“Much Lighter: Talking to Andrew McAfee” features an interview of McAfee on his optimistic outlook on the troubles of the global economy, ecology, and the importance of technology in reducing material consumption. In the interview, McAfee mentions two interesting concepts of ‘sustainable dematerialization’ and ‘Four Horsemen of the Optimism’ and uses them as arguments for his positive perception of ongoing issues with ecology. This essay will focus on addressing the concepts introduced by McAfee and analyze how he uses them to prove his point.
To illustrate the concept behind emerging sustainable dematerialization, McAfee used the beer cans as an example of continuous progress and improvements that the capitalist puts into the economy. He expresses that previously used tin cans were replaced by aluminum, and nowadays, the manufacturers try to use a smaller amount of aluminum as they recognize that the customers do not care for the packaging. Further in the discussion, McAfee describes smartphones as a perfect example of dematerialization, a “world champion” (qtd. in Fitch). McAfee states that his smartphone is his favorite example of dematerialization as smartphones are used in multiple ways and replaced a variety of devices that required significantly more energy.
Additionally to the idea of dematerialization, in the interview, McAfee also introduces the idea of “Four Horsemen of the Optimism.” The concept of “Four Horsemen of the Optimism” includes four different points – capitalism, technological progress, public awareness, and responsive government (Fitch). McAfee points that the capitalism aspect of the concept requires vicious competition that leads the competitors to save money and reduce the consumption of resources (Fitch). McAfee describes that he does not see a future without ‘a whole lot of new technology,’ but he realizes that the technology is at risk of getting attached to capitalism and its’ “selfish economic” (qtd. in Fitch). Thus, although McAfee lists capitalism as a point and a horseman of optimism, he acknowledges the effect of bad-quality capitalism on the economy and ecological footprint.
In conclusion, the interesting concepts mentioned by McAfee in his interview on his optimistic outlook on material consumption relate directly to the theme and prove his point. McAfee draws several examples in support of the concepts but also acknowledges their imperfection; in particular, he states that capitalism is the worst possible system apart from all the previous ones. However, he still acknowledges the benefit of competition that capitalism provides, required for the motivation to produce more goods with reduced resource consumption.
Reference
Fitch, Andy. “Much Lighter: Talking to Andrew McAfee”.Blog of Los Angeles Review of Books, 2019. Web.