It's not true that capitalism has somehow led to greater agricultural productivity. The work of individual scientists and small groups of scientists has resulted in discoveries and inventions that created our present increase in productivity. Capitalists have used the work of those scientists to wreak havok on the land through overproduction of crops that drain nutrients from the topsoil but yield high profits. Further, capitalists have stolen the land from farmers, particularly in "third world" countries and forced those farmers to grow crops that bear little or no relation to the subsistance of the farmer or his/her local community.
Regarding eco-optomism: Since the global population is dependent on high agricultural productivity to sustain itself at 6 billion, and since this productivity is based on the use of pesticides which are petroleum-based, what happens to global population when the oil runs out? I don't see this problem being addressed anywhere.
Terry
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