The problem with “Sustainability” is; what are we sustaining, and why are we sustaining it? Today we see the problem is with capitalism ‘over-producing’ forcing people to over-consume. Should we really sustain such a regime?

The UN defined sustainability in context with ‘sustainable development’. This was a compromise between developed countries that need to be more efficient and lower their consumption of energy and natural resources, and the developing world that needs to modernize and develop modern infrastructure.

The problem UN identified is one of ‘uneven development’ where rich countries control the capital, and poor countries are used as natural resources for them. This is a capitalist form of colonialism. ‘Sustainable Development’ was the code word that addressed this issue without directly calling out capitalism or colonialism.

As we move into a postindustrial world, the basic tenets of capitalism are being questioned, including do we need ‘over-production’ and to structure our economy around ‘surplus-value’? Thus we need to question our basic assumptions about capitalism and suggest post capitalist solutions. For this reason we must question ‘sustainability’ as the term is linked to capitalism and uneven development between the developing and developed worlds.