H C Ellis writes:
>my point is that all around the world, with or without
>colonialism or military intervention, countries are adopting capitalism and
>rejecting state-run socialism. pment,
I disagree. What is being adopted--imitated might be a better word
choice--is the products (are the products--better grammar) of capitalism
and capitalist countries. There's no reason that the worthwhile products
can't be made under socialism (or some third path method).
>Is state run socialism going to provide the
>economic growth to allow for the improvement of the position of women? Look at
Well, is capitalism going to provide the sort of growth that might be
helpful? And is it impossible for socialism to provide economic growth?
Does growth mean producing more of anything people can be conned into
buying? Or does it mean producing more of what people need, distributing
it more equitably, and eliminating worthless production? To my mind,
for growth to be a positive value, what is being grown must be taken
into consideration.
Here's an example: Back "home" in Fayetteville, Arkansaw, the
"progressive" movement is pushing anti-growth as its single-issue in
local politics. This push comes at a very convenient time, as recent
"development" has concentrated on destroying poor people's housing and
greenspace in order to build fancy housing and "public works" such as
the Sam & Ethel Walm-Art Center (the Wal-Mart family seems to specialize
in "cultural" projects that destroy local culture. Their Walm-Art in
F'ville was placed to destroy the traditional honky-tonks and bohemian
district). The people in the local "progressive" movement are mostly
homeowners and university faculty, to whom affordable housing is a non-
issue. Thus, opposition to growth is de facto class warfare (against
po' folk like me, carried out by academics and career organizers--my
obligatory rant for the day).
The sort of growth and development that F'ville needs is growth of
housing that people can afford and can inhabit responsibly. But "growth"
is a hot-button word that makes people respond irresponsibly, in much
the same way that issues like NAFTA, Clipper Chip, and pornography have
inspired dreadful alliances. Thus the new slogan for F'ville liberals:
Two, three, many Hoovervilles!
Ah well, I don't live there anymore.
John "not in as good a mood as he was when he was in Newton County over
the weekend" Adams
