Reflections on American power and policy in the world
Shortly before the election we will be upon the 50th anniversary of the worst of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. For those of us who lived through it, it was a terrifying time. I can remember going to sleep on some nights not sure if I would awaken, for living within a 25 miles radius of Times Square, even were we not obliterated instantaneously by the multiple nuclear blasts to be expected in the case of nuclear exchange, we might well face overwhelming radiation.
I have been thinking about that anniversary for some time, wondering what if any impact it might have upon the outcome of the election. Surely there will be specials, but will they accurately portray what those times were like, even as the American people lacked full information about how dangerous they really were, or the context in which Krushchev had ordered nuclear-capable missiles into Cuba?
I am not always a fan of Noam Chomsky, but this morning when I read the long article he penned for TomDispatch that is featured at Alternet, many of my reflections began to fall into place. I am going to suggest that Chomsky: Humanity Once Came to the Cliff's Edge of Total Self-Annihilation -- Let's Make Sure It Never Happens Again is more than well-worth your time to read. It should in fact be mandatory reading, not so much because of Chomsky's opinions, although I do believe the remarks he makes about the context in which those events occurred and their relevance to today are not merely striking, they carry a heavy moral weight for us to consider. It is also because he points at a large number of resources that when considered very much undermine a lot of what the American people who lived through that time or who have been instructed about it in school or college think they know and understand.
There are also important moral and political lessons that are very applicable in our time, even as we consider this election.
This is not going to be a well-organized set of reflections, nor will it be an analysis or review of Chomsky's article. It is a personal statement. It is something to which I think I have been coming for 5 decades, since my own service in the military, which ended on 5 October 1966.
I have been thinking about that anniversary for some time, wondering what if any impact it might have upon the outcome of the election. Surely there will be specials, but will they accurately portray what those times were like, even as the American people lacked full information about how dangerous they really were, or the context in which Krushchev had ordered nuclear-capable missiles into Cuba?
I am not always a fan of Noam Chomsky, but this morning when I read the long article he penned for TomDispatch that is featured at Alternet, many of my reflections began to fall into place. I am going to suggest that Chomsky: Humanity Once Came to the Cliff's Edge of Total Self-Annihilation -- Let's Make Sure It Never Happens Again is more than well-worth your time to read. It should in fact be mandatory reading, not so much because of Chomsky's opinions, although I do believe the remarks he makes about the context in which those events occurred and their relevance to today are not merely striking, they carry a heavy moral weight for us to consider. It is also because he points at a large number of resources that when considered very much undermine a lot of what the American people who lived through that time or who have been instructed about it in school or college think they know and understand.
There are also important moral and political lessons that are very applicable in our time, even as we consider this election.
This is not going to be a well-organized set of reflections, nor will it be an analysis or review of Chomsky's article. It is a personal statement. It is something to which I think I have been coming for 5 decades, since my own service in the military, which ended on 5 October 1966.
politics with teacherken
is the title of this new internet radio show. Or at least, a trial at a new internet radio show based in London.
That's London, England.
I was contacted by a started called BeeVocal. The man who established it, Vik Pratap, grew up in the US and attended college in New York City. He reached out to me because first he found me on twitter, then read some of what I post here.
Our first show will be this forthcoming Wednesday, October 17, at 7 PM EDT for one hour. Obviously the primary focus will be the Town Hall Presidential Debate the night before, but the conversation is open to other topics as well.
That's conversation, as in the audience participating as well, by computer.
For now that will only be via audio. Over the intertubes.
I hope you will be curious enough to sign on and see what happens, perhaps even to join the conversation.
Please continue below the fold for instructions of how you can get connected and join up.
That's London, England.
I was contacted by a started called BeeVocal. The man who established it, Vik Pratap, grew up in the US and attended college in New York City. He reached out to me because first he found me on twitter, then read some of what I post here.
Our first show will be this forthcoming Wednesday, October 17, at 7 PM EDT for one hour. Obviously the primary focus will be the Town Hall Presidential Debate the night before, but the conversation is open to other topics as well.
That's conversation, as in the audience participating as well, by computer.
For now that will only be via audio. Over the intertubes.
I hope you will be curious enough to sign on and see what happens, perhaps even to join the conversation.
Please continue below the fold for instructions of how you can get connected and join up.
