Moderation principles

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

Let me go over a few points that I have made in the past.

I am not interested in policing speech. For example, if somebody tells
somebody else in the course of a heated exchange that they are full of
shit, this will not likely get them thrown off the list although I
certainly don't encourage these sorts of outbursts. In general I agree
with Trotsky's observation that profanity is a sign of class oppression.

The main thing I am on the lookout for is sectarians on a mission to
refight some ancient battle from the 1920s or 30s. In these sorts of
cases, you will usually not find any curse words. Instead you will find
epithets like "petty bourgeois", "centrist", "reformist", "opportunist",
etc. I have a radar that goes on whenever I hear this sort of thing. I
have seen Martin Schreader in action on the Trotsky newsgroup and he can
really get wound up. In fact, he sent me a note after I unsubbed him
that virtually thanked me. He said that he was sick and tired of all the
reformism on the list or something to that effect.

I dropped Carlos Alternativa from the list because he announced that he
saw Marxmail as an arena of struggle between revolutionaries and
reformists. As far as I am concerned, *everybody* on this list is a
revolutionary. I want to create an environment where people can think
out loud and for themselves. So when Jose Perez expresses a heterodox
opinion on school vouchers, I don't want to hear anybody labeling him
middle-class.

--

Louis Proyect
www.marxmail.org



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