Nuclear War and Environmental Catastrophe
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- 10,99 €
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- 10,99 €
Publisher Description
“There are two problems for our species’ survival—nuclear war and environmental catastrophe, ” says Noam Chomsky in this new book on the two existential threats of our time and their points of intersection since World War II.
While a nuclear strike would require action, environmental catastrophe is partially defined by willful inaction in response to human-induced climate change. Denial of the facts is only half the equation. Other contributing factors include extreme techniques for the extraction of remaining carbon deposits, the elimination of agricultural land for bio-fuel, the construction of dams, and the destruction of forests that are crucial for carbon sequestration.
On the subject of current nuclear tensions, Chomsky revisits the long-established option of a nuclear-weapon-free zone (NWFZ) in the Middle East, a proposal set in motion through a joint Egyptian Iranian General Assembly resolution in 1974.
Intended as a warning, Nuclear War and Environmental Catastrophe is also a reminder that talking about the unspeakable can still be done with humor, with wit and indomitable spirit.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This collection of interviews with revered American linguist, historian, political critic, and activist Chomsky reads at times like a "Chomsky for Beginners" or greatest hits compilation mixed with some fresh insights on current political and economic issues. The book's central problem is its structure, most evident in its misleading title. Though Chomsky sharply critiques America's lack of green tech-nology, blames America for nuclear damage in Iraq, and attacks its arrogant attempt to control the arms race, these are hardly the two central themes of the book. However, the volume is still rich with Chomsky's opinions; he debunks present day hysterias like overblown threats from Iran or aggressive posturing by China. Perhaps the most interesting part of the Q & A format is Polk's constant attempts to bait Chomsky into Republican-specific attacks (the Koch brothers, Santorum, the religious right), a simplistic trap that Chomsky doesn't fall into. As Kennedy gets hit as hard as Nixon, so Obama takes his licks as much as Reagan. In the end, Chomsky argues that environmentalist hopes lay with one of the world's poorest countries, Bolivia which has passed laws granting rights to nature while Amer-ica, the richest, fracks the very ground beneath its feet.