- Capitalism and Alternatives -

When that 'fifth' gets their McDonald's, they can have a Coke - and a smile.

Posted by: Dr. Cruel on August 06, 1999 at 12:05:09:

In Reply to: There's nothing to drink and a fifth of the world is starving; some triumph. posted by Farinata on August 04, 1999 at 12:16:37:

: : Things will remain about the same.

: Wrong, for starters. (DC: Eh?)

: : All in all, a bright future. Which is of course what one would expect, given the global triumph of the free-market paradigm. Sorry.

: A bright future, given that the U.N. is predicting wars due to the lack of fresh water within the next 30 years (DC: …in an era where one can have fresh, flouridated water from a tap in the house - as opposed to the more ‘natural’ choleric conditions available to more primitive societies); that the climate is becoming ever more extreme due to atmospheric change (DC: Would it be a new Ice Age, or is it the Greenhouse Effect this year? I wouldn’t know, having missed the last "Earth Day" circus); that the Western world has used up more of the Earth's non-renewable resources in the last 40 years than it did in all the rest of recorded history totalled(DC: Yes - I, too, am in favor of a greater dependence on nuclear power); and the rate of consumption is still increasing (DC: …but of course. Your point being?).

*Remember - 30 years ago, these were the same folks that were saying that capitalism was doomed, that it would perish at the hands of infighting amongst the bourgeoisie, and that a popular uprising of proletarian workers would finally topple the decaying structure. Since the fall of the old U.S.S.R., and the shaky desperation of a "People’s Republic" in China trying to install a pseudo-market system (‘communism with a Chinese face’, according to Deng’s old rhetoric), I suppose it’s time to revise the old tune. ‘Ecological concern’ is vague enough to do the job this generation, as it stands … until the capitalists finally privatize and mechanize the ‘Green’ movement, of course.

: You are in the position of someone thrashing the engine of a car whilst happily insisting that it doesn't ever need more fuel or oil (DC: I thought I was in favor of getting the lunatic with the hammer away from my engine, what with his (her?) Luddite ranting and such); that maintenance is in fact entirely unnecessary (DC: …only by mechanics of my choosing, and at my behest - not via edicts from an all-knowing band of incompetents and opportunists. Let the market, or the ballot, decide) and that the black smoke pouring out of the back is in fact imaginary and Communist-inspired (DC: When that ‘black smoke’ is a transparent ideology, you betcha).

: A pox on you, you pompous buffoon (DC: If that ‘pox’ be the free market, I’m all for it. Please keep your snake-oil to yourself, dearie).

D.C.



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