Mark also tells us about Doug's love of capitalism:
>>(Doug writes)My point was this: life on the capitalist periphery is not
some
simple narrative of relentless decline. There has been real progress
in a lot of places and in a lot of ways. << [pen-l 02 May 2001 18:18 UTC ]
Mark:
Doug even thinks that altho neoliberalism is 'a crime against humanity',
it too can be a good thing:
>>I cite this stuff not to say that neoliberalism is wonderful or that
Argentina is paradise. Neoliberalism is a crime against humanity, and
Argentina could do a lot better under a more humane regime. But it's
just wrong to say that it's all a story of going uninterrupedly
downhill.<< [pen-l 01 May 2001 20:12 UTC ]
--Isn't context something relevant here? Isn't Henwood engaed in a debate
with romanticists, deep ecologists, 'small is beautiful' types when he
makes these arguments, the types who eschew anything Marxist,not only
because of Marxists' sinful embrace of modernity or capitalism as you
would have it, but because they have no use for any analysis aside from
small is beautiful and competitive capitalism is far more preferable to
corporate capitalism. So where is Henwood endorsing capitalism as a
leitmotif of his writings?
And I also recommend you go to poor countries or countries like China and
try to find an activist who is fighting the impact of capitalist markets
on the rural and industrial working class. Try to use simplistic analyses
like "Since opening to markets, there has been no improvement at all in
certain areas, or no development" The problem is the uneven nature of
development, not that no development has occurred, no mobility has
occurred since capitalist investment...Every anti-capitalist activist I
met in China would tell you this much.
None of them, like Henwood for that matter, would then leap to the
conclusion that capitalist development is the best option...
Steve
Stephen Philion
Lecturer/PhD Candidate
Department of Sociology
2424 Maile Way
Social Sciences Bldg. # 247
Honolulu, HI 96822
