>>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] 06/28/00 05:59PM >>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >I have found myself in agreement with Lou's recent post suggesting that >the roots of ecological crisis and overpopulation pressures lie in the >contradictions of capitalism, and that a socialist revolution is not >only necessary but also desirable if we are to have a sustainable >ecological system in the future. Hmm, ok, maybe I can get an answer from you: what changes in industrial and agricultural practices, energy sources, the build environment, living arrangements, etc., will occur under socialism that will avoid the eco-catastrophe capitalism supposedly has in store for us. It's not just a matter of invoking the words "socialist revolution" along the lines of "Presto Change-o," is it? _____________ CB: To purport to answer your question fully would be to assume the approach of a utopian. The answer to your question must come in the main from the practice, trial and error, of billions of people. Building an ecologically viable society cannot be done based on a detailed blueprint proposed by a few genius intellectuals anymore than building socialism. The Marxist approach to eco-relief is the same as its approach to exploitation-relief: Identify and highlight the basic crisis generating contradictions as a guide, not dogma, for practice. This is the opposite of a "presto chango" solution, for the actual solution "on the ground" will take difficult struggle based on some fundamental guiding principles, i.e. general eco-socialist consciousness in the masses of people on earth. It WONT be easy to answer your question in detail even in practice, and impossible to answer it theoretically in detail without practice as on an e-mail list. The ecological crisis is integral with and a concrete aspect of capitalist crisis. Capitalism in its imperialist stage has based itself critically on the use of oil. So, given that this means that there would have to be a super drastic drop in profiteering by the oil companies, auto companies and many other companies dependent upon oil directly and indirectly for production, these imperialists are inherently unable to even explore such a radical change. Ergo, the logic of capitalism as it is concretely constituted in 2000 can't do the job. It cannot possible actually seek the answers and actions in detail that you ask above ( and as I say, nor can a few genius intellectuals give you the details in advance of practice by the billions). But, one thing we can say as a general guide ( not the detailed blueprint) is that Year 2000 capitalist accumulation as the arch-controlling logic of the whole of human society must be obliterated to free up the practice of the billions to find the detailed answers to the questions you ask.
