George Sanford
Steven Marx
English 134
November 18, 2004
LovinsÕ Logic
In the first chapter of Natural Capitalism, author Amory Lovins proposes a new method of capitalism that recognizes the importance of natural and human capital in the industrial system. Conventional capitalism places value only on capital that yields financial gain, and ignores the human and natural parts of the equation. Lovins points to this as the reason for many of the environmental, social, and economic problems on our planet today. He argues that the destructive practices of conventional capitalism must cease, and that a new industrial revolution must happen that will change how human beings support themselves and sustain the resources of the planet. In this chapter he offers suggestions as to how to implement such a revolution.
The chapter opens with a passage describing an idealistically perfect world. In this utopian society, unemployment no longer exists and the demand for welfare has dropped. Oil only costs five dollars per barrel due to the discovery of alternate fuel sources. Lovins paints a picture of a world that everyone would like to live in, and says that such a clean world can become a reality if people read his book and follow the suggestions within. He also describes all the bad things happening in the world as a result of conventional capitalism and what will happen if governments and corporations continue on the present path. Lovins explains the relationship between the dwindling amount of natural resources, and the companies that exhaust them for financial gain without concern for sustaining the ecosystem of the planet. The resulting social problems such as poverty, malnutrition, and anarchy are of no concern to the corporations that created them because the cost of the resources does not include whatever happens to the place they came from. LovinsÕ contrast of sustainable methods versus destructive methods convinces the readers to agree with his claim and follow his proposed changes.
He discusses four key strategies for implementing natural capitalism; radical resource productivity, biomimicry, service and flow economy, and investing in natural capital. Radical resource productivity involves finding every way possible to increase the usage that humans get from natural resources. This lowers the cost of materials and decreases the amount of pollution due to wasteful consumption of resources. Biomimicry is the term given for modeling the mechanical processes of our industries after the self-sustaining and interdependent processes found in nature. Such a transformation would make factories more efficient and less polluting. Creating a service and flow economy means that consumers would pay for the service a product provides instead of buying the product itself. Instead of throwing away worn out products, consumers can just return them to the manufacturer, who will repair them or recycle them. Investing in natural capital means that corporations value living systems. In this sort of system, logging companies would value not only the lumber that they harvest, but the forest habitat where the trees came from as well. This gives companies motivation to not strip a forest bare because they now profit from a thriving forest habitat. This Lovins calls these points Òthe basis of responsible stewardship and prosperity for the next century.Ó
This chapter is full of colorful language written specifically to sway the emotions of the reader. Throughout the chapter, Lovins contrasts the destructive methods of conventional capitalism with alternative methods that promote sustainability. Lovins describes, ÒMountains of toxic tailingsÓ being dumped next to ÒImpoverished indigenous villages.Ó These words arouse sympathy for the natives and concern about the destruction of their local environment. He calls the emergence of natural capitalism Òthe end of the war against Earth.Ó This makes the reader look at the history of capitalism in the last century and realize that to continue on the present path would mean conscious destruction of the environment and ultimately ourselves.
When I first read the chapter online, I was not convinced of the credibility of the sources because his information was not cited. When I saw the text version, however, I discovered that each of his sources were cited and listed in the back of the book. He bases his argument on biomimicry on the findings of Swiss industry analyst Walter Stahel and German chemist Michael Braungart. Lovins quotes a speech made by former Secretary of State Warren Christopher in 1996, in which he declares that the state of the environment affects the political stability of the world. In the section about resource management, the author states that ÒHuman beings use over half the worldÕs accessible surface freshwaterÓ and that ÒThe materials used by the United States industry amount to twenty times every citizenÕs weight per day.Ó It raises the credibility of the argument to know that LovinsÕ claim is based on information from well-informed sources.
I agree with LovinÕs logical assessment of the problem and I think that his proposed solutions will help the planet, but I think that chapter has a little bit more emotional rhetoric than it needs. This chapter is heavily spiced with emotional appeal to sway readers without really delving into the actual argument. The entire opening paragraph and the first few pages contain nothing but emotional appeal. Lovins uses rhetoric designed to sway the emotions of the reader with the utopian scenario that he promises will come from changing the current capitalistic practices, and the vivid descriptions of the horrors of our environmental crisis. However, one should not assume that this chapter is merely emotional persuasion. Lovins bases his argument on rational logic and his informational sources are distinguished experts in their field. He makes a strongly supported claim and his words give me food for thought. I believe it would be wise for people to listen to the logical claim that Lovins presents and follow his suggestions.