12.08.07

Evolution and Political Theory

Posted in biology, evolution, news, politics, science at 10:01 pm by nogre

Today my dad showed me a review of a book in the New York Times. The book is something about natural selection and how it supports/underpins capitalism and those who were capitalist first. This reminded me about an old objection to evolution: at the time Darwin wrote the “On the Origin of Species” the idea of capitalism was en vogue and therefore ’struggle for survival’ was taken to be just a metaphor for capitalist society. Darwin’s theory of evolution was supposedly reduced to capitalism with window dressing. (ah how fortunes are reversed)

Thankfully I remembered my old response to this objection: evolution works just as well under socialism. The ‘metaphor’ that you use to describe the process of evolution is independent of evolution itself: we can use both a capitalistic ’survival of the fittest’ and/or a socialistic ’survival of communal’ to describe the process of evolution. This means that instead of focusing upon the struggle for survival, we focus upon organisms ability to best work within their community/environment. The organisms that work best within their respective environment will be the fittest.

Since evolution works with socialist metaphors, it is not dependent upon capitalism and I can’t see any reason for using evolution as support for capitalism, or vice versa.

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11.22.07

Thanksgiving post

Posted in philosophy, politics at 11:10 am by nogre

I am blatantly stealing a post from Fark Yaralar? because it is just too cool to pass up. Go To Fark’s site and support this awesomeness. And happy Thanksgiving!

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Monday, November 19, 2007

‘das kapital’ song by Lyapis Trubetskoy

Here is a song about capital & Marx by Lyapis Trubetskoy (????? ?????????) [from Belarus]

translation of lyrics:

For dinner I devour gold bars
Diamond desert, oil cream
My name is Baalzebul
Owner of the stratosphere
I am unrealistically cool
My respect is beyond measure

In my left hand is Snickers
In my right hand is Mars
My PR Manager is Karl Marx
In my left hand is Snickers
In my right hand is Mars
My PR Manager is Karl Marx

Capital! Capital! Capital! Capital!

I devour the cities and wash them down with the seas.
My beard covers the sky.
Thunder and lightning, rain and fog
My boots are licked by ministers and leaders.

In my left hand is Snickers
In my right hand is Mars
My PR Manager is Karl Marx
In my left hand is Snickers
In my right hand is Mars
My PR Manager is Karl Marx

Capital! Capital! Capital! Capital!

In my left hand is Snickers
In my right hand is Mars
My PR Manager is Karl Marx
I am the face of Madonna
Within me are rotten apples
Everyone on your knees!
Orchestra! The flourish!

Capital! Capital! Capital! Capital!