The environmental movement is becoming more than just a movement; it is a revolution. The majority of the public supports environmental protection (even though it may not be the top priority for most people). There are more and more environmental agencies and organizations gaining support, almost every big company has a “sustainability” objective, and the pressure being put on the government to commit to climate change is growing immensely.

The environmental movement has given us a solution to our problems. Ecosystems are collapsing, the rate global warming is unprecedented, natural disasters are becoming more frequent, and the degrees of social inequality and poverty are increasing. And we are given millions of tiny solutions that, added up, can supposedly change everything. That is why you feel good after you purchase a LED bulb or take the bus to work.

But is it enough? Look at the ideology behind the sustainability (as opposed to environmental) movement and it becomes much more complex than simply turning off lights when you leave the room.

As with any revolution, we must look at the causes before finding a solution. But the issues are deep-rooted in a system that has been developing for hundreds of years, and is now so fully engrained into our society that it has become a seemingly unstoppable force.

The main problem goes back to origins of capitalism during the Industrial Revolution; that our economy is focused solely on consumption and economic growth. Conventional capitalism assumes certain things to be inherently true: That the free market is the most productive, that resource shortages will elicit the development of substitutes, that having a healthy environment must be balanced against economic prosperity, and that gross domestic product (GDP) is the most telling factor of a nation’s success.

These assumptions are severely flawed. The biggest flaw is the belief that GDP is a good indicator of prosperity. GDP is an equation measuring gross consumption, investment, exports, and government spending. There is no factor of quality of life, or inequality of income distribution. Also, when a natural disaster happens, government spending increases immensely, as does the GDP. It also completely leaves out growth of natural capital, making resource depletion arbitrary.

This path of economic growth leads to environmental collapse and extreme social inequality. If all that anyone is focusing on is “growth,” where does it end? Physically, nothing can grow infinitely. “Growth” usually implies that there is some state of adulthood where one stops growing, and instead develops and matures mentally. Ideally, the economy should “grow” to a stable, sustainable size, and then at that point the QUALITY should improve rather than QUANTITY. It is clear that we have already passed this sustainable size. So now come the ideals of the environmental revolution: where do we go from here?

We need a government and economy that serve the needs of the people, within the physical limits of the ecosystem. This is the ideal; this is why government exists in the first place. People first, environment and financial security second. Of course, we can’t live in an environment that is degraded to the point of collapse, and no one wants to live without financial security, either. So we need to keep both of these things in mind with every action. And financial security won’t be achieved by increase in GDP, it will be achieved by poverty alleviation, including jobs, education, and infrastructure.

In my opinion, this is the whole point of the environmental movement. It doesn’t exist because we want to save trees or study insects. It exists because our current way of life- unsustainable resource depletion and waste accumulation- is going to cause some disastrous consequences, and these consequences will disproportionately affect impoverished peoples and developing countries.

This ideology, the basis of the sustainability movement, gives environmentalists something to rally behind. We have a vision and a goal. As I get more and more deeply involved in this movement, I can imagine what it may have been like for people in Russia when communism was introduced, or Americans right before the Revolution. We know something is drastically wrong, and we are given a chance for reformation, a solution to attain.

But as with any revolution, it is easy to generalize and categorize too broadly. We cannot turn politicians, industrialists, or business barons or into enemies. After all, we are ultimately working towards the same goal. In order to get anything done we need to work together, to change things and move forward. This is truly where the biggest problem lies. It’s easy enough to have ideals and goals, but impossible to attain them politically without public support. That is why it is becoming increasingly important to create awareness and support for environmental and sustainability issues. We need to reach every corner of the globe, and then finally we can rise to a solution and live in an ideal world. And THAT is my statement to rally behind.