The Soviet Union and the Biosphere

Abstract

monious relationship between man and his physical milieu. By contrast, the capitalist system is perceived as the worst offender in the annals of history against mankind's natural heritage: motivated by avarice and selfishness, caught up in an endless chase after profits, the entrepreneurial classes mercilessly plunder the wealth of the earth without regard to the tragic consequences of their conduct. Such behaviour is seen as inherent in the very nature of capitalism and all suggestions of possible self-reform are dismissed as Utopian. Past and current endeavours in the countries dominated by the capitalist ethos to implement measures aimed at the protection of the human environment only elicit sceptical remarks from Soviet spokesmen to the effect that the phenomenon generally represents the latest results of the incessant struggle for power between rival capitalist groupings celebrating the victor's acquisition of control over certain sources of wealth while forcing the loser to abandon the field. The ensuing fragile truce is then upset by a new alignment of forces within the clique of monopoly capitalism, leading to a fresh recarving of the economic empire, and so on ad infinitum. The frantic scramble for profits, the shrinking international market, the progressive depletion of resources, and the loss of colonies have accelerated the process and intensified the conflicts which, in turn, is interpreted to mean that every effort at forging a stable modus vivendi is foredoomed to