Doug Henwood wrote:
> Carrol Cox wrote:
>
> >Come on, Alex. Name the principles of unity for us so we can all
> >unite tomorrow morning to storm the white house.
> >
> >You make me sick.
>
> Just because you disagree with someone doesn't make him a pathogen. How
> nice of you to perform the very divisiveness Alex was trying to get over.
>
> Doug
As I argue in an unsent draft, theoretical unity can only emerge from a prior unity of practice, and calls for theoretical unity (or, as here, something more like high school pep rally unity) are an insult. My last sentence was not a metaphor. I really did feel sick, physically, for a few seconds after reading Alex's post.
As I also argue in the same unfinished draft, on the whole appeals to personal experience on maillists are counter-productive. We are merely electrons dancing on a screen in a maillist, and there is no real reason to believe that the person behind those electrons is not lying. On maillists theory is fatally and incorrigibly separated in practice.
Nevertheless, in this context, I will say (readers may believe it or not), that locally I am extremely well known, above all, for my ability to unite in practice a wide variety of people.
I think empty calls for unity such as Alex's are disgusting and disunifying, besides being utterly out of touch with the actual realities of trying to build unity in practice.
Carrol