Root of our problems
Near the conclusion of Noam Chomsky’s latest book, “Requiem for the American Dream,” he says, “I think the future looks pretty grim,” and also says the outcome of last November’s election “placed total control of the government – executive, Congress, the Supreme Court – in the hands of the Republican Party, which has become the most dangerous organization in human history.”
One example: a conference on climate change in Morocco to fill in the gaps on previous negotiations in Paris started the day before the U.S. election and ended with no issue when the results came in, along with a dire and ominous report from the World Meteorological Organization. Chomsky was astounded by the spectacle of China becoming the “leader upholding the hopes for decent survival” and “the leading wrecker, in virtual isolation,” the United States. Equally astonishing to Chomsky was “none of this receives more than passing mention” in the press.
“Requiem for the American Dream” ends with an observation by Chomsky’s close friend, the late historian Howard Zinn, that missing from the history of social change are “the countless small actions of unknown people that lead up” to its “great moments.” The civil rights achievements of the 1960s are cited and, earlier in the book, other victories are noted from that decade that led to a backlash Chomsky did not predict.
The backlash has continued ever since and reached new heights of irrationality.
Chomsky, Ralph Nader and their generation of political activists are in the twilight of their careers. But their efforts have inspired today’s young people to pick up the torch and light the way into an increasingly dark future. For them, the “vile maxim” of Adam Smith in 1776’s “The Wealth of Nations,” “all for ourselves, nothing for anyone else,” which Chomsky quotes in his introduction, is held in disgust and understood to be at the root of our problems.
Jim Greenwood
Washington