Portfolio task 6

How is sustaionability defined within the text?

Meadows claims sustainability is 'ofen defined as inter and intra generational equity in the social, environmental, economic, moral and political spheres of society'. This is where all generations in society work together for their own benifits. Ideal sustainability would be our generation getting what we need but not compromising resources for our next generation.

what are the main characteristics of Capitalisim?

Capitalism is like a 'diverse web'.  Capitalism finds new markets and comodifys them. it is always trying to find new ways around obsticals of society. ideas come to an end in a market niesh, it is where the 'widening sphere of circulation' comes to a close.

Try to define a 'crisis of Capitalism'. Offer an example.

'Crisis indicates a passage, which is the turning point in every systematic cyle of accumulation'. This means over production and the point where nothing more can be done in that market. It often causes disagrements. Example is the environmental crisis where they are inventing electric cars and using alternative oils to defer global warming. This is not a solution, it is a way of making money out of the inevitable and prolonging a market.

What solutions have been offered to the sustainability question? Are theses successful / realistic? If not why are they flawed?

The solutions offered to the sustainability question are: that buisnesses need to reinvest in natural and human capital, they need to use environmentally friendly methods of production with no toxicity, they need to increase the efficiency of their resources and they also need to alter the buisness model so the main focus is the service they provide.
I do not think these solutions are realistic. To make them work they need to get every buisness to cooperate which is very unlikely as there will always be a good proportion that don't want to do it. All the buisnesses would have to perchase new environmentally friendly machinery which would cost buisnesses a lot and also the machinery would be made from unenvironmentally friendly means.



Is the concept of sustainability compatible with Capitalism?

It claims in the test that sustainability is 'potential to become about individual decisions and techncological inovations to delay and reinvent the ecological limitations imposed on our current lifestyle'. It blaimes Capitalism for the current environmental problems and looks to it for solutions. There is a circle where sustainability could not cope without Capitalism but Capitalism picks sustainability apart.