Mike wrote in part that "Of particular concern, though, is the realisation that there are people out there who are viewing periods of inactivity and the non-involvement of lurkers on the list as victories!" I'm not convinced of that interpretation, and I don't want to get in to a discussion about it, but as a sometimes active member who has been lurking for ages, I feel a need to explain my current inactivity and also to comment on the management and vitality of this list. On the latter point, I well remember some of the flame wars that occurred frequently on the old unmoderated Marxism list, and I believe Jerry deserves praise for the near complete absence of these on OPE-L, and the manner in which he has tried to inject discussion points based on issues and theories whenever the list has lulled slightly. On the former, like Mike I'm busy elsewhere; my book Debunking Economics has led to a huge amount of subsequent work, and I was also in Romania with lousy internet access for 2 months, during which time I simply deleted all discussion list posts. For the next two weeks, my book is being discussed on the Austrian list, then I'm overseas again for another 2 weeks so there's no chance of a return to activity for some time. But I still maintain an interest in this list, even though as you all know my interpretation of Marx is substantially different to all probably other members of OPE-L--actives and lurkers. In conclusion, I would plead with those on all side who have perhaps engaged in some off-list conflict to try not to make the Life of Brian read like a documentary rather than a comedy. If you don't remember it, in the movie the numerous revolutionary groups in Israel spent their time sniping at each other rather than fighting the Romans. At one point, two groups--the People's Revolutionary Front of Judea and the Jedean People's Front--bumped into each other as they were both independently sneaking off to try to assassinate Pontius Pilate. A brawl broke out, and Brian tried to stop it by shouting "Comrades! Shouldn't we unite against the common enemy?" In unison, all the others said "The Revolutionary People's Front of Judea?". When the brawl had died down, the Romans--who had been standing off-stage resignedly watching the whole thing--casually arrested the survivors. Cheers, Steve
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Tue Apr 02 2002 - 00:00:05 EST