On Oct 10, 2009, at 1:37 PM, Somebody Somebody wrote:
> Carrol: In the last three centruies, in which the world (or, to
> beging with, a few spots in the West) were plunged into the hrrible
> chaos & meaningless ness of capitalism, PROGRESS has come to serve
> the same purpose that Moira had served for the Greeks. It gives
> meaning to actions otherwise meaningless.
>
> Somebody: Do people really believe this? There literally isn't a
> single country in the world, not even in HIV blighted southern
> Africa, where people don't live longer, healthier lives than in the
> past. And there isn't a single nation where literacy rates and
> education levels aren't much higher than they were three centuries
> ago. Aren't these the sorts of metrics we refer to when praising,
> for instance, the achievements of the Cuban Revolution? And frankly,
> even if we want to replace capitalism, isn't the fact that it's
> supposed to have laid the ground for socialism a kind of progress?
Don't interfere with Carrol's gloom. It's his boon companion.