I have immense respect for China and its people. While the Collective West languishes in a torpor of self-congratulatory superiority, China is literally re-inventing itself right before our eyes. They are synthesizing their chosen political system with the millennia-old roots of Chinese civilization. The ying and the yang, properly balanced, seems to be the goal. Not the end of history but a new one beginning.
They are humanity's best hope for a bright future.
indeed, i resonate with your commentary at the end.... what exactly is marxism anyway?? it is like using the word 'god'.. it means a lot of different things to many different people... i noticed the word socialism started coming in later in the conversation.. whatever china does is going to be a hybrid which will include much of the chinese wisdom contained in their great culture... taking a german philosopher from the 1800's and imposing his ideas onto the 21st century china would translate very differently anyway..
so my feeling is to cut with the lingo and get down to the business of making a better society and world... that is no easy task either way, but china is making great strides in the face of obstacles, both natural and the ones put in its way.. i wish them much luck and success!
Culture, culture, culture. Compulsory education in the west lasts typically for 12 years and yet we have a thoroughly ignorant population. What do schools do???
They do a lot of baby sitting. In my experience, a huge problem is the ignorance of the teachers in their subject matter as I learned firsthand. Within the Outlaw US Empire, K-12 education is vastly complicated because so many students have developmental disabilities like AAD and ADHD caused by environmental pollution, and the burdens placed on teachers is huge. Since those disabled students are now often integrated into regular classrooms, content must be diluted so they can understand it, which is a detriment to all other students. To properly educate all students about US History, four full semesters at minimum is now required, but only two are taught. IMO, in no other subject is this dumbing-down more impactful. I saw what was happening and opted to teach at the junior college level, which generated another story I might relate sometime.
Takes me back to my uni days in the late seventies of many left factions in constant friction with lots of heat and action. The USSR failed. And now we have post modernist nonsense machines, which frankly is how I find Zizek. China's economic success and the Party's ability to harness practical outcomes has ensured the survival of Marxist thought as the PRC serves as the exemplar of development where commerce and Marxism can thrive; will Africa be the hotbed for this development going forward?
Good stuff. Very interesting. Thank you Karl. To me, as a Marxist, it comes down to what kind of society you want to live in. This to me is not a difficult question to answer. It's basic stuff--affordable housing, education, healthcare, jobs that provide adequate compensation, opportunity for all, care for the elderly, a good environment for children, a culture that values respect, honesty, kindness and civility. It's not particularly complicated. Marxism says that these things are dependent largely on a material base--the way in which production is organized and its product distributed. It is socialism's challenge to experiment, learn, change and adapt until such a society is born and sustainable. That's the driver behind Xi's fusion of Marxism and Chinese culture. Good luck. There are many pitfalls along the way.
Ooops, sorry, hit sent before I finished — just wanted to point out that “new ideological theories” cannot sufficiently replace tradition, traditional culture, traditional beliefs. This really needs to be addressed everywhere.
It seems to me that this is the urgent problem of modernity (whichever way we describe modernity) — the problem of morality and how to uphold traditional values….:
Where is humanity headed? How can humanity form a new multipolar world order and a new order of human knowledge and values? What role will China play in addressing these issues and challenges? Answering these "big questions" requires new ideological theories and cultural creation
Pursuing my BA in Chinese Language and Literature, I also engaged in Buddhist studies. Several insights emerged: 1) Chinese Buddhism is radically different from Indian Buddhism, much less theoretical and more practical; 2) I found compatibility in Lao Tzu and Kong Tzu (Taoism and Confucianism) with both Chinese Buddhism and Marxism. Chinese traditional culture is vastly deep and pervasive and takes what gifts are offered and produces its own version. While reading Marx is an intellectual challenge due to language change since he wrote, Mao's XiaoHongShu is refreshingly easy and direct. Marxist principles are fundamentally quite simple and direct, as these two scholars proclaim.
Thanks for your comment. Several years ago when reading some of Xi’s Thoughts, I saw how he was melding Marx and Confucious and thought Of Course! But I did very little to pursue and see what more he’d do. IMO, he’s modernized Mao. An interesting thought piece would be to imagine what Marx would have written if he’d been more familiar with Eastern thought.
I'm currently reading "Socialism with Chinese Characteristics" by Roland Boer and while only halfway through it helped very much to understand the discussion by the Chinese scholars at least a little bit.
“ Chairman Mao Zedong proposed that books should not be read, but rather they should not be read randomly and without a clue, and they should avoid being nerd”.
I find this sentence very confusing, can anybody explain it?
"Mao Zedong, the renowned Chinese communist leader, once said, “To read too many books is harmful.” At first glance, this quote may seem perplexing, as we often associate reading with knowledge and intellectual growth. However, Mao’s statement holds a deeper meaning that challenges our conventional understanding of learning and invites us to explore a philosophical concept known as “The Paradox of Knowledge.”"
PEOPLE MAINTAIN COLONIALISM BY NOT KNOWING THE ROOTS OF LANGUAGE OR HISTORY
Most fake 'communists' are fixated on top-down mega-state imposition of fake social & economic programs. Fixated on empty 'content & unaware of interpersonal 'process', they don't realize how they are recreating the very same exploitation of the 7000 year old Oligarch 'exogenous' (Latin 'other-generated'), fake 'money' (Greek 'mnemosis' = 'memory') amnesic system, which they falsely believe they are fighting against.
'Communism' in the 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 & 21st century derives from 'Community' (Latin 'com' = 'together' + 'munus' = 'gift-or-service'). European authors & community animators were largely inspired by 'indigenous' (Latin 'self-generating') knowledge from 1st Nation contacts such as Kandiaronk (Huron) or from such as Petr Kropotkin's relating with Russian, Siberian 1st Nations. Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels were greatly influenced by Lewis Henry Morgan's writings (Ancient-Society) on the 'Haudenosaunee' (Iroquois 5-Nation 'People of the extended-rafters' aka 'Welcome') went through changes in writings to reflect the 'indigenous' governance strategy. Mohandas Gandhi's entire program was sourced from India's 'Swadeshi' (Hindi 'indigenous' aka 'Self-sufficiency') movement. I have read Marx & Mao Zedong over 60 years, but always surprised at people using the 'communist' or 'socialist' (L. 'socius' = 'friend') labels, who because they don't understand indigenous cultural fractal 'bottom-up' roots of 'economic' (Greek 'oikos' = 'home' + 'namein' = 'care-&-nurture') organization. Fake communists impose top-down institutions. As these fail bureaucrats resort to more & more top-down state-government imposition of failing systems. This 'exogenous' cycle causes the same collapse as most fake 'co-operatives' (L 'co' = 'together' + 'operatives' = 'stakeholders') after 70 years or 3 generations cause most co-ops & the whole Oligarch imposed Soviet fake 'communist' apparatus to fail. Antony Sutton in 'Wall Street & the Bolshevik Revolution'. Https://www.voltairenet.org/IMG/pdf/Sutton_Wall_Street_and_the_bolshevik_revolution-5.pdf
Most people are not aware of all humanity's worldwide ancestral heritage of many 10s of 1000s of years of peace & prosperity under the 'GREAT-GOOD-WAY-OF-KINDNESS' aka 'GREAT-LAW-OF-PEACE' aka 'CONSTITUTION'.
