Richard D. Wolff

G'day Professor Wolff, The state-owned public broadcaster over here in Australia has just finished airing a 3-part TV documentary in prime time (and heavily advertised beforehand) that examined the disgusting amount of waste that's produced by Australians, a trend that's been dominant since the end of the 1980s (and still going strong) and lamented that before then Australia was very forward-thinking when it came to recycling. Covered was fresh produce & packaged food waste, plastic waste & what can be recycled, and both the waste & environmental damage created by fast fashion. I literally can't find the words to adequately articulate in text form the obscene level of waste and excess that was shown. One thing that will always stick with me from watching the documentary series is the fact that over a tonne of bananas at least are thrown out by banana farmers every day during harvest season because they don't meet the "cosmetic" requirements set by the national supermarket chains. What I would like to know is: what does this waste look like globally on an economic level and how does capitalism drive it? Here is the link to the ABC's website for the documentary series, called "War On Waste": http://www.abc.net.au/ourfocus/waronwaste/