Date: Fri, 21 Jun 1996 12:14:29 -0700 From: tommym1-AT-ix.netcom.com (Thomas P. Murray) Subject: The List ? > > > From an editorial in-IN THESE TIMES,June 10-23,1996. > PUBLICIZING LEFT INTELECTUALS > > "....Indeed,they think of themselves as being on the left, > and they have left antecedents.Just as Bolshevism had its roots in > Marxian socialism,so did poststructuralism have its source in the > New Left of the '60s.Furthermore,the core idea from which much of > their rhetoric flows is taken from the pre-1917 Marxist understand- > ing that beliefs and intellecual constructs,as well as social atti- > tudes and institutions are historically determinded and can be under- > stood and evaluated only in the context of the times and social cond- > itions in which they develop." > .....",these academic leftists have increasingly become an un- > offending part of their profession,and their relation to American > society has come increasingly to resemble that of cloistered monks > and nuns speaking and writing to themselves in Latin.Thus,contrary > to conservative howls about Marxist subversion of the universities, > these academics have pursued studies that threaten nothing but the > possibility of the revial of an intellectually vigorous left." > "True,"Marxist"and "Radical" caucuses have prolifer- > ated in various disciplines .But all too often what they produce is > incomprehensible to anyone not conversant in current academic fads. > In place of the interaction with a general public that earlier gen- > erations of left intellectuals sought,these new radicals pursue only > their private careers and academic honors." > "The current crop of intellectuals,on the other hand, > is the product of the collapse of and retreat of a generalized left > in the United States.This required a circling of the wagons on campus > ,and in that context their retreat into impenetrable cocoons is un- > derstandable." > ..."We hope it is .After years of ascendancy,the right > in this country is in disarray and slipping,and there are signs of > life on the left. For too long,the general left has clung to old > ideas and solutions,while avoiding or disparaging intellectual rigor > and the clear expression of new ideas.But if a new left is to emerge > as something more than a feckless sideshow,it will need all the help > it can get.So it's time for left academics to stop talking to them- > selves and start thinking about the needs of the world outside their > elite enclaves." > > I wonder if the editors of IN THESE TIMES have been > reading M1 or M2?The level of inellectual discourse on M1 has be- > come more and more sectarian,almost completely devoid of any mean- > ingful insights or observations.It seems now the list exists only > as a place for vituperative personal attacks.Or as a place where > a few members display their vicious one line put downs. > > > > > > --- from list marxism-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
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