Subject: Re: M-TH: Poetry Date: Sun, 1 Feb 98 14:00:43 -0000 From: Bill Cochrane <bc1961-AT-xtra.co.nz> Comrades James Heartfield writes >>Of course it is. Malecki, Heartfield and Boddhisatva are all racists. > >Oh look really! This is grotesque. I am not going to be called a racist >by anyone. If contributors to this list cannot make an argument without >resorting to slander and abuse then there is no possibility of rational >discussion. > >Where are the moderators? >-- In answer to your question, right here. I agree; calling people fascists, racists is not productive at all from the point of view of rational discussion. Perhaps unwisely I have not had much to say about such conduct as I have felt that the aggrieved are more than capable of defending themselves and I have no wish to patronize anyone by playing the over protective big brother.This said however I feel its a sad reflection on otherwise intelligent individuals that they feel the need to bolster their arguments with with gratuitous personal insults.Attempting to stigmatize opponents positions with out addressing their substance is to sad to even merit contempt. I have, apart from the one sided superfluous mud slinging, followed the debate concerning indigenous peoples and their rights as apart from any intellectual curiosity the subject is of great and current moment in New Zealand. In this I have a tendency toward James's position as I feel that much of the left fall into a an unwise romanticism concerning a whole range of anti capitalist struggles, perhaps because of the failure of the soviet union an overly optimistic view of things soviet has been replaced by a melancholic nostalgia for mythologized precapitalist societies. Sadly much of what passes for struggles by indigenous peoples is largely commercial in nature with the indigenous component being a discursive ploy. By this I mean that 'struggles for indigenous peoples rights' frequently amount to little more than the struggle by highly undemocratic traditional elites to reestablish control over both property rights and the lives of whatever people make up their 'nation'.Having achieved one or both of these goals they act in a manner indistinguishable from capitalist firms and with scant regard for the bulk of their 'nation' who continue to live in poverty and desperation because welfare activity 'does not form part of our core business' as a local tribal elder once remarked to me. Returning to the topic of gratuitous personal attacks I say to those miscreants who indulge themselves in this activity to desist or be gone. Otherwise I will wreck horrible electronic vengeance on you. Bill Cochrane Moderator Marxism Thaxis "For godly, righteous and sober Thaxalien discourse!" --- from list marxism-thaxis-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
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