Getting used to junk

SIR — It seems to me that the new mantra for SA is “junk”. While we haven’t yet got there economically, the term junk is being used more and more in everyday life. When this happens it imbues a psychology in the nation linked to the definition of junk, which in part includes but is not limited to something of poor quality or little meaning or worth.

So, the weekend the Boks lost and the Bafana Bafana coach suggested we lower our expectations. Apparently we are the last country in Africa that is not regarded as “junk” for investment, and it seems that as a nation we are prepared to accept this.

A television programme asked whether we want recycling to be compulsory, and it seems the majority do want this, especially millennials, so perhaps the other definition of junk — materials that can be recycled — could come into play. In my view the way to stop the rot is never to accept secondbest in anything. If it isn’t good enough, change it or recycle it.

Lowering our expectations is pure nonsense, but we are on the tipping point. If we become the last African nation to be classified as junk, economically we will go down the toilet with little hope of a comeback. That type of recycling is too horrible to contemplate.