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April 2009
Common Earth Day
Ownership Edition
Vol. 2 Num. 4
www.worldsocialism.org/canada
NEWSLETTER OF THE SOCIALIST PARTY OF CANADA
Common Ownership
The Oceans: new Dumping grOunDs means that the resourc-
fOr capiTalism
es of the world and the
I
means to produce useful
t isn’t sufficient for capitalism until recently because it is in a rela- nomic events with passengers an-
to pollute the land, air, rivers, tively unused part of the ocean and nually spending $US 1.5 billion in goods from them would
and forests of this planet. Hav- most debris floats below the sur- Caribbean ports. With tourism as
ing achieved that, being the dynam- face. Much of the plastic is trans- the major industry, it is evident that be owned by everyone
ic, resourceful, and enterprising parent and. when immersed in wa- many businesses could not survive
system it is, capitalism is now pol- ter, becomes virtually invisible, and without it, and governments would and, therefore, by no
luting the oceans by using them as is not picked up by satellite images. lose a major part of their tax rev-
an enormous, free garbage dump. The Caribbean, unlike the North enue. For example, the island of one. All humanity would
In 1977, Trash Island was discov- Pacific, is well traveled, especially Saba, population 1500, is building a
ered in the pacific, and by 2008 had by cruise ships that, apparently, feel new pier to accommodate the larger be producers meeting as
influenced the circulation of ocean free to dump ground up glass, rags, cruise ships. Some islands fear that
equals to decide what,
currents and divided into two enor- and cardboard packaging at will. a ban on dumping would push ships
mous entities, an eastern one be- Environmentalists say that debris to dock in their competitors’ ports. how, and where to pro-
tween Hawaii and North America, dumped in the oceans can entangle At present, a battle rages between
and a western one between Hawaii sea creatures, damage water quality, the environmentalists and capital. duce based solely on
and Japan. Together, the two islands and alter eco systems. Some trash The UN and the US coastguard
make an area more than twice that washes ashore with the winds and have held seminars on six islands to mankind’s needs. Dis-
of the continental USA. The west- currents, fouling the beaches. In the push for a regional approach in the
ern patch almost reaches Japan, Cayman Islands, the government Caribbean, including the Gulf of tribution of goods and
while the eastern section is within has traced milk cartons found on Mexico. The officers have stressed
five hundred miles of California. shore to a passing cruise line. At the how vulnerable their tourism- services would deny no
Frequently, the western arm en- urging of environmentalists, some driven economies are to polluted
croaches on the beaches of Hawaii politicians have passed laws to pre- coastlines. One may well wonder one access to what they
leaving a whole slew of plastic be- vent or reduce dumping at sea, but if, eventually, cruise lines would
hind. Some of this plastic is biode- that brings forward the problem of steer clear of the Caribbean per-
needed. This system
gradable but large amounts are non dealing with the effects of capital- manently. Of course, it is possible would end the present
degradable and durable. Some fifty- ism within the system. Some of the but the hotel and resort interests,
year-old plastic objects have been countries with coastlines abide by a who depend on tourists for patron- class system and ren-
found on the beaches. Tiny plastic UN dumping ban that requires them age and profit will fight strongly
pellets, or nurdles, are the raw ma- to treat ship-generated garbage on for immediate gain, ignoring long der money, trade, em-
terial of the plastics industry. Hun- land. The Caribbean Islands, how- term considerations. Given the
dreds of millions of them are lost, ever, have yet to adopt the ban, say- anarchic, unpredictable, nature of ployment, exploitation,
or split, each year and many find ing they do not have the capacity capitalism, it is a natural response.
their way, through drainage sys- to treat the ship garbage on shore. The companion parties of social- want, and war obsolete.
tems, into the oceans. Plastic is now The UN International Maritime ism have explained clearly for over
thought to make up ninety per cent Organization outlawed dumping in a century that the ownership of the
of all the rubbish floating in the 1993 for the Caribbean, a largely tools of production by a minority We welcome cor-
seas. A United Nation’s research enclosed area where a string of and production for profit are the respondences
program concluded that an aver- islands blocks currents that would root of this and other problems we
age square mile of ocean contains flush waste into the Atlantic. It will face today. They cannot be eradi- with our read-
46 000 pieces of floating plastic. not take effect until enough of the cated within the system if the pro- ers. Send email
The rotation of the North Pacific surrounding countries report their posed solution interferes with the
water around the islands helps gar- ability for treating trash from cruise profit motive, as shown above. In to spc@iname.
bage from California and Japan ships. This has not been the case, a socialist society one could enjoy com or write us at
to accumulate. Some is thrown so far. The Caribbean Islands have a cruise, and waters and beaches
from ships and from oil rigs, struggled to establish a common could be clean because there would BOX 4280, Victo-
but eighty per cent originates on policy, but when it comes to the be no profit consideration to stop ria BC, V8X 3X8
land. It includes footballs, kay- cruise ship industry, they see them- it. Why not organize for socialism
aks, lego blocks, and carrier bags. selves as competitors, not partners. and give capitalism a ‘wide berth’.
