Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Chomsky sul '68

Non so se condivido il (relativo) ottimismo nel paragonare il 1968 a
oggi.
Comunque, da leggere.   Chomsky e' stato parte dell'esigua minoranza
di professori che sostennero i contestatori.
http://www.newstatesman.com/200805080026#reader-comments
Nineteen sixty-eight was one exciting moment in a much larger
movement. It spawned a whole range of movements. There wouldn't have
been an international global solidarity movement, for instance,
without the events of 1968. It was enormous, in terms of human rights,
ethnic rights, a concern for the environment, too.
The Pentagon Papers (the 7,000-page, top-secret US government report
into the Vietnam War) are proof of this: right after the Tet
Offensive, the business world turned against the war, because they
thought it was too costly, even though there were proposals within the
government - and we know this now - to send in more American troops.
Then LBJ announced he wouldn't be sending any more troops to Vietnam.
The Pentagon Papers tell us that, because of the fear of growing
unrest in the cities, the government had to end the war - it wasn't
sure that it was going to have enough troops to send to Vietnam and
enough troops on the domestic front to quell the riots.
One of the most interesting reactions to come out of 1968 was in the
first publication of the Trilateral Commission, which believed there
was a "crisis of democracy" from too much participation of the masses.
In the late 1960s, the masses were supposed to be passive, not
entering into the public arena and having their voices heard. When
they did, it was called an "excess of democracy" and people feared it
put too much pressure on the system. The only group that never
expressed its opinions too much was the corporate group, because that
was the group whose involvement in politics was acceptable.
The commission called for more moderation in democracy and a return to
passivity. It said the "institutions of indoctrination" - schools,
churches - were not doing their job, and these had to be harsher.
The more reactionary standard was much harsher in its reaction to the
events of 1968, in that it tried to repress democracy, which has
succeeded to an extent - but not really, because these social and
activist movements have now grown. For example, it was unimaginable in
1968 that there would be an international Solidarity group in 1980.
But democracy is even stronger now than it was in 1968. You have to
remember that, during Vietnam, there was no opposition at the
beginning of the war. It did develop, but only six years after John F
Kennedy attacked South Vietnam and troop casualties were mounting.
However, with the Iraq War, opposition was there from the very
beginning, before an attack was even initiated. The Iraq War was the
first conflict in western history in which an imperialist war was
massively protested against before it had even been launched.
There are other differences, too. In 1968, it was way out in the
margins of society to even discuss the possibility of withdrawal from
Vietnam. Now, every presidential candidate mentions withdrawal from
Iraq as a real policy choice.
There is also far greater opposition to oppression now than there was
before. For example, the US used routinely to support or initiate
military coups in Latin America. But the last time the US supported a
military coup was in 2002 in Venezuela, and even then they had to back
off very quickly because there was public opposition. They just can't
do the kinds of things they used to.
So, I think the impact of 1968 was long-lasting and, overall, positive.


#_Quoto tutto ovviamente (come farei a non farlo con Chomsky?)
_L'ambientalismo era agli albori e chi si preoccupava era considerato un 
pazzo o una Cassandra(!)
_La legacy del numero 8 ?
"faremo un quarantotto!" (si dice sempre)e fu anche la Nakba per i 
palestinesi... poi fu fatto un sessantotto (che restera`sempre come un 
cristallo nel mio cuore!)...l'ottantotto fu un po' lento e si passo`all'anno 
successivo...di vent'anni in vent'anni ; CI SIAMO! Le prerogative ci son 
tutte.
G. 

 palestinesi... 
Eh??
HRCF
-- 
Tarpaulin: Amarcord Cold War
http://tarpaulin.blogspot.com/

 HRCF
#_Ah!
P.S.: Aho!! 

Giano ha scritto:

Seriamenre, ch volevi dire?



#_Oh grullo ! Mah come si fa ad esser serii!...Vabbeh che ad Arezzo siete 
ancora qualche secolo addietro, ma non avete mai sentito l'espressione 
"facciamo un quarantotto!!"(1848)...eppure di legnate perugine ne avete 
prese..eccome!!
_La 'Nakba' poi e`la 'catastrofe' per i palestinesi (1948).
G. 

 "facciamo un quarantotto!!"(1848)
Ah, meno male.
