From: brumback-AT-ncgate.newcollege.edu
Date: Wed, 11 Feb 1998 22:22:23 -0800
Subject: Re:M-I: marxian-defined energy finiteness


>>Boddy, I have just been reading a gung-ho book by Daniel Yergin where he 
witterson about how good everything is and how US average living standards, 
for eg,have doubled since 1974. Have they?

The history of capitalism IS a history of catastrophes. And there has been no
mitigating general progress since 1973. So who's right?<<


As an observer of the American political/economic scene for quite a large
number of years now, I can definitely say that US average living standards
have not doubled since 1974. I would guess that they have declined at least
by half depending, of course, on where you are in the social stata, those
nearest the bottom suffering from the greatest decline. I remember some
prominent (at the time) political figure/commentator observing upon the
terrific inflation on food prices in the mid-70s (or thereabouts), i.e., to
the effect that the American people were just going to have to get used to
not having cheap food anymore! I know that we didn't have the homelessness
and despair in the 70's that we have now! Homelessness then was a shocking
novelty; now everyone has accepted it as an inevitability. Social
deterioriation has worsened--I know it's not just my imagination.

Hi everyone! Hi Mark!

Nancy Brumback



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