--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Capitalism, as practiced, is a…" description: "\"Capitalism, as practiced, is a financially profitable, non-sustainable aberration in human development.\" — Paul Hawken" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b4/paul-hawken-3831_aberration_capitalism-as-practiced-is-a-financially_1463655.png" --- # Capitalism, as practiced, is a financially profitable… ![“Capitalism, as practiced, is a financially profitable, non-sustainable aberration in human development.” quote by Paul Hawken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b4/paul-hawken-3831_aberration_capitalism-as-practiced-is-a-financially_1463655.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b4/paul-hawken-3831_aberration_capitalism-as-practiced-is-a-financially_1463655.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b4/paul-hawken-3831_aberration_capitalism-as-practiced-is-a-financially_1463655.png) > “Capitalism, as practiced, is a financially profitable, non-sustainable aberration in human development.” [Paul Hawken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-hawken/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Current capitalism prioritizes profit over ecological and social sustainability. **In simple terms:** Profit‑first capitalism harms planet and people. Key Takeaway Seek sustainable economic models. Themes environment economics ethics Mood critical hopeful Type environmental philosophical When to use this quote - business strategy - policy making - investment decisions Key Concepts systems thinking externalities social justice Questions to Reflect On - What alternatives to profit‑driven growth exist? - How can individuals influence corporate practices? A Different Perspective Transition to sustainability can be costly and politically resisted. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aberration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aberration/) [Capitalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capitalism/) [Economics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economics/) [Human development](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-development/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) ## Related quotes > [Ownership is a sine qua non of sustainable development.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-wolfensohn/ownership-is-a-sine-qua-non-of-sustainable-development/) [James Wolfensohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-wolfensohn/) > [There's a real, brutal nature to the capitalism practiced by the main character in 'How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia.' And I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/there-s-a-real-brutal-nature-to-the-capitalism-practiced-by-the-main/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [As long as people will accept crap, it will be financially profitable to dispense it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-cavett/as-long-as-people-will-accept-crap-it-will-be-financially-profitable/) [Dick Cavett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-cavett/) > [The music industry is up and down. Sometimes the people love you, and sometimes they don't. 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The real community is built on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chazz-palminteri/i-m-very-proud-of-being-italian-american-but-people-don-t-realize/) [Chazz Palminteri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chazz-palminteri/) > [Christianity does not oppose debauchery and uncontrollable passions and the like as much as it opposes... flat mediocrity, this nauseating atmosphere, this homey, civil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/christianity-does-not-oppose-debauchery-and-uncontrollable-passions/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) ## More by Paul Hawken > [Information from destructive activities going back a hundred years right up until today is being incorporated into the system. And as that happens the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-hawken/information-from-destructive-activities-going-back-a-hundred-years/) [Paul Hawken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-hawken/) > [When the planes still swoop down and aerial spray a field in order to kill a predator insect with pesticides, we are in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-hawken/when-the-planes-still-swoop-down-and-aerial-spray-a-field-in-order-to/) [Paul Hawken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-hawken/) > [The great thing about the dilemma we're in is that we get to re-imagine every single thing we do...There isn't a single thing that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-hawken/the-great-thing-about-the-dilemma-we-re-in-is-that-we-get-to-re/) [Paul Hawken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-hawken/) > [Luck is earned. Luck is working so hard at your craft, service or enterprise that sooner or later you get a break.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-hawken/luck-is-earned-luck-is-working-so-hard-at-your-craft-service-or/) [Paul Hawken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-hawken/) > [Healing the wounds of the earth and its people does not require saintliness or a political party, only gumption and persistence. 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If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-hawken/if-you-look-at-the-science-that-describes-what-is-happening-on-earth/) [Paul Hawken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-hawken/) > [All is connected ... no one thing can change by itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-hawken/all-is-connected-no-one-thing-can-change-by-itself/) [Paul Hawken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-hawken/) > [We can no longer prosper by increasing human productivity. The more we try to do, the more poverty we will create.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-hawken/we-can-no-longer-prosper-by-increasing-human-productivity-the-more-we/) [Paul Hawken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-hawken/) > [Throughout the industrial era, economists considered manufactured capital - money, factories, etc. - the principal factor in industrial production, and perceived natural capital as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-hawken/throughout-the-industrial-era-economists-considered-manufactured/) [Paul Hawken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-hawken/) > [his planet came with a set of instructions, but we seem to have misplaced them. Important rules like don’t poison the water, soil, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-hawken/his-planet-came-with-a-set-of-instructions-but-we-seem-to-have/) [Paul Hawken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-hawken/) > [Sustainability, ensuring the future of life on Earth, is an infinite game, the endless expression of generosity on behalf of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-hawken/sustainability-ensuring-the-future-of-life-on-earth-is-an-infinite/) [Paul Hawken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-hawken/) [Explore all 121 Paul Hawken quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-hawken/) ## More Aberration quotes > [Christianity does not oppose debauchery and uncontrollable passions and the like as much as it opposes... flat mediocrity, this nauseating atmosphere, this homey, civil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/christianity-does-not-oppose-debauchery-and-uncontrollable-passions/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [I'm very proud of being Italian-American, but people don't realize that the mafia is just this aberration. 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Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-d-crisp/) > [In our wildest aberrations we dream of an equilibrium we have left behind and which we naively expect to find at the end of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/in-our-wildest-aberrations-we-dream-of-an-equilibrium-we-have-left/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [The captain, thinking over this event afterward, realized that by his own lifelong standards he had a crew composed entirely of lunatics, with himself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-clement/the-captain-thinking-over-this-event-afterward-realized-that-by-his/) [Hal Clement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-clement/) > [I have no problem with it. I don't look on homosexuality as an aberration. It's just they way they're born, and how could any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-thompson/i-have-no-problem-with-it-i-don-t-look-on-homosexuality-as-an/) [Andrea Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-thompson/) > [ \[Dr. Constain James\] refuted so well the aberrations of Darwinism… \[A system\] which is repugnant at once to history, to the tradition of all… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-pius-ix/dr-constain-james-refuted-so-well-the-aberrations-of-darwinism-a/) [Pope Pius IX](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-pius-ix/) > [It might be comforting to assume that intolerance is an aberration within Islam but discrimination against Christians or any other non-Muslim is in fact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-coren/it-might-be-comforting-to-assume-that-intolerance-is-an-aberration/) [Michael Coren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-coren/) > [The era of the political was one of anomie: crisis, violence, madness and revolution. 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