Date: Thu, 25 Jul 1996 10:25:16 -0500
From: dhenwood-AT-panix.com (Doug Henwood)
Subject: Re: Doug's level of discourse -- again


At 1:52 PM 7/25/96, Hugh Rodwell wrote:

>It's amazing the hysterical attacks on other subscribers that have been
>pouring from the keyboards of Doug and Louis P recently. 'Morons' is just
>the latest example. Why not keep a level head, register disagreement and
>present arguments, without descending to Maoist levels of vituperation?
>
>If you want to claim to represent sane discourse on the list, embody it in
>your postings.

Hugh, dear comrade, I'm not sure I'd like to conform to your test of sanity.

Let's review the situation. We have the working class on the ropes and
Marxism deeply out of intellectual and political fashion. And what
dominates this list? A collection of catechism-quoting Trots, with
eructations from the pig farm serving as their background music; what are
probably several vituperative and incoherent "Maoists" who post under the
name "Quispe"; the idiot ravings of the nuke-head; holier-than-thou
posturings from a few Americans; and.... well, there's not much else these
days, is there?

What this list should be about is the application of Marxist modes of
thought and politics to present-day reality. That would require an honest
appraisal of the political situation (grim in actuality, rich in
potential); serious social analysis of the forces and relations of
production in the most purely and pervasively capitalist world that has
ever existed; the reintegration of class analysis in left analysis, which
is still enamored of race/gender/ethnicity; the application of Marxian
analysis to the ecological crisis; and the development of a political
strategy in a world characterized by fragmentation and despair.

Repeating mantras won't do it. Blaming "Stalinist" and other "betrayers"
won't do it (for one, it dodges all responsibility for defining and
explaining "Stalinism" and "betrayal" themselves). Stop kvetching about my
"level of discourse" and start thinking.

Doug

--

Doug Henwood
Left Business Observer
250 W 85 St
New York NY 10024-3217
USA
+1-212-874-4020 voice
+1-212-874-3137 fax
email: <dhenwood-AT-panix.com>
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