>From PEN-L, WL wrote: > I will be registering in the next day or two.
Please do. > I do think that the Marxism list and Lou's blog represent excellent > prototypes and years of experience at moderators and balance. > Balance from his peculiar point of view, which surely is no crime, > but balance nevertheless. Given how much I have learnt about the > on-line experience (manners) I can assure you and anyone else of > respectful and good behavior. I think I will develop a blog this year > to depersonalize my writings to a Marxist list. An interlocking chain > of say 20 - 50 Marx lists with perhaps 1,000 blogs of a Marxist and > communist character might impact America. I agree. I was a member of Louis Proyect's list for many years and can attest to what you are saying. Similarly, I greatly value Doug Henwood's and Michael Perelman's lists. I hope we've all learned something from them. My goal is to complement what they do, and be as fair-minded and self-critical of my role as I can. I find it very interesting to compare and contrast the difference in the emerging cultures of these lists. And that's why I think some of us may be ready for a somewhat different type of list. Unlike Michael's and Doug's lists, which are deliberately more inclusive, I'd like a forum where people who view themselves as in the intellectual *and political* tradition of Marx, or have a genuine interest in that tradition, can communicate and debate their views and share their experiences. The ultimate goal, if you ask me, is to enable political cooperation in direct struggles. That'd be the ideal anyway. In any case, these are very exciting times for people in Marx's tradition, and we want to make sure that we build something lasting on that excitement. Personally, I am not persuaded by Luckacs' view that "Marx's method" is the fundamental badge of identity of Marxism as a revolutionary world view. More generally, I don't think the vital core of Marxism is some "method" or theoretical notion or sacred text (e.g. Capital) or specific adaptation to concrete historical conditions (e.g. Mao thought) or adherence to some leader or party line (Fidel), but the existing struggles of people who fight, with whatever may be at hand, against everything that exploits, fragments, debases, and humiliates them as humans. This is not to devalue the importance of theory, even at the highest levels of abstraction, but to place it where it belongs, as an instrument in a struggle to humanize the conditions in which we work and live. But, again, this is just my opinion of what Marxism is really about, opinion that -- as list moderator -- I will not be trying to impose on others. The criterion, as I wrote above, is that people view themselves as Marxists, philo-Marxists, proto-Marxists, quasi-Marxists, or potential Marxists. Nothing attests to the revolutionary power of a doctrine as its ability to speak ad hominem to people approaching it from so many directions and with such diverse backgrounds. Re. the culture of the list, I'd like it to remain a very open, tolerant, lightly moderated forum. One of my most strongly-felt goals is to make the list welcoming to new and young people, women, and majorities (colored people). Young students with academic interest in Marxism are welcome and encouraged to participate. So are activists, young and old. To make it clearer: I'm all for firebrand passion in our debates. Personally, I identify most strongly with the fighter. But there's nothing wrong with the cool philosopher who approaches Marxism as sheer intellectual exercise. Everyone who respects will be respected. Personal temperament has a wide range of variation. But if "Suaviter in modo, fortiter in re" was a good slogan for Karl Marx's International version 1.0, then it should be at least as good for us here and now. Thus, if as a rule people must observe "manners" (treat others as they wish to be treated, keep ad hominem arguments to a minimum), the rule is to be most strictly enforced when verbal abuse is directed at new subscribers, young people, women, and majorities. We'll see how it goes. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
