Capitalism sustains living standards through destruction and waste of resources

Evidence

Is there any prospect that this chain of growing productivity and repression may be broken? An answer would require an attempt to project contemporary developments into the future, assuming a relatively normal evolution, that is, neglecting the very real possibility of a nuclear war. On this assumption, the Enemy would remain “permanent”—that is, communism would continue to coexist with capitalism. At the same time, the latter would continue to be capable of maintaining and even increasing the standard of living for an increasing part of the population—in spite of and through intensified production of the means of destruction, and methodical waste of resources and faculties. — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 191

Categorization

• XREF: The thesis that prosperity coexists with systematic waste connects to the attention-economy framing of productivity and distraction. — connects to: Capitalism structurally requires excess for some and deprivation for others — James D. Kirylo (ed.), Reinventing Pedagogy of the Oppressed:…, 1094; Capitalism’s growth fetish inherently opposes ecological sustainability — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism: Is There No…, 41; Capitalist profit control of resources harmed environmental quality versus peasant subsistence control. — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology,…, 254 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Capitalism’s growth fetish inherently opposes ecological sustainability #corroborates (0.85) — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism, 41
• Capitalism’s shift from renewable to mineral energy degraded forests at scale. #exemplifies (0.82) — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature, 323
• Capitalist profit control of resources harmed environmental quality versus peasant subsistence control. #exemplifies (0.80) — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature, 254
• Capitalism structurally requires excess for some and deprivation for others #expands (0.75) — James D. Kirylo (ed.), Reinventing Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 1094
• Capitalism requires perpetually unsatiated desire to maintain civilizational growth #expands (0.75) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 3420