Chomsky

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/strategy-for-social-self-defense/

https://znetwork.org/zvideo/noam-chomsky-the-crimes-of-u-s-presidents/

"All over the place, from the popular culture to the propaganda system, there is constant pressure to make people feel that they are helpless, that the only role they can have is to ratify decisions and to consume." -Noam Chomsky

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-bbcs-civil-war-over-gaza/

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-moral-shame-of-u-s-foreign-policy/

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/archiving-as-resistance-to-genocide-denial-in-gaza/

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/neoliberalisms-hollow-promise-of-freedom/

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-political-cataclysm-causes-implications-and-a-way-forward/

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/join-the-struggle-to-defend-the-womens-revolution-in-rojava-and-build-a-democratic-syria/

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/from-south-africa-to-syria-rising-perils-for-palestine-solidarity/

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-political-cataclysm-causes-implications-and-a-way-forward/

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/israel-is-also-waging-an-economic-war-against-palestinians/

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/inequality-and-the-polycrisis/

“Talk about corporate greed and everything is really crucially beside the point, in my view, and really should be recognized as a very big regression from what working people, and a lot of others, understood very well a century ago.

Talk about corporate greed is nonsense. Corporations are greedy by their nature. They’re nothing else – they are instruments for interfering with markets to maximize profit, and wealth and market control. You can’t make them more or less greedy; I mean maybe you can sort of force them, but it’s like taking a totalitarian state and saying “Be less brutal!” Well yeah, maybe you can get a totalitarian state to be less brutal, but that’s not the point – the point is not to get a tyranny to be less brutal, but to get rid of it.

Now 150 years ago, that was understood. If you read the labour press – there was a very lively labour press, right around here [Massachusetts] ; Lowell and Lawrence and places like that, around the mid nineteenth century, run by artisans and what they called factory girls; young women from the farms who were working there – they weren’t asking the autocracy to be less brutal, they were saying get rid of it.

And in fact that makes perfect sense; these are human institutions, there’s nothing graven in stone about them. They [corporations] were created early in this century with their present powers, they come from the same intellectual roots as the other modern forms of totalitarianism – namely Stalinism and Fascism – and they have no more legitimacy than they do.

I mean yeah, let’s try and make the autocracy less brutal if that’s the short term possibility – but we should have the sophistication of, say, factory girls in Lowell 150 years ago and recognize that this is just degrading and intolerable and that, as they put it “those who work in the mills should own them ” And on to everything else, and that’s democracy – if you don’t have that, you don’t have democracy.” Noam Chomsky, Free Market Fantasies: Capitalism in the Real World

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/a-new-book-details-how-mainstream-media-is-still-manufacturing-consent-for-war-in-2024/

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/luigi-mangione-peels-back-the-layers-of-us-acquiescence/

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-west-celebrates-assads-fall-but-what-comes-next-may-be-even-worse/

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/democracy-doesnt-end-on-election-day/

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-fascist-threat-becomes-clearer-with-mileis-call-for-a-brown-international/

https://znetwork.org/zvideo/syrians-are-celebrating-fall-of-assad-even-as-the-bigger-picture-is-grim-scholar-bassam-haddad/

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/its-the-end-of-the-world-and-i-dont-feel-fine/

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-public-life-of-noam-chomsky/

This is appropriate for a happy Noam Chomsky Day. 💡✊☮️🌱🌍

Happy Noam #Chomsky Day

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/burn-in-hell-henry-kissinger-social-media-warrior-mode-and-the-case-for-compassion/

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-hidden-story-of-britains-anti-apartheid-militants/

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/chinas-ties-with-israel-are-hindering-the-palestinian-struggle-for-freedom/

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/trade-unions-deregulation-and-social-dialogue-an-interview-with-ukrainian-labour-lawyer-vitaliy-dudin/

https://www.commondreams.org/news/icc-arrest-warrant-netanyahu

This is gearing up to be a great event - calling all creatives (yes, even you who have been steamrolled by capitalism into no longer believe that you too are a creative).

