By Kira Webster
On April 11, Noam Chomsky spoke at the Old South Church in Boston to address the threat of reactionary, ultranationalist movements that are growing around the world. He touched on the swaying of democracy indicated by the surge of right-wing wins in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Brazil, and Israel. He recalled the spread of Fascism and Nazism that occurred about 80 years ago, and while we are not facing a threat like Nazism, we are encountering the threshold of something extreme. These reactionary movements are not only a threat concerning nuclear disarmament but also towards climate change and the shift of democracy as a whole.
Nuclear war has been a cloud hanging over the world for about 70 years, and Chomsky believes that Trump’s Nuclear Posture could increase that threat significantly and could also be “terminal for us as a species.” Chomsky recounted three major arms treaties: the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM), the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF), and the New START Treaty. The U.S. pulled out of the ABM back in 2002, and just pulled out of the INF (which the Russians followed right after). It took massive, public demonstrations in the 80’s to pressure a resolution that Trump has just ended. Tensions have grown on the Russian border since the U.S. left the treaty with the perceived threat of the possible placement of U.S. anti-ballistic missiles in the region. He said, “in a rational world, what would happen would be negotiations between the two sides, with independent experts to evaluate the charges that each is making against the other, to lead to a resolution of these charges, restore the treaty. But it’s unfortunately not the world we’re living in. No efforts have been made in this direction. And there won’t be, unless there is significant pressure.”
This leaves New START, which is still in its younger stages, and has a lot of holes to cover to ensure success. President Trump has called it “the worst treaty to happen in human history,” and has insisted on getting rid of it. It has already significantly reduced the number of nuclear weapons in the world, but there is still much more to go. Leaving it this early would be a huge loss.
One hopeful counter-development Chomsky pointed to was Greece. Yanis Varoufakis, the country’s former finance minister, is still a prominent figure, and has urged the Progressive International to stand up to the extreme far-right. As far as state-level is concerned, the numbers seem to sway in the other direction; however, with the people it makes a huge difference. This is a good sign – it leads to a road of accountability, enhancing current democracies, and significant progress for the future.
Large amounts of public pressure are also needed in terms of tackling climate change. Authoritarian democracy poses a huge threat to this subject due to the money that protects the necessary changes. The U.S. is the leader in fossil fuel production, now surpassing Saudi Arabia. The big banks, like JP Morgan and Chase, are pouring tons of money into fossil fuels – including the most dangerous kinds like Canadian tar sands. This would give us even more independence and control over the energy harnessed in the world, but it could also be life-threatening to future generations. During this millennium, every single year (with one exception), has been hotter than the last. We are already reaching levels from 125,000 years ago, when sea levels were about 25 feet higher than they are today, and are witnessing the rapid melting of the Antarctic fields. The Doomsday Clock of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists last January was set at two minutes to midnight – the closest it’s been to terminal disaster since 1947. The leaders of the fossil fuel companies and the banks have just as much knowledge as everyone else – climate change has never been kept a secret. However, the problem is institutional. Whether or not the CEO’s decide to resign, others will take their places and do exactly what they’ve been doing to create more profit. Chomsky, again, encourages public pressure to change this.
We have already seen some success with the Sunrise Movement – a youth-led organization advocating political action for climate change since 2017. Since the democratic primaries and 2018 midterm elections, activists in this organization have reached out to members in the Democratic Party to raise support for the Green New Deal. With the support of Justice Democrats and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), the organization had its first meeting with Nancy Pelosi.
The changes that need to happen are only possible through a functioning democracy that America’s foundations have been built on. There is only hope through balance. The major institutions already have their own influences that are big enough to sway our government. Their ideals are already set unless public pressure is applied. That pressure has to stem from the roots of a healthy democracy, and the power citizens have to ensure that balance. It must be kept alive in order to keep ourselves alive.
Kira Webster is an intern with the Peace Economy Project.
