- Capitalism and Alternatives -

snottiness refined

Posted by: bill on August 24, 1999 at 01:08:02:

In Reply to: Snottiness rebutted! posted by Samuel Day Fassbinder on August 20, 1999 at 10:58:58:


Yes...well playing devil's advocate is sometimes more difficult than I thought.

Still, the final question remains - can socialist Theory be reconciled with an environmentalist perspective - or is it apples and oranges. Obviously both capitalism and state controlled economies have played havoc with the environment. It might be arguerd that a true democracy (which would imply a population with control over all its assets including generated surplus labor) is a condition of socialism (with a small s). It remains to be seen whether such direct democracy as could exist under socialism would result in a concern for sustainability. I suspect it would, but it is not a Condition of theory.

< Look, the fact that ecological sustainability (as a desired goal) has been packaged-for-sale to the wealthy, educated, and alienated lawyers of Marin County, California (for instance), ...

[ouch! more ridicule (deserved, sad to say) of my place of residence]

...doesn't imply that a Green Party or an environmental movement assembled of such people will be an effective global movement, or anything more than a tiny collection of philosophical prophets lost in the wilderness of America. So who's marginalized now? If you want an effective movement you need to encourage working people to unite and act.>

True...and along those lines (and one of the reasons I've been absent from the board lately) is organizing for the defense of KPFA - the world's first totally listener supported radio station which, together with four sister stations, has come under serious threat from it's own
Pacifica national board. The issues of free speech, accountability, and democratic process all play out in this mico-cosm of the greater culture. It is interesting that the a number of members of the "liberal" establishment (Marc Cooper of The Nation e.g.) are derisive of what he describes as "A group of committed leftists ripping apart their own institution in a factional dispute."

No Marc...it is, once again, a case of snottiness.

This drama can be seen taking place at:


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