Those who have studied Malawian literature, or those who love to read, should have come across ‘The Rubbish Dump’, a short story by Steve Chimombo. In it, we meet two focal characters – Joey and Mazambezi–who meet at a dumping site at an international airport and forge a friendship despite that the former is just a small boy and the latter a refuse collector. Among other things, the story decries the status of postcolonial African countries as dumping sites of Western garbage, including both material and moral refuse.
Indeed, poverty has reduced us to a rubbish dump of some sort. The average Malawian, for example, cannot afford a brand-new car and we can only shine in some used cars that have been dumped in Japan or Europe. Even most of the electronic gadgets we use are refurbished, and we have been used to wearing kaunjika [secondhand clothes] since we embraced the joys of multiparty democracy. There have also been fears that some of our wealthy development partners may be dumping their social rejects in our countries in the guise of international cooperating and cross-border exchanges. In all these interactions, we are at the receiving end because we are poor.
The problem with poverty is that it robs you of voice and agency. Those who are rich can manipulate you in any way they want and you say nothing. As a rubbish dump, Africa is seen as a place where anything goes and every rich Jim and Jack can flex their ego and fulfil their fantasies at the expense of our lives. Such exploitation becomes dire when it threatens our very existence.
A good example is on how the powerful manipulate systems at the expense of our environment and immediate world. One may refer to oil exploration in the Niger Delta, for example. Multinational conglomerates have destroyed the environment in that part of Africa, leaving thousands at the cusp of annihilation. The environmental degradation there will affect generations to come while the rich will go back home to enjoy the fruits of their plunder.
Taking the argument back home, one is able to clearly see the link between environmental degradation and poverty. Lack of sustainable fuels for cooking has seen massive deforestation that is threatening the climate. We witnessed how Cyclone Freddy devastated us, leaving in its wake dozens of our brothers and sisters buried in unmarked tombs. Our land has become a graveyard because we have failed to conserve the environment.
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Understanding this, it becomes infuriating to see some rich people and companies deliberately thwarting government’s efforts to safeguard the environment. The on-going battles between government and some big plastic-manufacturing companies are concerning and ought to move us into action. For those not in the know, the Malawi Government, through the Environmental Management Act of 2015, has been trying to put a ban on the manufacturing, sale, and use of thin plastics, but the capitalists involved in this business refuse to bend. As such, our land and water bodies continue to absorb these toxic substances that will one day be vomited to choke us.
The depressing thing in all this is that these big companies know that their products are bad for the environment and for humanity but they remain stubborn in their agenda of making more millions of Kwacha at the expense of future generations. Plastic pollution has been flagged as one of the big threats to the survival of life on earth and we cannot sit back and watch some people threaten our existence because of corporate greed. While we understand that these companies and their owners have a right to earn a living, the consequences of such rights have to be questioned. Whoever has rights also has responsibilities, the first of which is to safeguard humanity.
In the construction of society, social contract theorists looked into humanity and noticed that the greatest folly that human beings have is selfishness, which results into the need for self-preservation. This is why greed is one of the biggest challenges facing humanity today.
One of the most effective ways of dealing with this vice is by taking a utilitarian stance in matters that affect all of us. This is where any political, social or legal decision that is made ought to be of the greatest good to the greatest number. Humanity first, profits later.
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Yes, we are poor. But we refuse to be the rubbish dump for the super-rich.
