Filthiness and activism

Decolonizing bourgeois ecology as “environmental sustainability”

“Berlin is like a kindergarten.” This phrase, that runs along in a few of my friends’ circles, is just one of the facets of the city of Berlin. But it, nevertheless, seems to represent a common large assumption people make about some Berliners and their, well, Peter Pan syndrome. Peeing in public without paying a fine like in other major Western European cities? Check. Being loud and fighting the neighbors about it, because “it’s a party city after all”? Check. Failing to pay for the public transport, whilst paying for parties, booze and drugs, but making it about conscientious objection? Check. As you might notice, some people in Berlin (which I’m not even sure could be considered as true Berliners) seem to be all about the treble, no bass.

The city itself, which was coined "poor but sexy” (“arm aber sexy”) by one of its former mayors two decades ago, has become nothing but poor lately: with more than 260.000 people expected to move to the city until 2030 rent prices have skyrocketed, a significant shortage of housing has turned into a dire housing crisis, and even its famous luxurious Hotel Adlon—where Michael Jackson famously dangled his baby from a balcony, as well as the preferred place of stay for England’s King Charles III—was recently hijacked for a protest by activist groups Extinction Rebellion and Last Generation: a large banner that read “We can’t afford the super rich” was unfurled from one of the hotel’s balconies. In fact, Germany ranked, during the coronavirus pandemic, as the third haven for the ‘ultra-rich’, just behind the US and China.

While some might argue that Berlin is not Germany, and vice-versa, it is still its capital, and it has actually become Europe’s best city for real estate investments. But let’s get to the gist of the matter: I have heard a few times whilst flatsharing in Berlin that my twenty-minute hot showers are “ecocide.” What I find funny is that none of these (usually white European) upholders of ecological concerns seem to be equally worried about the human systemic violence and injustice involved in purchasing their chosen drug of use. Nor do they direct the same performative activism, for instance, at mining companies, which require thousands of liters of water more than a single person’s daily water consumption quota, in order to extract the quantity of copper necessary for manufacturing a medium-sized family car. These social justice warriors also don’t seem to care that much about the golf courses of the super rich, responsible for an environmental impact larger than any single person’s shower. No, they of course care more about the immigrant’s shower time and its (very questionable) environmental impact!

I also do not want to be wrongly perceived as a part of Berlin’s new veganism cult (which is maybe a topic for another post), but if one is truly concerned about my twenty-minute showers, they should learn about how much water is consumed in the production of meat. By the way, I was inclined to be an obnoxious vegetarian and cite the much debated data on the thousands of liters of water that are allegedly needed in the production of one kilogram of red meat, but this information has been either confirmed or debunked by many. 

To be fair, last week I found an ally against the “vegan is environmental-friendly” cult in the most unlikely of places: Jennifer Lopez’s Netflix film “The Mother”, rather strangely pitched for Mother’s Day in 2023. During a scene in which the titular character (J.Lo), a military sniper turned broker of underground arms deals turned FBI informant has managed to save her long-lost teenage daughter from her enemies—same daughter who she’s been training for months, somewhere in Alaska, to survive in a dog-eat-dog world—the following dialogue ensues:

J.LO a.k.a. The Mother: Eat.

The kid, a.ka. Zoe: I can’t.

The Mother: Yes, you can.

Zoe: Not eating Bambi’s mom.

The Mother: That’s not venison. The deer has to hang for the meat to tenderize. Besides, that was a stag, so it would be Bambi’s dad.

Zoe: What is this then?

The Mother: Rabbit. Thumper.

Zoe: Not eating a rabbit either.

The Mother: Listen to me, that rabbit had a better life than any cheeseburger you ever ate.

Zoe: He had a beautiful life until you shot him.

The Mother: I trapped him.

Zoe: Much better.

The Mother: Let me tell you something, kid. There’s nothing you ever ate your whole life that didn’t come from violence.

Zoe: Tofu.

The Mother: Half of Paraguay was burned and deforested for soy plantations.

Zoe: Cheese.

The Mother: Those cows are impregnated just so they can be pulled on all day.

Zoe: Gross.

The Mother: Hmm.

Zoe: Cashew cheese.

The Mother: I know a mercenary in the Ivory Coast, said they fought a civil war over cashews.

Zoe: I wanna go home.

Maybe Zoe’s answer is the type of response one would get when shattering bourgeois ecology’s fragile premises…

But back to my original topic. I do agree that many Germans and Northern Europeans coming from wealthier, more sanitized cities would be the first to contend that Berlin is a "dirty” city, spreading a classist stereotype which does not necessarily ring true. In Berlin, however, in some groups, especially within gay men’s fetish scene, filthiness is considered a turn-on, and a revolutionary act. Not my taste, but to each their own.

Just a couple of weeks ago, I saw someone in that city post a comment on social media disapproving of someone else’s preference for using car ride sharing services after a night out clubbing as “elitism at its best”, because the original commenter stated they’d rather ride an Uber than "a stinky subway line” (the U8, specifically). I personally do not support Uber, as the company has a history on attempting to profit off of migrant workers’ protests, which I find to be extremely problematic. But since when does one’s desire to avoid Berlin’s (sometimes) vomit-filled subway lines in the middle of the night mean necessarily elitism?

Do these enlightened warriors of the good fight think about the immigrants who work driving for Uber, or delivering groceries for Gorillas when judging other people’s choices? Methinks not so. In fact, there seems to be a holier-than-thou attitude within these bourgeois ecology aficionados, since they are usually the first to point out whichever decision you’ve made as a consumer as being problematic. “Oh, you’ve bought clothes at Zara? Shame on you for supporting child labor!”—one might hear. And perhaps promptly reply with: “Yeah, I just wish you could feel the same way about the origins of what you snort on a weekly basis!”

It has been a common theme among my fellow immigrant friends, though, on how dating in Berlin, across the spectrum, sometimes leads to some literally stinky situations. I have even heard some people say that they’d stopped dating, because there was a constant need to have to ask their potential sexual partners to shower before getting naked together—either because of stinky armpits, or just overall poor hygiene. This, then, begs the question: since when is filthiness  revolutionary? Well, in my opinion it is not, but in Berlin being regarded as “dirty” seems to have become a testament against the bourgeoisie. 

If one chooses to approach life differently from this stance, they might be automatically rendered as problematic: bougie, elitist and/or classist. That is why I feel that the rule of thumb, in Berlin, has become: colonize people’s mentalities with my version of political activism, because yours is bigoted, and mine is not. While this could actually be considered a worldwide phenomenon, in the steps of an entitlement culture fostering narcissism, it seems like Berlin’s history as a place for where dissidents have been coming to gather and revel in alternative societies through debauchery has actually been changing into a sanitized version of its past (albeit still a “stinky” one). “Poor but sexy” might have become history by now, but its essence is being repurposed and repackaged: most likely as the vegan burgers being sold at your local supermarket.

Photo credit: © Byunggyu Woo - S(e)oul of Berlin