[Marxism] Humans have evolved from a common genetic pool

[Greg McDonald]

Jeff Rubard wrote:

"Is this plausible? Sure. But you've also had an expert on this list
hypothesize another mechanism for the development of light skin.
Furthermore, the idea that dark-skinned people are constitutionally
unfit for life at northern latitudes has not historically been an
innocent, "unpolitical" observation. If the practical consequences
of this are just that black people living above the 30th parallel
should take Vitamin D supplements, I see no problem: but this
sort of reasoning can and sometimes is multiplied indefinitely to
cover any sort of social phenomenon, with no such restriction.

Really, I didn't think that the idea that Social Darwinism is
contrary to historical materialism would be controversial here,
but I guess that people concerned with being "naturalistic"
sometimes discount the ideological character of some
evolutionary discourse. I will put Gould's *The Structure of
Evolutionary Theory* on my reading list, but I still don't
think E.O. Wilson is coming to the rally, folks."

But the whole point regarding genetic mutation of skin color was  
suggested by a part of the analysis which you did not quote, namely,  
that skin color is skin deep only, and has no correlation to any  
racist factors relating to social darwinist or sociobiological  
ideologies. Furthermore, given the reduction of protection from uv  
radiation provided by an ever-weakening  ozone layer, and the  
catastrophic effects of global warming, it may be that light skin  
genetic mutations will prove to be evolutionarily disadvantageous in  
the long run.

Greg