Knowing our ancient indigenous strength can help folks implement a positive transcendent path for themselves today. The Great-good-way is based in individual & collective cultural peace. On Turtle-Island the 'Haudenosaunee' (Iroquois 'People of the extended-rafters' aka 'Welcome') 6 Nation Confederacy for example call this 'Kaianere'kowa'. Central America the Maya refer to Kindness as 'In Lakesh' (I am another you. You are another me). In the Amazon, Aymara, Jamamadi, Apurina nations refer to Kindness as Maloka = 'Longhouse', Indigenous Celtic-Slavic Europe refer to the 'System of 100s' for their longhouse & other housing economies. In southern Africa, Nguni people refer to 'Ubuntu' meaning 'Human Kindness'. Eastern Europe Serbs & Croatians refer to 'Zadruga' meaning 'economy of friends', India as 'Swadeshi' (Hindi = 'indigenous' aka 'self-sufficiency'), China's character for 'money' refers to the ancient indigenous 'Bei' or 'Cowrie Shell', Korea as 'Chaebol' & Japan as 'Keiretsu' referring to 'Family Economy'. All these indigenous practices carry the same 3 indigenous-Cultural-Economy practices of the ~100 person Multihome, Council-Process & Welcoming Inclusive-Economy. Peace is established culturally from the person, friends, family, extended-family, Multihome, village, city, region, nation also with Continental & Hemispheric Councils. One introduction to all our ancient ways is called the Indigenous Circle-of-Life, summarizing an inter-disciplinary set of Indigenous factors needed for all of us to become whole again. https://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/a-home/3-indigenous-circle-of-life
All humanity's worldwide 'indigenous' (Latin 'self-generating') ancestors organized in Cultural 'Fractals' ('fraction, multiplier, building-block, where-the-part-contains-the-whole').
Intimate, intergenerational, female-male, interdisciplinary, critical-mass, economies-of-scale ~100 (50-150) person MULTIHOME-DWELLING-COMPLEX (eg. Longhouse-apartment, Pueblo-townhouse & Kanata-village) enable people to specialize in Circular Economies providing the very best essential goods & services with people we know & are known-by. 70% of people live in the Multihomes today. 20% of Multihome-dwellers are extended-families living intentionally in proximity for social & economic collaboration, contributing 2 trillion $/year of the most individually appropriate goods, services, sharing & caring/year on Turtle-Island/N. America. (Intimate people & relationships at the center). https://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/c-relational-economy/1-extending-our-welcome-participatory-multihome-cohousing
It is not as if the Europeans did not have their indigenous experience of communal living and social mechanisms. The very word 'soviet' refers to worker and peasant councils. The sad fact is that the USSR was forced to implement top-down rule because of exogenous attacks, military and political. The reality of English, French, German, and American hostility forced Party's hands to rapidly industrialize, regardless of political consequences.
When I reviewed the 1905 Revolution and the changes it brought, it was clear that Russia would develop rapidly, and that fact scared the Germans to the point where the Kaiser wrote in 1912 if I recall correctly that he anticipated a “race war” between “Teutons and Slavs” for mastery of Europe, a mastery he knew Germany must win. His “thesis” was shared by his closest advisors. (Fritz Fischer, Germany's Aims in the First World War) Fischer does an excellent job of showing how the Kaiser maneuvered the Austrians into starting WW1 for him. The only reason Russia entered WW1 was to honor its treaty commitments, and most of Russia opposed the war having lost to Japan in 1905-6. Thus, Lenin’s vow to immediately end the war—like Trump—made him The Man. If Lenin hadn’t appeared, the Mensheviks would have gained control after the February 1917 Revolution (people always forget that one). We’ll never know what they might have done, however. Yet, what’s clear is Russian economic development was shattered by the War and ensuing Revolution and Civil War and wasn’t properly able to resume until 1923.
It is unbelievable that the Kaiser thought the way he did, the thesis of a predator and a barbarian. However, I doubt he was the only one. Rosa Luxembourg's choice of "socialism or barbarism" remains true.
He was a product of his Age—The Age of Plunder. His basic analysis was correct: With its growing population and massive resource base, Russia would eventually rule Europe, which he saw as a negative. Hitler clearly thought the same.
Greetings Lantern Dude, Thanks for sharing your experience. My substack provides me with 100s of comments by as many reviewers over the past 2 1/2 years. When I go to my Substack, there are way over 100 articles to which I've added my commentaire. It interests me how you seem to have tried but are unable to see the 100s of articles & commentary in my substack to connect, whereas >100 others have? How did you come across my Substack? Visiting your substack, I appreciate those authors you are subscribed to. Substack is an amazing tool for knowledge networking as we restore human society & livelihood based in cultivating the biosphere. All the best! May your heart be filled with joy. https://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/e-history-evolution/7-work-play-population
I don't have a substack and my usual practice is to 'bookmark' substacks I encounter and sometimes 'subscribe' later if I have developed suffienct interest. Time is the issue. That option does not seem to be available at your substack.
Your experience is correct. There's no content aside from: "Coming soon. This is Douglas’s Substack." The google site he links to isn't a substack site.
I shall bite. As to my background, anarchist, but sympathetic to what Grover Furr has to say re Jugashvili/Stalin.
This tiresome obsession of Marxists with peasants is ahistorical---it may have been true in the instance mentioned by Marx, but the Makhnovist peasants were keenly interested in scientific knowledge.
If most Marxists were remotely serious in being a de facto vanguard in terms of practices of the society, they would first become de facto competent in one science and its applications. Instead, Marxism becomes "the science" (albeit not in the sense of Popperian falsifiability, but rather akin to theology), and they have little to offer. This is a far greater problem today than in the 20s-70s. As a test, most sciences outside introductory biology rely on calculus, and someone who seeks to popularize the use of scientific approaches should thus be able to teach mathematics from arithmetic to at least ODEs, in addition to the science in which they have foundational competence. But let us ignore that, and focus on the applied biology of agronomy, which can illustrate the problem in the USSR (Mao did better...)
Party cadres took over rural management much as they took over industrial management (professionalization came later), thereby making the "soviet" lable laughable (the councils/soviets were no longer substantially vehicles of worker control). They done goofed. Stalin had to deal with the mess, based on their incompetent feedback and data gathering, among other problems (see e.g. Tauger) in the aftermath of the 1933 USSR famine. Afterwards, he allowed peasants (i.e. people who at least had practical experience) to manage agriculture.
