Re: Native American land rights

[Sid Shniad <shniad@xxxxxx>]

Just checking, Doug. I agree with what you're saying here. But I was
concerned that you were leaning in the direction of Hayek et al, whose
position is (in my untutored reading) that if you touch any of
capitalism's wondrous effects in hopes of improving anything, the whole
thing goes for a shit. (Ergo Stalinism, shortages, etc. are inherent in
any attempt to improve upon capitalism.)

Cheers,

Sid



> > Sid
Shniad wrote:
> > >> > Maybe there are real positive attractions for most/many people
> >> > that it would be impossible, and maybe even wrong, to resist. Is it
> >> > possible to separate the "lures" - the positive aspects of capitalist
> >> > modernization - from exploitation, polarization, and the destruction of
> >> > nature?
> >
> >Doug, please address this question yourself. If such a separation is not
> >possible, your position becomes one of defending capitalism itself, no?
>
> Following in this morning's PEN-L tradition of quoting poets from memory,
> I'll quote Wallace Stevens' "It must be possible. It must!" I keep hoping
> that a more humane social system could appropriate the technical and
> organizational knowledge produced by capitalism and re-deploy it for
> purposes other than making money and steepening hierarchies. Maybe this is
> too optimistic.
>
> Doug
>
>
>