Tiny Thought: Cities as the Alter Ego of their Citizens
Of lack and filth...
I've often wondered why there seems to be a strong correlation between the wealth and hygiene of communities. In simpler terms, what does it really cost to maintain clean streets? In this short piece, I present my musings on this uncanny relationship.
I think lack looms larger in the mind than the most expansive dunghill or the most expensive means of meeting sanitary needs. I believe poverty—the precursor to lack—is a predisposition to entropy. It is a sociological condition that reconfigures communities to dissipate rather than harness resources. This way, they become progressively less attuned to opportunities. With the resultant scarcity, the ailing society comes under the influence of exploitative forces that further exacerbate the state of inefficiency. Eventually, cynism becomes a coping mechanism for the masses, and the prevailing atmosphere of social survivalism plunges the community further into collective apathy. Public property (including spaces) becomes an expendable liability that is left to the mercy of vandals and thieves. And with entropy mounting, chaos inhibits productive energy. Yet, the malady of poverty continues to warp the mind still.
The acute perversion of a person's sense of value by poverty is perhaps one of the greatest violations of their dignity. It shrinks the mind so crushingly, and twists the sight so badly that they do not see beyond the next minute, the next need, the next fix. When trapped in that rabid corner of survival, a truly poor individual may not be able to discern between a morsel and a man. Let filth fill and overflow the streets; they don't see it. They are too busy seeking to fill their bellies to notice such frivolities.
In the long run, the true cost of clean streets is a collective consciousness that embraces responsibility. This is a most effective tool for that scale of cleaning because it transcends the ever-present threat of entropy.