Chomsky on indoctrination (more than 10 years ago but no less urgent):

https://chomsky.info/20141201/

"For those who stubbornly seek freedom, there can be no more urgent task than to come to understand the mechanisms and practices of indoctrination".

• Noam Chomsky

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/sanders-plans-vote-on-resolutions-blocking-us-arms-sales-to-israel/

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/dealing-with-government-repression-3/

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/looming-fascism-and-the-question-of-hope/

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/noam-chomsky-on-the-responsibility-to-act-against-fascism/

Expanding the Possible, From Below

The Green New Deal has been largely blocked at the national level, but it is thriving in communities, cities, and states. Jeremy Brecher’s new book is both an urgent call to action and proof of concept.

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/expanding-the-possible-from-below/

https://znetwork.org/zvideo/gaza-genocide-empire-with-jason-hickel/

https://znetwork.org/zvideo/post-election-mass-call-making-meaning-of-the-moment/

Plug in!

https://znetwork.org/zvideo/human-nature-hope-ice-cream/

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/technology-can-be-used-to-automate-fascism-or-to-revolt-against-it-fight-for-the-future-is-ready-for-the-battle-ahead/

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/neoliberal-fascism-is-now-the-dominant-ideology-in-the-united-states-of-america/

✊🫂

“All the takes are correct and yet they also miss the point.

Yes, it was insane for the Democrats to think they could win by running a soulless candidate, without a shred of progressive policy vision, pursuing endorsements from neocon war-hawks everybody hates, while arming and funding a genocide, and belittling and crushing those who have enough morality to protest it. It is enraging that the Democrats are so smug and blind to this.

But these are all just symptoms. The deeper reality is that liberalism has failed, liberalism is dead, and people urgently need to wake up to this fact and respond accordingly. It is a defunct ideology that cannot offer any meaningful solutions to our social and ecological crises and it must be abandoned.

Democrats have proven over and over again that they cannot accept even basic steps like public healthcare, affordable housing, and a public job guarantee - things that would dramatically improve the material, social and political conditions of the working classes. And they cannot accept a public finance strategy that would steer production away from fossil fuels and toward green transition to give us a shot at a liveable future.

Why? Because these things run against the objectives of capital accumulation. And for liberals capital is sacrosanct. They will do whatever it takes to ensure elite accumulation, it is their only consistent commitment. At home, they suppress and demonize progressive and socialist tendencies. Abroad, they engage in endless wars and violence to suppress input prices in the global South and prevent any possibility of sovereign economic development.

The Democrats have done all this purposefully and knowingly, for my whole life, not as some kind of "mistake" but in full consciousness that it is in the interests of capital.

And because liberalism cannot address our crises, and because it crushes socialist alternatives, it inevitably paves the way for right-wing populism. They know this pattern, and yet they risk it every time - this election being only the most recent example. They did it in 2016, when they actively crushed the Sanders campaign and sent Trump to the White House. They do it because ultimately they (and I mean the liberal ruling class here) don't really mind if fascists take power, so long as the latter too ensure the conditions for capital accumulation. They 100% prefer this to the possibility of a socialist alternative.

So, progressives have to face reality. The dream of "converting" the Democratic party is dead. This is now a fact and it must be accepted. The only option is to build a mass-based movement that can reclaim the working classes and mobilize a political vehicle that can integrate disparate progressive struggles into a unified and formidable political force and achieve substantive transformation. This will take real work, actual organizing, but it must be done and that process must begin now.”

• Jason Hickel, Nov 6, 2024

https://wagingnonviolence.org/2024/11/10-things-to-do-if-trump-wins/

Today, you might imagine this quote to come from a peace activist, socialist, or other “radical”. Care to guess who penned these lines in 1953? (Hint: 13 US Presidents ago)

Our culture of what is acceptable can change so quickly… it is reason to act, to connect, rather than to despair.

https://rogerhallam.com/how-to-stop-fascism/

Forward looking food for thought for organizers to consider various scenarios and how that will effect their work and strategies https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/my-election-predictions

Noam Chomsky; Republicans Are Willing to Destroy Democracy to Retake Power, (16 June, 2021)

