Discuss Allan Schnaiberg's assessment of the uncontrolled destruction of the environment as an essential feature of the contemporary economic system. What is the end result of his "treadmill of production"?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Allan Schnaiberg forcefully advanced this perspective through his concept of the "treadmill of production." While one of the principles of ecology is balance and a tendency toward equilibrium, such as when a forest fire clears out the underbrush so that new trees can grow, the pursuit of profit tends toward disequilibrium. The basis of capitalism is continued economic expansion—measured in profits, market shares, gross domestic product, and so on. Producers, laborers, and governments all share an interest in growing the economy by increasing production and consumption. Doing so, of course, entails the consumption of more energy and the production of more pollution. Thus, economic expansion increases wealth, but at the expense of the environment. Schnaiberg argued that the treadmill of production helps ensure business's profits by externalizing the environmental costs of their activities to the poor and the powerless, meaning that economic growth also increases environmental inequality.