NOAM CHOMSKY,
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 shortrun crisis and which can be dealt by rich countries. “In a civilized world, the rich countries would be giving assistance after those in need,
reconstruction of society and more humane terms, concerned with human needs instead of private profit. “There is the possibility that people will organize, become engaged, as many are doing, and bring about a much better world, which will also confront the enormous problems, that we’re facing right down the road, the problems of nuclear war, which is closer than it’s ever been and the problems of environmental catastrophes from which there is no recovery once we’ve gotten to that stage, that it’s not far in distance, unless we act decisively.”
“So it’s a critical moment of human history, not just because of the coronavirus, that should bring us to awareness of the profound flaws of the world, the deep, dysfunctional characteristics of the whole socioeconomic system, which has to change, if there’s going to be a survivable future. So this could be a warning sign and a lesson to deal with it today or prevent it from exploding. But thinking of its roots and how those roots are going to lead to more crises, worse ones than this”.
About the quarantine situation that today more than 2 billion people on the planet face, Chomsky points out that a form of social isolation has existed for years and is very damaging.
“We are now in a situation of real social isolation. It has to be overcome by recreating social bonds in whatever way can be done, whatever kind that can be helping people in need. Contacting them, developing organizations, expanding analyzation. Like before getting them to be functional and operative, making plans for the future, bringing people together as we can in the internet age, to join, consult, deliberate to figure out answers to the problems that they face and work on them, which can be done. It’s not face toface communication which for human beings is essential. But it’ll be deprived of it for a while, you can put it on hold.”
Noam Chomsky concludes by saying: “Find other ways and continue with, and in fact, extend and deepen the activities carried out. Can be done. It’s not going to be easy, but humans have faced problems in the past”.