Nagasaki 1945
Now, of all the crises that afflict us, I think my own feeling is that
this growing democratic deficit may be the most severe. Unless it’s
reversed, Arundhati Roy’s forecast might prove accurate, and not in the
distant future. The conversion of democracy to a performance in which
the public are only spectators might well lead to—inexorably to what
she calls the “endgame for the human race.” - Noam Chomsky 2009
I feel that we are not speaking truthfully if we talk about life
and the future of humanity, while each day we are destroying the future
of humanity. It is important to pinpoint who our enemies are,
what the causes are of the damage being done to the planet, damage that
may put an end to humanity. - Evo Morales 2007
What we need today, for the sake of the survival of this planet, is long-term vision. Can governments whose very survival depends on immediate, extractive, short-term gain provide this? Could it be that democracy, the sacred answer to our short-term hopes and prayers, the protector of our individual freedoms and nurturer of our avaricious dreams, will turn out to be the endgame for the human race? Could it be that democracy is such a hit with modern humans precisely because it mirrors our greatest folly— our nearsightedness? Our inability to live entirely in the present (like most animals do) combined with our inability to see very far into the future makes us strange in-between creatures, neither beast nor prophet. Our amazing intelligence seems to have outstripped our instinct for survival. We plunder the earth hoping that accumulating material surplus will make up for the profound, unfathomable thing that we have lost. - Arundhati Roy 2009
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Could it be that democracy, the sacred answer to our short-term hopes and prayers, the protector of our individual freedoms and nurturer of our avaricious dreams, will turn out to be the endgame for the human race? Could it be that democracy is such a hit with modern humans precisely because it mirrors our greatest folly— our nearsightedness?
It's a little vague to me what Ms. Roy is saying here exactly and her comments are definitely not reiterated clearly by Mr. Chomsky. Or are they?
Posted by: ce399 | 14 July 2009 at 21:11