Re: On Elian and the Public/Private Nature of the List

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

Eli Stephens:
> 2) In yesterday's list activity, we (at least I) learned that the Militant
> had written a long article (editorial) polemicizing against posts which
> Jose had made on this list (and, as far as I know, nowhere "publicly.") We
> also saw the scurrilous (but amusing!) web site Commiewatch posting
> information about discussions which had gone on on this list on that very
> day. So the question is, is this list meant to be a public or private
> list, and what does that mean? Is it Louis's intention, or the intention
> of other participants, for everything said on this list to be available to
> the public, via Google searches, on a publicly accessible
> non-password-protected website, etc.?


The list archives are definitely meant to be public. The "latest 100
messages" archive gets about 25,000 visits a week and includes many people
who are reading it in Internet cafes in 3rd world cities, etc.

This is one of the main reasons I am anxious that the volume on the list
remain manageable, so that  subscribers and archive lurkers do not walk
away in frustration. Keep in mind that when you reply to somebody 10 times
a day in a debate here that it might be satisfying to you, but a bother to
somebody  in Jakarta and the occupied territories, where Marxmail *is* read.

I like to think of Marxmail as a combination of a listserv and a journal. I
am always looking forward to longer and more substantial contributions such
as the kind that distinguish Ed George. If you are in a debate, try and
study the approach of Lou Paulsen who waits until he has the time to
organize his thoughts and write meaty, well-written responses. I have to
say that although I do not agree with the WWP's party-building methodology
(or any such group), I have gained respect for them as a group based on his
and Greg Dunkel's contributions.

If Laura could have gotten it together to make such contributions, she
would have made friends for the SWP. Unfortunately, starting back in the
mid 1970s at least, it encouraged a kind of sycophancy that is the enemy of
Marxism. It is just as well that she has left since she would have created
havoc here, despite her best intentions liberally speaking.


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