During the cultural revolution, Mao decided to actually provide peasants with meaningful industry (and education, and at least some medical services). See e.g. "Rural Small-Scale Industry In The People's Republic of China," edited by Dwight Perkins, then chairman of the American Rural Small-Scale Industry Delegation. Note that the term "Cultural Revolution," and its associated connotations, were not yet current in the US.
I should also say that in addition to scientific competence, competence in a trade (e.g. mechanic, electrician, plumbing etc) is also helpful, especially in terms of limiting the tiresome egos of modern Marxists.
Edit: undid Android Keyboard cocaine consumption of turning "in" to "I'm"---Google is competing with Guy Phillipe, Michel Martelly, and Zelensky in powder consumption.
Johan Meyer, One of the biggest mistakes of western Oligarchy imposed 'agriculture' & fake 'Communism' (derived from 'community' Latin 'co' = 'together' + 'munus' = 'gift-or-service') imposed mechanization is to not understand the planet or biosphere, which we are in every gene & cell of our short existence over many 10s of 1000s of years.
HUMAN BIOSPHERE BASICS (A primer)
3-D POLYCULTURE ORCHARD food trees which are over 100 times more productive of food, materials, energy & water-cycle, than 2-D 'Agriculture' (L. 'ager' = 'field').
SYLVALIZATION (Latin 'sylva' = 'tree'). As empires spread, hungry for the hardwood Oak for weapons of war, forts, arms, ships etc. the main productivity loss is the indigenous, carefully cultivated 3-D POLYCULTURE ORCHARDs of all humanity's worldwide 'indigenous' ancestors, which because of:
a) Polyculture's 92-98% Photosynthesis compared with 2-D 'agriculture' 2 - 8% photosynthesis. Agriculture’s all settlers & 1st Nations had left to 'farm' (French 'ferme' = 'contract of servitude by the peasant imposed by the armed aristocrat')
b) Deep Polyculture roots descending many 10s of metres into the substrate mining minerals, pumping water, developing extensive nutrient colonies etc. being 100 times = 10,000% more productivity than agriculture. Actually, this calculation is very conservative. In my experience with both Polyculture & Agriculture such as a 50 square meter (7 by 7 metres) area under the pre-colonial average 100 year old Oak tree produced some 3 tonnes (3000 kg) of nuts/year with little labour except bring wastes to feed the tree. The same 50 sq. M of Wheat, Barley, Oats or Rye will produce only 3 kgs of grains requiring intensive mechanical ploughing, seeding, weeding, fertilizing, fencing & irrigation or drainage preparation.
c) Polyculture's nearly complete ~95% photosynthesis of solar energy into food, materials, energy & water-cycle, creates an energy vacuum which drives warm moist ocean winds inland. 60% of Moisture transfer from ocean to continent is through condensation of these winds upon quadrillions of square kilometres of fractal leaf & bark surface. Only 40% of moisture transfers as rain-snowfall. 2-D Agriculture only photosynthesizes 2-8% of solar energy, creating High-pressure airs which push wind from continent towards the sea, creating permanent desert. https://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/b-ecological-design/1-indigenous-welcome-orchard-food-production-efficiencies
It is very telling that much of agriculture is slash and burn as well. Though I would think that in plains, trees that were not there in large numbers before would not do too well in large numbers due to human effort.
Perhaps a mixed system, as one tends to see in Chernozem areas...
Johan Meyer, The 'Plains' landscapes of today & the past Oligarch exogenous empire 7000 years are quite different in photosynthesis capacity than during the long many 10s of 1000s of years of worldwide indigenous stewardship. The Tall-Grass Prairies for example were part of Polyculture River Valleys such as across the US & Canadian Great-Plains & Prairie, which completely modified the extremes of climate before the Oligarch led European invasions. Dorothy's parents in the 'Wizard-of-Oz' caused the Tornado which destroyed their denuded Prairie home.
Henry F Dobyns in 'Their-Number-Become-Thinned' (excellent re-examination of historic indigenous population estimates) & Petr Kropotkin in Mutual-Aid, a factor of evolution' both describe the huge productivity much greater than any mechanical system devised. My web-links refer to my own 55 of my 72 years of age exposure & productive experience with Polyculture.
Understanding empire controlled by fake 'money' (Greek mnemosis' = 'memory') amnesia & indoctrination of the past 7000 years since Babylon (5000 BC) & the 'Phoenician-Empire' (4000 to 0 BC as the 'Kingdom-of-Israel + City-states of Tyr, Sidon, Byblos & Beirut') who terrorize the Kabili, Amazigh & Imazighen 'indigenous' (Latin 'self-generating') peoples of the Mediterranean & Black (Jewish Ashkenaz & Khazarian Empires centered in Ukraine) seas right to this day. "Permit me to issue the currency of a nation & I care not who makes its laws", attributed to Mayer Amschel Rothschild 1744 to 1812. 4000 to 0 BC Phoenician terrorism turns the once lush North-African Polyculture Orchards with flowing rivers & lakes Into the Sahara, Sahel, Negev, Egyptian Deserts.
REAL-'MONEY' (Greek 'mnemosis' = 'memory') String-Shell (Cowrie-shell) Time-based equivalency accounting Value system unit used worldwide (eg. Wampum on Turtle-Island /N. America, Quipu in S. America, Cowrie in once 'indigenous' Celtic-Slavic Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia & all islands') before Oligarch controlled empire takes AMNESIC control of 'indigenous' (Latin 'self-generating') 10s of 1000s of years. ACCOUNT for collective contributions, buying, selling & co-investment. Https://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/c-relational-economy
I have now read these materials. Some decades ago I got involved in the permaculture/urban gardening scene, and was conversant with the local money concepts that were being tried at the time.
I saw an estimate of 100x increases in productivity. While I can well believe that very large improvement is possible, the material comes across more as marketing material, to get people involved and interested, rather than as a guide to pitfalls and productivity estimation based on local conditions.
The one example given where a plain became a forest was in Colombia iirc, the other Borneo iirc, both warm climates. I suggest, as you seem to be Canadian, that you have discussions with farmers in Saskatchewan, especially in the more southern areas. Many have experimented with trees and mini forests, and these do well principally in ravines---on the plains, a midwinter Chinook can drive temperatures from the -40 range to above freezing for a short while, causing trees to prepare for spring, which then doesn't come for a while, which is why many forests tend to do poorly. One can come up with schemes to protect trees (e.g. have 'hills' of soil to the west of such forests to protect them from Chinooks, fill the resulting holes with water/dugouts, etc), but there will remain difficulties to overcome, e.g. debt structures that inhibit such activities as planting/harvest et alia.
The various problems can be solved, and progress continues, but it is not yet akin to a mature technology stack (think of a LAMP stack for making websites) for rapid change, in my opinion.
