******************** POSTING RULES & NOTES ********************
#1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
#2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived.
#3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern.
*****************************************************************
https://mronline.org/2018/05/16/chinas-determined-march-towards-the-ecological-civilization/
What hokum. Ecological civilization because China is reducing the use of
coal? This article originally appeared in Belgian Maoist Michel Collon's
Investig'Action website as an interview Andre Vltchek conducted with
philosopher John Cobb Jr. who is considered a disciple of Alfred North
Whitehead. Now 93, Cobb is partnering with a Chinese academic named
Zhihe Wang whose writings have appeared in Monthly Review, including an
article that stated:
Under the relentless critique of the worship of economic growth from
both constructive postmodernism and ecological Marxism, the rosy color
of GDP growth has started to fade. Not long ago, Chinese President and
CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that “We should never judge a
cadre simply by the growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).”
Constructive postmodernism? Whitehead's process philosophy? Xi as an
ecosocialist? Really?
If you've been following the tariff controversy between Trump and Xi,
you'd be aware that in exchange for taking ZTE off the sanctions list (a
Chinese cell phone company that was selling to Iran), China will lift
the tariffs from soybeans, one of the most environmentally destructive
agricultural commodities--one that epitomizes the metabolic rift that
Foster harps on.
Cobb assures Vltchek that the metabolic rift is healing under the
guidance of Xi Jingping:
"The Communist Party was persuaded to shift its policies from the
continuing depopulation of rural China to the development of the
thousands of villages that were slated for destruction. Policies have
changed, and in 2016 for the first time, more people moved from cities
to countryside than from countryside to cities. Development of villages
has been emphasized along with the goal of ecological civilization in
last fall’s crucial meetings of the Communist Party."
Unbelievable in light of this:
China launches media campaign to back genetically modified crops
China's government is battling a wave of negative publicity over a
technology it hopes will play a major role in boosting its food security
By Dominique Patton
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's government has kicked off a media campaign
in support of genetically modified crops, as it battles a wave of
negative publicity over a technology it hopes will play a major role in
boosting its food security.
The agriculture ministry earlier this week announced it would try to
educate the public on GMO via TV, newspapers and the Internet.
It hopes to stifle anti-GMO sentiment that has gathered momentum in the
wake of incidents such as reports that genetically-modified rice had
been illegally sold at a supermarket in the center of the country.
Beijing has been a long-time proponent of GMOs, which it sees as broadly
safe and as potentially key in helping feed the world's largest population.
But critics have alleged the technology could pose health risks, and
while China allows imports of some GMO crops it is yet to permit
domestic cultivation.
China has imported millions of tonnes of GMO soybeans each year for the
past decade to feed the world's largest stock of farmed pigs and to
produce around 40 percent of the county's vegetable oil needs. China
consumes around a third of the world's soybeans, and snaps up roughly 65
percent of all imports each year.
"(We will create) a social atmosphere which is beneficial for the
healthy development of the genetically-modified industry," the
agriculture ministry said in a statement.
full:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/china-launches-media-campaign-to-back-genetically-modified-crops/
_________________________________________________________
Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm
Set your options at:
http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
