Ingo Niermann

Ingo Niermann (b.1969) Germany

In my essay books Umbauland (2006/9) and Dubai Democracy (2010) I’ve been imagining different ways on how a society could no longer be based on income by paid labour. Both books are part of Sternberg Press’ Solution Series that I initiated in 2008 and have been editing since then. The most recent publication in the series is Finland: The Welfare Game (2011) by Martti Kalliala, Jenna Sutelaand Tuomas Toivonen. One intriguing proposal in their book is to turn Finland into the permanent repository site for nuclear waste of the whole world. The geological conditions are excellent and the revenues could easily finance a comfortable basic income for the whole Finnish population. No Finn would ever have to work again. But money is not enough to gain acceptance for such a drastic endeavour—what is in need is a new Finnish mythology that embraces the nuclear waste of the world as a „buried treasure“. This nuclear mythology is supposed to evolve from already existing sagas, especially the Kalevala and its main magical artifact, the Sampo or Sammas. Among others, we intend to research Ior Bock and his cult following and a Post WWII cargo cult on the Bikini atoll that has been embracing the nuclear bomb as a holy gift.