I asked a Libyan friend who is very hostile to the Ghadaffi government just what type of rifles the army there uses, and he immediately said that they were Russian ones. I asked if they might perhaps have some Belgian ones or British ones, and he conceeded that it might be possible, but on seeing the website from which I forwarded the information, he thought it possible that NATO or the Egyptians were the source of the FNs. If it was just the FNs it remains an open question. ________________________________________ From: [email protected] [[email protected]] On Behalf Of Julio Huato [[email protected]] Sent: Friday, April 22, 2011 1:18 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [Pen-l] When did nato start supplying arms to the rebels
Louis wrote: > I apologize. > > You were not critical of Cuba. For that matter you wrote almost nothing > about the country that is why I remain surprised that this has become > your number one topic nowadays. > > But I do remember your pro-NAFTA writings vividly. And how did we go from "the Libyan rebels are displaying brand new NATO weaponry" to "NATO's intervention in Libya has never been the issue" to "Huato used to foam at the mouth when Fidel's name was mentioned" to "Ooops, he didn't, but he seldom mentioned Cuba before and used to be pro-NAFTA anyway"? Louis cannot possibly remember my "pro-NAFTA" writings "vividly," because I *never* (repeat, *never*) advocated for or defended NAFTA. If at all, Louis remember my writings *morbidly*. Obviously, the points I tried to make went over his head. But anybody who cares to read this stuff can go to the archives and dig the posts out. Let me indulge in a bit of self-reflection here. In fact, the reason I joined Louis' list in 2000 (after lurking and checking out the archives) was, (1) because it called itself Marxist, and since I discovered Marxism in 1977, I regard myself as a Marxist, (2) there had to be many more readers than contributors, some of them seriously interested in Marxism, and contributing in the list could serve a purpose, and (3) *precisely* because I was trying to follow *Cuba* and there were back then a couple of fellows in Louis' list well acquainted with Cuban affairs -- Pérez and Lipmann. A former Trotskyst with a strong anti-Soviet stance contrary to my sensibilities, Pérez was very effective at explaining Cuba's foreign policies. Nobody could articulate better than him a defense of Cuba's extremely consequential decision of supporting Angola's independence and confronting the Apartheid regime in South Africa (backed by the U.S., Europe, and Israel). I still use Pérez's posts to explain things to people who don't know about the history of these episodes. At first, I was very reluctant to intervene in the list's discussions. I had moved to the U.S. in 1994, as a graduate student, gotten a MA in economics at the New School in 1996, and was at the time doing work as a statistician for technology companies. I wasn't particularly confident in my written English to get into long arguments. But, yes, when some people (including Louis) posted brazen but profoundly ignorant posts on Mexico, or Marx's critique of political economy, or modern economics (matters with which I had some familiarity), writing as if they had an idea of what they were talking about -- all on the name of Marxism! -- I decided to start participating. It is in the record that my initial posts were very respectful and considerate of the people I replied too. But there was a lot of flaming (in less time than I can say it I was accused of denying the existence of imperialism, defending NAFTA, etc.). Often, Louis led the pack. Because of Louis' hormonal volatility as a "moderator," I often doubted the usefulness of his list. But at the time there were very few other Marxist group e-lists. And here is where Louis deserves the most generous credit, for spending his time and resources building up that list, however flawed. FWIW, and this is a sobering thought, inter alia, Marxism exists objectively in the persons of actually existing Marxists like Louis or me! After the collapse of the Soviet Union, when capitalist "globalization" seemed like a juggernaut, it was the time for an organized disciplined retreat, calm reflection, and overall regroupment of the Marxist and socialist camp. I knew there were many other people out there with personal histories and militant experience in popular movements who needed to regroup. The emergent technologies (the web) seemed very apt for that purpose. If this effort was properly conducted, in a spirit of open critical debate but also of camaraderie, it could prepare a strong resurgence of socialism and Marxism in the world when conditions changed. I didn't have the resources or the knowledge to spearhead this effort, so I piggybacked on whatever was available back then. But that was my intent. Time will judge the extent to which our time on these lists has been wasted. I still believe that the time of Marxists and socialists is yet (soon) to come in the North, and that we need much more than we now have to tackle the tasks ahead. Some of us are aging fast and will not be at the forefront of that effort. New generations are called for. I have lowered my participation on these lists, because I currently have other time-absorbing ways of contributing to the advance of Marxism and socialism than I had during my years as a newly arrived foreign student in New York City. I've been a member of the steering committee of URPE for a few years (and of URPE since I was at the New School). URPE, understandably, given the times, is experiencing a modest resurgence, which is going to require that members and elected officers expand their responsibilities accordingly. Also for years, I've been an editor of Science & Society, which we tout as "the longest continuously published journal of Marxist scholarship, in any language, in the world." I barely need to emphasize the role that S&S has played in spreading Marxist ideas for 75 years. As we speak, the journal is seeking to gradually transition to the brave new world of web delivery of scholarly work. I know these are modest venues, since at the same time I have to make a living as an economics teacher with familial obligations that expanded suddenly in 2005, when my son Erik was born. By a twist of fate (and thanks to the serious work of supportive colleagues at my workplace), I have been able to carve out a bit of academic space for me to focus on the study of socialist planning, something I couldn't do, say, when I had to teach courses in econometrics and international finance at Ramapo. Some people here know that I lived in Cuba for years. It was in Cuba that I got my BA in statistics and planning. My interest in Cuban affairs is not new. There is much ignorance and misrepresentation about Cuba abroad, even in the left, and I don't believe I'm abusing the privileges of this list (or Doug's list) by posting the material I've been posting. If Walter Lipmann or Bustelo were on this list (and actively posting), I'd barely need to do that. And since I'm at it -- if somebody could please come, prepare, and teach my classes, mark exams and student papers, take my son to school every morning (and to soccer practice twice a week), then I'll be more than happy to spend two or three months of my life obsessing about how Yoshie Furuhashi is converting MRZine into a weapon of pro-Libyan and pro-Sirian anti-anti-anti-imperialism, watch every movie released, and post on a number of subjects I know little or nothing about. Meanwhile, I need to focus on the next thing to do. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l The University of Glasgow, charity number SC004401 _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
