Question: Who do you endorse for President [in the 2008 US election]?
Howard Zinn: We have three candidates. We have a definite Republican candidate, [John] McCain. We have two Democratic candidates, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
I certainly wouldn’t choose McCain, because McCain is a war hawk. This war in Iraq is one of the most disastrous things the United States has ever done for our people and certainly for the people of Iraq. McCain wanting to continue the war that [George W.] Bush started five years ago, McCain is absolutely repulsive to me.
Between Clinton and Obama, well both of them have promised to end the [Iraq] war, but I must say their proposals for bringing the troops out of Iraq are rather halfhearted and they talk about keeping troops there, or Barack Obama says, “Let’s take troops out of Iraq, send troops to Afghanistan.” Neither of them has shaken what Barack Obama rightly called the mindset that led to the Iraq war. The mindset is a mindset which sees war and military intervention as a solution. Neither of them has shaken that.
I’m not happy, as you can see, with any of the candidates. When I get to the voting booth, I will be forced against my will, because I want somebody else other than those three. I will be forced against my will to make a choice and I will probably choose Obama, because in many ways he represents something really different, a multi-racial person who is supported by a large number of young and enthusiastic people and who may, that is these young and enthusiastic people may, if he is elected, become a force that he has to reckon with and will push him in a better direction than he has shown so far.
Question: How can Americans live up to their potential?
Howard Zinn: I think Americans need to recognize that they cannot depend on our political system to do the right thing. Americans need to recognize that they have to create local institutions, organizations, town halls. They have to create grassroots organizations which all over the country will speak to the national politicians in order to bring about change, both in foreign and domestic policy.
In other words, I think Americans need to realize that they cannot limit their participation as citizens to go into the polls every several years to vote. They must participate every day.
Henry David Thoreau said, “We must vote with our arms, with our legs, with our feet, with our whole bodies.” By that he meant people should be active and involved every day of the year if we are really going to have a democratic society.
Date Recorded: July 5, 2008
Discuss
Asa Pillsbury on May 22, 2008, 12:26 PM
I agree with almost all of this but I'm very disappointed that Howard Zinn thinks he's forced to vote for a corporate-owned candidate. It seems to me that someone like Zinn should be aware of the importance of third-party candidates. If you think a politician's policies are bad, to vote for them is to support their bad policies.
Asa Pillsbury on May 22, 2008, 4:26 PM
I agree with almost all of this but I’m very disappointed that Howard Zinn thinks he’s forced to vote for a corporate-owned candidate. It seems to me that someone like Zinn should be aware of the importance of third-party candidates. If you think a politician’s policies are bad, to vote for them is to support their bad policies.
Pat Pickren on May 31, 2008, 7:37 PM
I found it interesting what he said about Obama having the support of so many young people and if he is elected those same young ones may force him to hold to what our democracy is supposed to be and do. That is my sincere hope – that the young people will stand up against what is happening in our country better than we 40 generation are doing.
Pat Pickren on May 31, 2008, 11:37 PM
I found it interesting what he said about Obama having the support of so many young people and if he is elected those same young ones may force him to hold to what our democracy is supposed to be and do. That is my sincere hope – that the young people will stand up against what is happening in our country better than we 40 generation are doing.
kida kida on June 21, 2008, 5:39 PM
I think what Zinn is trying to say is that you have to choose between someone who may stay in Iraq and extend the war to Iran (McCain) or someone who has opposed the war since the very beginning and wants to pull out (Obama). Obviously the second option means, at least a priori, less victims.
I am sure Zinn supports Nader way more than the other establishment-candidates, but then it all comes down to being realistic and acknowledging the fact that the next president is going to be either a Democrat or a Republican. If you live in a safe state, you cast your ballot for whoever you want cause it's not going to alter the final result. However, if you live in a swing state, you have to realize that if you don't cast your vote to prevent the worse candidate (McCain) from reaching office, you are actually helping him. Since the differences between Obama and McCain, given the magnitude of the power of the U.S., may range in the tens of thousands of victims (just talking about war here), your vote in a swing state should go to Obama, even if he is not your preferred option. Sad but true.
P.S. I also think he is quite right pointing out that Obama will be accountable to a much more decent electorate than McCain is.
kida kida on June 21, 2008, 9:39 PM
I think what Zinn is trying to say is that you have to choose between someone who may stay in Iraq and extend the war to Iran (McCain) or someone who has opposed the war since the very beginning and wants to pull out (Obama). Obviously the second option means, at least a priori, less victims.
I am sure Zinn supports Nader way more than the other establishment-candidates, but then it all comes down to being realistic and acknowledging the fact that the next president is going to be either a Democrat or a Republican. If you live in a safe state, you cast your ballot for whoever you want cause it’s not going to alter the final result. However, if you live in a swing state, you have to realize that if you don’t cast your vote to prevent the worse candidate (McCain) from reaching office, you are actually helping him. Since the differences between Obama and McCain, given the magnitude of the power of the U.S., may range in the tens of thousands of victims (just talking about war here), your vote in a swing state should go to Obama, even if he is not your preferred option. Sad but true.
P.S. I also think he is quite right pointing out that Obama will be accountable to a much more decent electorate than McCain is.
Jamie Tyroler on July 23, 2008, 9:54 PM
KidA – I think it's presumptuous to make the claim that Zinn would support Nader.
We live in a nation that, with some exceptions, makes it very difficult for someone who isn't a Democrat or Republican to be elected to public office. We have multiple parties ranging from fascists to socialists, communists, and anarchists, but the establishment parties have put up roadblocks for those other parties.
Out political system isn't as representative as we are led to believe. Probably the closest elected official I have is my city councilwoman, in terms of number of people represented. She represents probably around 85,000 people. In some nations there might be one or two levels of government below her, to where they are representing perhaps 100 or so people – people who are going to have an easier time expressing their views to those officials.
Another problem with our election system is the amount of money that seems to be required to be competitive. How many hundreds of millions of dollars are McCain and Obama going to spend on this election cycle? How many people could be fed or housed for that kind of money? Instead, how much money is going to the bank accounts of the very few professional campaign managers?
Jamie Tyroler on July 24, 2008, 1:54 AM
KidA – I think it’s presumptuous to make the claim that Zinn would support Nader.
We live in a nation that, with some exceptions, makes it very difficult for someone who isn’t a Democrat or Republican to be elected to public office. We have multiple parties ranging from fascists to socialists, communists, and anarchists, but the establishment parties have put up roadblocks for those other parties.
Out political system isn’t as representative as we are led to believe. Probably the closest elected official I have is my city councilwoman, in terms of number of people represented. She represents probably around 85,000 people. In some nations there might be one or two levels of government below her, to where they are representing perhaps 100 or so people – people who are going to have an easier time expressing their views to those officials.
Another problem with our election system is the amount of money that seems to be required to be competitive. How many hundreds of millions of dollars are McCain and Obama going to spend on this election cycle? How many people could be fed or housed for that kind of money? Instead, how much money is going to the bank accounts of the very few professional campaign managers?
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