<HTML><HTML>In a message dated 11/19/04 3:11:33 PM Eastern Standard Time, lbo-talk-request@lbo-talk.org writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">. I don't know what Proyect, for example, hopes to accomplish by denoucning me and Scott McLemee for having "renounced" or "moved away from" Marxism, as if Marxism were some easily definable position, like belief in the Virgin Birth. Doug </BLOCKQUOTE> While it's true that what constitutes a Marxist is something on which any two self-proclaimed Marxists seldom agree, there are certain basic indicators. Both on the radio and in public forums, I've heard people say to you: "I know what you're against, Doug, but what are you for?" Anyone considering himself a Marxist would, at minimum, answer, "I'm a socialist," and then perhaps go on briefly to explain what that means. You, however, don't say this, and I assume it's not because it never occurred to you to do so. What you do say is usually something along the lines of, "I'm for a strong welfare state," or "I believe in economic rights." These answers would tend to place you in the category of left-liberal. I don't intend this as a denunciation, only as an attempt to locate you on the political map. Do you think this characterization is unfair?</HTML>