[Marxism] Re: Marxism Digest, Vol 23, Issue 79

[Bill Lynch <billlynch970@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Macdonald Stainsby" wrote:

> but the aspects of subsistence life for nations that STILL today,
> despite all attempts to discourage/beat/torture them out of such
> practices, exist right now,  probably only a few hundred miles from you
> (or less). They don't need anything  "restored", but when they view the
> earth not as a tool for plunder and  wish to live in that manner, you-- as
> an advocate of sef-determination  for the Palestinians, Zimbabweans,
> Thais, Irish et al-- are bound to support  that as well. 

Supporting their autonomy and preserving natural diversity at the same time are certainly admirable. But you stated 
that hunter gatherer societies exploit nature less, a debatable premise if you consider this on a per capita basis. In 
other words, hunter gatherer societies need access to much larger areas to feed its dispersed population and generally 
do not support a surplus. Cities (with their surrounding agricultural land) are actually rather efficient means for 
exploiting nature to support populations of any significant size (and the "civilization" you equate with 
racism, but which is the precondition for all social advancement). Worshipping at the altar of subsistence is rather 
unMarxist, and taken to its extreme leads to the hostile antihumanism of deep ecology and primitivist elements of 
contemporary anarchism ("let's let billions of those nasty humans die--then the chosen among us can live an 
aesthetically 'natural' life"), as Murray Bookchin has pointed out. Efficient, compact cities with clear zoning 
for regional agriculture and undeveloped, "hazard" areas would be quite an improvement on current U.S.-style 
sprawl--Mike Davis is very good on why this option was defeated. "Going back to the country" at this point 
just means more Walmarts will follow you there...

Bill 



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