Noam Chomsky: "We will overcome the coronavirus crisis, but we have more serious crises ahead of us"
30.03.2020 - Pressenza Athens
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Noam Chomsky, well-known 91-year-old American linguist and political analyst, spoke to Srećko Horvat on DiEM25 TV from Arizona US, where he is in self-isolation because of the pandemic. Chomsky pointed out that the health crisis of the coronavirus is very serious and will have serious consequences but will be temporary, while there are two more serious horrors for humanity, nuclear war and global warming. His analysis points out that all these threats are intensified by the neoliberal policies, and after the end of this crisis the options will be either more authoritarian, brutal states or a radical reconstruction of society with more humane terms.
According to Chomsky, it is shocking that in this crucial moment Donald Trump is in the lead, whom he describes as a sociopath buffoon. “The coronavirus is serious enough, but it’s worth recalling that there are two much greater threats approaching, far worse than anything that’s happened in human history: One is the growing threat of a nuclear war and the other of course is the growing threat of global warming. Coronavirus is horrible and can have terrifying consequences, but there will be recovery. While the others won’t be recovered, it’s finished.”
The US power is overwhelming. It is the only country that when imposing sanctions on other states like Iran and Cuba, everyone else has to follow along. Also Europe that follows the master, Chomsky argues. These countries suffer from US sanctions, but nevertheless “one of the most ironic elements of today’s virus crisis is that Cuba is helping Europe. Germany can’t help Greece, but Cuba can help the European countries.” Adding the deaths of thousands of immigrants and refugees in the Mediterranean, Chomsky thinks that the civilization’s crisis of the West at this point is devastating.
Today’s rhetoric that refers to war is of some significance, according to Chomsky. If we want to deal with this crisis we have to move to something like wartime mobilization. For example the financial mobilization of the US for the Second World War, which led the country into far greater debt and quadrupled the US manufacturing and led to growth. We need this mentality now in order to overcome this short-run crisis and which can be dealt by rich countries. “In a civilized world, the rich countries would be giving assistance after those in need, instead of strangling them.” “The coronavirus crisis might bring people to think about what kind of world we want”.
https://www.pressenza.com/2020/03/noam-chomsky-we-will-overcome-the-coronavirus-crisis-but-we-have-more-serious-crises-ahead-of-us/
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