Howard Zinn: A Power Governments Cannot Suppress

Howard Zinn talked about his book A Power Governments Cannot Suppress, published by City Lights Publishers. In this collection of essays he examines the current state of democracy and government responsibility in America and cites examples of when government has overstepped throughout American history. After his presentation he responded to audience members' questions. This national book launch event was held at the Levin Ballroom in Brandeis University's Usdan Center.
1/18/07

[@xplicitmike]

We need Mr. Zinn today more than ever. RIP

[@elcenajeffers8163]

Welcome we are glad to learn about you. RIP

[@chinitowon]

More and more people - myself included - coming to realize that we as a world are getting ready for a new kind of evolution. The teenager that is our collective consciousness is ready to leave the proverbial house and take its place as a mature adult in its own society.

[@Stylenwavin]

Meanwhile 2y later we fight over the dumbest things. But I get you

[@user-mj9lq9vp3w]

​@@Stylenwavinbro, we're so damn close to revolution.

[@cheri238]

​@user-mj9lq9vp3w Revolution with those who walked in our past who are living examples with ideas and moving forward with insights and truths to all humanity.❤

[@LisaHouserman]

Wow I'm learning a ton as of late. Thanks for your channel.

[@bryanthenderson1501]

"WAR IS A RACKET" by Maj. Gen. Smedley D. Butler - FULL Audio Book Smedley Darlington Butler (July 30, 1881 - June 21, 1940) was a United States Marine Corps major general, the highest rank authorized at that time, and at the time of his death the most decorated Marine in U.S. history. During his 34-year career as a Marine, he participated in military actions in the Philippines, China, in Central America and the Caribbean during the Banana Wars, and France in World War I. Butler later became an outspoken critic of U.S. wars and their consequences. He also exposed an alleged plan to overthrow the U.S. government. kzbin.info/www/bejne/aGeyXmWJi8ilrZI

[@jeremyreagan9085]

Thank you I tell everyone about that book.

[@cheri238]

I have also shared about Smedley Butler's "War is a Racket" to others, and we now have several independent journalists who have written books on this subject. Amy Goodman and team Democracy Now have had them on.

[@SpaceRanger9840]

The human heart never changes. Which is why everything in history is cyclical

[@jaketan5172]

Democracy is a direction and not the solution. The more critics of democracy, the more it becomes refined. The more constructive the criticism, the more it demands of the intellect. The more intellect, the lesser humane. Balancing is the most challenging. Perfect balance is an ideal and those who want it are somewhat perfectionists.

[@unit-0-]

51:30, Mr. Zinn would be shocked as to how far out of control this has gotten... but probably not. Still...

[@barbarian1111]

How bout now? 😢

[@cheri238]

Cornel West for president 2024.

[@lukasoc1518]

His giggle reminds me of the giggle of Echart Tolle. 🙂

[@Achrononmaster]

Anyone new to this talk years later? Zinn is fantastic on history. Just note one thing Zinn gets horribly wrong: he always mentions taxes "pay for" Federal spending. But he has that completely the wrong way around. We (the people) do not need taxes to fund government, the government (USA, Japan, UK, Aussie, Canada... most of them outside the EU) are monopoly currency issuers. So they create money when they spend by marking up bank accounts of civil servants, pensioners, welfare recipients, contractors and government suppliers. Until we hit full employment and then inflationary pressures from additional fiscal injection there is no need for tax to be collected as a "pay for". Taxes serve a completely different purpose: they create demand for the currency (which is otherwise worthless, being fiat, i.e., just digital information) and limit inflation, as well as having some redistribution effects if the tax code is structured well in combination with public purpose spending. We should say taxes legitimate or validate government spending, but they do not fund the spending. A movie theatre box office hands out tickets first then collects them! Same with government currency. The residual of spending less tax receipts is called the government deficit, and this needs to be positive if there are net savers in the private sector, a positive government deficit is the net flow of money INTO the economy, it is a good thing on balance! Otherwise, if government taxes out more than it spends in (called a government surplus) we will have unemployment (people looking to earn the currency) and/or increasing household indebtedness to the banksters. After all, a growing population with moderate inflation must have a growing money supply, otherwise the state is deliberately creating unemployment and austerity. (Government surplus = private sector deficit) & (Government deficit = private sector surplus). Which way around do you prefer this balance? Raising taxes as a (false) "pay for" gets it the wrong way around. If you want progressive social policy you first increase public purpose spending, not taxes, in fact you would cut FICA and VAT taxes because they are higher regressive. This will not "bankrupt" the government. The monopoly currency issuer cannot ever be bankrupted. The government debt (accumulated deficit over all history) could be effectively infinite (i.e., beyond the account spreadsheet numerical display limit) and the government will still be able to issue as money as is needed to incentivise public sector work, provided it still can create demand via taxation or some other coercive or (ideally) voluntary means. The point of my rant being that we never need to raise taxes to "afford" universal health care, or a decent public school system, or a job guarantee, or decent pensions, the taxes are not the funding at the Federal level. Taxes only fund a _currency user_ who levies taxes or fees, like a local State or municipality, not a currency issuer. The way macroeconomics works at the Federal level is that taxes will automatically remove money from circulation when taxable business activity increases. So, say if universal public funded healthcare increases sales due to drastically lowering business costs and putting more money into household pockets for spending, then business activity could boom, but that will always lead to higher tax receipts _with no legislative change needed to the tax code._ Most tax is percentage based, and so is an automatic stabilizer against inflation. Provided the tax code is progressive (higher percentage rate for higher spending) then generally no raising of taxes is ever needed to quell inflation. Inflation will always level off at some stage of a boom with a decent steep progressive tax structure, without sacrificing employment.

[@NellielsHusband]

Thanks. Your paragraphs did not go unnoticed 🫡

[@3hijos5nietos]

👍

Had Cnn, msnbc, fox news etc ever had Mr Zinn on ?

[@russelmurray9268]

There's no volume

[@rickhall517930]

Howard Zinn hasn't written a single page of history that doesn't need corrected.

[@dmfc593]

"In the 1930's we got Social Security..." It is not a coincidence that the rise in individual "welfare" coincides with the rise in Aggregate Demand Keynesian economics. Mr. Zinn misconstrues the purpose of these individual welfare programs. They have always been designed to keep the demand for corporate products high. Individual welfare IS corporate welfare.

[@jukee67]

Absolutely correct...In 2021 it is even more true.

[@Pure_Malevolence]

Vinnie Paz brought me here..

[@NellielsHusband]

Same here. Rock on buddy.

[@BAFREMAUXSOORMALLY]

One hundred million "BOOKS" are being published all throughout the world, what has been accomplished in the domain of ACTION? Nothing worth talking about! BOOKS ARE USELESS!! BAFS

[@BAFREMAUXSOORMALLY]

And I am a genius and a Prophet!

[@otto8049]

Books are useless? Yeah if you've never read them.

[@BAFREMAUXSOORMALLY]

@@otto8049 We, peasants, never have time to write or read books because we work very hard to feed the town parasites to make GMOs to poison the world while they enjoy themselves in their yachts and private planes and islands!! The Bible has proved useless! Mein Kampf? BAFS

[@cheri238]

Books are very important. Which one does one read? I have been reading books of various kinds since I was 5 years old, and it wasn't "Heidi."