“The living organism, in a situation determined by the play of energy on the surface of the globe, ordinarily receives more energy than is necessary for maintaining life; the excess energy (wealth) can be used for the growth of a system (e.g., an organism); if the system can no longer grow, or if the excess cannot be completely absorbed in it's growth, it must necessarily be lost without profit; it must be spent, willingly or not, gloriously or catastrophically.”

Typically, we try to understand the economy through how we behave when resources are limited. Bataille's "Copernican revolution" is to turn this idea on its head by asserting that systems are generally in surplus, and we should be principally concerned with how this surplus is wasted. Waste can take a variety of forms (luxury, non-productive sexuality, war, etc.,) but ultimately the surplus must be wasted. The portion of surplus destined for waste is defined as the "accursed share."

In most cases, our societies have perverted waste into something productive, denying the accursed share its place. Of particular interest is the Native American ritual of "potlach," a series of successive gift giving or ceremonial destruction of wealth meant to enhance the tribe's prestige.

In my view, the potlach's waste is notional since it is exchanged for prestige. Ultimately the tribe is still servile to accumulation, but since the act is anti-utility in nature, it does hint towards some superior morality. The prestige proffered by the potlach could be interpreted as the symbolic residue of recognizing the accursed share's existence.

Modern capitalism has constructed a hyper-efficient methodology for channeling surplus towards productive ends, and wanton accumulation has been able to maintain its position as sovereign morality. This defers the need to deal with the "accursed share," but where will we be sitting when the music stops?

The accursed share

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The accursed share (1988)

The accursed share (1988)

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