The ‘free-floating intellectual’ may occupy himself with problems because of their inherent interest and importance, perhaps to little effect.
The people who live on the land – Israelis and Palestinians – have a right to live in security and peace.
The more there is a need to talk about the ideals of democracy, the less democratic the system usually is.
The level of destruction and terror and violence carried out by the powerful states far exceeds anything that can imaginably can be done by groups that are called terrorists and subnational groups.
If you’re working 50 hours a week to try to maintain family income, and your children have the kinds of aspirations that come from being flooded with television from age one, and associations have declined, people end up hopeless, even though they have every option.
Our only real hope for democracy is that we get the money out of politics entirely and establish a system of publicly funded elections.
When leaders carry out policies for decades that have no consequences for the stated goal and are very costly, you have to ask whether they are telling you the truth or whether the policies are for a different goal, because they are not reducing drug use.
In 1962, war was avoided by Khrushchev’s willingness to accept Kennedy’s hegemonic demands.
If you’re worried about the deficit, pay attention to the fact that it’s almost all attributable to military spending and the totally dysfunctional health program.
There’s never been anything like the so-called Vietnam Syndrome: it’s mostly a fabrication.
The crimes against Palestinians in the Occupied Territories and elsewhere, particularly Lebanon, are so shocking that the only emotionally valid reaction is rage and a call for extreme actions. But that does not help the victims. And, in fact, it’s likely to harm them.
The Iraq War was the first conflict in western history in which an imperialist war was massively protested against before it had even been launched.
Where are the drug cartels getting their weapons? They are being provided by the United States. Cut off that flow of arms.
Britain kept its position as the dominant world power well into the 20th century despite steady decline. By the end of World War II, dominance had shifted decisively into the hands of the upstart across the sea, the United States, by far the most powerful and wealthy society in world history.
A war with Pakistan would be an utter disaster.
The argument that resistance to the war should remain strictly nonviolent seems to me overwhelming.
I think there was an overemphasis in the early stage on militarization rather than directly providing relief. I don’t think it has any long-term significance.
I hope that a move toward clemency with Judge Afiuni would be a step towards the importance of maintaining a properly functioning justice system.
Pre-emptive war might fall within the framework of international law.
When Reagan left office, he was the most unpopular living president, apart from Nixon, even below Carter. If you look at his years in office, he was not particularly popular. He was more or less average. He severely harmed the American economy.