I'll look into LAMP stack. My own work is now more with Urban 'communities' (L. 'com' = 'together' + 'munus' = 'gift-or-service') through our Do-we-know-who-we-are-? Community-Economy web-based software to help people self-animate their human & physical resources.
All humanity's worldwide 'indigenous' (L. self-generating') ancestors on every continent, in every confederacy & nation cultivated empowered CIRCULAR 'ECONOMY' (Gk. 'oikos' = 'home' + 'namein' = 'care-&-nurture') interaction in ~100 (50-150) person Multihome-Dwelling-Complexes (eg. Longhouse-apartment, Pueblo-townhouse & Kanata-village) architecture of proximity for intimate, intergenerational, female-male, interdisciplinary, critical-mass, Circular-economies-of-scale.
70% of people live in Multihomes today within an average of 32 dwelling units = ~100 people. 20% of Multihome-dwellers are extended-families living intentionally in proximity for social & economic collaboration, contributing 2 trillion $/year of the most individually appropriate goods, services, sharing & caring / year on Turtle-Island/N. America. (Intimate people & relationships at the center). https://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/c-relational-economy/1-extending-our-welcome-participatory-multihome-cohousing Social-Economic dynamics of collaborative living & thriving together which united indigenous humanity for many 10s of 1000s of years, to work as 'community' (L. 'com' = 'together' + 'munus' = 'gift-or-service')
MAINSTREAM AGRICULTURE HASN'T DONE SUSTAINABLE CALCULATIONS, SO IS LIVING A DEPLETED FANTASY.
I'm involved with these Polyculture Orchard techniques in orchards for over 50 years now & from observing during 4500 kilometres of bicycle travel through British Columbia, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon & California States during the 1970s. A UNESCO researcher spent several weeks with me describing his North-African work at the time on the Phoenician Empire hardwood extraction from North Africa, reduction of 3-D Polyculture's 92-98% Photosynthesis, replacement with 2-D 'Agriculture' at 2-8% photosynthesis & creation of the Negev, Egyptian, Sahara-Sahel deserts where the 30-35 degree Latitude sun is too intense for low height plant cultivation. Combined with 10s of metres deep Polyculture roots for building & holding soil, water & diverse life forms & the Bio-physical productivity mathematics of Polyculture is easy to calculate. I was invited to meet Bill Mollison, founder of Permaculture in 1981 at McGill U. in Montreal. In my Orchard Food Production Efficiencies web-article these calculations are more detailed & referenced to such as Henry F. Dobyn's 'Their Number Become-Thinned' on Timucean Peoples of the Carolinas & Florida. The mature data & productivity calculations you seek is in the experience of 1st nations & indigenous peoples worldwide.
Our Polyculture program here on a couple of large rural 50 acre, 10 acre as well as city properties is incredibly productive. We encourage existing growers to bush (eg. Hazelnut) & Food-Tree Plant their Fence Hedgerows for increased crop, mixed-food, water retention, wind mitigation & climate productivity.
I'm familiar having travelled through over a dozen times back & forth through various parts north & south: Alberta (worked in Peace River country), Saskatchewan & Manitoba, where I'm familiar with Valley-bottom micro-climates as well as different elevation (steps) & Latitude levels of the prairies. Colonial monocrop agriculture has turned much of the Canadian Prairies into a semi-desert.
1st Nations Food & Material tree cultivated the Valley Bottoms as well as devoted the steps to Tall-Grass Prairies with high Photosynthesis, Climate moderation (wind, cold & heat). View food trees, bushes & other perennials as calculable water, air, temperature & climate moderating storing batteries.
Several studies on Great Plains (US & Canada) 1st Nation productivity of Buffalo at 55 million head, Antelope, Cariboo, Deer, Moose at another 55 million head plus a huge amount of Grouse & other wild birds available when people work with nature. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_bison#
Compares with:
Colonial productivity maxing out at 35 million head of cattle as well as an equivalence of pigs, chickens etc. Most colonial grain or hay acreage is devoted to stock-yard or fenced MEAT production, electricity, resources, massive amounts of combine, tractor, water storage, grain drying, processing & storage including highways, mines, dams, uranium mining, so calculations must be complex.
This is all very interesting, but I think the real absence of Marxism in China today is reflected most powerfullly in its unwillingness to develop a revolutionary international to spread and support revolution throughout the west. This is the most glaring evidence that, in reality, Marxism is really just a sort of frozen religion in China and no longer a real guiding principle of government or daily life. China is essentially Capitalism with a developed welfare state to mitigate it's harsh social impact and ensure internal stability.
Really, you could say this about any place on earth beyond ones local. So kind of a cop out. Nonetheless it's true to a certain extent, but these are Chinese experts speaking of China and it's relationship with Marxism. I'm merely evaluating their own statements and the hard fact that China does nor promote revolution or even class consciousness beyond its border, if they even do that.
Mao made it clear in the 1930s that Chinese communism didn’t have the incitement of global revolution as its goal. That point was made clear in Edgar Snow’s “Red Star Over China” in 1937. The CPC just passed the 100 million members mark, all of whom would need to know their Marx and Mao, and now Xi, which is a sizable number of people most anywhere except for China where that’s about 1/13th of the population. In comparison, how many Americans know the philosophy behind its founding and its current political-economci system? IMO, the percentage is vastly lower—infinitesimal in fact.
Thr bolshevisks did for about ten years, so it can be done. Nobody thought man would fly either. Or that fuedalism would fall, or Rome. It's really a question of history and a philosophical perspective, which is sadly in very short supply in the west today, by design, of course.
I have immense respect for China and its people. While the Collective West languishes in a torpor of self-congratulatory superiority, China is literally re-inventing itself right before our eyes. They are synthesizing their chosen political system with the millennia-old roots of Chinese civilization. The ying and the yang, properly balanced, seems to be the goal. Not the end of history but a new one beginning.
They are humanity's best hope for a bright future.
indeed, i resonate with your commentary at the end.... what exactly is marxism anyway?? it is like using the word 'god'.. it means a lot of different things to many different people... i noticed the word socialism started coming in later in the conversation.. whatever china does is going to be a hybrid which will include much of the chinese wisdom contained in their great culture... taking a german philosopher from the 1800's and imposing his ideas onto the 21st century china would translate very differently anyway..
so my feeling is to cut with the lingo and get down to the business of making a better society and world... that is no easy task either way, but china is making great strides in the face of obstacles, both natural and the ones put in its way.. i wish them much luck and success!
thanks karl!
Culture, culture, culture. Compulsory education in the west lasts typically for 12 years and yet we have a thoroughly ignorant population. What do schools do???
They do a lot of baby sitting. In my experience, a huge problem is the ignorance of the teachers in their subject matter as I learned firsthand. Within the Outlaw US Empire, K-12 education is vastly complicated because so many students have developmental disabilities like AAD and ADHD caused by environmental pollution, and the burdens placed on teachers is huge. Since those disabled students are now often integrated into regular classrooms, content must be diluted so they can understand it, which is a detriment to all other students. To properly educate all students about US History, four full semesters at minimum is now required, but only two are taught. IMO, in no other subject is this dumbing-down more impactful. I saw what was happening and opted to teach at the junior college level, which generated another story I might relate sometime.
