Naess and his (what seems to be) attack on Capitalism

In Naess's Ecology of Wisdom, his section entitled "A Place of Joy in a World of Fact", begins with a description of Marx's Communist society. He states in other words, that in a communist society, the "society does the general production and thus allows the individual to can partake in the life of a community through his own inclination, with joy, and within the framework of his own values." What stuck me about this passage was that it seemed to be an attack on our capitalist society by and for the deep ecology movement, and so lead me back to think about our class discussion and how we all seemed to be conflicted as to whether Naess was trying to tell us how to live our lives or whether he was just stating his own opinion.

I thought about the way capitalism functions in our society and abuses the people living in it. Sure, it is a nice thought to be able to live in a world where we are not wasteful, where people enjoy the simplicity of life, and where we practice anti-consumerism, but it is not possible in world where equality does not exist. The class structure in society limits one's ability to gain "success". Therefore, it is an inconceivable thought to think that those who are less fortunate, might not want to consume more whenever they get a chance. People who are less fortunate in a capitalist society, depend on consumerism to survive this "dog eat dog" world.

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