ravi wrote:
>
> You are quite right. I was continuing my joke ... which was that the
> biggest problem would not be the above but getting LBO members to sit
> down together (virtually or in flesh and blood) to put some thoughts on
> paper.
There is, at present, a division within the u.s. left that, under present conditions, CANNOT be resolved, because it can only be resolved in practice, not in theory or in debate: the divide between those who in one way or another and at one time or another support the DP (or some Democrats) and those who will not. This is not a question of principle (or dogma) but an empirical question. The empirical data has been endlessly rehearsed on both sides, with no one being convinced by the other side. One side, essentially, holds that no progressive ends can be achieved except through the DP. The other side, essentially, holds that the DP is the prime barrier to progressive ends.
Given this divide, and its resolvability only through practice, not debate, to speak of everyone on lbo getting together is a joke not because lbo members are personally unwilling to unite but because it would be stupid (on the part of both 'sides') to unite.
Carrol