--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The global industrial economy is the…" description: "\"The global industrial economy is the engine for massive environmental degradation and massive human (and nonhuman) impoverishment.\" — Derrick Jensen" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a56/derrick-jensen-2824_degradation_the-global-industrial-economy-is-the-eng_19006.png" --- # The global industrial economy is the engine for massive… ![“The global industrial economy is the engine for massive environmental degradation and massive human (and nonhuman) impoverishment.” quote by Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a56/derrick-jensen-2824_degradation_the-global-industrial-economy-is-the-eng_19006.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a56/derrick-jensen-2824_degradation_the-global-industrial-economy-is-the-eng_19006.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a56/derrick-jensen-2824_degradation_the-global-industrial-economy-is-the-eng_19006.png) > “The global industrial economy is the engine for massive environmental degradation and massive human (and nonhuman) impoverishment.” [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The industrial system drives extensive ecological harm and widespread poverty for both people and other species. **In simple terms:** Industrial growth harms environment and humanity. Key Takeaway Unchecked industry fuels ecological and social decline. Themes environmental degradation economic inequality industrialization human impact nonhuman welfare Mood concerned urgent critical Type statement observation warning When to use this quote - policy debates - environmental activism - academic research - community planning - corporate strategy Key Concepts sustainability social justice ecology resource exploitation Practical Applications - advocacy campaigns - sustainable development initiatives Questions to Reflect On - How can industrial practices be reformed to reduce harm? - What alternatives exist to decouple prosperity from degradation? A Different Perspective Economic growth can also fund environmental restoration and poverty alleviation if managed responsibly. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Degradation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/degradation/) [Economics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economics/) [Economy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economy/) [Environmental](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environmental/) [Environmental degradation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environmental-degradation/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) ## Related quotes > [All our efforts to defeat poverty and pursue sustainable development will be in vain if environmental degradation and natural resource depletion continue unabated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kofi-annan/all-our-efforts-to-defeat-poverty-and-pursue-sustainable-development/) [Kofi Annan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kofi-annan/) > [Finally, since human beings are uniquely capable of producing materials not found in nature, environmental degradation may be due to the resultant intrusion into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-commoner/finally-since-human-beings-are-uniquely-capable-of-producing/) [Barry Commoner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-commoner/) > [We have a situation where we are rich really as a world overall, and yet we have the capacity to destroy ourselves, either through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-blair/we-have-a-situation-where-we-are-rich-really-as-a-world-overall-and/) [Tony Blair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-blair/) > [Understanding what is going on in the world today inspires me in a negative sense because there's so much about it that I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodora-goss/understanding-what-is-going-on-in-the-world-today-inspires-me-in-a/) [Theodora Goss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodora-goss/) > [Environmental degradation is one of the biggest challenges we have. I think a question that we're not asking ourselves is: 'Isn't humanity committing suicide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/environmental-degradation-is-one-of-the-biggest-challenges-we-have-i/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [Environmental degradation has one cause above all others: the propensity of human beings to take the benefit and leave the costs to someone else,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/environmental-degradation-has-one-cause-above-all-others-the/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [There can be no peace as long as there is grinding poverty, social injustice, inequality, oppression, environmental degradation, and as long as the weak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/there-can-be-no-peace-as-long-as-there-is-grinding-poverty-social/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [Peace should be understood in a human way - in a broad social, political and economic way. 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At…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kofi-annan/in-an-age-of-interdependence-global-citizenship-based-on-trust-and/) [Kofi Annan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kofi-annan/) > [The essential role of the environment is still marginal in discussions about poverty. While we continue to debate these initiatives, environmental degradation, including the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wangari-maathai/the-essential-role-of-the-environment-is-still-marginal-in/) [Wangari Maathai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wangari-maathai/) ## More by Derrick Jensen > [“In sum, one of the primary things I learned was how to kill time. I learned also to wish away my life. I learned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/in-sum-one-of-the-primary-things-i-learned-was-how-to-kill-time-i/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [“I had broken the most basic commandment of our culture: Thou shalt pretend there is nothing wrong.