Fossil Capitalism Dualism

Capitalism and the United States monetary system refuse to productively reduce the the increasing rise of climate change for reasons that benefit only a small amount of profit holders. Malm’s Fossil Capital argues that the systematic methods of capitalism have historically and currently, constructed a benefit for capitalists in systematic dualism of power that taxes the environment and the people by utilizing stock power, a method of using natural resources for power, for an endless, increasing profit. This increasing profit rhetoric that is embedded into capitalism has been reflected into the United States monetary system through an endless desire for economic expansion and a drive for debt, as Bjerg explains in Parallax of Growth, and further
induces our pitfall into global warming. Global warming is ever increasing because the the desire for economic growth, that is fulfilled by stock power, and this desire of growth continues to be reflected into our economic system through debt drive. In essence, it can be argued that Bjerg’s theory of desire and drive can be explained as the rooted explanation to Malm’s dualism of power that in turn reflects into the United States monetary system, as explained by Bjerg, thus further explaining the lack of productivity in addressing the perpetual climate change induced by capitalism. To grasp the reasoning behind how desire and demand thrive within capitalism and capitalism’s dualism of power, the history of capitalism must be evaluated. Historically, capitalism was not originally powered by stock power, otherwise known as fossil fuels, such as coal or oil. Fossil fuel use became present in the economic system in the 19th century in Britain. This transition occurred simultaneously as manufacturers introduced the steam engine as a form of labor power and water powered manufacturing decreased due to droughts and laborers controlling their working hours. At the same time as these events, bills were passed that limited the working hours of laborers. Although the laborers approved of these new laws, the water power, the main form of power for the common worker, was not competing strongly with the steam engine. However, Laborers did not have the opportunities to make up for lost production that transpired due to the droughts or slow water flow because of the strict labor laws. As this occurred, the steam engine and the rise in stock power became more prevalent in the work force as manufacturers and capitalists viewed the stock power to be more valuable than laborers. Thus, manufacturers naturally transitioned to stock power because stock power was cheaper and quicker than specialized human laborers manufacturing the desired products. Stock power, as defined by Malm, is “…movable, you could transport it to your destination of choice, it did not depend on terrain or location or ethics” (p. 41). In essence, stock power was able to be used at any location, at any time, for any duration. Capitalists viewed this resource as economically powerful and profit filled. Unfortunately for the capitalists, stock power was not exclusively independent. Human labor was, and to some extent still is, a necessity to access stock power; humans were, and still are, needed to extract the fossil fuels from the ground and to transport the power to the final destination for manufacture. As stated previously, stock power was only introduced to the economic powers in the 19th century and has progressed to have stronger and more divided power today. Currently, the economic system depend on stock power, specifically oil, to produce the desired product and profit that capitalists aim towards without considering the potential threats to the environment. As Malm discusses throughout his book, the capitalist economy is controlled by a narrow, but extremely powerful, group of capitalists whose actions to uphold a large amount of profit lead to carbon dioxide pollution into the atmosphere and destroy of current ecosystems by utilizing fossil fuels in means of production to withstand the ever increasing profit (Malm 272). To explain this claim produced by Malm, capitalists benefit from utilizing natural resources in the means of production processes because of the inexpensive qualities they possess, as explained earlier. Yet, this inexpensive production taxes the environment because of the pollution that is produced when extracting and burning fossil fuels. Dualism of power is a concept ingrained within capitalism that has a negative effect on laborers and the ecosystem.
This concept, coined by Malm, coincides with stock power because dualism of power cannot exist as it did historically, and does currently, without stock power because of the power over natural resources. The theory can be defined as capitalists having power and control over the laborers and the natural and non renewable resources within the capitalist system. In a sense, the capitalists control the process of manufacturing a product because of the dualism of power over both laborers and the ecosystem, forcing the the ecosystem and laborers to abide by the commands of the capitalist. Domination against labors occurs because of the ever increasing wealth that capitalists generate from the profit which creates an economical hierarchy. This economical hierarchy is ever so present in capitalism because as the capitalists consistently generate profit through the product they oversee; the laborers that actually construct the product stay in the same position of wealth without owning the product they manufacture. Furthermore, this same theory is applicable to the understanding of capitalism in control of environmental resources. Capitalism has, in a sense, control and power over the fossil fuels and environmental surroundings that are necessary, from the capitalist perspective, to creating the product and generate profit. As Malm exemplifies, Britain’s stock power of
choice to fuel the means of production was coal. Coal was extracted at high rates and was viewed as a form of power that would be submissive and obedient to capitalisms wishes. This mindset produced the idea that the capitalist had overall power over the environmental resources with no consequences. However, it is explained through Malm’s argument that there was indeed a large environmental consequence, yet capitalism had established a great economical dependency on coal. The extraction of fossil fuels in the line of production generated greater profit for the capitalist. Although, the ecological cost of extracting fossil fuels from the natural place of occurrence had a large impact that was seen in the future through large effects of climate change, such a rising planet temperatures, pollution, deforestation, and the riddance of species. Unfortunately, the consequences of extracting fossil fuels for capitalism is still existing and flourishing today. Nature, in essence, has to be destroyed and dominated against by capitalism for capitalism to thrive. By acknowledging Malm’s historical background on capitalism argument on dualism of power as literally being the fuel for the means of production, it is possible to understand drive as the force that pushes capitalism into what it is today. Although, desire must first be discussed before expanding into drive. To preface drive, desire is understood as a demand and a need for an object, feeling, or emotion. This concept of desire is not a tangible object, but it is the fuel to every human’s actions and thoughts. To clarify, every human being is a social animal that longs for a need that can only be met by a demand for the specific object, whether the object is food or a compassionate relationship. Desire arises in the transition between needs and demands- desire is embedded in the human thought process and is an individualistic characteristic. The application of Bjerg’s theories of desire explain the reasoning behind the continual use of Malm’s argument on dualism of power.
To explain this reasoning, it is understood that capitalists desire more economic growth that is fulfilled through the use of natural resources and laborers that are under power of capitalism. Desire, essentially, is the ignition to capitalism- the desire to fulfill the need and want of money and personal economic growth for one’s benefit. Dualism of power provides an outlet for this desire to thrive, as it controls natural resources to fuel means of production that require the overlook of laborers that finally fuel the profit outcome, the initial reasoning for capitalism. Dualism of power cannot be terminated as long as the desire for perpetual economic growth continues to thrive within capitalism. Since dualism of power is successful in terms of producing profit for capitalists, the desire will continue, thus producing a never ending cycle. Futhermore, Bjerg’s theory of drive can be connected to this cycling desire for
growth.