Marx, Engels, and metabolic rift

Abstract

Despite our assumed position as earth’s dominant species, we have seen our society effectively shut down by a virus. Friedrich Engels’s caution against hubris, written over a century and half ago, seems particularly apt. And while we grapple with one monster, the far deadlier beast of climactic catastrophe grows ever more menacing. Despite our scientific knowledge and technological prowess, one thing remains clear: We are not the masters over nature. We are part of nature. And the idea that we can view ourselves and our economy as existing independently of the natural world could be the end of us.