Howard Zinn discusses his latest collection of essays at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts.
A Power Governments Cannot Suppress critiques America's response to 9/11, examines the current state of democracy and government responsibility in America and cites examples of when government has overstepped throughout American history.
Bio
Howard Zinn
Howard Zinn is a historian, playwright, and social activist. He was a shipyard worker and Air Force bombardier before he went to college under the GI Bill and received his Ph.D. from Columbia University. He has taught at Spelman College and Boston University, and has been a visiting professor at the University of Paris and the University of Bologna. He has received the Thomas Merton Award, the Eugene V. Debs Award, the Upton Sinclair Award, and the Lannan Literary Award. He lives in Auburndale, Massachusetts.
Political system by which a body of people is administered and regulated. Different levels of government typically have different responsibilities. The level closest to those governed is local government. Regional governments comprise a grouping of individual communities. National governments nominally control all the territory within internationally recognized borders and have responsibilities not shared by their subnational counterparts. Most governments exercise executive, legislative (seelegislature), and judicial (seejudiciary) powers and split or combine them in various ways. Some also control the religious affairs of their people; others avoid any involvement with religion. Political forms at the national level determine the powers exercised at the subnational levels; these have included autocracy, democracy, fascism, monarchy, oligarchy, plutocracy (government by the wealthy), theocracy, and totalitarianism.
I love Howard Zinn, he always leaves me with something to think about. I think his closing statements about carving out a piece of your existence that is devoted to being a contributing citizen are particularly poignant .
The part of the speech where he spoke about civil disobedience was so inspiring. It's amazing to think that some of the most important movements in America have been created by the people - civil rights, unions, etc. I wonder if it's possible for more people to be infected with Zinn's passion for change in America...maybe if there's a draft the apathy in this country will be turned on its head.