How Capitalism Affects the Environment: Political Cartoons
By: Matt Pierson
Tags: Wealth Inequality, Climate Change, Environmental Impact, Political Cartoons, Environmental Issues

The topic of climate change is surely one that is constantly talked about in all forms of media, and has been for quite some time. Though, I believe that with the emergence of social media during this ever-expanding technological and interconnected world we live in today, it has gained even more attention in the general public’s eye. Voices of those concerned for our planet’s health are being amplified, ranging from news outlets talking about how the environment gets affected to climate change activists like Greta Thunberg and former vice president Al Gore to Instagram accounts created by people and/or organizations that are supportive of fighting climate change. Regardless of the medium used to get the messages across, climate change is a seemingly endless conversation topic.

For this entry in my blog, I will be covering a political cartoon that I stumbled upon during my research for a cultural artifact. I originally had some trouble brainstorming what I could choose as my cultural artifact, but then realized that a political cartoon would be a good choice for me. I knew that since climate change is quite the popular topic of interest for political cartoons, there was no shortage of options to choose from for this blog post.

In this political cartoon by Karsten Schley, the image depicts two people who appear to be middle-aged talking about how their way of life (which is implied to be related to capitalism) and how they will likely not be around by the time the effects of climate change starts killing more and more people. In the background of this cartoon, there are two line graphs, one showing a common profit graph going up and the other showing a climate graph going down.

In this second political cartoon by Tjeerd Royaards, the image depicts the World Economic Forum where many Rich Uncle Pennybags from the classic board game Monopoly being shown a chalkboard with a sketch of the earth on fire and a rocketship fleeing from it to go to what looks like the moon.

I interpreted Schley’s and Royaards’ political cartoons as a way of them believing that there are people, especially the Baby Boomer generation and those who are extremely wealthy and a part of the global elite, who don’t care what the environmental consequences of producing so many goods and services in a capitalist society are, and ultimately don’t care about climate change simply because they can avoid it. They don’t care what the future will hold for future generations, and only care about the money they can make and what the economy looks like right now. Both Baby Boomers and the global elite might dismiss the effects of climate change due to capitalism in similar ways since both groups won’t have to deal with it like the generations of people born after them or those who aren’t as wealthy. Generation X through Generation Alpha will still be around when climate change gets to a really dangerous point while the Baby Boomers will likely all be dead by that time. Ordinary people like those who are middle or lower-class and aren’t in the top 1% won’t have the money to relocate, and in Royaards’ depiction flee earth and live on the moon. They won’t be able to afford the resources to live a more “normal” life secluded from where the problems are like what the top 1% and global elite can afford to do.

Not only do both of these political cartoons showcase the issues of capitalism and climate change, but they also bring up a different underlying issue of wealth inequality in the U.S. specifically. If no immediate actions are done to prevent more damage from climate change, the whole planet will have a whole slew of side effects to deal with. According to the United States Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), the Northwest region of the U.S. will face many side effects of climate change: “The Northwest’s economy, infrastructure, natural systems, public health, and agriculture sectors all face important climate change related risks. Impacts on infrastructure, natural systems, human health, and economic sectors, combined with issues of social and ecological vulnerability, will unfold quite differently in largely natural areas, like the Cascade Range, than in urban areas like Seattle and Portland, or among the region’s many Native American tribes.” Areas and communities that are distant from urban areas (where more middle class communities live) and are in more rural/secluded parts of the Northwest region will be far more vulnerable to the side effects of climate change, largely because of the wealth inequality that exists. These communities will inevitably deal with more threats such as wildfires (longer wildfire seasons and more frequent wildfires) along with reduced water supplies as a side effect of climate change. This susceptibility will leave these communities far more exposed to climate change compared to those living near and around the cities, and will unfortunately be the firsts to feel the effects of a dying planet if no action is done now to prevent it.

Upon looking at these two cultural artifacts with a critical lens, I realized that climate change is an extremely complex topic with many layers. With each layer connections to the next layer can be easily drawn, and to me just makes it seem like an observable domino effect; one thing leads to another thing, which leads to another thing and another thing etc. The topic of climate change isn’t simply just about how temperatures across the globe are rising due to greenhouse gases — it’s about how that affects the environment, and how the environment then impacts our states, cities, communities, and ultimately ourselves and everything we live for.