Year: 2008

What the Classroom Didn’t Teach Me About the American Empire

By Howard Zinn. Article. TomDispatch.com. April 1, 2008.
With an occupying army waging war in Iraq and Afghanistan, with military bases and corporate bullying in every part of the world, there is hardly a question any more of the existence of an American Empire. Indeed, the once fervent denials have turned into a boastful, unashamed embrace of the idea.
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Election Madness

Article by Howard Zinn. The Progressive. March 2008.
"The very people who should know better, having criticized the hold of the media on the national mind, find themselves transfixed by the press, glued to the television set, as the candidates preen and smile and bring forth a shower of clichés with a solemnity appropriate for epic poetry.There’s a man in Florida who has been writing to me for years (ten pages, handwritten) though I’ve never met him. He tells me the kinds of jobs he has held—security guard, repairman, etc. He has worked all kinds of shifts, night and day, to barely keep his family going. His letters to me have always been angry, railing against our capitalist system for its failure to assure 'life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness' for working people."
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Let’s Come to Our Senses About the Election

Article by Howard Zinn. The Progressive. March 2008.
"We have all been brought up to believe that voting is crucial in determining our destiny, that the most important act a citizen can engage in is to go to the polls and choose one of the two candidates who have already been chosen for us. Now I’m not saying elections are totally insignificant, and that we should refuse to vote to preserve our moral purity. Yes, there are candidates who are somewhat better than others, and at certain times of national crisis (the 1930s, for instance, or right now) even a slight difference between the two parties may be a matter of life and death. I’m talking about a sense of proportion that gets lost in the election madness."
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