Takes me back to my uni days in the late seventies of many left factions in constant friction with lots of heat and action. The USSR failed. And now we have post modernist nonsense machines, which frankly is how I find Zizek. China's economic success and the Party's ability to harness practical outcomes has ensured the survival of Marxist thought as the PRC serves as the exemplar of development where commerce and Marxism can thrive; will Africa be the hotbed for this development going forward?
Good stuff. Very interesting. Thank you Karl. To me, as a Marxist, it comes down to what kind of society you want to live in. This to me is not a difficult question to answer. It's basic stuff--affordable housing, education, healthcare, jobs that provide adequate compensation, opportunity for all, care for the elderly, a good environment for children, a culture that values respect, honesty, kindness and civility. It's not particularly complicated. Marxism says that these things are dependent largely on a material base--the way in which production is organized and its product distributed. It is socialism's challenge to experiment, learn, change and adapt until such a society is born and sustainable. That's the driver behind Xi's fusion of Marxism and Chinese culture. Good luck. There are many pitfalls along the way.
Ooops, sorry, hit sent before I finished — just wanted to point out that “new ideological theories” cannot sufficiently replace tradition, traditional culture, traditional beliefs. This really needs to be addressed everywhere.
It seems to me that this is the urgent problem of modernity (whichever way we describe modernity) — the problem of morality and how to uphold traditional values….:
Where is humanity headed? How can humanity form a new multipolar world order and a new order of human knowledge and values? What role will China play in addressing these issues and challenges? Answering these "big questions" requires new ideological theories and cultural creation
Pursuing my BA in Chinese Language and Literature, I also engaged in Buddhist studies. Several insights emerged: 1) Chinese Buddhism is radically different from Indian Buddhism, much less theoretical and more practical; 2) I found compatibility in Lao Tzu and Kong Tzu (Taoism and Confucianism) with both Chinese Buddhism and Marxism. Chinese traditional culture is vastly deep and pervasive and takes what gifts are offered and produces its own version. While reading Marx is an intellectual challenge due to language change since he wrote, Mao's XiaoHongShu is refreshingly easy and direct. Marxist principles are fundamentally quite simple and direct, as these two scholars proclaim.
Thanks for your comment. Several years ago when reading some of Xi’s Thoughts, I saw how he was melding Marx and Confucious and thought Of Course! But I did very little to pursue and see what more he’d do. IMO, he’s modernized Mao. An interesting thought piece would be to imagine what Marx would have written if he’d been more familiar with Eastern thought.
I'm currently reading "Socialism with Chinese Characteristics" by Roland Boer and while only halfway through it helped very much to understand the discussion by the Chinese scholars at least a little bit.
“ Chairman Mao Zedong proposed that books should not be read, but rather they should not be read randomly and without a clue, and they should avoid being nerd”.
I find this sentence very confusing, can anybody explain it?
Not sure if the quotation/machine translation reflects the original sentinent. However, using it I did find,
https://platosmirror.com/mao-zedong-to-read-too-many-books-is-harmful/
where the first paragraph states,
"Mao Zedong, the renowned Chinese communist leader, once said, “To read too many books is harmful.” At first glance, this quote may seem perplexing, as we often associate reading with knowledge and intellectual growth. However, Mao’s statement holds a deeper meaning that challenges our conventional understanding of learning and invites us to explore a philosophical concept known as “The Paradox of Knowledge.”"
Hope this helps.
Following on your suggestion I think the above should rather read “Mao did not propose that books should not be read, but rather, etc”.
PEOPLE MAINTAIN COLONIALISM BY NOT KNOWING THE ROOTS OF LANGUAGE OR HISTORY
Most fake 'communists' are fixated on top-down mega-state imposition of fake social & economic programs. Fixated on empty 'content & unaware of interpersonal 'process', they don't realize how they are recreating the very same exploitation of the 7000 year old Oligarch 'exogenous' (Latin 'other-generated'), fake 'money' (Greek 'mnemosis' = 'memory') amnesic system, which they falsely believe they are fighting against.
'Communism' in the 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 & 21st century derives from 'Community' (Latin 'com' = 'together' + 'munus' = 'gift-or-service'). European authors & community animators were largely inspired by 'indigenous' (Latin 'self-generating') knowledge from 1st Nation contacts such as Kandiaronk (Huron) or from such as Petr Kropotkin's relating with Russian, Siberian 1st Nations. Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels were greatly influenced by Lewis Henry Morgan's writings (Ancient-Society) on the 'Haudenosaunee' (Iroquois 5-Nation 'People of the extended-rafters' aka 'Welcome') went through changes in writings to reflect the 'indigenous' governance strategy. Mohandas Gandhi's entire program was sourced from India's 'Swadeshi' (Hindi 'indigenous' aka 'Self-sufficiency') movement. I have read Marx & Mao Zedong over 60 years, but always surprised at people using the 'communist' or 'socialist' (L. 'socius' = 'friend') labels, who because they don't understand indigenous cultural fractal 'bottom-up' roots of 'economic' (Greek 'oikos' = 'home' + 'namein' = 'care-&-nurture') organization. Fake communists impose top-down institutions. As these fail bureaucrats resort to more & more top-down state-government imposition of failing systems. This 'exogenous' cycle causes the same collapse as most fake 'co-operatives' (L 'co' = 'together' + 'operatives' = 'stakeholders') after 70 years or 3 generations cause most co-ops & the whole Oligarch imposed Soviet fake 'communist' apparatus to fail. Antony Sutton in 'Wall Street & the Bolshevik Revolution'. Https://www.voltairenet.org/IMG/pdf/Sutton_Wall_Street_and_the_bolshevik_revolution-5.pdf
Most people are not aware of all humanity's worldwide ancestral heritage of many 10s of 1000s of years of peace & prosperity under the 'GREAT-GOOD-WAY-OF-KINDNESS' aka 'GREAT-LAW-OF-PEACE' aka 'CONSTITUTION'.
