[P2P-F] important debate: fighting cuts in an age of powerdown

Fri Mar 18 11:04:02 CET 2011

thanks Orsan, reading with great interest,

Michel

On Fri, Mar 18, 2011 at 4:49 PM, <orsan at tie-netherlands.nl> wrote:

> I ll give it a try:
>
> Austerity cuts will not aim de-growth or something like that, it clearly
> aims rearrangement the path that will take us to the growth, with
> acceleration if possible.
>
> Cuts also means less spending and effort on research and development for
> transition to alternative/green economy base, if it is intended at all.
>
> Both will be an outcome of [capitalist] intra-class struggle over the
> state.
>
> Transition movement and labour class have common interst both in transtion
> to an alternative socio economic cultural reality and more people and planet
> focused use of peoples money [or crystilised value created by poeple].
>
> So common strategy needs to be based on reclaiming the state, its
> organisational transition, so in this way pushing the cracks of the system
> further -to brake it down, in order to bring about an immedate systemic
> alteration.
>
> just as starting thoughts.
>
>
>
> Quoting Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004 at gmail.com>:
>
>
>> http://transitionculture.org/2011/03/15/richard-heinberg-interviewed-in-totnes-i-think-2011-is-going-to-be-an-interesting-year-in-the-chinese-sense-part-two/
>>
>> Dear friends,
>>
>> I have some difficulty in articulating the following issue, and hope you
>> can
>> help me in framing this in the right way,
>>
>>
>> so, here is the problem,
>>
>> on the one hand, we have a classic systemic 'end of wave' crisis of
>> capitalism, a bail-out of the financial class and austerity measures
>> imposed
>> on working people to fund it, hence, a natural mobilization to defend the
>> population against those cuts by 'getting the money where it is'
>>
>> on the other hand, we have a much more systemic systemic crisis due to
>> climate change, peak oil, etc ... and we have forces such as the
>> transition
>> movement, these people are saying, it's useless to fight the cuts, they
>> reflect the end of growth, etc ..  in one of the articles I read, I forgot
>> about which town, you could see how these people were talking to the
>> austerity-minded cost-cutting conservative city hall while there was a
>> massive mobilization of the anti-cuts movement going on,
>>
>> so, we have 2 contradictory realities, yes, the current austerity is fake
>> and the money is there but captured by the elite, but, yes, the deeper
>> crisis is also there and we have to think about changing our economic
>> system
>> more fundamentally, and part of this is indeed changing the growth system,
>> etc ..
>>
>> my hunch is that it is essential to be in solidarity with the workers and
>> citizens in the anti-cuts movement, but this somewhat reflective attitude
>> needs an add-on, a broader context, that reflects the second truth, but
>> without putting us on the side of the plutocracy in justifying the cuts ..
>>
>> so, how to formulate the right frame that honours both truths?
>>
>> Michel
>>
>> --
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>>
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>>
>>
>
>

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