chomsky – lesser evilism
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“There’s another word for lesser evilism,” Chomsky replies. “It’s called rationality. Lesser evilism is not an illusion, it’s a rational position. But you don’t stop with lesser evilism. You begin with it, to prevent the worst, and then you go on to deal with the fundamental roots of what’s wrong, even with the lesser evils.”
RS: But last little footnote, is it also a trap? Is it an illusion? And I–I can’t sit here and disagree with what you said. And I’ll probably push the button–as I’ve done all my life; I’ve voted for lesser evil people. I’ve voted for war criminals. I’ve voted for the people–I always fail this test. True confession. I have voted for some of the worst, you know.
NC: That’s the right thing to do.I think Chomsky confuses working class resistance and the class struggle to lesser evilism. He says so himself
“…you don’t stop with a lesser evilism; you continue to try to organize and develop the mass popular movements, which will block the worst and change the institutions…”
“…And it didn’t change by gifts from above. It changed by the popular activism…”
It wasn’t through voting for the lesser evil candidate, it seems to me. Politicians followed not led.
But for ourselves when it comes to reformism and support for the lesser evil, Chomsky’s arguments is the one that we most come up against…pragmatic, practical, real-politik, party platforms. “rationalisations” as Scheer identifies it as
He has been doing the same things for many years. He is only good for selling books. He calls himself an Anarchists and he was supporting Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez who were leaders of two state-capitalist societies
Chomsky and other liberal progressives warn off the Green Party from being spoilers in the campaign to get Trump ousted.
(as an aside, I note one of the signatories of the open letter, Parecon’s Michael Albert, had not disappeared as I previously thought)
The same thing was said about Ralph Nader during the campaign of George Bush and it was not true either, Both presidents ( Bush and Trump ) were elected due to the electoral college which is a vestige of the slavery system. I do not know why Chomsky gets involved in those things. He is a just a good book seller
A less than flattering review of Chomsky’s latest book ‘Internationalism or Extinction’
“Chomsky continues to advocate strategic lesser-evilist voting in swing states. There is a logic in this only so far as the verisimilitude of the premise that the Democratic Party is substantially better for the American people and the world than the Republican Party holds true. This contention is debatable though.”
(as an aside, why do writers insist on showing their skills at vocabulary with long words like verisimilitude)
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