Re: [Marxism] Cockburn contrarianism

[dave.walters@xxxxxxxxxxx]

> The problem with the RCP and now with Spiked is that their polemics are 
> directed against non-Marxist currents, from Greenpeace to Earth First! 
> There has never been a *single* response to John Bellamy Foster's 
> writings there for obvious reasons. They prefer not to debate people who 
> are obviously much better informed.

This only shows, Louis, that debating Marxists alone is not as important as
debating the "broader" currents in the population like Greenpeace or
Earth First! The latter are are more influential, garner the attention of 
everyone and generally influence policy far more than any Marxist
could ever hope to directly "as a Marxist".

When I'm engaged in debates around nuclear energy, 90% of my
time is taken up with supporters or followers of Greenpeace or
the Helen Caldicott types. Marxists by an large simply don't
want to discuss it...as evidenced by your own (and others)
attitude here on this list. The general perspective of most
Western Marxists is simply knee-jerk. There are some exceptions,
like list member Ian Angus who runs the Climatandcapitalism.com
site for the"ecosocialist" movement. An excellent site but
even there they have simply stayed away from the issue of
nuclear energy mostly (at least for now).

Others like Aussie socialist  Fran Barlow who is a big defender
of biofuels (but not ethanol) who likes to discuss  technology issues 
that most Marxists today shun. Her web site, BTW, is:
http://for-whom-the-bell-tolls.blogspot.com/

And this is part of the problem, when discussing technology, it 
becomes a geek-issue and most people's eyes glaze over. It's 
a problem and it is a big one.

David

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