Re: [A-List] Re: Frank and Jones -- money and oil

Engels didn't really understand the 2nd law. In any case, this law has been
widely misunderstood, with the familar invocation of physical concepts in
social prognostication (physics gets some respect from social scientists and
the lay public even when it is misinterpreted). Georgescu-Roegen/Jeremy
Rifkin/Sarkar are examples. For an extended discussion read my paper Solar
Communism:
http://www.redandgreen.org
Marxism & Ecology
(you might like to check out the other posted articles, e.g., "A World Party
in Our Future?", written a month before 911).

Mark Jones wrote:

> At 21/11/2001 03:48, Andre Gunder Frank wrote:
> >Both Frank and Jones predict doom and U.S. decline -- Frank's prediction
> >is deflation and economic catastrophe, while Jones' is "entropic fascism."
>
> Did Richard Hutchinson say this? In any case the idea that the laws of
> thermodynamics have social effects is not new and goes back to at least
> Justus von Liebig if not to Aristotle. Marx and Engels discussed entropy
> and its social consequences. Alf Hornborg has recently written good stuff
> on this, as has Stan Goff on this list.
>
> Mark