Human Destiny --dialectics of nature

["Doug Nielson" <dougnielson@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello again Marxists,

The hardest obstacle to overcome in raising the issue of  "human destiny" is
convincing people (or more specifically, Marxists) that the topic is even
worthy of discussion. One explanation for this resistance is that the
extermination of the species determined to be  necessary by Engels isn't
slated to happen for another 3 billion years. So why worry about it now?

It is true that placing the termination point so far in the future reduces
the immediacy of the issue. In fact, talking about it now is nothing more
than an exercise in pure abstraction.  In fact, casting our gaze so far out
means that we really can only talk about  the most fundamental
questions, such as, "what is the meaning of life"?   This question
translated
question  into Marxism (ie. activist thought)  becomes: "What are we
doing here?". This an important question that bears in many ways on the
present. The answer we give this question makes a big difference in how
we look at everything else.

It was useful for Engels to raise the issue of human destiny. Unfortunately,
he was not able to resolve it and instead resorted to a sleight of hand.
 The question, "what are we doing here" became, "what is nature doing to
us"?

The fact that Engels couldn't find an answer would seem to reinforce the
view that the best way to deal with this question is to put it on a shelf
and
forget about it. Why would anyone want to waste time re-examining this old
vexing problem. What possible bearing could all this have on the terribly
critical issues we all
face today?

The answer: Once we identify  where Engels went wrong  we can improve our
view
of where we are and where we are going. Why is this important?
Because a clearer vision improves our chances of getting there.

The problem is that the Marxist community's refusal to reopen this subject
has worked like a brake on our collective imagination.  Sublimation has not
been healthy. The issue forces its way to the surface in strange ways.

I've previously posted my own view of the future on this list but received
no response. I've sorted out my picture a llittle better now but before I go
on I would like to know if anyone is interested.   Please let me know if you
would like to hear more. Also, I am dying to hear what others think.
dougnielson@xxxxxxxxxxx



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