From: Stuart Inman <S.Inman-AT-greenwich.ac.uk>
Date:          Tue, 3 Dec 1996 15:47:36 GMT
Subject:       Re: whatever happened to the tract?? 



> Hi all,
> 
> Have I been missing some postings or has the tract all of a 
>sudden disappered?
> 
> Frank

I was wondering about this as well. Although I had hoped to put out a 
version of my own, I obviously have not done so. Put this down to 
lack of time, muddle-headedness (can't clarify my ideas sufficiently) 
and a sense of discouragement. The latter is possibly the key. 

When I look at the recent spat between Carlos and Pierre I feel 
horribly depressed, except when I feel very angry at those two 
gentlemen. I felt that this was a waste of space and time, that if 
anyone wishes to have lengthy slanging matches they should have the 
decency to have it in private. Mountains of boring shit coming 
through my computer does nothing to encourage me.

Then I wonder if we have enough in common (I mean a sufficient number 
of people to produce a collective tract, not a person in particular 
at this point). I feel that the most good we can do is NOT by issuing 
tract every five minutes, but by continuing to explore ideas.

I am not convinced that we need a great deal of optimism, at least 
not on its own. Optimism needs a massive dose of pessimism - and vice-
versa. For me, if there is a point to producing a tract that results 
>from the ChildXXX business, it is something that becomes worthwhile 
in itself, that is open enough for various people to accept, but is 
also precise, does not make claims it can't substantiate. For 
example, what means are there at our disposal for us to defend our 
freedom, from government, from commerce? We need to be clear about 
this sort of thing BEFORE we spout our virtual mouths off.

For me, as I think I have already said, there seems to be a priority 
to discuss and form a critique of the Net. It also seems that it 
arises naturally from a discussion of Surrealism's possible relation 
with Post-modernism, which seems to have rather commandeered 
cyberspace intellectually.

A final thing. Carl-Michael offered a discussion of psychoanalysis 
befre he went on his travels, but this has not been followed up. I 
would be interested in doing so. Would anyone else?

Stuart