On Friday, February 14, 2003, at 12:45 PM, Thomas Seay wrote:
>
> --- Jeffrey Fisher <jfisher at igc.org> wrote:
>> round and round she goes, where she stops, nobody
>> knows . . .
>>
>> what an utter waste of time. worse, it's only
>> generating more and more
>> animosity internal to progressives in america. if
>> the left in america
>> could make itself any less relevant, we might just
>> be witnessing it . .
>
> What do you mean by this, Jeffrey?
i'm saying i'm tired of this argument and the venom it's inspiring. it seems worse than a waste of time and energy. it seems alienating. but then, i guess we never get much further than that on this list -- if it's not an argument over empire or the organizing life, it's the respective roles of answer and lerner, neither of whom appeal to me.
i'm not sure i understand precisely what kelley was getting at. insofar as i do, i can only say i'm perfectly happy with indeterminacy (a deconstructionist AND a meyers-briggs type of INTP ;-). what frustrates me here is that the whole thing has devolved to "answer said - lerner said" and, lack of closure aside, it seems pretty obvious to me that neither party is behaving with much integrity. of course, to say that is to invite attack from both sides, although i will say that i said something like this on another list and was attacked entirely by answer defenders. of course lerner is a self-promoting snake and a buffoon, but you're either with answer or against them, afaict. left with that choice, i'm against them. i'm still going to the demo tomorrow, but that apparently wouldn't matter, either.
>
> Do people really think this is going to have a huge
> impact on the anti-war movementS (other than just
> generating a lot of emails and hot air)? If so, how
> and why?
i doubt it will take any air out of the antiwar movement. perhaps i'm overly pessimistic, but i think it does destroy whatever opportunity there might be for broader movement building. but who knows, maybe wwp and some other groups will pick up a few cadre. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
i'm in wholehearted agreement that internal criticism is important to the vitality of any mass movement. mass unanimity -- "you are all individuals!"/"Yes! We are all individuals!" -- is a crock. that's where i think answer's shortcomings, both strategic and tactical, become manifest in this debate.
> <snip>
> If any folks down in LA go to this, I would be
> interested in hearing a report. I BET he's going to
> present himself out as the next MLK or Gandhi. What a
> snake!
and persecuted on top of that. the irony, of course, is that answer could short-circuit the whole thing by inviting him. but i'm not the first person even on this list to point that out. unfortunately, the lesson appears to be lost.
i'm happy to be reasoned with on this if i'm off base, but i'm frankly tired of the whole thing, and i haven't even been in on the debates.
j
-- http://www.brainmortgage.com/ "Something's not in orbit in the capital of this galaxy." - Alphaville