Dear Friends,

In anticipation of our third meeting, I think it is already time for us to go underground with our Gramsci discussions.  For better or for worse, the notes published on the blog so far have triggered a few unpleasant reactions, and it is logical to think they would continue no matter what we say if we keep making our thoughts available to them.  For instance, I heard about one fellow who called us “vicious rightwing anticommunists.”  I do not know who said it, so this is not a personal denunciation, just an example of the kinds of things we do not want to foster.  I think it is better to spare ourselves, above all thinking of the more junior people in our group.  It is as if reading the totality of Gramsci’s work, freely, seriously and critically, and from a contemporary and theoretically-informed perspective, were as forbidden for a certain segment of woke society as it used to be for a Catholic to read the Bible.  They must think it is always best to let the priests interpret for you.  So my recommendation is that we keep our discussions and deliberations to ourselves through the usual venue and give the churches no ammunition to shoot us with—they can always read our properly published work were they so inclined.  I feel it is still important to state the obvious: our interest in reading Gramsci stems from a genuine concern with leftist politics.  We are not anti-Marxist.  And we do not read Gramsci from any rightwing perspective—not in the least.  The accusations of ultra-leftism would be equally unwarranted, but at least they would not be so injurious.

Will talk to you next Friday.

All best, Alberto