'The West'. A familiar concept, not least for the many living within its fluid geography. An imagined community of global proportions, whose collective conceptual framework it is probably fair to suggest, is heavily imbued with the values and beliefs of free-market capitalism. Money / market criteria are uppermost in just about everyone's mind. Ideas of, and / or concerns with such factors as profit, cost, returns on invested capital, competition, interest, wage and salary levels and so on, are pervasive. And this instinctive and necessary kind of thinking ( given the current socio-economic situation ) can be witnessed, even at the most unfortunate of social levels.
Strolling along the streets of my own capital city here in Cardiff, Wales, a few weeks ago, I chanced upon a young homeless man, seated, hunched upon the kerbside, rocking gently back and forth. "Any spare change mate?" came the question as I approached this huddled frame. "I may have a little" I replied. My left hand plunged into my coat pocket and soon re-emerged with a modest cluster of coinage. "Here you are" I beckoned to him. "Thank you mate" he replied, extending his youthful arm to receive what little money I had offered. I sat down alongside him for a few minutes, no doubt my curiosity getting the better of me. "Have you been living on the streets long?" I asked, anticipating short shrift. "About six months now" he replied. "Lost my job, then my home, and finally my marriage because we couldn't pay the mortgage. You know. The usual kind of story I suppose". "Can't the powers that be re-house you?" I asked. "Apparently, there's a two year waiting list for rented accommodation" he replied. "Sometimes I'm lucky enough to get a place at the local homeless hostel, but not every night". We chatted a few minutes longer before I wished him well, and continued on my way.
As I walked on however, I thought some more of this homeless man's plight. Here we are, in Britain, one of the richest industrial nations on earth by just about any standard one cares to apply, and yet as a people, we are seemingly prevented from meeting the needs of this homeless man. In my view, this is not least because the maximum utilization and deployment of our rich resources is inhibited due to the resources in question being largely subordinate to the endless quest for profit. Capitalism, based as it is on the private ownership of the productive forces and means of production (eg. factories, offices, raw materials, scientific knowledge, instruments of production....etc) creates immense inequality and deprivation when the potential exists for providing the material components of a human(e) life for everyone.
If we were minded to as a species, surely we could meet this homeless man's needs almost instantly along with many others in a similar plight. Yet under current socio-economic conditions here in Britain, like elsewhere in the industrialised world, it generally doesn't pay ( quite literally ) for us to behave in this kind of way towards our fellow human beings, therefore we don't. Instead, and in relation to meeting the human(e) need for housing, we are largely compelled to build houses for profit. Houses that cost hundreds of thousands of pounds that only the wealthiest in society can afford to buy ( rarely those therefore, who build the houses themselves ). Either this, or else we provide limited social housing from an ever-dwindling housing stock, and with ever-increasing rents, kept in line with rent levels akin to those in the private sector.
Yet evidence exists to suggest that the principle of 'investment purely for profitable return' does not, and indeed could not, socially function throughout society in an absolute sense. Unbelievable perhaps, but true! Even if we consider one of the most advanced industrial nations on earth, such a violation of capitalist principles can be noted. My own national government here in Britain for example, has recently committed around £20 billion of tax-payers' money over the long term, intended to replace our present Trident nuclear submarine fleet (Daily Mail, 2007). Of course, from the perspective of profit, the future private firms involved in the construction process and so forth will undoubtedly do very well from this planned government spending. The point here however, is to realize that in the medium to long term, such a massive investment of public wealth stands to deliver no noticeable financial return whatsoever to the state. In short, such planned spending of public money stands in clear violation of capitalistic principles of investment for profitable return and yet such activity is deemed feasible. I am not suggesting for one minute by the way that the British state is deliberately setting out to undermine capitalism per se, and capitalist principles of economics in particular. To do so would be foolish. The point is however, whether consciously or otherwise initiated, is that it can be done.
And this is no mere isolated case. Violations of the capitalist principle of investment solely for profit are all about us.Take my own region of Wales as another example of this. The regional Welsh Assembly Government (a public body) announced recently that its annual "[d]irect investment...[in public education provision]...has increased from £760m in 1999-2000 to over £1,500m for 2006-07" ( Welsh Assembly on line, 2007 ) In other words, public money has been, and continues to be invested, this time in educational provision and in no small part, for education's sake. This investment too therefore, stands to contradict the capitalist doctrine of investment purely for profitable return. Granted, private finance plays a current role in certain aspects of education provision throughout Britain as a whole. But even this fact does nothing to devalue the general argument that capitalist economic principles are indeed being violated.
Let us see next, if the doctrine of investment purely for profitable return is being strictly adhered to at an international level. I would strongly suggest that it is not. The European Space Agency (ESA) for instance, handles an annual budget of around U.S. $3.8 billion. Its Director General has recently outlined the Agency's mission for the early part of the twenty-first century. Jean-Jacques Dordain said that "[t]oday, space activities are pursued for the benefit of citizens, and citizens are asking for a better quality of life on earth. They... want to pursue their dreams, to increase their knowledge, and they want younger people to be attracted to the pursuit of science and technology" ( Wikipedia on line, 2007. Emphasis added ). Here also then, ESA's activities stand to transcend purely economic considerations of profitable return on investment.
Coming back down to earth with a bump, and returning to the specific question of meeting housing needs of people simply because it is a human(e) thing to do, let's briefly cast an eye towards Mexico. For it was there, in 2001 that the non-profit body 'Casita Linda' was officially founded. At time of writing, Casita Linda is run by volunteers and funded wholly by donation. Its purpose is to build affordable houses for the most impoverished of human beings in parts of Mexico. No mean task given that a 2000 census suggested that at least 17 million Mexicans were living in extreme poverty. And this, in a world of potential plenty ! Nonetheless, and against all odds, Casita Linda built six new homes in 2006, and for no reason, other than to meet human needs. They are struggling for a target of eleven this year (Casita Linda A.C, on line, 2007). The numbers seem insignificant, especially when placed in their broader context. Yet the principle underpinning such activity, namely the meeting of human need simply because those in need are human, is of critical importance. It is this principle that we should not let pass unnoticed.
Perhaps one day then, housing the homeless, feeding the hungry, employing the myriad unemployed and other such social priorities will all come to be realized not only as being more important than the purchasing of nuclear warheads, but also, equally as deserving as education provision and space research. Perhaps some time in the future, a majority of the world's population will come to embrace the kinds of human(e) principles that serve to guide and motivate Casita Linda today.
Colin Baker March, 2007.
REFERENCES:
Casita Linda A.C For a More Dignified Life [ Accessed on line, March 2007 ] Available at:
http://www.casitalinda.org/index.html
Daily Mail , March 13th, 2007. P. 10
National Assembly for Wales SCHOOL FUNDING: PAPER FOR ELL COMMITTEE TO NOTE, 16 MARCH 2006 [ Accessed on line, March 2007 ] Available at:
http://www.cymru.gov.uk/keypubassems...606paper2l.htm
Wikipedia European Space Agency [ Accessed on line, March 2007 ] Available at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Space_Agency