Knowing our ancient indigenous strength can help folks implement a positive transcendent path for themselves today. The Great-good-way is based in individual & collective cultural peace. On Turtle-Island the 'Haudenosaunee' (Iroquois 'People of the extended-rafters' aka 'Welcome') 6 Nation Confederacy for example call this 'Kaianere'kowa'. Central America the Maya refer to Kindness as 'In Lakesh' (I am another you. You are another me). In the Amazon, Aymara, Jamamadi, Apurina nations refer to Kindness as Maloka = 'Longhouse', Indigenous Celtic-Slavic Europe refer to the 'System of 100s' for their longhouse & other housing economies. In southern Africa, Nguni people refer to 'Ubuntu' meaning 'Human Kindness'. Eastern Europe Serbs & Croatians refer to 'Zadruga' meaning 'economy of friends', India as 'Swadeshi' (Hindi = 'indigenous' aka 'self-sufficiency'), China's character for 'money' refers to the ancient indigenous 'Bei' or 'Cowrie Shell', Korea as 'Chaebol' & Japan as 'Keiretsu' referring to 'Family Economy'. All these indigenous practices carry the same 3 indigenous-Cultural-Economy practices of the ~100 person Multihome, Council-Process & Welcoming Inclusive-Economy. Peace is established culturally from the person, friends, family, extended-family, Multihome, village, city, region, nation also with Continental & Hemispheric Councils. One introduction to all our ancient ways is called the Indigenous Circle-of-Life, summarizing an inter-disciplinary set of Indigenous factors needed for all of us to become whole again. https://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/a-home/3-indigenous-circle-of-life
All humanity's worldwide 'indigenous' (Latin 'self-generating') ancestors organized in Cultural 'Fractals' ('fraction, multiplier, building-block, where-the-part-contains-the-whole').
Intimate, intergenerational, female-male, interdisciplinary, critical-mass, economies-of-scale ~100 (50-150) person MULTIHOME-DWELLING-COMPLEX (eg. Longhouse-apartment, Pueblo-townhouse & Kanata-village) enable people to specialize in Circular Economies providing the very best essential goods & services with people we know & are known-by. 70% of people live in the Multihomes today. 20% of Multihome-dwellers are extended-families living intentionally in proximity for social & economic collaboration, contributing 2 trillion $/year of the most individually appropriate goods, services, sharing & caring/year on Turtle-Island/N. America. (Intimate people & relationships at the center). https://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/c-relational-economy/1-extending-our-welcome-participatory-multihome-cohousing
DO-WE-KNOW-WHO-WE-ARE-? Http://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/d-participatory-structure/9-do-we-know-who-we-are web-based Community-Circular-Economy software:
A) CATALOGUE intake form for individual & business Talents, Goods, Services, Resources & Dreams. Https://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/a-home/7-membership
B) MAP local proximal collaborative relations for complementary economic concertation. Baseline mapping of 105 Mohawk, Wendat & Algonquian Placenames in the Tiohtiake (greater Montreal archipelago) region https://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/a-home/5-tiohtiake-mohawk-placenames
C) ACCOUNT for collective contributions, buying, selling & co-investment. Https://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/c-relational-economy
D) COMMUNICATE such as formally through COUNCIL PROCESS for creating Constructive Agreements & for Conflict Resolution. Https://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/d-participatory-structure/1-both-sides-now-equal-time-recorded-dialogues
ORGANIZING FROM THE TREE-ROOTS we create a solid foundation for our lives together.
It is not as if the Europeans did not have their indigenous experience of communal living and social mechanisms. The very word 'soviet' refers to worker and peasant councils. The sad fact is that the USSR was forced to implement top-down rule because of exogenous attacks, military and political. The reality of English, French, German, and American hostility forced Party's hands to rapidly industrialize, regardless of political consequences.
When I reviewed the 1905 Revolution and the changes it brought, it was clear that Russia would develop rapidly, and that fact scared the Germans to the point where the Kaiser wrote in 1912 if I recall correctly that he anticipated a “race war” between “Teutons and Slavs” for mastery of Europe, a mastery he knew Germany must win. His “thesis” was shared by his closest advisors. (Fritz Fischer, Germany's Aims in the First World War) Fischer does an excellent job of showing how the Kaiser maneuvered the Austrians into starting WW1 for him. The only reason Russia entered WW1 was to honor its treaty commitments, and most of Russia opposed the war having lost to Japan in 1905-6. Thus, Lenin’s vow to immediately end the war—like Trump—made him The Man. If Lenin hadn’t appeared, the Mensheviks would have gained control after the February 1917 Revolution (people always forget that one). We’ll never know what they might have done, however. Yet, what’s clear is Russian economic development was shattered by the War and ensuing Revolution and Civil War and wasn’t properly able to resume until 1923.
It is unbelievable that the Kaiser thought the way he did, the thesis of a predator and a barbarian. However, I doubt he was the only one. Rosa Luxembourg's choice of "socialism or barbarism" remains true.
He was a product of his Age—The Age of Plunder. His basic analysis was correct: With its growing population and massive resource base, Russia would eventually rule Europe, which he saw as a negative. Hitler clearly thought the same.
Just out of personal curiosity DJ. I'm wondering why you've not written anything in your alleged substack since you apparently began it in Feb 2023?
Greetings Lantern Dude, Thanks for sharing your experience. My substack provides me with 100s of comments by as many reviewers over the past 2 1/2 years. When I go to my Substack, there are way over 100 articles to which I've added my commentaire. It interests me how you seem to have tried but are unable to see the 100s of articles & commentary in my substack to connect, whereas >100 others have? How did you come across my Substack? Visiting your substack, I appreciate those authors you are subscribed to. Substack is an amazing tool for knowledge networking as we restore human society & livelihood based in cultivating the biosphere. All the best! May your heart be filled with joy. https://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/e-history-evolution/7-work-play-population
I don't have a substack and my usual practice is to 'bookmark' substacks I encounter and sometimes 'subscribe' later if I have developed suffienct interest. Time is the issue. That option does not seem to be available at your substack.
Your experience is correct. There's no content aside from: "Coming soon. This is Douglas’s Substack." The google site he links to isn't a substack site.
I shall bite. As to my background, anarchist, but sympathetic to what Grover Furr has to say re Jugashvili/Stalin.
This tiresome obsession of Marxists with peasants is ahistorical---it may have been true in the instance mentioned by Marx, but the Makhnovist peasants were keenly interested in scientific knowledge.
If most Marxists were remotely serious in being a de facto vanguard in terms of practices of the society, they would first become de facto competent in one science and its applications. Instead, Marxism becomes "the science" (albeit not in the sense of Popperian falsifiability, but rather akin to theology), and they have little to offer. This is a far greater problem today than in the 20s-70s. As a test, most sciences outside introductory biology rely on calculus, and someone who seeks to popularize the use of scientific approaches should thus be able to teach mathematics from arithmetic to at least ODEs, in addition to the science in which they have foundational competence. But let us ignore that, and focus on the applied biology of agronomy, which can illustrate the problem in the USSR (Mao did better...)
Party cadres took over rural management much as they took over industrial management (professionalization came later), thereby making the "soviet" lable laughable (the councils/soviets were no longer substantially vehicles of worker control). They done goofed. Stalin had to deal with the mess, based on their incompetent feedback and data gathering, among other problems (see e.g. Tauger) in the aftermath of the 1933 USSR famine. Afterwards, he allowed peasants (i.e. people who at least had practical experience) to manage agriculture.
