Re: Lisa replies re: Lisa's anthro

[Kelley Bevans <kbevans@xxxxxxxxx>]

                To  whom....,



        I have to respond to the debate on Ms. Rogers excellent, original
points about the development of human society.

        
        I'm afraid that the doctrinaire arguments that it is the way people
relate in the act of production rather than the material realities of their
economic environment which supercede, falls flat on its face.


        It is patently clear that the !Kung people (the "Bushmen") of
southern africa could not be capitalists.  Their isolation in their arid
homeland defines them completely in economic terms.  Their is no industry to
start, no agriculture to plant, and great physical hardship to contend with.
Individuals MUST form cohesive groups to survive and perpetuate, therefor the
creation of serfs, wage slaves, etc.  is completely impossible.  You simply
cannot take time out of the productive day to oppress anyone in that kind of
primitive environment.  When your tools are barely adequate to quell the
beasts, you can't very well quell one another.


        You can't make a ruling class without agriculture.  There would be no
way to feed them.  You can't make a feudal society without agriculture which
reliably maintains a staple food supply.  There is simply no way to give
warrior-leaders the kind of resources (especially time) they need to create
the technology of state, nor is there a reason to defend fixed areas of land,
but for the land's ability to provide a stable base of support.


        In fact, (here's one for you Ms. Rogers) I believe that the relative
advancement of societies over the ages can be correlated directly with
their ability to secure a staple food source with adequate protein.  The
answer to the question why Europe outstripped similar medieval societies may
simply be a function of the ability of the European plains to produce
high-protein grain and beans reliably over many centuries.

        
        Capitalism is the great effort to divorce productive relations from
productive realities.  It is no surprise that we products of capitalism take
this divorce for granted.



        peace,

                boddhisatva





     --- from list marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ---

     ------------------