ZINN
Thank you so much for the selections from your latest issue (Vol. 29, No. 4), “Radical Lives,” including Vijay Prashad’s fine review of the Howard Zinn biography. A long-time admirer of Martin Duberman’s work, I have to admit to a certain disappointment in his overall treatment of Howard Zinn, and wonder if other readers experienced a similar disappointment.
Although Duberman is generous with his comments about Howard personally and provides a thoughtful summary of his commitment to social justice and to teaching, I sensed a kind of academic distance regarding his overall achievement. At times, Duberman’s account of Howard’s contribution was undercut by a tone of condescension regarding his view of history. Offering a careful evaluation of a writer’s political and philosophical stance, his/her “priorities,” is important. But in this case, Duberman’s conventional academic critique prevented his acknowledging Howard’s larger contribution to our understanding of American history.
Since I am unsure if my response to the biography is fair, I intend to read it again, and would be interested in others’ responses to the biography.
Michael True
Worcester, MA
SANDY
Thank you for endorsing the excellent and comprehensive statement on Superstorm Sandy (Vol. 29, No. 4). Our wars have been at least partly responsible for the rapidly increasing amounts of carbon in our planet’s atmosphere, as recently documented in NASA and NOAA reports. President Obama stated in his inaugural speech that he will address climate change. We must hold him to that promise. I am personally convinced that a carbon tax, as proposed by Dr. James Hansen, would be an excellent first step in curbing our wasteful ways. I even started a petition at www.signon.org/sign/tax-carbon-now which I hope WIN readers will sign. 77% of Americans say global warming should be a priority for the President and Congress. Let’s keep reminding them of that!
Helen Hanna
Sacramento, CA
LAND
The Land Issue (Vol. 29, No. 3) was exceptionally informative. I really enjoyed Aidan McKinney’s piece but was not enamored of his tactic of being “jailed and pepper sprayed and beaten.” There is no way I would be part of an action where that was the plan. A better plan would be to use overwhelming numbers to cow the police into submission. Not so hard as it seems, as all thugs and bullies are cowards by nature. However, if they refuse to submit, then we can beat them into submission. Better them than us.
Aside from that tactical error, I’m in full agreement that the fight against the corporate state must be a physical one and focused on disrupting the economy. All capitalists put property and profit first and foremost. Thus, our targets should be capitalist property and profits. I say shut it down and shut it down now!
Rand W. Gould
Lapeer, MI
OBAMA
After the school shooting at Sandy Hook, the president wept publicly over the 20 slain Connecticut children. When will he also shed a public tear for the more than 400 children killed in drone strikes that he ordered?
Disgustedly,
Sanford Berman
Edina, MN
Re: “Reporting Resistance” by Wendy Schwartz (Vol. 29, No. 4) on Amy Goodman’s book The Silenced Majority.
When will Obama apologists like Wendy Schwartz and Amy Goodman recognize that Obama is a central part of the problem and not that “he must reconnect with his inner progressivism.” When will they recognize that Obama is a great con man whose major accomplishment, besides carrying on Bush policies, is neutering the Left? When will Schwartz and Goodman recognize that they are but Obama’s dupes? I want to barf whenever I read FDR’s admonition “go out and make me do it” like that is some kind of excuse for Obama’s many war crimes. Why does WRL have to be part of Obama’s apologists? Why does “progressive” have to be a synonym for “dupe”?
Bob Brister
Salt Lake City, UT
Schwartz Replies
I do not consider myself an apologist for Barack Obama, but neither do I consider him the second coming of Saddam Hussein. Amy Goodman expressed similar views in The Silenced Majority. Let me make two points. First, hyperbolic and non-nuanced political pronouncements like Bob Brister’s do not promote change or gain supporters; rather, they allow the dismissal of the serious concerns they caricature. Some Obama policies have indeed have heightened the level of violence and suffering around the world, but others have increased social and economic equality for many. Protests against the former have more credibility if they acknowledge the latter. Second, Obama’s election as president and, even more importantly, his reelection have realized a previously unimaginable aspiration for people of color. Further, his electoral victories have given whites like me, who consider the struggles for civil rights and social justice as important as the struggle for peace, new optimism. Therefore, if we want increase the inclusiveness of the pacifist movement we should not disparage the thrill of Obama’s presidency felt by some even as we nonviolently and vigorously oppose policies we deplore.
Wendy Schwartz
New York, NY
