At 11:08 PM +0000 12/30/98, Durant wrote:
>ERLICH AT IT AGAIN--
>WHATEVER HAPPENED TO
>'THE POPULATION BOMB?'
>
>BY KEN BOETTCHER
>
...
>
>An associate of Ehrlich, Stanford professor Stephen H.
>Schneider, made it clear what this might mean for workers.
>"People need to pay for what they destroy--whether disposable
>diapers or fuel-inefficient sports utility vehicles." Though the
>sentence is almost unintelligible, the presumable implication
>would be a regressive surcharge on some consumer goods that
>again puts the onus for today's socioeconomic problems on the
>victims of class-ruled society--on workers who under capitalism
>have little say in what is produced or under what conditions
>production is accomplished.
No. Not surcharges on consumer goods, but price structiures which
reflect the true lifecycle costs of products and FUELS.
...
>Exploitation of the working class by the capitalist class is the
>fundamental cause of poverty and human misery all over the
>world.
See my almost simultaneous posting "Re: Citizens on the Web: Growing
Gap." It is not the "capitalist class" which includes every participant
in a pension fund or a mutual fund-- and they are getting just as slim
a return on their investments as labour for its. The profits are coming
from capital gfains-- i.e. speculation that the wildly over-valued
capital markets will continue to soar-- which will come home to roost
when most of the "capita;list class" sees its investments evaporate
before their eyes. The REAL returns are goung to those who actually
control the income streams from the commons-- those who have controlled
them for cennturies, and the CEO's and their hangers-on (see Growing
Gap).
With respect to Ehrlich's fundamental wrongness, see "UN moves to stave
off water wars (fwd)" posted by Michael Gurstein on Dec. 24. The
demand slump caused by the spreading Asian crash is leading both
socialists and Neo-Liberals to say, "See, there's no shortage-
commodities are at all time low prices." True. Prices reflect only
current costs of production, not the costs to the environment, or the
fact that many of these resources-- most notably petroleum-- are
running out. It is not until the direct cost of recoverable oil starts
to rise, in the next 5-10 years, that the world will beging to take
note of the fact that petroleum is not in infinite supply. Water
problems may come even sooner, and will surely be even more intense.
The best way to restrain population growth is, as Victtor says, to
raise the standard of living, particularly for women, and to allow
women greater control over their lives and communities.
Caspar Davis
