Rod wrote:
>Eliminating the distinction between town and country side is a very
>abstract though admirable goal. But what does it mean concretely. Better
>planning of new housing space? More green space in the city? Better and
>more efficient transportation systems? Or is there something more
>drastic in mind?
You and Doug approach this as if we were talking about life-style. I can
understand this. This is generally how people first react to the CM demand,
as if they were being asked to give up Starbucks or something. It is not
about this primarily. It is about addressing a fundamental problem in
agriculture and ecology. The rise of the modern city was facilitated by the
removal of the agrarian population. Then, the livestock was separated from
the farm where crops were grown. This was made possible by modern
transportation systems, sophisticated financing schemes, chemical
fertilizer, mechanized plowing and reaping, etc. In the meantime, all of
these 'advances' were made possible by the creation of modern urban
industrial centers. With every "success" of the capitalist system, there
was an environmental penalty. Marx wrote about this, as did Bebel,
Bukharin, Kautsky and many other lesser known Marxists. Our problem is that
most of the research into these questions is being done by by mainstream
greens like Lester Brown's Worldwatch, while the militant opposition comes
from fuzzy-minded anarchists or deep ecologists. And where are the
self-declared Marxists? Mostly standing around with their thumbs up their
asses worrying about whether they'll still be able to enjoy their morning
Starbucks.
Louis Proyect
Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org/
