690
J. Pan
of respecting nature, accentuating natural resources, and seeking harmony between
man and nature. He pointed out, “We should establish the concept of natural value
and natural capital because natural ecology is valuable, and protecting nature is the
process of increasing natural value and natural capital.” This has laid the foundation
for the theory of natural value implied by the above “clear waters and green mountains” phrase. It fully embodies the concept of respecting nature, accentuating natural
resources, and seeking harmony between man and nature—a theoretical innovation
of Marxist political economy and also the new theoretical economics for building an
ecological civilization in a new era that provides a theoretical basis for the transformation and enhancement of industrial civilization, the transition to ecological civilization, and the approach to ecological civilization. It shows that under the ecological
civilization system, value is measured not only with the value increment through
human labor, but also by that created by nature’s labor. Since labor results must
be shared among all the parties involved, nature itself should also share a certain
proportion of the output by nature and social labor, so that man and nature can at
least work together to achieve simple reproduction, and the system at large and its
elements can be sustainable. Therefore, the system designed under the value system
of ecological civilization is not for capital itself, but for the people and nature that
create capital.
3 Industrial Theory and Growth Momentum of Ecological
Civilization
In the industrial civilization, people believed that capital, labor, and land were the
basic factors of production, and the growth of material capital was achieved through
investment and production. However, natural factors of production—the land, for
example—were regarded as something that didn’t create value, and in the process of
distribution, invested capital is rewarded with interest, labor was paid with wages,
and land got rent. But land rent went to the owner, instead of the land itself, with no
thought of the land’s recuperation or increase of its productivity. As such, industrial
civilization achieved growth through environmental consumption, and its growth
inevitably faced the “triple ceiling effect,” that is, “consumption and demand saturation,” “resource constraints,” and “asset stock saturation,” all of which in turn limited
the development of industrial civilization. As western countries are entering the postindustrialization stage, they are losing growth momentum, and the gap between the
rich and the poor is also widening. Moreover, many developing countries failing
to avoid the development path of “pollution before governance” became “pollution refuges” for developed countries—a situation unwittingly resulting in increased
regional and global environmental pollution and ecological degradation. The growth
under industrial civilization has long been criticized by western academic circles.
British economist and philosopher John Moore took the lead in proposing “Static
Economy,” a concept that promotes the idea that the population, economic aggregate
J. Pan
of respecting nature, accentuating natural resources, and seeking harmony between
man and nature. He pointed out, “We should establish the concept of natural value
and natural capital because natural ecology is valuable, and protecting nature is the
process of increasing natural value and natural capital.” This has laid the foundation
for the theory of natural value implied by the above “clear waters and green mountains” phrase. It fully embodies the concept of respecting nature, accentuating natural
resources, and seeking harmony between man and nature—a theoretical innovation
of Marxist political economy and also the new theoretical economics for building an
ecological civilization in a new era that provides a theoretical basis for the transformation and enhancement of industrial civilization, the transition to ecological civilization, and the approach to ecological civilization. It shows that under the ecological
civilization system, value is measured not only with the value increment through
human labor, but also by that created by nature’s labor. Since labor results must
be shared among all the parties involved, nature itself should also share a certain
proportion of the output by nature and social labor, so that man and nature can at
least work together to achieve simple reproduction, and the system at large and its
elements can be sustainable. Therefore, the system designed under the value system
of ecological civilization is not for capital itself, but for the people and nature that
create capital.
3 Industrial Theory and Growth Momentum of Ecological
Civilization
In the industrial civilization, people believed that capital, labor, and land were the
basic factors of production, and the growth of material capital was achieved through
investment and production. However, natural factors of production—the land, for
example—were regarded as something that didn’t create value, and in the process of
distribution, invested capital is rewarded with interest, labor was paid with wages,
and land got rent. But land rent went to the owner, instead of the land itself, with no
thought of the land’s recuperation or increase of its productivity. As such, industrial
civilization achieved growth through environmental consumption, and its growth
inevitably faced the “triple ceiling effect,” that is, “consumption and demand saturation,” “resource constraints,” and “asset stock saturation,” all of which in turn limited
the development of industrial civilization. As western countries are entering the postindustrialization stage, they are losing growth momentum, and the gap between the
rich and the poor is also widening. Moreover, many developing countries failing
to avoid the development path of “pollution before governance” became “pollution refuges” for developed countries—a situation unwittingly resulting in increased
regional and global environmental pollution and ecological degradation. The growth
under industrial civilization has long been criticized by western academic circles.
British economist and philosopher John Moore took the lead in proposing “Static
Economy,” a concept that promotes the idea that the population, economic aggregate