Postcript: Transcript of Noam Chomsky Interview

Note: This is a postscript to my recent diary entry. You'll find it here!

In this new video interview with Noam Chomsky by DiEM25 TV, the American philosopher, linguist, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist talks about neoliberalism's role in creating the coronavirus pandemic.

I thought I'd give my readers a partial transcript of the interview, too, so they can think for themselves.

The audio was pretty poor due to Chomsky's weak voice.... I don't even want to think about how old he is, now... and how little has changed for the better since he first started speaking.

In this section, he touches on neoliberalism's ineptitude in a crisis. Any crisis, really, but especially this one.

Time stamp 17:11:

"It was known for a long time that pandemics were very likely, and it was understood, very well understood, that they were likely to be a coronavirus -- modification to the SARS epidemic of 15 years ago. 

Labs around the world could be working, right then, for developing protection for potential coronavirus pandemics. Why didn't we do it? The 'market signals' were wrong. The drug companies -- we have handed over our fate to private tyrannies called 'corporations' which are unaccountable to the public; in this case, Big Pharma. For them, making new body creams is more profitable than finding vaccines that can protect people from total destruction." 

(He then explains how the polio vaccine was the result of government intervention by Roosevelt, and  how the patents were made available for free).

"The neoliberal plague has bought them ... We are living under an ideology for which economists have quite a bit of responsibility. This virus pandemic could have been prevented, the information was there... 

It's not outlandish to think that a savage neoliberalism - system - might be reinstalled by self-proclaimed libertarians with a powerful state violence imposing. 

That's one nightmare that might come about, but that's not necessary; there is the possibility that people will organise, become engaged, as many are doing, and bring about a much better world which will also confront the enormous problems that we are facing, right down the road: problems of nuclear war; the problems of environmental catastrophe, from which there is no recovery... 

Once we've gotten to that stage, it's over. And that's not far in the distance, unless we act decisively.

So, it's an incredible moment of human history not just because of the coronavirus, but because It should bring us to awareness of the profound flaws... the deep, dysfunctional characteristics of the whole socioeconomic system. So, this could be a warning sign. 

We have to think about it today in order to keep it from exploding, but we have to think about its roots."

At around the 12:00 time stamp, Chomsky and the interviewer talk about the nurses being described as being on the 'front line' and virus as being 'the enemy'. 

I think one obvious reason why this language is being used is because this virus contained within us. The 'general populace'. We are the virus that the officials are fighting against, trying to contain. I think it's how the politicians see it, at least subconsciously, since a lot of them are in the most at-risk demographic.

Our rights stand in the way of their health. 

It's my take, anyway, at this moment in this ever-changing situation.