During the cultural revolution, Mao decided to actually provide peasants with meaningful industry (and education, and at least some medical services). See e.g. "Rural Small-Scale Industry In The People's Republic of China," edited by Dwight Perkins, then chairman of the American Rural Small-Scale Industry Delegation. Note that the term "Cultural Revolution," and its associated connotations, were not yet current in the US.
I should also say that in addition to scientific competence, competence in a trade (e.g. mechanic, electrician, plumbing etc) is also helpful, especially in terms of limiting the tiresome egos of modern Marxists.
Edit: undid Android Keyboard cocaine consumption of turning "in" to "I'm"---Google is competing with Guy Phillipe, Michel Martelly, and Zelensky in powder consumption.
Edit: ditto re "terms" vs "tea"
Johan Meyer, One of the biggest mistakes of western Oligarchy imposed 'agriculture' & fake 'Communism' (derived from 'community' Latin 'co' = 'together' + 'munus' = 'gift-or-service') imposed mechanization is to not understand the planet or biosphere, which we are in every gene & cell of our short existence over many 10s of 1000s of years.
HUMAN BIOSPHERE BASICS (A primer)
3-D POLYCULTURE ORCHARD food trees which are over 100 times more productive of food, materials, energy & water-cycle, than 2-D 'Agriculture' (L. 'ager' = 'field').
SYLVALIZATION (Latin 'sylva' = 'tree'). As empires spread, hungry for the hardwood Oak for weapons of war, forts, arms, ships etc. the main productivity loss is the indigenous, carefully cultivated 3-D POLYCULTURE ORCHARDs of all humanity's worldwide 'indigenous' ancestors, which because of:
a) Polyculture's 92-98% Photosynthesis compared with 2-D 'agriculture' 2 - 8% photosynthesis. Agriculture’s all settlers & 1st Nations had left to 'farm' (French 'ferme' = 'contract of servitude by the peasant imposed by the armed aristocrat')
b) Deep Polyculture roots descending many 10s of metres into the substrate mining minerals, pumping water, developing extensive nutrient colonies etc. being 100 times = 10,000% more productivity than agriculture. Actually, this calculation is very conservative. In my experience with both Polyculture & Agriculture such as a 50 square meter (7 by 7 metres) area under the pre-colonial average 100 year old Oak tree produced some 3 tonnes (3000 kg) of nuts/year with little labour except bring wastes to feed the tree. The same 50 sq. M of Wheat, Barley, Oats or Rye will produce only 3 kgs of grains requiring intensive mechanical ploughing, seeding, weeding, fertilizing, fencing & irrigation or drainage preparation.
c) Polyculture's nearly complete ~95% photosynthesis of solar energy into food, materials, energy & water-cycle, creates an energy vacuum which drives warm moist ocean winds inland. 60% of Moisture transfer from ocean to continent is through condensation of these winds upon quadrillions of square kilometres of fractal leaf & bark surface. Only 40% of moisture transfers as rain-snowfall. 2-D Agriculture only photosynthesizes 2-8% of solar energy, creating High-pressure airs which push wind from continent towards the sea, creating permanent desert. https://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/b-ecological-design/1-indigenous-welcome-orchard-food-production-efficiencies
Certainly food for thought.
It is very telling that much of agriculture is slash and burn as well. Though I would think that in plains, trees that were not there in large numbers before would not do too well in large numbers due to human effort.
Perhaps a mixed system, as one tends to see in Chernozem areas...
Johan Meyer, The 'Plains' landscapes of today & the past Oligarch exogenous empire 7000 years are quite different in photosynthesis capacity than during the long many 10s of 1000s of years of worldwide indigenous stewardship. The Tall-Grass Prairies for example were part of Polyculture River Valleys such as across the US & Canadian Great-Plains & Prairie, which completely modified the extremes of climate before the Oligarch led European invasions. Dorothy's parents in the 'Wizard-of-Oz' caused the Tornado which destroyed their denuded Prairie home.
Many researchers have extolled the almost labour-free 'indigenous' 3-D Polyculture Orchards. https://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/b-ecological-design/1-polyculture-orchards
Henry F Dobyns in 'Their-Number-Become-Thinned' (excellent re-examination of historic indigenous population estimates) & Petr Kropotkin in Mutual-Aid, a factor of evolution' both describe the huge productivity much greater than any mechanical system devised. My web-links refer to my own 55 of my 72 years of age exposure & productive experience with Polyculture.
Understanding empire controlled by fake 'money' (Greek mnemosis' = 'memory') amnesia & indoctrination of the past 7000 years since Babylon (5000 BC) & the 'Phoenician-Empire' (4000 to 0 BC as the 'Kingdom-of-Israel + City-states of Tyr, Sidon, Byblos & Beirut') who terrorize the Kabili, Amazigh & Imazighen 'indigenous' (Latin 'self-generating') peoples of the Mediterranean & Black (Jewish Ashkenaz & Khazarian Empires centered in Ukraine) seas right to this day. "Permit me to issue the currency of a nation & I care not who makes its laws", attributed to Mayer Amschel Rothschild 1744 to 1812. 4000 to 0 BC Phoenician terrorism turns the once lush North-African Polyculture Orchards with flowing rivers & lakes Into the Sahara, Sahel, Negev, Egyptian Deserts.
REAL-'MONEY' (Greek 'mnemosis' = 'memory') String-Shell (Cowrie-shell) Time-based equivalency accounting Value system unit used worldwide (eg. Wampum on Turtle-Island /N. America, Quipu in S. America, Cowrie in once 'indigenous' Celtic-Slavic Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia & all islands') before Oligarch controlled empire takes AMNESIC control of 'indigenous' (Latin 'self-generating') 10s of 1000s of years. ACCOUNT for collective contributions, buying, selling & co-investment. Https://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/c-relational-economy
I have now read these materials. Some decades ago I got involved in the permaculture/urban gardening scene, and was conversant with the local money concepts that were being tried at the time.
I saw an estimate of 100x increases in productivity. While I can well believe that very large improvement is possible, the material comes across more as marketing material, to get people involved and interested, rather than as a guide to pitfalls and productivity estimation based on local conditions.
The one example given where a plain became a forest was in Colombia iirc, the other Borneo iirc, both warm climates. I suggest, as you seem to be Canadian, that you have discussions with farmers in Saskatchewan, especially in the more southern areas. Many have experimented with trees and mini forests, and these do well principally in ravines---on the plains, a midwinter Chinook can drive temperatures from the -40 range to above freezing for a short while, causing trees to prepare for spring, which then doesn't come for a while, which is why many forests tend to do poorly. One can come up with schemes to protect trees (e.g. have 'hills' of soil to the west of such forests to protect them from Chinooks, fill the resulting holes with water/dugouts, etc), but there will remain difficulties to overcome, e.g. debt structures that inhibit such activities as planting/harvest et alia.
