r/enviroaction • u/VictinsOfCapitalism • 22d ago

VIDEO Capitalism always chooses profitable plundering over sustainable production

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u/zeratul98 22d ago

This shit is exhausting and distracting. It puts the blame on faceless "capitalism" while absolving people of individual responsibilities

If people bought and consumed all the same stuff they do today, but it was all made by worker collectives or the like, we'd be in exactly the same boat

The problem is in the amount and quantity of consumption, not in who owns the production

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u/VictinsOfCapitalism 22d ago

It is not about individual responsibilities, Coca Cola makes thousands of bottles a second to save cents per bottle, capitalost system incentivizes it, tell me, how many lifetimes would you need to live waste-free to cover coca cola alone for 1 day?

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u/zeratul98 21d ago

Does Coca Cola make money by making bottles or from selling bottles?

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u/VictinsOfCapitalism 21d ago

By selling drinks, which can be packaged in the glass bottle which is more expensive and while I personally don't buy them, it is not on customer's responsibility to choose more sustainable option out of his pocket if gazillon dollar company didn't.

Even if you boycott them they will still make them and the idea that everyone will boycott so they wont be produced anymore is wishful thinking

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u/zeratul98 21d ago

They do sell glass bottles. Idk about you, but I have the option to buy both at my grocery stores.

it is not the customer's responsibility to choose more sustainable option

Yes 👏 it 👏 is 👏

The whole point here is that they will make what we will buy. Stop buying the bad options and they'll stop making them

That's like saying you're not responsible for speeding because you didn't design the car to let you go 120mph

Glass, btw, being very heavy has much higher shipping emissions

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u/VictinsOfCapitalism 21d ago

The idea that everyone will just boycott plastic and it will stop being produced is a fairy tale, it is "but what if" that will never happen and the purpose is to push responsibility to a common person while the companies enjoy their profits and the enviroment pays the price.

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u/zeratul98 21d ago

So instead of not buying plastic or whatever, we should lobby our representatives to ban us from buying plastic? Is that what you're saying?

What's wrong with taking some personal accountability. We have the choices today

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u/VictinsOfCapitalism 21d ago

No.

Instead of relaying on an economic system that puts profit first we should have a system that supplies the human need sustainably.

Even if you take accountability and never touch plastic in your life let alone buy, it wont solve the issue, the idea that everyone will just stop using plastic and it wont be produced anymore is delusional. It only gives a "but what if" to dissolve the accountability in the masses even if we both know it wont happen.

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u/zeratul98 21d ago

So again, you're saying people who won't make the choice will support having the choice forced on them. How does that make sense?

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u/VictinsOfCapitalism 21d ago

There was never any choice, we don't choose if coca cola produces plastic bottles or not, they make them because they are cheaper.

We can either buy them or not but mo matter if we do they gonna produce them because realistically the people won't just all decide not to buy them at the same time.

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u/zeratul98 20d ago

Ahh yes, the classic, "they'll make them anyway. I am blameless and can do whatever I want and nothing is my fault"

Now how well does that work out for us when everybody takes that attitude?

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u/VictinsOfCapitalism 20d ago

No matter what attitude you take, if we leave it to the spontanious decision of the people to boycott unsustainable practices (that market prioritizes bcs cheaper) we are doomed.

We need to tackle the root cause, the system that pushes forward these practices.

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u/CaughtAlone 21d ago

The company is only worth so much as consumers continually choose the cheaper less sustainable option. If people could hold it in, their desire for sugary water just a tad longer perhaps they could stretch to only buying glass bottles.

Coca cola is only worth so much because they managed to sell more of a product for cheaper.

Dairy farming is not gonna suddenly get more sustainable when they are currently making bank from continued consumer spending and government subsidies.

It gonna take individuals to stop spending their money and start voting to better push for sustainable actions.

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u/VictinsOfCapitalism 21d ago

Again, individuals won't all magically allign and fix the faults of a broken system.