Went to see Howard Zinn last night and wow. Although I am usually wary of the Zinn groupies who are largely tin-hat-wearing, anarchist, detached-from-reality, ultra-left-wing crazies (and there were plenty in the audience), Professor Zinn delivered a moving, disjointed, thorough, hilarious, and deeply insightful talk. Here are a few gems. Quotes are from memory and not perfect.
- "If you knew some history, then you wouldn't be surprised when..." (recurring theme)
- "We need to get out of this mind-set that we're number one. We're number one. Number one at what? Well, number one wealthiest, yes. Number one in military spending, yes. But we're number 49 in literacy. Number 54 in infant mortality. Number 29 in access to health care. Why don't we focus on being number one in some of these things." (cheers) (I don't remember the exact rankings, but Dr. Zinn said that the numbers come from the World Health Organization).
- Q: "Have you looked into the official version of the 9/11 attacks and what really happened?" (Here's one of your tin hat wearers.)
- A: "I think there are some things that just aren't interesting because they're not useful. Do you understand what I'm saying? This is why -- and I know I'll upset some people by saying this -- this is why I never looked into the Kennedy assassination. Because it's just not that important. The detective story isn't that important." (If you wonder why Zinn isn't on board with this conspiracy theory stuff, it's because he knows a little history.)
- Q: "How should people of privilege, like yourself, get involved in issues of justice? You're a rich, white, and as far as I know heterosexual male, so how should other people like yourself get inovled with justice when they don't know how?"
- A: "What would I say to rich, privileged people? Rebel against your class." (cheers) "It's not radical for rich people to get involved in social movements. They always have and they always will."
- Q: "Is there anything that the Bush administration has done that history will remember as noble and noteworthy?"
- A: (pause) "That's the hardest question, you know? Do you know of anything? (laughs) I'll try to think of something."
- Q: "I'm one of many people fed up with the spineless Democratic party. Should we look to third parties or keep wasting our time with the democrats? (cheers)
- A: "I think we should keep wasting our time." (more cheers)
For those of you distraught that Zinn doesn't think we need to abandon the Democrats, remember that Howie knows some history. All new, third parties in the US have historically emerged BETWEEN the two dominent parties, not to the right or left. If you want to move the country in a progressive direction, get into the Democratic party and start fighting. Over the next few weeks, I'll be knocking on doors about the upcoming California special election. Send me an email if you want to come along.
UPDATE: October 11 1:06PM -- Audio of Howard Zinn's concluding remarks is now available here from SB Indymedia.
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