I think I agree. But it does raise the question of what sort of "discourse" is likely to advance "the left" as a viable, and visible, political entity as opposed to keeping it stuck in its current state of moribund, and (in these circles at least) ivory tower irrelevance.
It is not obvious to me that many of the threads addressed on this list would seem to meet this criterion for relevance. Dialectical materialism, and other points of Marxist theory generally, the epistemic status of post-structuralism, the historical background of populism, micro-economic analyses of the financial policy of Nazi Germany-all these threads, and many others, I have found interesting to dip into, and am grateful for the education they have provided me. However, I have had a sneaking suspicion that they are of purely intellectual interest only and of marginal utility for "movement building."
I am willing to convinced otherwise-i.e. that these issues are likely to galvanize a newly emergent left. In any case, I would be interested in your opinions as to what will be the central issues of the movement worthy of the name.
Apologies for this somewhat unfocussed digression-if it is that.
John Halle