Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 09:42:11 +0000
From: James Heartfield <James-AT-heartfield.demon.co.uk>
Subject: Re: M-I: Re: On Lenin. On Moderators, the Internet, etc. etc.


In message <3.0.16.19980119131117.0caf9994-AT-pop.qut.edu.au>, Gary
MacLennan <g.maclennan-AT-qut.edu.au> writes
>Heartfield sadly has become infected with the disease that Levy caught so
>badly.  He has been exposed and bested in argument by Louis Proyect and now
>he has moved to the stage of "enemy".  Hence the opportunistic endorsement
>of Godena.  
>
>But let me repeat it so even the apostle of progress-at-all-costs will
>understand it.  We should have elected moderators for a set period.  
>
>Now read that James - see there is no reference to Lenin nor the Russian
>revolution.  Nor is there any attempt to set up a hierarchy.  In fact just
>the opposite.  I want democracy.

Gary is free to speculate on my motives as much as he wants too. But I
am only saying the same thing about Lou as I said about Gerry Levy. The
desire for removing Lou as moderator is as misplaced as expelling Gerry
from the list. Since the moderator has no special privileges in the
discussion then it seems eccentric to want to remove Lou from the role
of moderator. Gary, Mark and Louis seem to object to Lou because they
disagree with his views on Pipes. But trying to enforce agreement by
institutional means seems wrong-headed to me, especially when no
consensus has been reached in debate.

It would of course be preferable to elect moderators. But if moderators
wer chosen for their adherence to a particular line then the list would
become more exclusive in its nature, and more like a political party -
fine, if that's what people want, but it's not what I want. I would have
said that the exclusion of people from the list has diminished the
discussion, not enhanced it.

My compromise solution would be to make Louis Proyect or Mark Jones
moderators alongside Lou, since they raised the objection in the first
place. If they have strong feelings about how the list should be run,
then perhaps they should be encouraged to put those ideas into practice.

Fraternally
-- 
James Heartfield


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