Most recently, I have finished the reading, “What kind of democracy?” Throughout this reading, the author explains the democratic economy and uses it to argue why democracy is not the ideal form of government for the Anthropocene. This idea was truly new to me because I have always believed that democracy was the best fit for the Anthropocene. With democracy, I thought that with good ideologies and institutions within the international realm, cooperation is possible and international issues like global warming can be reduced. However, the author recognizes that the economy side of democracy does not help these environmental issues. The author argues that within a democratic economy, “wealth is produced and sustained by an economy that effectively subsidizes fossil fuels (by treating green house gas emissions as costless) and industrial agriculture” (Purdy, 257). By the government doing this, it is not helping fight the environmental issues within the Anthropocene, but rather adds more fuel to the fire and increases the issues. Furthermore, the author explains that a democracy within the Anthropocene calls for a reshape of ideologies and institutions. In agreement with the author, I believe that humans need to explore values and ideologies that are realistic and effective towards environmental issues. In addition, I believe that with the United States being the western hegemon and the power that America has internationally, our values, ideologies and institutions can be expressed successfully. With this in mind, the idea of what democracy looks like in the Anthropocene is a rather interesting and difficult one. Due to this, I find myself leaning towards writing my final paper on this idea because I believe that democracy within the Anthropocene will effect not only our generations by the many to come.
