Abstract

This paper examines both economic and ecological impacts of primitive accumulation of capital. As Marx’s theory of metabolic rift indicates, the process of class formation is tightly linked to the process of environmental degradation. Furthermore, it is important to note that primitive accumulation creates artificial scarcity of social and natural wealth. Thus, despite enormous increase in productive forces, capitalism is essentially characterized by scarcity and impoverishment. By comprehending this point, one can also grasp Marx’s vision of abundance in the post-capitalist society. Marx was often accused of his naïve Promethean vision of abundance that ignores natural limits, but this is not compatible with his eco-socialist insight developed in Capital. Radical abundance of ecosocialism lies in the transcendence of artificial scarcity created by capitalism and in the re-establishment of common wealth.