Re: [ox-en] Theses about the relation between the Oekonux project and the remaining world
- From: Stefan Merten <smerten oekonux.de>
- Date: Tue, 07 Oct 2003 22:08:40 +0200
Hi ThomasUG and lists!
2 days ago Thomas Uwe Gruettmueller wrote:
The question that occured recently on the [pox] list was not
whether Oekonux is a 'leftist' project or not. Instead, the
issue was that there was an offer to merge the Oekonux
conference with another conference, the 'Austrian Social Forum'.
The ASF will be ten times as big than the Oekonux conference,
and that project consideres itself 'left'. In return, Oekonux
would get almost the complete infrastructure for its conference
from the ASF.
This is not true because this has not been clarified until today. In
particular nobody from ASF guaranteed that for the speakers of the
Oekonux conference there are sleeping places which equal the value I
for one find in someone I would like to invite to an Oekonux
conference. I know from own experience that leftist projects tend to
put no value even in the people they invite and want to listen to. May
be they think that everybody *must* like camping and school gyms. I
find that a scandal. If I want to invite someone to an Oekonux
conference I find value in that person and I for one feel the need to
express that at least in supplying a sleeping place which meets at
least some basic standard.
However, Stefan Mn. has categorically denied this offer, arguing
that an outsider might get the false impression that Oekonux is
a leftist project, and some who don't consider themselves 'left'
might even feel not invited.
I'd like to underline that this is not only my phantasy but this has
been expressed by Herbert who offered his infrastructure for the
conference.
I think that these fears are farly exaggerated, and that it would
have been possible to clarify within the announcements that
Oekonux is a project that is open for everybody.
So how do you think this should work. Something like: "Look things are
not as you may first think. Though Oekonux has enough support in
other, more neutral parts of society we decided to abandon this
support in favor of the ASF. Yes, ASF takes pride in gathering the
Austrian left. No, we are not a left project and this is an
international conference. Sorry, we don't understand this either - so
please don't ask."
May be things becomes clearer if we play with the assumption that a
union, a conservative party, the employer association, [your favorite
enemy organization here] would have offered support by co-locating the
Oekonux conference with one of their own big conferences. The people
arguing that it makes no difference in the Oekonux image where the
Oekonux conference takes place: Would you think that for these
examples, too? Even though organizations like these tend to assure a
certain standard for people they invite I for one would argue exactly
as I'm arguing now for the ASF: The image of independence of Oekonux
would be at stake by such a co-location and this is something which
costs us far more than it could possibly ever bring.
Mit Freien Grüßen
Stefan
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http://www.oekonux.org/