File spoon-archives/marxism-international.archive/marxism-international_1997/marxism-international.9709, message 290


Date: Fri, 12 Sep 1997 22:21:56 +0100
From: Joćo Paulo Monteiro <jpmonteiro-AT-mail.telepac.pt>
Subject: Re: M-I: Bellicose Who?


Louis R Godena wrote:
> 
> Joao M writes:
> 
> >Or did you have me in mind, particularly? Bang, bang! Run for cover, you
> >crazy jew. Or by the saintly remains of D. Nuno Alvares Pereira, I swear
> >I'll make an ash-tray of your dried liver. That is, if I can get away
> >with it without a moderators' admonition.
> 
> Joao, as one Portuguee to another, this isn't very funny.  But then, neither
> was Lou Proyect's post.  There's enough violent irrationality in all of us
> to obviate the need to recall ethnic origins.
> 

Well, maybe you're right. As you may remember from previous exchanges, I
don't believe in deeply ingrained ethnic traits, or group survival
instincts based on "ethnicity".

Irrationality and blind violence are usually involved in situations of
deep mistrust and fear among human groups. Any human groups. Not
particularly "ethnic" groups, say the serbs against the muslims, the
germans against the jews, or the portuguese against the angolans. If
you'll go to a footbal match, you'll see plenty of irrationnal violence
among members of the same ethnicity. 

It seems that men have an inate instinct for goup solidarity on a
territorial basis. But that can work with a multitude of combinations.
For instance, on a neighborhood basis, that solidarity can easily cross
national or racial lines. You can be a "blood"/"creep" or a Chelsea fan
without being a bigot and a fascist.

What's specific about nationality is class domination and political
history. Ethnicity is nothing but a scientific construct, based on
national (political) realities. They are all "imaginary identities".

I have (and so does Lou Proyect) an easygoing or even an affectionate
relation with what my upbringing has made of me. But I am totally devoid
of national pride or even a sense of national belonging. Lou is
misinformed about the portuguese, but I would never take his remark
personally.

I tried to make a joke out of ethnicity and war. These are, of course,
heavy subjects to make jokes about. But this is not Srebrenica or the
Gaza strip. This is Marxism-International. What I was trying to say was:

-come on, are we all internationalists, or are we all worshipers of
"ethnic" totems made of the dead penises of our (landed or not)
ancestors?

I, for one, refuse to be encompassed by any notion (even a fairly
accurate one) of "portugueseness".

I'm sorry for all inconviniences. As a confidence building measure, I'm
trying to quit smoking.



Joćo Paulo Monteiro



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