[Marxism] Re: Reply to a Bad Subjects editor

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

> Well, I'm sure that your graciousness of tone helps to smooth over a lot of
> tensions.
>
> The thing is, I DO know Louis Proyect from a "fucking hole in the wall,"
> because
> I've exchanged e-mails with him on several previous occasions.
>
> I don't necessarily agree with him on many points, but I have encountered
> him in
> enough different places over the years that I felt like I knew him.
>
> And now I do.
>
> Best,
>
> Charlie

Charles, this doesn't answer my question. I wrote a critique of a Bad
Subjects article on Cuba for Marxmail and PEN-L. I sent a copy to the Bad
Subjects contact address. My intention was to have a debate about Cuba,
especially since the charge that the Cuban government was running drugs is
not only irresponsible, it is a bald-faced lie. I must repeat that not even
the rightwing press or the government have leveled such charges. It is
simply astonishing that a so-called "Marxist" Internet publication can make
such a claim without doing some fact-checking.

When you responded to me, it was on the basis of whether I had gotten
tenure or not. Was this supposed to be some kind of patronizing put-down?
Frankly, I don't mind such a thing if it was at least accompanied by even a
token gesture at addressing the issue at hand.

Although I do not think that you and your fellow editors are getting
payoffs from the CIA, you are doing their work for free. During the 1970s
and 80s people like Claire Sterling and Arnaud de Borchgrave were writing
article after article about "yellow rain", Communist plots to kill the pope
and other lurid tales. It was pretty obvious at the time that they were
hooked up with the national security state.

If you don't understand how ill-conceived it is to accuse the Cuban
government of running drugs during the same moment when war threats are
mounting, then I can't help you. I would only appeal to your professional
standards as an academic. If you were on the dissertation board of a
student defending a thesis that implicated Cuba in narcotrafficing,
wouldn't you expect some scholarly support for such a claim? What happens
when you and other professors decide to put out a Marxist journal (using
this term in the most liberal understanding of the word)? Do your standards
go out the window?


Louis Proyect
Marxism list: www.marxmail.org


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