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/i-had-broken-the-most-basic-commandment-of-our-culture-thou-shalt/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [“Someone asked me once at a talk why I so stress the positive with my students yet am such an unstinting critic of those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/someone-asked-me-once-at-a-talk-why-i-so-stress-the-positive-with-my/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [If the world is presented as resources to be exploited, then, more than likely, you're going to exploit the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/if-the-world-is-presented-as-resources-to-be-exploited-then-more-than/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [It's no wonder we don't defend the land where we live. 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Where will you choose to make your stand? Give me a threshold, a specific point at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/where-will-you-drive-your-own-picket-stake-where-will-you-choose-to/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [“So often, environmentalists and others working to slow the destruction are capable of plainly describing the problems (Who wouldn’t be? The problems are neither…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/so-often-environmentalists-and-others-working-to-slow-the-destruction/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [Forests precede us and deserts dog our heels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/forests-precede-us-and-deserts-dog-our-heels/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [“The condition of alienation, of being asleep, of being unconscious, of being out of one’s mind, is the condition of the normal man. Society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/the-condition-of-alienation-of-being-asleep-of-being-unconscious-of/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [So many indigenous people have said to me that the fundamental difference between Western and indigenous ways of being is that even the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/so-many-indigenous-people-have-said-to-me-that-the-fundamental/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [When dams were erected on the Columbia, salmon battered themselves against the concrete, trying to return home. I expect no less from us. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/when-dams-were-erected-on-the-columbia-salmon-battered-themselves/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [People say 'what do you mean' when you talk about 'bringing down civilization.' What I really mean is depriving the rich of the ability…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/people-say-what-do-you-mean-when-you-talk-about-bringing-down/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [If you only had a limited time to life (which is of course the case), how would you spend your time?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/if-you-only-had-a-limited-time-to-life-which-is-of-course-the-case/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) [Explore all 149 Derrick Jensen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) ## More Degradation quotes > [All our efforts to defeat poverty and pursue sustainable development will be in vain if environmental degradation and natural resource depletion continue unabated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kofi-annan/all-our-efforts-to-defeat-poverty-and-pursue-sustainable-development/) [Kofi Annan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kofi-annan/) > [Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity, or registering wrongs. 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At…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kofi-annan/in-an-age-of-interdependence-global-citizenship-based-on-trust-and/) [Kofi Annan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kofi-annan/) > [If all boys could be made to know that with every breath of cigarette smoke they inhale imbecility and exhale manhood ... and that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hudson-maxim/if-all-boys-could-be-made-to-know-that-with-every-breath-of-cigarette/) Hudson Maxim > [If the world suffers from mental deterioration or from moral degradation, then something goes wrong at the very root of civilization or culture. Even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jawaharlal-nehru/if-the-world-suffers-from-mental-deterioration-or-from-moral/) [Jawaharlal Nehru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jawaharlal-nehru/) > [As a southerner born after the epic events of the civil rights movement, I've always wondered how on earth people of good will could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-meacham/as-a-southerner-born-after-the-epic-events-of-the-civil-rights/) [Jon Meacham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-meacham/) > [It's a terrible cruelty of predatory capitalism: both parents now have to work. A family has to have two incomes in order to buy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/it-s-a-terrible-cruelty-of-predatory-capitalism-both-parents-now-have/) [James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) > [Environmental degradation, overpopulation, refugees, narcotics, terrorism, world crime movements, and organized crime are worldwide problems that don't stop at a nation's borders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-christopher/environmental-degradation-overpopulation-refugees-narcotics-terrorism/) [Warren Christopher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-christopher/) > [What is it in absinthe that makes it a separate cult? The effects of its abuse are totally distinct from those of other stimulants.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleister-crowley/what-is-it-in-absinthe-that-makes-it-a-separate-cult-the-effects-of/) [Aleister Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleister-crowley/) > [Restoration ecology is experimental science, a science of love and altruism. 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