just a thought - again

[Jurriaan Bendien <j.bendien@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Okay, Louis, so we are not denouncing Anderson and Brenner. And yes, the
spontaneous comments of students are often good value. However, I don't
think Anderson and Brenner need to be brought down to earth, it's the
students which ought to be encouraged to be heaven-stormers. I wonder why
you knock NLR/Verso though. Agreed, some of the titles are terribly
obscure. But I must admit I was strongly influenced by quite a number of
excellent books they published, and continue to publish, and I congratulate
them on staying in business when so many leftwing publishers have perished
over the years. Maybe you have to publish some "fashionably obscure" things
at times to be able to publish good stuff as well. I recently bought John
Pilger's recycler "The new rulers of the world" (Verso), and I thought it
was good enough to send to my Dad, who, old as he may be, takes a lively
interest in public affairs. I regret to say I never met Anderson or
Brenner, but I have profound respect for them and wish them the very best.
With their books and literary work, they have stimulated many important
debates, which got other people to think and write and act  - which would
not have occurred, except for their personal efforts. Good lecturers ?
G.W.F. Hegel and L. Wittgenstein were terrible lecturers, but they made
their mark !
Personally, I learnt about Marxism most of all from discussion and action
with my friend Geoff Pearce, a scrawny workingclass rebel with false teeth
and glasses in New Zealand who didn't have such a lot going for him, but
who made a hell of a life, completing a Phd , going to world conferences
and setting up a new trade union among other things. To my grief he died
just when things started to look up in his work, but what a guy ! I still
remember the day that Geoff said, "I think we need a real guru, somebody
who really knows about this stuff". We decided to write to Ernest Mandel,
who subsequently agreed to examine Geoff's Phd thesis on New Zealand
capitalism. Mandel was actually not such a great academician or lecturer
either, at least when we knew him, but he gave his all for the socialist
cause. So why knock people like that, because they aren't perfect in parts
of their lives ? Where does this discussion lead to anyway, what is the
point of it ?

Cheers

Jurriaan





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