[PEN-L:797] Re: Reply to Ajit and Ricardo

["AK Sinha" <aks1v@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Louis P. wrote:

> Ajit, I am not making a "cult" of Michael Perelman. You have to have some
> charisma to become a cult figure and Michael is one of the most
> self-effacing and laid-back--to the point of blandness --individuals I have
> ever met.
>
> My admiration for Perelman is based on what he writes. For my money, he is
> one of the outstanding Marxist scholars in the world today. His new book on
> primitive accumulation is not only fantastic research, it is also a
> compelling read. I found myself turning the pages as if it were a thriller
> novel.
_______________

You see, Michael is the only person on this cite who has the
'adimnistrative' power to throw any person out of this space-- it is
equivalent to deporting somebody. My problem with what you say
about Michael as a scholar is not that it is factually incorrect. Not
at all! But he should be praised in other forums, where he is not in
power. Praising him so repeatedly, and so often, on a forum where
he is admittedly the most powerful person creates a 'Hail Hitler'
culture. It has nothing to do with Michael as a person or a scholar.
___

L.P.
> The truth is that PEN-L is probably still searching for some kind of
> identity. When Doug started his list, a lot of the discussion that was
> typically going on in PEN-L migrated to LBO-Talk. My list has tended to
> draw participation from Spoons refugees. When Michael was taking stock of
> PEN-L, he raised the possibility that it would function more like a
> mailing-list for professionals. You and Levy (what happened to him? run off
> with the squatters?) bemoaned the "Proyectization" of the list. At that
> point most of the things I had to say were being said on my own list and
> PEN-L went through a remarkable period of silence.

> So where are the interesting things that professionals like yourself have
> to say? The other day Michael raised the question of why there was no
> discussion of the world economic crisis on PEN-L. There are literally
> hundreds of professional economists on PEN-L who research these matters for
> a living. Not a word was heard. Don't blame this silence on me. It is
> instead a symptom of some other malaise in the academic world.
>
> Louis Proyect
>
> (http://www.panix.com/~lnp3/marxism.html)
>
_______________

I have been on pen-l for about eight years, and have been a
participant on a few marathon debates as well (only last Saturday I
had a dinner with an old pen-ler Mike Meropole with Geoff Harcourt
and some others, and we shared some old pen-l memories, it was
very pleasant). Now, whether I had anything "interesting" to say or
not depends upon what one considers "interesting". It is highly
subjective.

I think it is generally not going to work by prescribing people what
to discuss. Most of the people discuss what interests them, and
what they are knowledgeable about. i don't think many of us are in
a position to pick up research topics because it is a prescribed
topic of discussion on pen-l. Moreover, I think sharp disagreements
and sometimes heated debates are necessary elements for
carrying out a lively intellectual atmosphere on cyberspace. If you
check the archives, you will find that most of the marathon debates
(theoretical as well as one on NAFTA and LA rebellion/riots etc.)
are characterized by such sharpness. This brings many more
participants in. Otherwise, things get dull and boring--Doug
Henwood's facts and figures are informative, but how much of
debate can take place on it?

Moreover, we should also be aware of the fact that participants
come from various cultural backgrounds--they are not all white
americans, and so will not behave in exactly the manner the
majority of pen-l expects them to. Thus more liberal attitude and
tolerance is required for successful functioning of the space.
Lately, there has been noticeable movement against tolerance.

Cheers, ajit sinha