Elections & Voting
What’s your favorite flavor? Trump? Hillary? Maybe Jill Stein or Gary Johnson? Or maybe you were one of the 13 million Bernie Sanders voters? A lot of people invest heavily in emotional terms in elections. Hopes are raised to the skies, then there are disappointing defeats or if your candidate wins and assumes office disillusionment sets in. And you say, Oh, man, how could I have been so wrong? Know the feeling? Maybe that emotional investment is misplaced. Often real change comes not from elected officials but from activists and movements that pressure elected officials. Some of the great social and political advancements have come far removed from the ballot box. Think of Mahatma Gandhi. Think of the suffrage movement and the handful of women who began it in Seneca Falls, NY or Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Interviewed by David Barsamian.
Recorded at MIT.
Speaker
Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky, by any measure, has led a most extraordinary life. In one index he is ranked as the eighth most cited person in history, right up there with Aristotle, Shakespeare, Marx, Plato and Freud. His contributions to modern linguistics are legendary. In addition to his pioneering work in that field, he has been a leading voice for peace and social justice for many decades. Chris Hedges says he is “America’s greatest intellectual” who “makes the powerful, as well as their liberal apologists, deeply uncomfortable.” The New Statesman calls him “the conscience of the American people.” He is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy at MIT and Laureate Professor of Linguistics and Haury Chair in the Program in Environment and Social Justice at the University of Arizona. At 95, he continues to inform and inspire people all over the world. He is the author of scores of books, his latest are Consequences of Capitalism, Chronicles of Dissent and Notes on Resistance.
Debra Simon –
Thanks so much for the talk today- I listened to it on NPR.
It helped me sort out and put words to what I see in society and what I should do in regards to voting with a clear conscience.
This was VERY helpful!
Tom Rowley –
David, you really kept with Noam to eke out his thoughts on voting for the lesser evil. I have been having this discussion with some of my friends and I have arrived at the same conclusion as Noam. Though I have not the eloquence or the knowledge of history of your esteemed guest. But I thank you because I feel that this is an important discussion that we should not run away from. It can be unpleasant sometimes but we must push on. And as far as pushing, we have work to do. Who would you rather push, a Trump or a Clinton. I am working on closing the healthcare coverage gap in Missouri. “The Healthcare Blues” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXINsCX1VN8
Alternative radio is a great network, Thank you so much!
Rosa –
I worked on the Nader campaign and have always voted for the person I want to be in office. Mr. Chomsky offers compelling advice, so clearly thought out, for what I can do to help make the world I dream we live in. this is the perspective on our current state of affairs I have been waiting to hear. Once again, I sit in gratitude for this mind and his willingness to share his thoughts and ideas.