Re: A Fatwa on Louis

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>
>> From: Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>
>
>> I just unsubbed Pino.
>
>For squabbling with you and being mildly funny with it?
>
>Is mise le meas,
>Brian Cahill
>

Brian, the Marxism list is not alt.politics.socialism.trotsky. Nor is it a
mailing list for people with an interest in radical politics or socialism
broadly defined. I created this list in the spirit of Monthly Review, a
journal I identify with. But it is also in the spirit of Science and
Society, New Politics, Sozialismus and New Interventions which is to say
that we are trying to create a Marxist intellectual pole of attraction free
of dogmatism and sectarianism. There is room for all sorts of contrary
opinions here, as long as they don't detract too much from the main line.
Frankly, I was bending over backwards to remain tolerant of Julio Pino's
raw Islamic ideology which appears unmediated by any kind of Marxism as far
as I can tell. This is a guy who waxed enthusiastically about the Taliban,
for chrissake.

What I have no use for is people, especially with academic credentials,
turning discussion of the Cuban revolution into a demagogic foodfight:
"BTW, have you noticed how vacation ads for Cuba now feature the obligatory
T and A Mulata enchantress?" One of the reasons this list was created was
that we literally found it impossible to co-exist with a bunch of
Stalinists who used to serve this crap up on a daily basis. They went on
and on about whores in Cuba, Fidel shaking hands with the Pope. That was
supposed to prove that Cuba was 'fascist'. Meanwhile, one of the Stalinists
who was most strident about these issues also thought that homosexuality
itself was "degenerate".

Honestly, despite this I never had any reason to throw Pino off the list
and even defended him when he crowed about Russian soldiers getting blown
to bits in Chechnya. Needless to say, this kind of mindless football game
rah-rah bullshit had no purpose on a Marxism mailing list. But this 'fatwa'
business was just too much. I can't allow that kind of talk, even as a
joke. Last week I unsubbed somebody who referred to Serb peasants as a
bunch of ignorant hillbillies. I am extremely permissive when it comes to
ideology--within the context of the Marxist parameters of the list. I am
draconian when it comes to the kind of tone that is expected. Pino crossed
that line.

Louis Proyect
Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org/