The future of the world depends on the elections in the US and Brazil, warns Noam Chomsky

“Imperialism is unjust, class warfare is unjust, and yet that is the current structure of the world. The rich in rich countries have gotten rich by destroying their own environment and now they want everyone else to pay for it. That is the class war”, warned this weekend the American linguist, philosopher and political scientist Noam Chomskyin conversation with the novelist Pedro Miguel, as part of the edition XXII of the International Book Fair of Mexico Citywhich occupies the Zócalo of the capital until October 16.

During his participation, carried out virtually and broadcast on the fair’s screens, the person designated as “the most important of modern thinkers” declared that “it is not surprising that the United States devastated Central America, especially in the 1980s, and now he wants to prevent people fleeing from the catastrophe that this same country caused from entering his territory. And he is trying to use Mexico to help prevent this migration.”

In Europe, he added, the conditions are not very different and even worse. “For centuries, Europe devastated Africa and now that people are trying to flee the catastrophe, Europeans are making sure that migrants drown in the Mediterranean.”

What is at stake

“In Mexico they are very right to be concerned with the deterioration of the institutions in the United States and of the social order as a whole,” he said later. “There are traditionally two political parties in the United States, although it would be more accurate to describe it as a one-party system, which is the party of business, with two factions”

In Mexico, he pointed out, “there are also large corporations with megaprojects that are destroying indigenous populations and their way of life. Other countries, like Argentina, that took serious steps to counteract this process, are now bankrupt. In Colombia there was a very important election, but the result is now under attack by international investors and by the wealthy Colombians themselves.” In Brazil, on the other hand, there is uncertainty.

In Latin America, the philosopher observed, the elites, mostly white, have no commitment to the development of their population. He warned that if this problem is not overcome in the region, it will be “very difficult” to break the dominance of wealthy people and foreign investors, “with the United States at the center.”

For the above, Chomsky considered this as a “dual problem”: on the one hand, the regime of extreme inequality in the United States, in a confrontation of classes, and, on the other, that of poverty in Latin America. The impact of the upcoming elections in Brazil (the second round between Jair Bolsonaro and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva) and the United States (the intermediate ones) could determine the survival of the human species, “and it is not an exaggeration.”

He explained that the Republican Party in USA is “one hundred percent denier. They do not believe in global warming at all, they block all measures to mitigate carbon emissions. In Brazil, on the other hand, the main interest of the next elections is the fate of the Amazon. It is substantiated that, if it continues as it is now, the deterioration of the Amazon will be irreversible. It is one of the main sinks of carbon in the world and, if it continues like this, it could become a main producer of carbon, which threatens our survival. The Bolsonaro regime, like the Republican Party in the United States, seems determined to destroy the Amazon if it produces profits for extractive industries. A few more years of Bolsonaro in Brazil and Republicans in the US may take the world past the point of no return. What is played is a lot”.

Secondly, Noam Chomsky was consulted by Peter Michael about the situation observed in Europe, where, the philosopher estimated, the use of fossil fuels is also being maximized contrary to international agreements. The problem in this region, he said, is that Russia and Western Europe have been natural allies: while Europe has industry and a large economy, Russia has vast natural resources and a rich scientific background. Therefore, he warned that if the alliance between the two is broken, Europe will decline.

“The United States naturally wants to break this alliance. It is an intention that has been brewing for a long time, since the Cold War (…) but Putin, in his criminal stupidity, pushed Europe into the pocket of the United States ”.

Should we give up?

Finally, Chomsky He said: “instead of seizing this opportunity, we are wasting it by doing the exact opposite: relying more on fossil fuels when we should be ending them (…) it is the task of anyone who is committed to human rights to end this unjust system” .

“Is there a future for a better outlook or should we resign ourselves to this terrible scenario?” Pedro Miguel asked him.

Chomsky he reasoned that there is a way forward. “There has been a continuous history of courageous struggles and resistance (…) we see them in all parts of the world, in Chiapas, in Mexico; in Brazil, in West Bengal, in Lebanon. We see people who are in the worst conditions still fighting valiantly to defend their dignity. That is the path to the future of humanity.”

ricardo.quiroga@eleconomista.mx

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