Trash Island has gone undetected Cruise ship arrivals are major eco-
a clean, green earTh
I
t would be hard to find a “Companies like Wal-Mart that isn’t always the case. For firms of competition, money and profit,
single human being on this maintain thousands of their own competing in the global markets, then, and only then, can common
earth who wouldn’t want a buildings, have discovered that making the best product at the sense reign and the whole system
clean, green planet with sustain- they can achieve significant en- right price comes first. Reducing be operated in the interests of all.
able human production of neces- ergy savings. A pilot supercentre greenhouse gases is less urgent.” That must be the driving force of
sary goods; with human activity in Las Vegas consumes up to 45 These three points underline the our economy, not the enlargement
in harmony with nature, taking % less power than similar stores, problem in a profit and money of capital. In socialism, produc-
care not to destroy the habitats in part by using evaporative cool- driven economy. Unless there is tion will be mainly local and re-
of those with whom we share ing units, radiant floors, high-ef- a definite monetary gain, none of gional; self-sustaining communi-
the earth. Obviously, this is not ficiency refrigeration, and natural the players, including the popu- ties will share resources and ideas
the case in the real world today. light in shopping areas.” The ar- lation at large, are interested in and techniques that work for all
Our current mode of production ticle goes on to say that retrofits doing anything about pollution, stakeholders; intellectual prop-
plunders the earth with little re- and smart design could reduce even if they all agree it would be erty rights, industrial espionage,
gard to consequences, be it clear carbon emissions by 200 tons good to do so. Business enterpris- and competition that leads to dirty
cutting the forests, open pit min- per year in the USA but without es have to compete and therefore production, cheap and shoddy
ing, discharging toxic shun any mean- goods, and, sometimes, to war
effluences into our air, ingful progress will disappear. It is our last and
land, and waterways, beyond the usual only chance to set things right.
or causing habitat inane platitudes,
destruction and spe- and, in fact,
cies reduction. But if must do all they Socialist Party of
everyone would like can to fight the Canada
a green earth and sus- implementation
tainability, how is it of controls. They
BOX 4280 Victoria BC
that we have achieved create a false V8X 3X8, Canada
the opposite? Over “green” and
several decades, many “natural” façade Victoria
forces have lined in their advertis- Bill Johnson
up against the will- ing while furi-
ful destruction of the ously lobbying
bill_ _j@hotmail.com
environment. Many governments to
organizations, such as Green- new building codes, appliance gut existing environmental laws Vancouver
peace and WWF, have sprung up standards, and financial incen- and strangle new ones and they John Ames
to fight the worst violations, but, tives, it is unlikely to be success- use their financial and political jrames@telus.net
apart from bringing fleeting pub- ful. The same source continues, clout to attack and discredit sci-
licity to a few issues, they have “Commercial building owners, entists and their findings. Capital
been spectacularly unsuccessful for example, have had little in- dominates the way our system op- Manitoba
in halting environmental degra- centive to pay more for improve- erates, and its only constant and Jaime Chinchilla Solano
dation. In fact, year after year, ments like high-efficiency win- iron rule is growth. Capital has jaimech@gmail.com
the problem gets worse. Scien- dows, lights, heating, or cooling no morality and those in charge
tists have released dire warnings systems, since their tenants, of investments from other people
about the consequences of inac- not they, pay the energy bills.” have a fiduciary duty to follow
Ontario
tivity, and the world’s leading Emissions due to transportation the rule, no matter what it takes. John Ayers
climatologists, through the UN’s are unlikely to improve as auto- The Socialist Party of Canada, jpayers@sympatico.ca
Intergovernmental Panel, have re- mobile fuel efficiency is slow to and its companion parties in the
leased regular reports of how we improve and the total mileage World Socialist Movement be- Jacob Hodgins
are doing – badly. Governments driven keeps rising as develop- lieve this current system must go
have convened world assemblies ers push neighbourhoods fur- if we are to avoid environmental
jacobhodgins@hotmail.
to address the problems and even ther and further from the city. disaster. That doesn’t mean going com
set targets, at the Kyoto Summit, A third major source of carbon back to some feudal, agrarian so-
for example, but to no avail, the dioxide, the industrial sector, is ciety. Our science and technology Quebec
targets are invariably missed. likewise not improving. The Na- must move forward and bring Michael Descamps
The March, 2009, National Geo- tional Geographic article points new techniques and innovations.
graphic issue provides some out, “ You would think such en- But with the Common Owner-
mich_international@
clues. This edition is dedicated terprises would have eliminated ship of the production and dis- hotmail.com
to energy saving. It reports, inefficiencies long ago. But that tribution of wealth, with the end
