we have maintained a belief that these resources are infinite, and that economic growth and our attempts to improve our standards of living can continue forever. All forms of human economic