Noam Chomsky Says We Are ‘Approaching Most Dangerous Point’ in History, Slams US for Its ‘Ukraine Focus’

Hueler Andrey/AFP via Getty Images

Influential author and political activist Noam Chomsky sounded the alarm in a new interview declaring we are currently “approaching the most dangerous point in human history.”

In case that wasn’t enough to strike some fear into a few hearts, the 93-year-old added, “We are now facing the prospect of destruction of organized human life on Earth from environmental destruction and not in the remote future. We are approaching irreversible turning, turning points which cannot be dealt with any longer.”

This bleak outlook doesn’t mean “everybody’s going to die,” Chomsky explained, but it is going to mean “moving to a future in which the lucky ones will be those who die more quickly.”

The comments were made by Chomsky during an interview this week with New Statesman, in which the Manufacturing Consent author had very few positive things to say about the state of the world or the current military crisis between Russia and Ukraine.

While Chomsky, whose father was born in Ukraine, denounced Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions as “criminal aggression,” his harshest criticism was saved for the U.S.

Putin is as concerned with democracy as we are. If it’s possible to break out of the propaganda bubble for a few minutes, the US has a long record of undermining and destroying democracy. Do I have to run through it? Iran in 1953, Guatemala in 1954, Chile in 1973, on and on… But we are supposed to now honor and admire Washington’s enormous commitment to sovereignty and democracy. What happened in history doesn’t matter. That’s for other people.

Chomsky said America’s focus on the atrocities in Ukraine is taking focus away from other situations that deserve “moral outrage.”

“It’s certainly right to have moral outrage about Putin’s actions in Ukraine,” he said. “But it would be even more progress to have moral outrage about other horrible atrocities…In Afghanistan, literally millions of people are facing imminent starvation. Why? There’s food in the markets. But people who have little money have to watch their children starve because they can’t go to the market to buy food. Why? Because the United States, with the backing of Britain, has kept Afghanistan’s funds in New York banks and will not release them.”

In a wide-ranging interview, Noam Chomsky, speaks to @georgeeaton about Brexit, the war in Ukraine and the return of Donald Trump. pic.twitter.com/DxFzYcSlBd

— The New Statesman (@NewStatesman) April 6, 2022

The author’s blunt view of the Ukraine crisis is derived from a repeated belief from the self-described “libertarian socialist” that a military confrontation directly involving the U.S. could mean a “death warrant” for the human race.

“What we do know is that Ukraine will be further devastated. And we may move on to terminal nuclear war if we do not pursue the opportunities that exist for a negotiated settlement,” he said.

Before the Ukraine crisis, Chomsky was already ringing the doomsday bells loud and clear, becoming one of the most vocal critics of former President Donald Trump and the Republican Party, which Chomsky openly compared to the Nazis.

“I can remember listening to [Adolf] Hitler’s speeches on the radio. I didn’t understand the words, I was six years old. But I understood the mood. And it was frightening and terrifying. And when you watch one of Trump’s rallies that can’t fail to come to mind. That’s what we’re facing,” he said.

Chomsky recycled his “death warrant” warning when talking up Trump’s “fanaticism” and his party’s “worshipfulness.”

“Because of Trump’s fanaticism, the worshipful base of the Republican Party barely regards climate change as a serious problem,” he declared. “That’s a death warrant to the species.”

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