>i think most folks who've read Marx are aware of primitive communism. Doug
>was talking about socialism. These, it seems to me, are two different
>things. Rob also pointed this out.
I'm showing my ignorance then, since I haven't read any Marx. I don't see why primitive communism doesn't qualify as socialism, but maybe that's a quibble. The primitives certainly seemed to have achieved all the goals socialists aim for, plus a closer approximation of gender equality as well.
>you can't judge a list as "severely" anything on the basis of three posts
>and you can't judge someone's thoughts on the matter on the basis of one
>post!
If it makes you happy, I'll retract the "severely" adjective. Chalk it up to having a bad day. In Doug's case, however, I seem to remember him posting a link to the Primitivism web site saying something like "look how crazy these folks are." In Doug's defence, some of it is nuts, but there is some good stuff there, too. I especially enjoyed "Future Primitive" by John Zerzan, and the "The Lessons of Easter Island" by Clive Ponting.
Whenever I bring up primitive societies I usually see people rolling their eyes, so perhaps I'm too sensitive when it comes to this subject.
>should i judge you on the one post you made where you said that the
>may-decembe issue and gender wasn't really important and that socialism
>would fix all those nasty injustices! :)
I don't think May-December relationships are fundamentally important or inherently unjust, so feel free to judge me on that issue. If I said that gender wasn't important, then I misspoke. If a society was ever achieved where people could deal with each other as equals, regardless of sex, age, etc., then I wouldn't care whether there were a lot of May-December relationships or not. When I contemplate a "good society" of the future, I tend to assume that gender and racial equality will also be achieved, that individuals will be truly equal. Maybe May-December relationships are an artifact of power differentials and/or male priviledge (I happen to be skeptical). If the attraction is still there in some perfect future, more power to 'em. If not, so be it.
Brett