Forwarded from Julio Huato

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

Louis,

I'll appreciate that you forward this message to the list.

Thank you,

Julio

--

Marxmail members:

I've read with interest the reactions to my postings on the US left.

Obviously, in spite of its heading, my postings do not amount to a formal
essay or analysis on the US left in the current situation.  It was simply a
slightly-edited version of an informal but frank conversation I had with
friends who are left activists and sympathizers, and who more often than
not disagree with me.  Echoes of what my friends say can be inferred from
the text.  However, there has been enough of good faith and mutual respect
between us to keep the discussion going.

I used to be a member of this and other two lists on the net.  I was not
expelled from them, and I don't recall ever receiving warnings for improper
conduct or for violating the rules stipulated by the owners.  I've been a
pretty disciplined correspondent.  I signed off the lists at once, and
haven't participated in them ever since, because I was unable to keep up
with them.  I work, have a family, have commitments, and I'm not as
productive as I'd like to be.  So it became impossible for me to stay on
the lists.  Occasionally I do visit the archives of the lists and go
through the postings.  I'm extremely interested in the struggle for a fair
society for all in the world.

Since I took the time to type down my ideas and they are obviously relevant
to the topics on the list, I thought it natural to share my views with two
of the lists I formerly participated in.  I asked Jurriaan to kindly
forward a copy to this list.  I thank Jurriaan and apologize to him for the
inconveniences.  Of course, he is not responsible for my views.

I'm fully aware that Louis Proyect and other outspoken members of the list
are at odds, to say the least, with my ideas.  Their reaction doesn't
surprise me or bother me a bit.  I'm not afraid of the rage and rants of
people who disagree with me.  There are other things in life that should
really disturb people.

Some of you think that my views are outdated and toxic.  Still my hope is
that you address them and refute them seriously.  I don't claim any
originality, but -- as some people have suggested here -- views like mine
may be representative of a cross section of the society we claim to be
trying to transform.  Shutting up mechanically views like mine won't make
the issues go away.  Ad-hominem argument may be entertaining but it doesn't
advance understanding.  Believing that I'm morally flawed and therefore
disqualified to speak my mind on this list is prerogative of the readers.

But I'm at peace in my personal life.  And as my personal life (including
occupations and whereabouts) has no evident relation to the arguments, then
nobody should fault me for trying to keep it private.  (Well, in this
"Internet age," that's an illusion, but suppose I could.)

Some people rush to disqualify or dismiss opinions they dislike.  This is
very disrespectful of other readers' minds, I think.  It's as if they
assume the role of censors or high priests, self-charged with the task of
hanging labels and enforcing the purity of some gospel.  But Marxism and
socialist ideas -- as a look at the history of the doctrines shows -- have
been as fluid as history itself.  Because of that, tolerance is not ill
advised.  In brief, people on this list can decide by themselves what's a
valid argument and what's not.

Often times dismissing views we dislike is suggestive of self-doubts or an
inability to argue a point on logical and factual grounds.  The intention
is to smuggle as matter-of-fact settled, ideas that are debatable.  To
refer to something that doesn't concern me directly but that shows this
kind of attitude, I find it completely unnecessary to publicly disqualify
as "sectarians" organizations that made possible the October-6th rally in
New York City.  What purpose does it serve?  Considering the state of
affairs in the world, Marxists shouldn't be so cocky about their
beliefs.  They should focus on showing results instead -- and that's a
self-criticism.  If people can sharpen their ideas by refuting mine -- and
thus influence the course of events -- then it'll be for the better.

For example, Louis Proyect implies that Marxists should rule out the need
for US workers to participate in alliances with capitalists of any
sort.  It seems to follow from this that voting for the Democratic party is
precluded.  He hints at a class-against-class strategy.  But unless the
members of this list communicate by telepathy, it seems to me that Proyect
needs to elaborate his strategy a bit more for everyone else to scrutinize
or, if he has developed it already, to give us the specific reference to
his Complete Online Works to take a look at it.

For philo-Trotskists in this list, I'd respectfully suggest to re-read Lev
Trotsky's writings on between-wars Germany and nazism before subscribing to
any "unilateralist," "no-alliance," "go-it-alone," class-against-class
strategy in today's conjuncture -- particularly when the strategy has not
been yet fully and adequately communicated to the readers by those who
advocate it.

I have not denied the existence of imperialism.  Ever.  And I don't accept
either that my ideas are "imperialist propaganda."  That's not even
slanderous.  That's funny.  In fact, find my claim pretentious if you wish,
but what I'm trying to do is contribute to outline an approach to face and
defeat US imperialism.  That approach you may criticize and refute by
demonstrating that my face-value claims hide other designs.  You have to
take the trouble to do that.

That I have not denied the existence of imperialism should be obvious to
every good-faith reader of my previous postings.  Unfortunately, those
postings have been apparently removed from the list's archives.  I have ran
searches using my name as keyword and get only referrences to me by others.

Of course, Louis Proyect has a right to use his resources as he wishes, but
it wouldn't be a bad idea to tell people that the archives are a selected
sample of the postings.

Obviously I'm no expert on the US political system.  I have no direct
experience as a government officer or government employee of any kind,
anywhere.  Although I don't find that to be grounds for
disqualification.  I am not rich by any stretch of the imagination.  I am
not a capitalist, good or bad.  Engels was rich, and we regard him as a
founder of Marxism.  I do however have opinions about politics and
policies, in the US and in other countries, issues that I take very
seriously.  So seriously that I don't let my emotions easily override the
functions of the frontal lobes of my brain.

In spite of my admitted relative ignorance, I don't feel entirely
unauthorized to discuss the issues of the US left.  I often think of Isaac
Deutscher, who once argued that outsiders can supply valid insights into
issues locals take for granted.  In fact, I don't even feel to be an
outsider in the US or in New York City.  (Who feels to be an outsider in
NYC anyway?)  And Marx's favorite dictum ("nothing human is alien to me")
persuades me.  I wish my postings enjoy somewhat the insightful vantage
point that Deutscher says outsiders can have.  But that's really for you to
say.

As much as I disagree with Proyect's views, I applaud his effort to keep up
the list.  I value this list and others like it.  Proyect has a right to
discriminate the kind of material that gets published on the list.  But to
the extent that he supplies it as a public resource for Marxists and
socialists, and to the extent that the meaning of these terms is not cast
in stone, then he should back his decisions with a persuasive rationale.

I am available for conversation and debate.  You may contact me at
juliohuato@xxxxxxxxxxxx  This account can only handle a relatively small
amount of messages at once.  After that hotmail rejects them.  And it may
take me a while to respond.  I may sign up again on this and/or other lists
in the future.  I'd like to retain that right, if Proyect and other list
owners don't keep me out.


Julio Huato


Louis Proyect
www.marxmail.org


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