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Grover Furr asks: "Is this a Trotskyist list? or, a list for the
discussion of Trotskyism?"
No this isn't a "Trotskyist" list. There are many who consider
themselves Trotskyists, and others (like me) who, even though trained in
that tradition and still influenced by it, nevertheless don't describe
themselves that way. But I suspect the majority of subscribers, and the
overwhelming majority of those younger than, say, fifty or so, have
never had any special connection to Trotskyism or Trotskyist groups.
In my case, if I had to describe myself in those terms I'd say I was
more of a Fidelista, not in the sense that I support guerrilla war, but
that I think history shows that starting with the consolidation of
capitalism as a genuinely world-wide system, at the end of the 19ht
Century, but especially since the end of the Second World War, the
character and locus of the struggle against the system has shifted, away
from the working classes of the more developed countries to the working
people of the Third World.
The Cuban Revolution and the ideas expressed by Fidel (but not only --
Ché was also important in my development) represent and symbolize this
change.
I explored part of the implications of this in a decade-old post (under
a different name) "On Trotskyism, and why I am not a 'Trotskyist.'" It
can be found in the list archives here:
http://archives.econ.utah.edu/archives/marxism/2000w40/msg00158.htm. I
think it is fair to say at that time the proportion of Trotskyists was
higher on the list.
Louis might give you further guidance, but in general what's been
banned on this list for the more than 10 years I have been on it is
restarting the great Trotsky-Stalin debates. Because, basically, it is
an almost religious dispute that ends up in flame wars and because the
genuine political issues involved will find, over time, current
expressions that are much more accessible to all.
Joaquín
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