la revolution

James Devine jdevine at popmail.lmu.edu
Tue Aug 25 08:41:36 PDT 1998


Louis P. writes: >I don't think that you ... are neo-Nazis. I think you are liberals who rely on anecdotal evidence. This is how most Americans think... The purpose of an Internet mailing-list like LBO-Talk should be to dig beneath superficial impressions and anecdotal material to uncover hard evidence about our society. This means taking trips to the library, reading authoritative daily newspapers like the NY Times or the Wall Street Journal front-page, or doing searches on the world-wide-web.<

right. I really appreciate the research on hunger that you have posted onto lbo-talk. This is the best kind of stuff that shows up on the web. Thanks, Louis!

That said, here's a general comment aimed at the list as a whole: I think that Louis' documents suggest a way to avoid the kind of flaming that occurred earlier in this thread. We should all remember that we're not just talking to the individuals with whom we disagree -- but also with the list as a whole. The lurkers and listeners may well be "liberals" or whatever group one doesn't like (e.g., Max doesn't like "sectarians" if I remember correctly). There is no enforced consensus on lbo-talk, right Doug? Even if we don't like -- or even hate -- the individuals who post obnoxious opinions to the list, we have to convince all those third parties who might have some sympathy for those views. Calling for the expulsion of the objects of one's ire doesn't convince anyone (least of all the irritants themselves), nor does name-calling. Posting reasoned argument and clear documents might do so. Even if it doesn't convince the third parties, it provides ammunition to those of us who also want to combat the obnoxious opinions.

I also think that it's good to have a long-term perspective. After all, the revolution is at least a few months away so we need go build our forces. ;-)

Jim Devine jdevine at popmail.lmu.edu & http://clawww.lmu.edu/Departments/ECON/jdevine.html



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