MODERATION PRINCIPLES: The Marxism mailing list is extremely permissive. There are a couple of things that are frowned upon strongly. If you come to the list with the attitude that you are a true Bolshevik, who needs to convert 'Mensheviks' to your beliefs, you will be unsubbed. Members of self-declared vanguard parties who can adjust to the tolerant atmosphere of the list are more than welcome, since they usually bring with them years of Marxist study and political experience. We also welcome non-Marxists who come to the list in a respectful attitude, desiring to learn more. However, if you have decided for yourself that Marxism is wrong and that your purpose on the list is to struggle to convince others of that, you should not subscribe. The Internet has many forums where Marxists and anti-Marxists can debate. This is not one of them.

We also exclude fights over whether Trotsky, Stalin or Mao, etc. represent the true continuity with Marx, Engels and Lenin. A search for such pedigrees tends inevitably to degenerate into sterile scholasticism and flame wars.

TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS: The list uses majordomo software for administration. Unfortunately, it does not provide for suspending mail delivery when you are on vacation. Since the list is fairly high-volume, it is likely that your mailbox will fill up after a couple of days and each new message will be bounced back to the moderator. In order to control costs, you will be unsubbed shortly after the first bounced message. So, it is advisable to unsub and resub after you return from a vacation or any other business that takes you away from computers.

POSTING GUIDELINES: Unlike other email lists, Marxmail has some rules that we are fairly strict about. Number one, you must post in plain text rather than styled text (i.e., html) since styled text, which allows you to use colored fonts, etc., imposes a heavy bandwidth overhead. Number two, if you are replying to a previous posting, you must clip all text that is not relevant to your reply. This also helps to restrict bandwidth to the exchange of useful information. Information on these and other posting rules can be found here. Our technical coordinator Les Schaffer is responsible for enforcing these rules and can be contacted at schaffer@optonline.net if you need assistance.

DO NOT ALLOW YOUR MAILBOX TO FILL UP: Marxmail is a high-volume mailing list. If you allow your mailbox to fill up while on vacation or some other extended leave from your computer, messages bounce back to the moderator. When this happens, you will be unsubbed. It is best to unsub yourself before your absence and resub when you return.

PROTECTING YOUR NAME AND REPUTATION: Your Marxism list postings are copied automatically to multiple archives on the worldwide web. They will be removed only under exceptional circumstances and at the discretion of the list moderator and technical coordinator. If you are worried that something that you say in the heat of the moment, or that something might be said against you, will jeopardize your job or reputation, please sub to the list using an assumed name on yahoo.com. We do not recommend hotmail.com since this service attracts spam.

TO SUBSCRIBE: Go to http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism