Re: [Marxism] After the oil is gone

["rrubinelli" <rrubinelli@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I'm not sure that the moderator ascribes to the peak oil theory as one
of his own beliefs, but be that as it may, we've been down this road
before.  Since the moderator has reproduced the latest "sky is falling"
from salon.com, I guess it's  OK to go down it one mo' time.

But....Mark Jones's analysis is interesting because it is radically
unMarxist, locating the critical fracture not in a conflict between
means and relations of production, not between output and profit, but in
eternal immutable geology.

OK, fair enough, but geology leaves a whole  host of questions
unanswered...like how come prices react to an event 20, 30 years in the
future, when markets are functioning precisely to apportion profits here
and now?  Or why didn't they react 20 years ago to the event that is
happening right now?  Like how can we go from over-supply to shortage
overnight?  Like how come the latest concern is the overproduction of
LNG due to the coming online of processing plants in Qatar (see WSJ of
0513) when the hydrocarbon scarcity theorists have been warning about
the depletion of gas supplies.

Darwin, unlike Hubbert and the Hubbertists, did NOT make any social
determinations from his study of natural science. But the peak oil
theorists do nothing but make social determinations, while denying their
determinations are anything but natural science.

Oil is not finches.  Oil exists as an object, but it exists socially
only as an expropriated value.  Darwin had enough sense to know his
limitations.  The new social Darwinists, dressed up in Hubbert's
clothes, don't have that sense.

As the head of the Colorado School of Mines' Hubbert Center wrote: "Oil
companies don't have the slightest interest in producing oil.  Their
concern is making money."

Follow the cash.

rr

----- Original Message -----
From: <g.maclennan@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Activists and scholars in Marxist tradition"
<marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, May 14, 2005 6:24 PM
Subject: Re: [Marxism] After the oil is gone


>
>
> rrubinelli wrote:
>
> Why is it that none of these peak oil theorists are Marxists?
>
> Jon replied:
>
> Nonsense. Mark Jones.
>
>
>
> Not to mention our good Moderator Lou Proyect.  But the real
> point is that non-Marxists eg Darwin can advacne knowledge
> and Marxists should read and use them.
>
> regards
>
> Gary
>
> _______________________________________________
> Marxism mailing list
> Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism


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