The two scholars provide many comprehensive arguments to support their thesis that a capitalist organized economy produces huge amounts of waste, and much of this is in the form of planet destroying pollution which now poses a threat to humanity. They make many references to other scholars throughout the past two hundred years who foresaw many of the dysfunctional aspects of capitalism. Alternatively, they make this claim:
There is no doubt that the social-technological potential already exists to address our most chronic environmental problems and to improve human existence—if we were to use present human capacities and natural resources in a rational and planned way. Yet, this existing potential is simply discarded: as all such rational solutions necessarily cross swords with the “antisocial [and anti-ecological] results of private ownership of the means of production.”While comprehensive and scholarly, it seems to me that in our present state of crisis, much of this is like beating a dead horse. Still, many people need convincing. The internet is filled with people who, under the influence of "there is no alternative" view, continue to argue that the capitalist system just needs to be reformed or fixed. What is really needed at this late date is a number of people dedicated to the replacement of this destructive system by a life-affirming, equitable, rational, and sustainable system.