The various problems can be solved, and progress continues, but it is not yet akin to a mature technology stack (think of a LAMP stack for making websites) for rapid change, in my opinion.
John Meyer, Thank you for your informed feedback.
I'll look into LAMP stack. My own work is now more with Urban 'communities' (L. 'com' = 'together' + 'munus' = 'gift-or-service') through our Do-we-know-who-we-are-? Community-Economy web-based software to help people self-animate their human & physical resources.
All humanity's worldwide 'indigenous' (L. self-generating') ancestors on every continent, in every confederacy & nation cultivated empowered CIRCULAR 'ECONOMY' (Gk. 'oikos' = 'home' + 'namein' = 'care-&-nurture') interaction in ~100 (50-150) person Multihome-Dwelling-Complexes (eg. Longhouse-apartment, Pueblo-townhouse & Kanata-village) architecture of proximity for intimate, intergenerational, female-male, interdisciplinary, critical-mass, Circular-economies-of-scale.
70% of people live in Multihomes today within an average of 32 dwelling units = ~100 people. 20% of Multihome-dwellers are extended-families living intentionally in proximity for social & economic collaboration, contributing 2 trillion $/year of the most individually appropriate goods, services, sharing & caring / year on Turtle-Island/N. America. (Intimate people & relationships at the center). https://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/c-relational-economy/1-extending-our-welcome-participatory-multihome-cohousing Social-Economic dynamics of collaborative living & thriving together which united indigenous humanity for many 10s of 1000s of years, to work as 'community' (L. 'com' = 'together' + 'munus' = 'gift-or-service')
DO-WE-KNOW-WHO-WE-ARE-? Http://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/d-participatory-structure/9-do-we-know-who-we-are web-based Community-Circular-Economy software:
A) CATALOGUE intake form for individual & business Talents, Goods, Services, Resources & Dreams. Https://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/a-home/7-membership B) MAP local proximal collaborative relations for complementary economic concertation. Baseline mapping of 105 Mohawk, Wendat & Algonquian Placenames in the Tiohtiake (greater Montreal archipelago) region https://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/a-home/5-tiohtiake-mohawk-placenames
C) ACCOUNT for collective contributions, buying, selling & co-investment. Https://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/c-relational-economy
D) COMMUNICATE such as formally through COUNCIL PROCESS for creating Constructive Agreements & for Conflict Resolution.
Https://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/d-participatory-structure/1-both-sides-now-equal-time-recorded-dialogues
MAINSTREAM AGRICULTURE HASN'T DONE SUSTAINABLE CALCULATIONS, SO IS LIVING A DEPLETED FANTASY.
I'm involved with these Polyculture Orchard techniques in orchards for over 50 years now & from observing during 4500 kilometres of bicycle travel through British Columbia, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon & California States during the 1970s. A UNESCO researcher spent several weeks with me describing his North-African work at the time on the Phoenician Empire hardwood extraction from North Africa, reduction of 3-D Polyculture's 92-98% Photosynthesis, replacement with 2-D 'Agriculture' at 2-8% photosynthesis & creation of the Negev, Egyptian, Sahara-Sahel deserts where the 30-35 degree Latitude sun is too intense for low height plant cultivation. Combined with 10s of metres deep Polyculture roots for building & holding soil, water & diverse life forms & the Bio-physical productivity mathematics of Polyculture is easy to calculate. I was invited to meet Bill Mollison, founder of Permaculture in 1981 at McGill U. in Montreal. In my Orchard Food Production Efficiencies web-article these calculations are more detailed & referenced to such as Henry F. Dobyn's 'Their Number Become-Thinned' on Timucean Peoples of the Carolinas & Florida. The mature data & productivity calculations you seek is in the experience of 1st nations & indigenous peoples worldwide.
Our Polyculture program here on a couple of large rural 50 acre, 10 acre as well as city properties is incredibly productive. We encourage existing growers to bush (eg. Hazelnut) & Food-Tree Plant their Fence Hedgerows for increased crop, mixed-food, water retention, wind mitigation & climate productivity.
I'm familiar having travelled through over a dozen times back & forth through various parts north & south: Alberta (worked in Peace River country), Saskatchewan & Manitoba, where I'm familiar with Valley-bottom micro-climates as well as different elevation (steps) & Latitude levels of the prairies. Colonial monocrop agriculture has turned much of the Canadian Prairies into a semi-desert.
1st Nations Food & Material tree cultivated the Valley Bottoms as well as devoted the steps to Tall-Grass Prairies with high Photosynthesis, Climate moderation (wind, cold & heat). View food trees, bushes & other perennials as calculable water, air, temperature & climate moderating storing batteries.
Several studies on Great Plains (US & Canada) 1st Nation productivity of Buffalo at 55 million head, Antelope, Cariboo, Deer, Moose at another 55 million head plus a huge amount of Grouse & other wild birds available when people work with nature. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_bison#
Compares with:
Colonial productivity maxing out at 35 million head of cattle as well as an equivalence of pigs, chickens etc. Most colonial grain or hay acreage is devoted to stock-yard or fenced MEAT production, electricity, resources, massive amounts of combine, tractor, water storage, grain drying, processing & storage including highways, mines, dams, uranium mining, so calculations must be complex.
I shall look in the coming week, have to get some shut eye in preparation for work.
This is all very interesting, but I think the real absence of Marxism in China today is reflected most powerfullly in its unwillingness to develop a revolutionary international to spread and support revolution throughout the west. This is the most glaring evidence that, in reality, Marxism is really just a sort of frozen religion in China and no longer a real guiding principle of government or daily life. China is essentially Capitalism with a developed welfare state to mitigate it's harsh social impact and ensure internal stability.
IMO, to properly assess the degree of impact Marxism has within China, one must be within China.
Really, you could say this about any place on earth beyond ones local. So kind of a cop out. Nonetheless it's true to a certain extent, but these are Chinese experts speaking of China and it's relationship with Marxism. I'm merely evaluating their own statements and the hard fact that China does nor promote revolution or even class consciousness beyond its border, if they even do that.
Mao made it clear in the 1930s that Chinese communism didn’t have the incitement of global revolution as its goal. That point was made clear in Edgar Snow’s “Red Star Over China” in 1937. The CPC just passed the 100 million members mark, all of whom would need to know their Marx and Mao, and now Xi, which is a sizable number of people most anywhere except for China where that’s about 1/13th of the population. In comparison, how many Americans know the philosophy behind its founding and its current political-economci system? IMO, the percentage is vastly lower—infinitesimal in fact.
I'm sure that's true, but thats not Marxism. I suppose that revision is one of those "Chinese characteristics"
Did Marx ever practice the ism attributed to him?
Thr bolshevisks did for about ten years, so it can be done. Nobody thought man would fly either. Or that fuedalism would fall, or Rome. It's really a question of history and a philosophical perspective, which is sadly in very short supply in the west today, by design, of course.