[Marxism] An open letter to our Cubaholic [was: Cuba policy as a U.S. domestic political issue]

["Fred Feldman" <ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I consider this "open letter" to be a more serious disruption of discussion
on the list than anything I have ever seen Walter do. It is an indication of
how far Joaquin is from breaking with the sectarian tradition that most of
us who write for the list are dealing with in one way or another.

What is a Cubaholic? I don't know exactly.  At any rate, it sounds like
something I need to add to the list of my addictions -- and with a lot more
pride than some others.

Is Cuba a domestic issue? Well, for some business and domestic social groups
it is -- re such things as opposing the embargo or particular parts of it.
Then there is the question of immigration. This is a domestic issue where
Cuba definitely enters in. There was, of course, the Elian Gonzalez matter. 

Then there is the long-run, still-quite-alive question of annexation, an
aspiration of strong forces in the US ruling classes as they have evolved
since the Monroe Doctrine. The fact is the core of the Cuban-American
businessmen-counterrevolutionaries and their thuggish supporters are quite
consciously annexationist. They have no plans to give up their privileges as
US citizens if Washington can place Cuba under their control.

Then of course there is the domestic importance of Cuba from the standpoint
of people who believe in a new American revolution, and have less than a 300
year minimum perspective for possibly achieving it. (Personally, I took 
Fidel's 300 year perspective as a warning to the Cuban people not to expect
help from that quarter any time soon. Joaquin takes it as an instruction to
US revolutionaries to abandon any idea of accomplishing anything in less
than 200 or 250 years. 

I find Cuba News an absolutely invaluable resource. Its true I often read
only the titles of articles, picking and choosing what to read through (I
read every title, however). But I am actually glad to get a feeling for the
scope of Cuba's international relations, or the scope of opposition to the
blockade in this country. Who is Joaquin "trolling" for in his attack on the
CubaNews list? Joaquin, I guess. But whoever it is for, it is "trolling" or
not much better than whatever horrible "trolling" is supposed to be.

Walter and I have many differences. Some of them are actually implicit in
what I have written here. This is not a loyalty oath to Walter-phobes but
simply a fact. But I think of him as a key contributor to the list, and I am
not alone (especially among those who don't write so much). I have not
contributed items on my differences of opinion, methodology, or whatever
with Walter. On all of which I am by definition right, as my own
self-confidence, not to mention orthodox anti-Walterism clearly requires.
The main reason  these differences appear so rarely in open form is that
Walter is the target of what amounts to a campaign of persecution led by the
moderator, who apparently regards Walter as a required, but nonetheless
hated, punching bag.

A number of friends think I should start a blog of my own which, in my view,
would only be valuable if it also allowed for discussion and back-and-forth.
I have been considering it in my usual slow way, not as a replacement but as
a supplement for contributing to debates on lists.
Personally one word I decided I would ban from MY blon, from my experiences
here would be "troll," "trolling," and other terms which actually condemn
ideas on organizational grounds.
Fred Feldman





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