Towers of Dust

I am standing on the Limfjord Bridge overlooking the city of Aalborg in northern Denmark. The view extends on both sides, showcasing the waterfront’s residential buildings and recreational, green areas. There is also an architecture centre, a concert hall and a large university building. Along the pier, the atmosphere is calm. People move at a leisurely pace, eat ice cream, swim in the water, and hold conversations. In the distance, acting as a backdrop for the whole scenario the cement factory appears. The chimneys tower above the horizon and swaying columns of smoke blend with the low-hanging sky. The movement of smoke from the chimneys is constant and reassures us that the machine is on. The modern world’s means of production still create materials and profit that can be used to build the welfare state’s cultural institutions, educational centers, hospitals and initiatives for sustainability. At the same time human disasters, social inequality and planetary destruction are also driven by this engine of growth. I feel the small vibrations from the traffic in the concrete of the bridge and try to spot the ideology of capitalism, constructed in modules of conflicting narratives and logic. Aalborg has traditions deeply rooted in the worker’s identity, trade union movements and the formation of cultural associations. The first public housing project was built here, and for more than 100 years, the city council has been left-wing. The history of the city is marked by the desire for community and equality but the basic conditions for the city and its development are capitalistic. How can the capitalist economy that dictates overconsumption, exploitation and inequality be so widely accepted in societies with a collective identity anchored in the idea of social responsibility?

I visit the cement factory where I am met with honest faces and a sense of kindhearted pride. I feel slightly ashamed of the trust placed in me as I am invited to observe the grinding and rattling inside of the factory. What would the humble, accommodating, retired cement worker say, if he knew I was pointing out the connection between cement production and the brutal exploitation of limited natural resources? Are we actually divided in our positions? I read an article stating that concrete (which is the building material you get when you mix cement, sand, and gravel), after water, is the most widely used substance on earth and that in 2019, enough concrete was poured to cover the entire surface of England. In order to maintain a basis for growth, the total production must be increased by three percent each year. And since we are talking exponential growth, the world will quickly be covered in grey efficiency. The material is one of the most resource- intensive materials to produce. Aalborg Portland cement factory alone accounts for 1% of Denmark’s total emissions of greenhouse gases. Concrete seals organic processes, which can be a good thing: it is healthier to live in a house with a concrete foundation than an earthen floor. But too often large construction projects are undertaken, not with a primary motivation to improve human living standards, but to put people to work and expand competitive business opportunities. Gigantic dams, endless canals, airports, highways, and high- rise buildings motivated by profit. The great return of this insatiable growth engine benefits the few at the expense of the natural foundation which is the common survival condition for everyone.

In Aalborg, I only seem to meet people who wish for mindfulness, care, and sustainability. If I talk to someone who supports the idea of growth, it is ultimately with the desire that it should pay for public welfare; for a good and safe life - not because they care for the idea of overconsumption and exploitation of people and nature. When I walk around the city and think about what capitalism looks like, it seems as if I can only spot its hideouts as it often hides behind its contradictions.

During my accompanied visit to the cement factory, I had to ask myself: Did I really think I would find capitalism with the employees there? Not even with the factory owner or in the production itself or with those who look at numbers and trade in goods, am I confronted with the exposed face of the growth economy. Cement production and capitalism are intertwined. But the cement also symbolizes a societal development  that is ideologically connected to the idea of human rights, equality, and technological development, which has generally raised living standards. How have “good” values been intertwined with capitalism in the modern development of democracy? And is it this entanglement that makes Western democracies paralyzed in the face of destructive economic conditions today? With Aalborg as an example, I enter the historical archives and look at the shape of the city, to follow the course of these entangled threads.