Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
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Chapter 7: The question of <strong>the</strong> futureChapter 7: The question of <strong>the</strong> futureThe system that makes waste of people and <strong>the</strong>ir environments is now making wasteof itself. The competition between cities for investment in conspicuous consumptionhas excluded investment in waste and in <strong>the</strong> poor. Landfills and incinerators representlarge investments but <strong>the</strong>se are investments which destroy local property values. Thepresence of poor people is likewise destructive of value in <strong>the</strong> consumption city. Thepolitics of this economy is <strong>the</strong>refore to expel both poor people and waste to <strong>the</strong> citymargins – within reach but out of sight. The making of poverty and <strong>the</strong> making of wasteare necessarily complimentary and those made poor must live in <strong>the</strong> environmentalwaste lands created by capital.The system that created this is now coming to an end. Previous groundWork reportshave warned of <strong>the</strong> impending economic crisis and noted <strong>the</strong> irony that global recessionis now <strong>the</strong> best hope for a credible reduction in carbon emissions sufficient to avertcatastrophic climate change – or for Nor<strong>the</strong>rn countries simply to meet <strong>the</strong>ir Kyotocommitments. It presents also <strong>the</strong> best hope for a genuine reduction in waste. Thepoint is not to celebrate recession, but to note that <strong>the</strong> economic order of capitalism isby definition unsustainable.Commenting on <strong>the</strong> present crisis, sociologist Immanuel Wallerstein observesthat ‘recession’ is too coy a word: “We are already at <strong>the</strong> beginning of a full-blownworldwide depression with extensive unemployment almost everywhere” [2008]. Thisis not a pretty prospect. Capitalism in chaotic decline is unlikely to be less viciousthan capitalism booming. However, Wallerstein sees “a new order” emerging from <strong>the</strong>turbulence over <strong>the</strong> next 20 to 50 years.This will not be a capitalist system but it may be far worse (even morepolarizing and hierarchical) or much better (relatively democratic andrelatively egalitarian) than such a system. The choice of a new system is <strong>the</strong>major worldwide political struggle of our times.<strong>Wasting</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Nation</strong> - groundWork - 179 -