Noam Chomsky - Optimism over Despair: On Capitalism, Empire, and Social Change

Praise for Optimism over Despair

The elder statesman of a resurgent left offers clear-eyed assessments of the United States, past and present, and its role in the world. From meditations on human nature to strategic advice for the Trump era, Chomsky remains the thinker who shaped a generation, a beacon of hope in the darkest of times.

Sarah Jaffe, author of Necessary Trouble: Americans in Revolt

This book of interviews with Noam Chomsky is a must-read in these troubling times. Divided into three parts, it begins with Chomskys razor-sharp analysis of neoliberalism, imperialism, the EU, the role of religion in politics, and class polarization. In the second, it focuses on the Trump presidency and lays out the long history of US foreign policy, as well as other topics such as health care, global warming, and education policy. Finally, it looks at various alternativesanarchism, communism, and socialism. This is an excellent collection of interviews that highlights Chomskys encyclopedic knowledge of the key issues of our day and his unwavering criticism of the regime of the global 1 percent.

Deepa Kumar, author of Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire

In this brilliant series of recent and wide-ranging interviews, Noam Chomsky combines an astounding breadth of knowledge, great depth of insight, clarity in explaining his ideas, and a relentless commitment to social and economic justice. The full package is simply exhilarating, especially in our current dismal era of Donald Trump. Optimism over Despair is a book to devour.

Robert Pollin, Distinguished Professor of Economics and codirector, Political Economy Research Institute, University of MassachusettsAmherst

Chomsky argues that the choice between optimism and despair is really no choice at all. I have a great admiration for Chomskys combination of consistent critical moral perspective and sharp eye for the details of world politics.

Heikki Patomki, professor of world politics at the University of Helsinki and a civic and political activist

In this series of highly informative conversations deftly organized by C. J. Polychroniou, Noam Chomsky teaches usyet againso much on a huge range of issuesfrom economic globalization through international politics to the linguistic foundations of humanity. If you havent read Chomsky before, this book will open your eyes. Even if you have, reading this book will make you realize that you still have more eyes to be opened. This book is a beaconor, rather a GPSin this turbulent and darkening world.

Ha-Joon Chang, University of Cambridge, author of Bad Samaritans, 23 Things They Dont Tell You About Capitalism, and Economics: The Users Guide

For all those of us who have always dreamed of spending a day with Noam Chomsky and getting his answers to all our questions and concerns about the (sorry) state of the world, heres the next best thing: a collection of interviews with our greatest living intellectual on capitalism, empire, and social change, fielded by C. J. Polychroniou of Truthout. Especially valuable in helping us navigate the dreadful challenges of the Trumpian era.

Michael Klare, professor of peace and world security studies, Hampshire College, and defense correspondent, Nation

This fascinating series of interviews convincingly covers an astonishing range of fundamental and urgent issues of societal concern, demonstrating anew that Noam Chomsky is the worlds most humane, philosophically sophisticated, and knowledgeable public intellectual. I cannot imagine a better primer for anyone seeking a better, safer, fairer future.

Richard Falk, Professor of International Law Emeritus, Princeton University

Optimism
over
Despair

On Capitalism, Empire,
and Social Change

Noam Chomsky
and C. J. Polychroniou

2017 Noam Chomsky and C. J. Polychroniou

Published in 2017 by

Haymarket Books

P.O. Box 180165

Chicago, IL 60618

773-583-7884

www.haymarketbooks.org

ISBN: 978-1-60846-800-3

Trade distribution:

In the US, Consortium Book Sales and Distribution, www.cbsd.com

In Canada, Publishers Group Canada, www.pgcbooks.ca

In the UK, Turnaround Publisher Services, www.turnaround-uk.com

All other countries, Ingram Publisher Services International,

This book was published with the generous support of Lannan Foundation and Wallace Action Fund.

Cover illustration and design by Jared Rodriguez.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data is available.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

The interviews in this volume present the views of the worlds leading public intellectual on the consequences of capitalist globalization, and much more, as recorded in conversations with the undersigned over the course of the last four yearsfrom late 2013 to early 2017, to be exactand originally published in Truthout.

Noam Chomsky has been Americas moral conscience for more than half a century (even if he remains unknown to the majority of Americans) as well as the worlds most recognized public intellectual, consistently speaking out against US aggression and defending the rights of the weak and the oppressed throughout the world from the time of the Vietnam War to the present. His analyses are always grounded in indisputable facts and are also guided by deeply held moral considerations about freedom, democracy, human rights, and human decency.

Chomskys voice remains almost singularly a beacon of hope and optimism in these dark timesan age of unparalleled economic inequality, growing authoritarianism, and social Darwinism, with a left that has turned its back on the class struggle.

For quite some time now, there have been clear and strong indications across the entire political and socioeconomic spectrum in advanced Western societies that the contradictions of capitalist globalization and the neoliberal policies associated with them threaten to unleash powerful forces with the capacity to produce not only highly destructive outcomes for growth and prosperity, justice, and social peace, but also concomitant consequences for democracy, the environment, and human civilization on the whole.

Still, according to Chomsky, despair is not an option. No matter how horrendous the current world situation appears to be, resistance to oppression and exploitation has never been a fruitless undertaking, even in darker times than our own. Indeed, the Trump counterrevolution in the United States has already brought to the surface a plethora of social forces determined to stand up to the aspiring autocrat, and the future of resistance in the worlds most powerful country appears more promising than in many other parts of the advanced industrialized world.

In this context, the interviews assembled here are, we believe, of critical import. These were originally commissioned and edited by Maya Schenwar, Alana Yu-lan Price, and Leslie Thatcher for publication as stand-alone articles in Truthout. Our hope in anthologizing them is that they will assist to introduce the views and ideas of Noam Chomsky to a new generation of readers, while maintaining faith among the rest in the human ability to provide tenacious resistance to the forces of political darkness and ultimately change the course of history for the better.

C. J. Polychroniou, March 2017

Part I