Internationalism or Extinction by Chomsky Noam; Derber Charles; Moodliar Suren

Author:Chomsky, Noam; Derber, Charles; Moodliar, Suren
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Group
Published: 2020-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

New York – Prior to 2019, the largest mobilization against climate change involved hundreds of thousands of participants – 310,000 when demonstrators of all ages joined the “People’s Climate March” of September 21, 2014.

Photo: Viviane Moos/Corbis via Getty Images.

I think because they have shared interest, very simple shared interest like the simple fact that human beings have been around for 200,000 years and that the current generation has to decide whether that’s going to continue. It’s a pretty simple fact, a lot of evidence for it, overwhelming evidence. People, if they are brought to think about it, will care about it.

SHAWN: What do you think of civil disobedience, chaining yourself to things and going to jail? Is that…?

NOAM: Well I myself have been involved in it many times, been in and out of jail a lot of times, faced a long jail sentence, and so on. I think it’s a legitimate tactic, but the ways in which it is conducted in my opinion often aren’t legitimate. It’s often conducted as kind of a statement of personal conscience. I’m going to take the risk because of my conscience – for some, my relation to God or something – whatever the consequences. I don’t think that’s the right way.

Civil disobedience makes sense if it brings to other people a recognition that there is something serious enough for some people to take risks and maybe they should think about it and go on and do something themselves. If the groundwork is laid, then civil disobedience can be an effective tool. If there is no groundwork, it’s just not; it’s harmful in fact. I should say this includes acts of people I very much respect and admire, close friends. For example, when peace activists break into a submarine base and bang missile nose cones without any preparation; the net effect is to anger the workers. “Why are you taking away our jobs?” The anger of other people, “Why are you getting in our way and annoying us?” What’s the point? Just because it makes you feel good? That’s not the right kind of civil disobedience. That has arisen many times, and if you have been involved in activism over the years, you know very well that these questions constantly arise, so it’s pretty dramatic. For example, during the Vietnam War, I remember discussions with Vietnamese right at the peak of the war, in which they were talking about the kind of actions that they wanted to see, and they would give examples – like a group of women standing silently at the graves of American soldiers – that they really respected.

When you brought that to American activists, they just laughed. A lot of young people wanted to go down Main Street and break windows to show how much we hate the war, which of course just builds up support for the war. The Vietnamese wanted survival; they didn’t care if that felt good. Those are questions that have to [be] asked constantly, all the time.

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