““Critical race theory” is the scare-phrase used for the study of the systematic structural and cultural factors in the hideous 400-year history of slavery and enduring racist repression. Proper indoctrination in schools and universities must ban this heresy. What actually happened for 400 years and is very much alive today must be presented to students as a deviation from the real America, pure and innocent, much as in well-run totalitarian states.”

https://chomsky.info/20210616/

“If we're leaving our fate to sociopathic buffoons, we're finished... Trump is the worst, that's because of US power which is overwhelming. We are talking about U.S. decline but you just look at the world, you don't see that when the U.S. imposes sanctions, murderous, devastating sanctions, that's the only country that can do that, but everyone has to follow. Europe may not like, in fact hate actions on Iran, but they have to follow, they have to follow the master, or else they get kicked out of the international financial system. That's not a law of nature, it's a decision in Europe to be subordinate to the master in Washington. Other countries don't even have a choice....”

• Noam Chomsky, 2020

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/5-ways-to-approach-the-election-with-a-movement-mindset/

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-potential-benefits-of-direct-democracy-and-voting-for-policies-not-personalities/

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/building-a-government-that-answers-to-people-not-profit/

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-can-movements-advance-palestinian-rights-this-election-and-beyond/

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/arizona-palestinian-arab-muslim-and-progressive-democrats-and-community-leaders-statement-on-presidential-election/

The Chomsky Sessions

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-to-practice-democracy-when-there-isnt-any/

“I think it only makes sense to seek out and identify structures of authority, hierarchy, and domination in every aspect of life, and to challenge them; unless a justification for them can be given, they are illegitimate, and should be dismantled, to increase the scope of human freedom.” Noam Chomsky

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/when-blood-money-isnt-enough-raytheon-admits-to-defrauding-pentagon/

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-patriot-act-remains-a-threat-to-our-movements-23-years-later/

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/earths-water-cycle-off-balance-for-first-time-in-human-history/

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/not-scared-about-just-how-vicious-a-second-trump-presidency-would-be-let-me-walk-you-through-it/

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/oil-companies-are-still-determined-to-burn-the-planet-down/

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-margin-of-effort-with-an-internationalist-throughline/

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/hes-not-kidding-advocates-warn-as-trump-threatens-to-defund-schools-for-teaching-us-history/

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/palestine-the-lessons-of-east-timor/

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/rashid-khalidi-israel-is-acting-with-full-us-approval/

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/economic-reality-and-legitimacy/

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/no-propaganda-on-earth-can-hide-the-wound-that-is-palestine-arundhati-roys-pen-pinter-prize-acceptance-speech/

https://www.teenvogue.com/story/jewish-protesters-stock-exchange-us-funding-israel-gaza

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-cash-will-soon-flow/

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/reckless-conduct-of-big-oil-caused-milton-and-now-they-should-pay/

https://znetwork.org/zvideo/the-political-economy-of-saving-the-planet-2-2-bob-pollin/

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/israels-bloodbath-in-lebanon/

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/we-charge-genocide-again-cry-of-the-earths-peoples-against-the-geopolitics-of-empire/

Oil Kills: Inside the International Uprising Disrupting the Aviation Industry

Despite increasing repression, an unprecedented alliance of civil resistance groups is targeting airports on three continents to demand a binding treaty to end fossil fuels by 2030. By: Alexandria Shaner

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/oil-kills-inside-the-international-uprising-disrupting-the-aviation-industry/

Rigorous, independent media that empowers participation is essential community infrastructure and our liberatory movements depend on it. The billionaire class funds their media, we must fund ours.

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/palestine-from-shifting-the-discourse-to-changing-us-policy/

FREE reading and discussion group with Michael Albert, author of No Bosses. Forward by Noam Chomsky and Yanis Varoufakis.

Happy #laborday, USA!

No Bosses: A New Economy for a Better World, by Michael Albert, is now available for FREE at Z.

https://znetwork.org/online-books/

“Labor #‎Unions are the leading force for #‎democratization and #‎progress .” - Noam Chomsky