Summary Of 'Chapter 12' By Angus Butler

Population, Society, and Environment take on environmental issues in a way that redefines the ways in which we analyze the ecological movement. In Chapter 12, Angus Butler focused on how consumer sovereignty hindered the progression of the ecological movement by creating the perception of false needs. The perception of wanting a product is confused with the necessity of needing a product, but these wants have consequences. Our growing needs that are being reinforced by the media is fueling the need for consumer demand and contributing to the population issue that we face today. We are being manipulated through the markets and greenwashed into believing that the products we buy are good for the environment. Consumers are told to believe that their cars are the problem, but as Angus and Butler emphasize, the issue is more complex than it seems. Depending on the areas consumer reside, cars are the only option to getting to work, buying food, and reaching educational facilities for their

Chapter 13 key points focused on the secrecy that existed behind the “world’s largest polluter,” (Angus and Butler, 174). War has contributed to high levels of pollution yet the data on the environmental consequences of war is slim to none.Angus and Butler reiterate that the law-breaking body of corporations and military personnel view the environmental struggle as something that is expected to occur because it is “business as usual” (Angus and Butler, 171). The harm to the environment is the last thing these corporations think about because of profit reigns over lives. Chapter 14 expands on the carelessness of corporations to reduce--or let alone, attempt to find solutions to environmental degradation. Angus and Butler emphasize the high need for populations asking why environmental degradation is occurring when capitalism is to blame. Angus and Butler present the scary root of capitalism and how the thought and application of capitalism are inherently creating an ecological