Marx, Brenner, Technology (Was Re: [lbo-talk] preferences)

[Wojtek Sokolowski]

Jim:  It was Justin not me who mentioned cannibalizing old cars and
computers.  My point was that the US blockade is irrelevant because Cuba
can trade with other developed economies - and it does.  So if it does
not get the goods that it needs, it must be for other than the blockade
reasons.  Therefore, economic isolation, real or purported is not the
source of Cuba's economic woes.

As far as the "single factor" analysis is concerned, I did not say you
were guilty of it, but that is a very frequent argument.  Right-wingers
blame the perceived failures of the Soviet system on a single factor of
their ideological choice - "socialism" while left-wingers exonerate them
by pointing to a single factor of their ideological choice - 'US
imperialism'. 

I fully agree that using buses, bicycles or trains whenever possible is
a much better solution than using cars.  But my understanding is that
car ownership is a big part of macho identity which is alive and well in
Cuba.  In the current situation that macho identity rides on
pollution-generating US 1950s and Soviet 1970s technology.  And that is
hardly a model to follow.

Wojtek