Sources Of Ecological Crisis

In today’s serious ecological crisis,to exaggerate the severity of it becomes impossible. The contemporary ecological crisis has caused a series of serious global problems:global warming,ozone depletion,acid rain spread,water shortages,soil degradation,severe solid waste pollution,species extinction,forest dropping,etc. These problems have been threatening human survival and advance. The harsh reality forces people to re-examine the relationship between man and nature,reflect the actions of human being and explore the root causes of ecological crisis,in order to find ways to solve the ecological crisis.Research on the causes of ecological crisis falls into four representative academic viewpoints.“Anti-human-centrism”claims that anthrocentrism is the root cause of contemporary ecological crisis,a result of human activities centering on human being’s interests. Therefore , to solve the ecological crisis , anthrocentrism should be fundamentally opposed to. Human activity should not be advocating the interests of man as the center of biological species,but respect other species’right to exist,focus on the interests of nature,deal with nature morally and spread ethical viewpoint to the whole world.“Alienationism of science and technology”refers to phenomenon that science and technology produces damage, control and threatening to human being in its course of benefiting mankind. The alienation process of science and technology is the process of damage to ecological environment. Alienation consequently led to outcome of ecological crisis. Hence,alienationism advocates reflection and criticism on science and technology.“Consumption alienationism”attributes the root causes of ecological crisis to consumption alienation. It believes that in today’s society,the infinite economic growth pattern and high consumption lifestyles result in the alienation of human consumption and damage to the ecological environment,leading to ecological crisis. “The theory of capitalist system”blames the root causes of the ecological crisis on capitalist system that the anti-ecology nature of capitalist system and its production mode will inevitably lead to ecological crisis.All of the four academic viewpoints try to explore the root causes of ecological crisis from one aspect, but not from overall perspective of human practice. As the ecological crisis is caused by human practice,therefore,to explore the root causes of ecological crisis,people should focus on human practice,human relations,then display the comprehensive perspective of the various inter-related elements.Ecological crisis is a result of human practice, and essentially an anti-mankind action from nature. When people enter the practice field,a double relationship occurs immediately:the natural and social relations. The ecological crisis is originally associated with natural relation, human capacity of transforming the nature. The human practical capacity of transforming nature is the productivity basis of ecological crisis.Due to the low productivity level in primitive civilization,human transformation of nature did not cause destruction to nature,so there was no ecological crisis. In the agricultural civilization,especially the industrial civilization,human capacity of transforming the nature improved,but not really up to the point of control over its own activities. Human activities began to cause damage to nature,eventually lead to ecological crisis.With further enhancement of human practical ability,higher level productive forces,and entry to communist society,the human being have the capacity to control its own activity,consequently,the negative influence will be under control,more and more controls and overcomes over the ecological crisis will be obtained.The outcome of ecological crisis is related to natural relationship,but basically social relations in practice. Practice always belongs to social practice,and human practice are always conducted in a particular social relations. The nature and situation of the social relations affect the purpose,process and outcome of specific practices,processes and results. The nature of social relations is the social cause of ecological crisis.In primitive communist society,there was no differentiation or opposition,people coordinated and shared together. Under this kind of social relations,anti-mankind action of nature mostly didn’t occur,therefore ecological crisis did not rise.With the appearance of private ownership,the society divided into classes and stratums with different interests,people acted on their own behalf,and took little consideration of other people and society’s interests. This kind of social relations inevitably increased the practice of anti-mankind action from nature,and caused ecological crisis.In communist society,private ownership and class polarization will be abolished,the opposite class interests will disappear. Each will become equal as a freeman in the union,and coordinate with others. The objective of all activities is to fulfill man’s freedom and overall development. This kind of social relations will not lead to anti-mankind action from nature,ecological crisis will eventually be under control and overcome.Ecological crisis is also associated with the level of understanding. Practice is always undergone with the guidance of knowledge , and different levels of understanding will produce different results. With more profound and comprehensive understanding of the law of nature and society,the practical results become more anticipative,people are more capable to control the practice of ecological crisis. However,there exist general connections between nature and human society,and there are many different levels in natural and social laws,so it is impossible for people to grasp these connections without any omission,to exhaust the natural law and social law. Therefore,the results of practice can not all be expectable. Partially, they’re expectable but unexpectable collectively;presently,they’re expectable but unexpectable in the long run. Although the unexpectable results are not always disadvantageous to human being,still there is a greater possibility of generating ecological crisis with greater blindness. In this sense,ecological crisis can be greatly controlled but not be exclusively overcome in communist society.After recognizing sources of ecological crisis,a general approach to control and to overcome ecological crisis is reached. First,to develop productive forces rapidly and create more productivity than capitalism;second,to eliminate private ownership, alienation and opposition in interests among the individual,the collective and the society,handle the relationship of the three sides appropriately;third,to develop the level of human understanding,to cultivate correct,comprehensive and profound understanding of natural and social laws,and to strengthen the predictability of practice.Ecological crisis is caused by the human practical activity,the control and overcome of ecological crisis basically depends on the development of practice. It’s safe to believe that the development of human practice will eventually overcome and control the ecological crisis,and progressively create a more suitable surroundings for human survival and development.