Leo wrote:
>Is the rule of pen-l etiquette that we only smear people who are not here to
>defend themselves, but we must play nice with people who here and post such
>smears?
Obviously the rule makes (limited) sense, since it's only insults aimed at
participants in the list that (directly) lead to flame-wars. But we need to
extend the rule to apply more broadly, because sectarian or obnoxious
styles applied to an off-list individual bleed over into discussions with
those on the list. The world can't be compartmentalized so easily.
It should be wrong -- as far as pen-l is concerned -- to misrepresent
someone's view, to insult them, to misquote them, to reject the entire
corpus of their thinking because of one perceived flaw, etc. This is not
just a matter of pen-l decorum but a matter of honesty and the search for
truth.
One rule would be to avoid using sweeping terms like "ultra-leftist" or
even "neoliberal" as a way to dismiss someone's views in a blanket way. It
seems to me that _anyone_ can be rejected in these terms. Individual X is
an ex-Trotskyist and a third-worldist -- so we shouldn't listen to him!
Even better would be to limit criticism to _specific_ behaviors or
statements rather than applying them to individuals. After all, as I've
said too many times, a "stopped clock is right twice a day," so this
dim-bulb or renegade may be saying _something_ that's of value on some
issues. For example, it's much better to say "James Petras said a lot of
ultraleftist things in the early 1980" (with specifics made clear) than to
say "James Petras _is_ an ultraleftist" (and therefore any points he makes
cannot be used to undermine my position).
BTW, I have found that those who use blanket ideological terms or other
insults to dismiss others' points of view are usually trying to shore up
the weakness of their own argument. When someone insults me, for example,
it's a sign that my argument is more convincing.
Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] & http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~JDevine "Segui il
tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.)
-- K. Marx, paraphrasing Dante A.
