News / Interviews

Chomsky’s comments let Democrats off the hook: US writer

Friday, 26 February 2016 7:29 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 26 February 2016 7:29 PM ]

“I believe for a man of Chomsky’s stature on the Left to engage in talk of ‘strategic voting’ is an unnecessary and irresponsible act,” American writer Mickey Z. says.

By focusing so much on US Republican candidates, Noam Chomsky is allowing the perception that US Democrats offer a viable alternative, says American writer and political commentator Mickey Z.

In an interview published Tuesday, MIT professor Chomsky, a well-known critic of establishment politics in the US, attributed the rise of Trump as the potential Republican Party presidential nominee to the “breakdown of society” and the “fear” that it engenders in segments of the population.

“Fear, along with the breakdown of society during the neoliberal period,” Chomsky said, when AlterNet’s Aaron Williams asked the intellectual for his thoughts on Trump’s surprising progress. “People feel isolated, helpless, victim of powerful forces that they do not understand and cannot influence.”

Mickey Z., the author of Occupy This Book and Occupy These Photos, said, “This has led Chomsky to once again embrace what he calls ‘strategic voting.’ Sure, he voted for Bill Clinton in 1992 and called for supporting Democrats in swing states in both 2004 and 2008, but this time around, he’s gone further. Chomsky has even declared that the Republican Party and its candidates are ‘literally a serious danger to decent human survival.’”

“I believe for a man of Chomsky’s stature on the Left to engage in talk of ‘strategic voting’ is an unnecessary and irresponsible act, one that indirectly contributes to the misguided perception that a Democrat winning the election is somehow a Pyrrhic victory of sorts because they, I presume, are not a ‘serious danger to decent human survival,’” Mickey Z. told Press TV on Friday.

“Let’s be clear. If you plan to vote for yet another lesser evil in 2016, go ahead. Kid yourself. Feel superior. Engage in three-hour social media flame wars to defend your choice. Hold your nose. Pull the damn lever. Use Chomsky quotes to justify it. Whatever,” he added.

“But, vote or no vote, all that matters is what you’re doing the other 364.99 days. Make no mistake, if we continue allowing our meager time and energy to be diverted into rigged elections, we will one day be asked why we made such a choice,” he continued.

“The human beings and all living things that come after us won’t care who we voted for in 2016, if they in the future have no clean air to breathe, no clean water to use, and are stuck on a toxic, uninhabitable police state of a planet,” the activist noted.

“They’ll probably just want to ask: Why did you stand by and let everything be consumed or poisoned or destroyed? Why in the world did you focus so much of your energy on elections and so little on action?” concluded Mickey Z.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.ir