SELECTIVE IN-DEPTH NEWS ANALYSIS:
03 August 2017 – 06 August 2017:
Recent in-depth or cursory commentary, discussion or analysis on issues or topics as reported in the international media, i.e. as contributions made by Carl. J. Kieck in a personal capacity (For business-related interest: See Carl J. Kieck Educational & Social Research & Consultative Services: carlkieck.com OR carlkieckpro.com ) …
Most recent first …
- In response to a story in The Washington Times:
- Our Commentary:
- Maher’s dig at Gore’s past electoral disappointments isn’t nearly as disappointing as the ostensibly uncritical way in which he echoes the Climate Change sentiments of his interviewee, at least as reported. He likes to think he’s politically incorrect, but a parrot can’t be thus. This is another good example of how mainstream media exponents continue to miss opportunities for real, well-informed & meaningful debate, instead preferring to score what may be called ‘obviously irrelevant’ points. Instead, what we should have, is a consideration, supported by intensive research, of how an alleged example of Climate Change, call it ‘Florida inundated by melting icebergs caused by fossil fuel emissions boiling the atmosphere’ (or so the chic horror narrative goes), coheres within a wider nexus of social, political and academic agendas. Geo-physically, therefore scientifically, varying sea levels represent a normal natural phenomenon, and Gore is skating on thin ice - not because of global warming. Is he unconsciously being manipulated by the seemingly respectable allure of the grey crossover area between (pro-radical politics) physical science & already radicalised (for decades) social ‘science’? Concepts like ‘renewables’, ‘greening’, ‘alternative energies’, politically correct heating practices, etc. could easily seem sexy enough to try and reinvigorate a flagging career. In a recent article, titled “A Resistance Movement for the Planet”, hosted on the Socialist Project (Canada) website, there’s a really fascinating confluence of contemporary, radical academic theory, political (and yet again, rad academic …) CONSPIRACY theory, and environmentalism, seen as part of a mini-front in a wider global war on capitalism. I can’t resist including a few quotes here, hopefully motivating a few other readers to have a look: It’s claimed that … We’re all oppressed by, and the planet suffers because of, the “fossil-fuel financial complex” and financial capitalism (thinking informed by some of the oldest socialist/communist conspiracy theories dating to the late 19th century); from the standpoint of earth ecology, economic stagnation of this system is good, because “stagnation in some ways helps the ecology, since economic growth places more pressure on the environment, increases carbon dioxide emissions, etc.”, never mind the impoverished and unemployed (they’re ripe for revolution, right?); Capitalism is portrayed as an evil Godzilla stalking the planet and mankind, for “capitalism imposes its laws of motion on the environment, irrespective of the biogeochemical cycles of the planet and the earth’s metabolism, so that it creates rifts or ruptures in the biogeochemical cycles of the Earth system”. Really? Al Gore, please think again. Carl J. Kieck.
- In response to a story in Radical Christian Millennial:
- Title: “What the heck is dialectical materialism?”
- Our Commentary:
I know the aim of the article, written with much clarity, is to explore and explain the possible implications of dialectical materialism for understanding the role of religion, but it's quite necessary to point out that Marx and Engels never use the exact expression or term in expounding their own research-based conclusions. Instead, in what can be found in the extant writings of Marx & Engels, they set out their natural philosophy of materialism in which the concepts associated with the later revisionist theory are explained. Marxists, communists and socialists who use the concept commonly refer to works like 'Dialectics of Nature' and 'The End of Classical German Philosophy' by Engels to illustrate the basis for the ideas associated with dialectical materialism. He (Engels) uses the phrase "materialist dialectic" meta-critically, not the exact concept, to attribute the discovery of the method that he and Marx used to Joseph Dietzgen, a contemporary, but this has been discounted by historians by comparing earlier descriptions of their method in Marx. Dietzgen's dialectical materialism is a form of Marxist revisionism and was influential in shaping a whole tradition of thought associated with the German social democratic movement. Engels probably engaged in a bit of propaganda when he included Dietzgen in the select circle of those who discovered the inverse Hegelian method, because he typified Dietzgen as a 'worker'. Doing so would reinforce the cogency of the Marx-Engels materialist historical method, with the idea originating in the material reality of a worker's consciousness. In 'Preface to a Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy', Marx refers to how the totality of productive relations contributes to constituting "the economic structure of society, the real foundation, on which rises a legal and political superstructure", thus we apprehend the same mentality, with concrete economic relations, rather than abstract legal and political scaffolding, the determinants of material reality. In many sources that may be consulted, Karl Kautsky (a Czech-Austrian philosopher) is associated with the concept dialectical materialism, but his proper role was actually popularising the dialectical materialist method as the most important theoretical disseminator of Marxism before WWI, sometimes therefore referred to as its Pope, in turn directly influencing early Soviet thinkers & leaders like Lenin who cited his works in the bibliography to "Karl Marx" (1914). Carl J. Kieck
Carl J. Kieck Independent International Educational & Social Research & Consultation Services … CONTINUED …
Carl J. Kieck is an Independent International Social and Educational Researcher and Consultant, primarily, and is currently involved in several long-term research projects. Originally from South Africa, he works internationally, thereby finding stimulation to developing new insights and broadening his horizons, undertaking work in primary, secondary and tertiary education, as well as many other areas, as a contractual, temporary or part-time teacher, lecturer and researcher. Within his many areas of expertise are (a) filmic and/or cinematic research and analysis, in most genres, encompassing various national and cultural traditions, both contemporary and historical and (b) news/reporting/media/broadcasting research and analysis.
He can be contacted in the following ways:
Professionally:
Via … carlkieck.com
Via … carlkieckpro.com
LinkedIn: … https://www.linkedin.com/in/carl-kieck-research-services-a544b4139/