Travis Marsden
GEOG 101
Jan. 22, 2021
Response Paper 2
A Cheap World
“A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things” is the title of the article I will be responding to, written by Raj Patel and Jason W. Moore. This article talks a lot about nature, capitalism, and the future of the planet. It argues that capitalism is what changed everything, that it started in the 1400s and is called the Capitalocene. It highlights seven things that show how the modern world was shaped today. The list of seven cheap things are nature, work, care, food, energy, money, and lives. These were all affected by capitalism.
Capitalism is something that focuses on making a profit and doesn’t think about the negative aspects that come along with it, or just doesn’t care enough to do anything. The planet's ecosystem has been majorly affected, with all the pollution and global warming.
Cheap is a fairly simple word with a simple definition. It usually means low, the price of something is very low. But here they are using the word cheap to say taking advantage of. That list of seven do not come easily with a low price, it’s saying they have been taken advantage of. We sell nature's resources for low prices but the real cost is destroying our environment.
Good point in the last paragraph that the authors have a specific meaning for the word "cheap." What exactly do they mean by it and the other keyword you mention, capitalocene? Note that they are interested in describing an objective process rather than an ethics. What is the difference?
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