From: "Per I. Mathisen" <perim-AT-interlink.no>
Date: Thu, 22 Aug 1996 20:22:47 +0000
Subject: Re: Science on another planet


On 22 Aug 96 at 7:20, Doctor Spurt wrote:

> > Lastly, I am reminded of the Woody Allen film where
> > Woody meets a crazy guy who claims that he can prove
> > that if there is life on other planets, that they must
> > have a Marxist political economy. :)
> 
> This is marvelous - please let me know which film it was.

Whatever film it was (I have no love for Woody Allen, I 
must admit), it is indeed taken from reality. I don't know 
if a philosophical point can be made about it, but it seems 
again and again that nothing beats hard reality when it 
comes to the hilarious.

Juan Posadas, leader of the Latin American wing of the
Fourth International, became sort of a nutter during the
1950s. He and his followers believed that sightings of UFOs
were signs of the existence of advanced socialist
civilizations in outer space, and that the government was
hiding this information for obvious reasons. Among other
things, he also advocated a preemptive nuclear strike
against the USSR, believing that socialism would rise up
anew up from the ashes.

I don't know what became of this group, but it most 
certainly became subject of ridicule for decades to come.

It is perhaps not necessary to point out that the FI dumped
these nutters pretty quickly, and that in favour of a group
led by Nahel Moreno, a nutter in his own ways. But that is
another story, and this is not the right list to discuss
sectology.

Cheers,
Per