"We
have two choices. We can be pessimistic, give up, and help ensure that the
worst will happen. Or we can be optimistic, grasp the opportunities that surely
exist, and maybe help make the world a better place”.
The above
words were on the cover of Noam Chomsky’s book “Optimism Over Despair”. Given
my own current sense of desperation and hopelessness about what’s currently
going on in our world, I (obviously) thought: This book is for me!
I’ve
previously read various articles by Chomsky (born in 1928) and had also watched
bits from a couple of his lectures on YouTube, but this was my first book of
his. He is a hugely impressive man. The book was published in 2017 and
represents his interviews with CJ Polychroniou from late 2013 to early 2017
(originally published in ‘Truthout’)(so barely touches Trump’s time as
president).
Chomsky
has been described as “America’s moral conscience” (even if, according to the
book’s introduction, “he remains unknown to the majority of Americans”).
It’s an absolutely fascinating,
thought-provoking book… BUT, in the end, I felt that I’d been hood-winked. I
think I would probably have a good case under the Trades Description Act, 1968.
The book
consists of 196 dense pages of text – essentially focussing on the USA. They
provide insights into the consequences of capitalist globalisation. They
analyse the state of the planet. They tell us how we got here. They explain the
motivations of those on the world stage… BUT they do NOT inform us why we should feel optimistic
rather than desperate. Indeed, the quote at the top of the page is the ONLY
reference to ‘optimism over despair’ in the entire book… and it comes at the
very end of the book (ie. the final paragraph of P196!) in response to the
question: “Are you overall optimistic about the future of humanity, given the
kind of creatures we are?”… and, in fact, the quote is not complete – because
Chomsky added five more words at the end of it: “Not much of a choice”! In fact, this concluding chapter was written
in February 2016 – nine months before Trump’s election – so who knows if he
still thinks there’s a case for optimism today?
Did the book make me feel better
informed about the ways of the world, unfettered corporate
expansion, the effects of unmitigated climate change, illegal wars? Yes, of
course I did.
Did the book make me feel less
desperate and more optimistic? Absolutely not (indeed quite the reverse – and
it was published before Trump had settled into his new ‘role’ and before the
ramifications of Brexit here in the UK had begun to unfold).
It would
be foolhardy of me to try to summarise Chomsky’s views on the incredibly
wide-ranging number of issues covered in the book, but I’ll leave you with just
a few extracts (apologies for their great length, but they include some
interesting stuff in my view!):
·
“It
is well established that electoral campaigns are designed so as to marginalise
issues and focus on personalities, rhetorical style, body language and the
like. And there are good reasons. Party managers read polls and are well aware
that on a host of major issues, both parties are well to the right of the
population – not surprisingly; they are, after all, business parties”.
·
“A
recent IMF study attributes the profits of the big banks almost entirely to the
implicit government insurance policy (‘too big to fail’), not just the widely
publicised bailouts but access to cheap credit, favourable ratings because of
state guarantee, and much else”.
·
“But
the big banks, which were responsible for the latest crisis, are bigger and
richer than ever. Corporate profits are breaking records, wealth beyond the
dreams of avarice is accumulating among those who count, and labour is severely
weakened by union busting and ‘growing worker insecurity’, to borrow the term
Alan Greenspan used in explaining the grand success of the economy he managed,
when he was still ‘Sir Alan’ – perhaps the greatest economist since Adam Smith,
before the collapse of the structure he had administered, along with its
intellectual foundations. So what is there to complain about?”.
·
“JP
Morgan Chase has just been fined $13billion (half of it tax-deductible) for
what should be regarded as criminal behaviour in fraudulent mortgage schemes,
from which the usual victims suffer under hopeless burdens of debt… The
inspector-general of the US government bailout programme, Neil Barofsky,
pointed out that it was officially a legislative bargain: the banks that were
the culprits were to be bailed out, and their victims, people losing their
homes, were to be given some limited protection and support. As he explains,
only the first part of the bargain was seriously honoured, and the plan became
a ‘giveaway to Wall Street executives’ – to the surprise of no one who
understands ‘really existing capitalism’. The list goes on”.
·
“Democrats
have to face the fact that for forty years they have pretty much abandoned
whatever commitment they had to working people”.
·
(Reference
to Goldman Sachs ‘surging stock price’ following Trump’s election and…): “Other
big gainers are energy corporations, health insurers, and construction firms,
all expecting huge profits from the administration’s announced plans. These
include Paul Ryan-style fiscal programme of tax cuts for the rich and
corporations, increased military spending, turning the health system over even
more to insurance companies with predictable consequences, taxpayer largesse
for a privatised form of credit-based infrastructure development, and other
‘normal Republican’ gifts to wealth and privilege at taxpayer expense. Rather
plausibly, economist Larry Summers describes the fiscal programme as ‘the most
misguided set of tax changes in US history which will massively favour the top
1% of income earners, threaten an explosive rise in federal debt, complicate
the tax code and do little if anything to spur growth’. But great news for
those who matter”.
·
“Prestigious
and influential positions in Congress used to be granted to on the basis of
seniority and perceived achievement. Now they are basically bought, which
drives congressional representatives even deeper into the pockets of the rich.
And the Supreme Court decisions have accelerated the process”.
·
“On
November 8 (2016), the most powerful
country in world history, which will set its stamp on what comes next, had an
election. The outcome placed total control of the government – executive,
Congress, the Supreme Court – in the hands of the Republican Party, which has
become the most dangerous organisation in world history… The party is dedicated
to racing as rapidly as possible to destruction of organised human life… The
winning candidate, now president-elect, calls for rapid increase in use of
fossil fuels, including coal; dismantling of regulations; rejection of help to
developing countries that are seeking to move to sustainable energy; and, in
general, racing to the cliff as fast as possible”.
·
“One
of the difficulties in raising public concern over the very severe threats of
global warming is that 40% of the US population does not see why it is a
problem, since Christ is returning in a few decades”.
·
“It
is an astonishing fact about the current era that in the most powerful country
in world history, with a high level of education and privilege, one of the two
political parties virtually denies the well-established facts about
anthropogenic climate change. In the primary debates for the 2016 election,
every single Republican candidate was a climate change denier, with one
exception, John Kasich – the ‘rational moderate’ – who said it may be happening
but we shouldn’t do anything about it”.
·
“Concentration
of wealth leads naturally to concentration of power, which in turn translates
to legislation favouring interests of the rich and powerful and thereby
increasing even further the concentration of power and wealth… It’s a vicious
cycle in constant progress. The state is there to provide security and support
to the interests of the privileged and powerful sectors of society, while the
rest of the population is left to experience the brutal reality of capitalism.
Socialism for the rich, capitalism for the poor”.
·
“Trump
supporters include much of the white working-class. One can understand their
anger and frustration, and why Trump’s rhetoric might appeal to them. But they
are betting on the wrong horse. His policy proposals – to the limited extent
that they are coherent – not only do not seriously address their legitimate
concerns but would be quite harmful to them. And not just to them”.
·
“Since
oppression and repression exist, they are reflections of human nature. The same
is true of sympathy, solidarity, kindness, and concern for others – and for
some great figures, like Adam Smith, these were essential properties of humans.
The task for social policy is to design the ways we live and the institutional
and cultural structure of our lives so as to favour the benign and to suppress
the harsh and destructive aspects of our fundamental nature”.
·
“There
are two grim shadows that loom over everything that we consider: environmental
catastrophe and nuclear war, the latter threat much under-estimated, in my
view”.
Much food for thought…
and very little of it feeling suitable for consumption.
