April 22, Earth Day 2021
Questions and Answers
Clear Cut Logging and Herbicide Usage
Question: Do you think clearcut logging and herbicide usage should be banned (or even just on crown land) to protect our forest ecosystems as well as to save our local forests for future generations?
Answer: These are issues for the people involved in forestry and who live in those regions, in particular the working class, to decide. Tremendous scientific advance has been made on how to log sustainably. These issues come up against global cartels and monopolies centred in the U.S. that dominate our forests and exploit them for their private gain. The workers in the forest towns throughout the country have no power to decide and control how the forest is managed and exploited or how its production relates to other sectors and the building of stable and prosperous communities.
In the actual conditions, change is occurring because the people in the communities affected by clear-cutting and a self-serving use of herbicides are demanding safe practices. As the people who do the work and live in those communities, including importantly the Indigenous peoples, take control of the decisions which affect the forests, both the life of the forests and the lives of the people will improve.
Regarding relations with nature and among humans, the issue of the aim of the economy and outlook of those in control is crucial. The current aim of the imperialist economy for maximum profit in the fastest possible time is incompatible with developing a harmonious relation with nature or among humans generally and solving the problems of the twenty-first century, something CPC(M-L) calls the humanization of the social and natural environment. New relations require a new aim and direction for the economy that serve the people and use the value workers produce to enhance their lives and communities and deal with the problems that modern industrial mass production and imperialism have generated. New relations require the empowerment of the people so they gain control over the economy, politics and all those affairs that affect their lives.
(TML Archives)