eco-optimism

James Heartfield Jim at heartfield.demon.co.uk
Thu Aug 9 11:49:43 PDT 2001


In message <019201c11f8b$8dbbe0e0$0200a8c0 at sttln1.wa.home.com>, Ian Murray <seamus2001 at home.com> writes
>That's not fair, Gordon. The whole point of science is to make and
>correct errors as quickly as possible. To the extent that folks were
>passing off conjectures and models of simulable futures as 'facts'
>they definitely weren't speaking as scientists but acting out
>anxieties based on the limited models they had at the time.

But when I pointed out the conjectural nature of the evidence on global warming on this list, I seem to remember getting told off for it.

In message <3B70B6D0.BB665B10 at igc.org>, Uday Mohan <udaym at igc.org> writes
>A friend's letter to the NYT in response to the article about "lefty"
>Lomborg. Uday
>
>Dr. Lomborg's claim to be a "Left-Wing guy" should remind us of the
>solidly
>materialistic side of old-fashioned Marxism, and the profound changes
>that
>the environmental movement has wrought on the left side of the political
>spectrum. It is not surprising that he has found common ground with
>Julian
>Simon; both traditional Marxism and free-market Capitalism are in a way
>different sides of the same materialistic coin, exemplifying the
>"Can-Do"
>spirit that puts the short-term welfare of humanity above any other
>value,
>albeit using different means.

As I see it, the 'profound changes that the environmental movement has wrought on the left side of the political coin' are for the worse, not the better. Certainly any philosophy that seeks to demote the interests of humanity to some 'spiritual' value are generally speaking alienated religious crap.

More than that, the outlook that collapses the contrasting views of historical materialism on the one hand and capitalist growth on the other, is the outlook of the embittered petit bourgeois, who feels that both classes are closing in on him. This is the guy that signed up for Hitler, Poujade and Huey Long.

-- James Heartfield



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