Barry Brooks writes:
To avoid problems we need to build an economy that tries to
minimize
consumption. Communism, capitalism, or even
fascists could strive to
survive. It's only a question of informing them that
they have a way to
become internally consistent. See my web
site for more about the use of
durability to conserve.
(Boldface added by me for emphasis--A.S.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My comment:
Has WSN sunk so low as to advise "fascists" how to survive by becoming
"internally consistent?" This list (WSN) started out as a way to explore
the ways that various "national economies" are connected internationally, and
this exploration was done utilizing DATA, historical, economic,
sociological, political. And as sometimes stated, a nearly always implied
assumption, was solidarity with the oppressed and exploited, especially the
workers and peasants of Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Then came the occasional activist pronouncements on WSN (which were
often relevant) but which gradually began to deteriorate into all kinds of
individuals (generally but not always with little data) offering all
kinds of utopian schemes spun out of their "middle class" heads to "rearrange"
the world, generally with little grasp of history, economics and especially the
fundamentally ruthless nature of the capitalist State(s).
And now it has come to this: environmentally concerned individuals (not bad
in itself, of course) completely depoliticizing their environmentalism to the
point where "fascists" are being given advice on how to survive! Perhaps
Pinochet or the Death Squads of El Salvador could be "informed" on how to
follow the Nazi's occasional practice of lining prisoners up in a row so as to
be able to kill several of them all at once with only one bullet. Think of all
the bullets that could be saved! And how it could help limit the amount of lead
that might otherwise pollute the soil!
This is where the logic of abandoning a class analysis goes -- to
calling for unity with the worst, most murderous monsters the human mind can
imagine, supposedly for the purpose of fighting a common enemy--waste and
pollution--while those monsters not only continue to commit genocide, but,
incidentally are the ones responsible for the waste and pollution as well, which
is a POLITICAL-ECONOMIC problem, and not mainly a problem of technology, or
engineering, or "educating those in power." Fascists are the worst form of
pollution and waste. We can start cleaning up the planet by getting rid of the
fascists, not offering them advice.
Alan Spector
=====================================================================
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, May 23, 2001 7:17 PM
Subject: Re: Alternatives to Corporate
globalization
>
> We can't wait for
the 2nd coming of anyone.
>
> We can't expect any existing movement
or ideology to answer the new problems
> we face.
>
> We
can't solve anything by being against or for canned ideas or fighting
any
> system.
>
> We can propose ways to fix existing
systems, of whatever stripe. The
> problem is not in any
system. It is in the total lack of understanding of
> how things
work that we fall into debating useless trivia.
>
> My I repeat
what I believe is a positive suggestion. I would be interested
> in
any comments WSN subscribers might have.
>
> ************
>
> If an item lasted twice as long we would only need to produce half as
many
> to supply demand. As we move backwards to consume even more energy
we only
> speed the coming of exhaustion of non-renewable energy. As I
understand it,
> the need to make jobs requires a consumer society.
The increase in
> consumption is all that has kept machines from causing
unemployment. But,
> the growth goal of our economy is at odds with
conservation, which requires
> using less.
>
> Needless to
say, business types don't like the idea of increasing durability
> to
conserve. Engineers like it a lot, but they don't enter into
policy
> debates. Economists know about to possibility of using
increased durability
> to conserve, but they never mention it.
>
> To avoid problems we need to build an economy that tries to
minimize
> consumption. Communism, capitalism, or even fascists
could strive to
> survive. It's only a question of informing them that
they have a way to
> become internally consistent. See my web site
for more about the use of
> durability to conserve.
>
>
http://home.earthlink.net/~durable
>
>
> Sincerely,
> Barry Brooks
>