Chronicles of Dissent

In his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” Dr. King memorably said, “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” Our present precarious circumstances make Dr. King’s words abundantly clear. We face war, climate chaos, a pandemic, inequality, hunger and poverty. The perils confronting humankind are unprecedented. And always looming in the background are doomsday weapons that can destroy our precious planet. “The threats are accumulating,” Noam Chomsky says, “We are approaching the most dangerous point in human history. We are now facing the prospect of the destruction of organized human life on Earth.”

Noam Chompsky

Noam Chomsky

Noam Chomsky, by any measure, has led a most extraordinary life. In one index he is ranked as the eighth most cited person in history, right up there with Aristotle, Shakespeare, Marx, Plato and Freud. His contributions to modern linguistics are legendary. In addition to his pioneering work in that field, he has been a leading voice for peace and social justice for many decades. Chris Hedges says he is “America’s greatest intellectual” who “makes the powerful, as well as their liberal apologists, deeply uncomfortable.” He is Institute Professor Emeritus in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy at MIT and Laureate Professor of Linguistics and Haury Chair in the Program in Environment and Social Justice at the University of Arizona. At 93, he is still active; writing and giving interviews to the media all over the world. He is the author of scores of books, including Propaganda & the Public Mind, How the World Works, Power Systems and Global Discontents with David Barsamian. His latest books are Climate Crisis and the Global Green New Deal, Consequences of Capitalism: Manufacturing Discontent and Resistance, and Chronicles of Dissent: Collected Interviews with David Barsamian, 1984-1996.human life on Earth.”


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