A New School of Thought: Insights on Our World
I just watched a Q&A with Noam Chomsky and Angela Davis on a variety of topics ranging from foreign policy, to culture, to education and the environment. Here's what I took away from it:
Davis stated that if there were a communication of Palestine's troubles to the African Americans here, they would likely join Palestine's struggle, which is similar to their's under the Jim Crow era. Chomsky told of President Obama blocking a nuclear weapons non-alignment conference in Finland, which Iran was scheduled to attend and Israel was not. He says that the media is largely silent on this. The "Free Palestine" conference, with an initial goal of $4 million in funding, only received $200,000. Much of the intended audience couldn't attend as a result. Davis spoke at a university in Brazil where 80% attending where black and it was only 5 years old. When she told them of Israeli apartheid, they responded in enthusiastic support of her views. Chomsky explains that Israel's actions can only happen because we (the U.S.) allows them to happen, despite violating the Geneva Convention and a host of other statutes. He tells of increased acceptance among people spoke with at M.I.T. Chomsky went from having police protection to his views becoming extremely popular on the campus. He also mentioned the U.S., Canada and Australia as the largest supporters of Israel's policies and notes that these were all colonial societies. As a result they're more likely to support wiping out dissidents and other imperial policies. Chomsky says that Saudi Arabia is an extreme supporter of Islamic fundamentalism and a main ally of America.
Davis spoke about the prison abolitionist movement in the U.S. and said that, while it's good to halt our rapid prison expansion at home, we should also be opposed to "open-air prisons", such as Palestine today. She said a lack of solidarity movements with Palestine essentially allows the U.S. to continue it's antagonistic policies. Davis connects schools valuing "discipline over education" with today's prisons. She feels this should also be a focus of the prison abolitionist movement, and speaks of kids expecting to be depressed at school. Chomsky tells of Boston's busing industry designed to group the poor residents together and keep them away from the affluent suburbs by moving them to inner cities. He says draws comparisons to the 70's where the busing industry helped move much of the white working class toward the right of the political spectrum. Noam acknowledges that while some teachers encourage creative expression, all teachers are run by a supervisory system. Chomsky also talks of the wealth disparities between inner city and suburban schools and how they limit teachers with even the best intentions. He denounces "Teach-to-test" methods as taking away kids' interest in education. In his view, this dulls creativity and expressive thinking. Noam also mentions the nearly unanimous silence about climate change regarding the recent U.S. presidential elections, discussing alternatives such as Ecuador's current proposal to receive funding from wealthy nations to "keep the oil in the ground".
Davis stated that if there were a communication of Palestine's troubles to the African Americans here, they would likely join Palestine's struggle, which is similar to their's under the Jim Crow era. Chomsky told of President Obama blocking a nuclear weapons non-alignment conference in Finland, which Iran was scheduled to attend and Israel was not. He says that the media is largely silent on this. The "Free Palestine" conference, with an initial goal of $4 million in funding, only received $200,000. Much of the intended audience couldn't attend as a result. Davis spoke at a university in Brazil where 80% attending where black and it was only 5 years old. When she told them of Israeli apartheid, they responded in enthusiastic support of her views. Chomsky explains that Israel's actions can only happen because we (the U.S.) allows them to happen, despite violating the Geneva Convention and a host of other statutes. He tells of increased acceptance among people spoke with at M.I.T. Chomsky went from having police protection to his views becoming extremely popular on the campus. He also mentioned the U.S., Canada and Australia as the largest supporters of Israel's policies and notes that these were all colonial societies. As a result they're more likely to support wiping out dissidents and other imperial policies. Chomsky says that Saudi Arabia is an extreme supporter of Islamic fundamentalism and a main ally of America.
Davis spoke about the prison abolitionist movement in the U.S. and said that, while it's good to halt our rapid prison expansion at home, we should also be opposed to "open-air prisons", such as Palestine today. She said a lack of solidarity movements with Palestine essentially allows the U.S. to continue it's antagonistic policies. Davis connects schools valuing "discipline over education" with today's prisons. She feels this should also be a focus of the prison abolitionist movement, and speaks of kids expecting to be depressed at school. Chomsky tells of Boston's busing industry designed to group the poor residents together and keep them away from the affluent suburbs by moving them to inner cities. He says draws comparisons to the 70's where the busing industry helped move much of the white working class toward the right of the political spectrum. Noam acknowledges that while some teachers encourage creative expression, all teachers are run by a supervisory system. Chomsky also talks of the wealth disparities between inner city and suburban schools and how they limit teachers with even the best intentions. He denounces "Teach-to-test" methods as taking away kids' interest in education. In his view, this dulls creativity and expressive thinking. Noam also mentions the nearly unanimous silence about climate change regarding the recent U.S. presidential elections, discussing alternatives such as Ecuador's current proposal to receive funding from wealthy nations to "keep the oil in the ground".
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