Actor Wallace Shawn reads the speech of historian Howard Zinn given at Johns Hopkins University on Civil Disobedience, November 1970. Part of a reading from Voices of a People’s History of the United States (Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove,) May 2, 2007 in New York, NY.
Duration : 0:9:14
[youtube gGCLHBSzqLw]
I love Wally Shawn! …
I love Wally Shawn! Thanks for posting.
What about doing …
What about doing something about the mass murdring totalitarian politicians in North Vietname? If there was a Communist regime here, all these protestors would be in the Gulag or worse.
It sucks Jorisman.
It sucks Jorisman.
It sucks, eugh ..
It sucks, eugh ..
why wood you put …
why wood you put this on
Thanks for the …
Thanks for the reply. As you can tell, I’m no fan of Zinn, possibly because my definitions of “racism, sexism, militarism etc.” are different from his. I think he and most Leftists take a sledgehammer to the meaning of words. Since the weapons of our ideological battles are words, the Left feels a need to control the language and hijack the debate. In other words, it’s pointless arguing with them because they continually move the goal posts. Thanks.
I think you …
I think you misunderstood his point. He meant that (most) Americans can look at Hitler’s regime and correctly judge it as evil and so we may believe that we would disobey him unlike those who went along with it and felt powerless to do anything about it or maybe even called themselves “realists.” But when we see another form of institutionalized injustice (racism, sexism, militarism, etc.) in our home, a lot of us aren’t so courageous after all. We see how difficult it actually is to disobey.
dannehboii , i’m …
dannehboii , i’m sorry , but i’ve you’re an emptyheaded fool that’s how you will judge the great howard zinn ( oh yes , and a cold reptile
too )
dannehboii , i’m …
dannehboii , i’m sorry , but i’ve you’re an emptyheaded fool that’s how you will judge the great howard zinn ( oh yes , and a cold reptile
too )
It’s a bit sad that …
It’s a bit sad that he’s associated with that great role he played. He’s got a lot more to him. I didn’t know that until recently, when I looked him up and found out he’d written all these plays and co-wrote My Dinner with Andre.
Great speech!
Great speech!
what a load of wank
what a load of wank
In America, people …
In America, people who protest the gov’t through civil disobedience are hailed as heroes. They get coveted university positions. They get book and movie deals. They win awards. Ghandi was able to BE “Ghandi” because he was civilly disobedient in a civil society. The Nazis tortured and murdered such people, along with their families. Yet Zinn compares Americans who obey U.S. law to Germans who lived in fear of Hitler. Zinn–servant to evil– was obedient to The Viet Cong and Pol Pot.
Smokin’!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Smokin’!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can listen to …
I can listen to this without thinking of Princess Bride
I challenge you to a battle of wits.
For the princess?… To the Death?…. I accept.
some beautiful …
some beautiful points
inconceivable
inconceivable
Wallace Shawn is …
Wallace Shawn is brilliant just for having co-authored “My dinner with Andre”, directed by Louis Malle. See that movie!
Great to see him reading Howard Zinn’s 1970 speech!
good speech, but …
good speech, but couldn’t they have gotten someone who didn’t have a really annoying voice to give it?
haha j/k
great!
great!
Suegold, yes I …
Suegold, yes I agree.
Amazing speech – it …
Amazing speech – it parallels our situation in Iraq perfectly and it was originally given in 1970.