[PEN-L:1974] Re: Internet mailing lists: what are they?

[Louis N Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Thu, 14 Dec 1995 glevy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

>
> IMO, most posts are simply *NOT SERIOUS*. I take my politics seriously
> and I, quite frankly, have little patience for those who view it all as a
> game.
>
> When those on the marxism list confront the above problems, it can grow
> and bloom. In the meantime, it is moribund.
>
> Jerry
>

Louis:

Jerry is right, most posts are not serious. There are ad hominem attacks
all of the time and I indulge in them frequently. I am also the Howard
Stern of the list and totally reprehenskibble, as Popeye would say. Just
last week, in the middle of a discussion about Wittgenstein's influence
on Hukalaka Meshabab, the father of Lithuanian Marxism, Jerry brought up
the subject of how a leader of the Committees of Correspondence, a group
I belong to, was a traitor to the revolution or some such other offense.
Jerry invited C of C leaders on the list, but not me, to contact him
privately so that he could furnish the name of such person. I told Jerry
to give me the culprit's name and I would slip an electric eel in his
underwear.

Jerry did not find this funny. In fact, he finds nothing funny. He is
Margaret Dumont to my Groucho Marx. Elmer Fudd to my Bugs Bunny. I have
been aggravating him for over a year with my unserious and vile behavior
to the point of distraction. Just last week he quit the list because of
my obnoxious behavior.

Guess what! He was back in less than a week. Why?

For the simple reason that the Marxism list is compelling, lively and
troublesome like life itself. It has a raucous internal life. It is
hateful and wondreful at the same time. No matter how many times Jerry
gets fed up, he will return. Trust me.