Howard Zinn: RIP

[RobinFinderson]

Howard Zinn, may he rest in peace.

I mostly know him from his People's History of the United States, a view of American History that examined the American experience through the eyes of common people. It is a startlingly leftist book that outlines the heap of injustices on which so much of American privilege in the world is derived. He tells the stories of workers and slaves and poor women and children. Where most history books outline the stories of war and the choices of a highly privileged few, Zinn's history demonstrated how those wars and choices shook through the people's lives, rattling them and chattering their teeth till they bit their tongues and lay face down in the shallow surf. It is a dark and beautiful argument for liberalism, one that grounds its case in the ripped lives of abused people, as if to say, "for us to be the beneficiaries of so much suffering can not go forgotten."

Howard Zinn, friend of Bruce Springsteen (his People's History inspired Nebraska), died the same day Apple revealed the iPod and Obama gave his state of the union address. With symbolism like that, it's got me thinking that maybe there is a God in the cosmos. Well if there is a God, I think He would like us to read Howard Zinn.

[myboynoah]

So, common people = people so ripped and abused that their chattering teeth bite through their tongues and they are left to lay down in the shallow surf.

I think not.

[Colly Wolly]

I dance on his grave.

[Moliere]

“I’ve been searching hard for a highlight,” he wrote, adding that he wasn’t disappointed because he never expected a lot from President Obama.

“I think people are dazzled by Obama’s rhetoric, and that people ought to begin to understand that Obama is going to be a mediocre president — which means, in our time, a dangerous president — unless there is some national movement to push him in a better direction.”

That's an interesting write up. I did cherry pick the above quote. It's also interesting that he fought in WWII but feels a bit ashamed about it. Sometimes war is necessary since there are truly evil people in the world, however most times it is not.

I would opine that it's people like Howard Zinn that help keep our nation in balance. We need both sides with most people in the middle. I've never read anything from him but I might give it a try.

[Katy Lied]

chattering their teeth till they bit their tongues and lay face down in the shallow surf

Reminds me of that scene in Michener's Hawaii where the white man introduces measles to the genetically defenseless natives and in their fever-induced delirium, they lay down in the surf to cool their fevered bodies.

That also reminds me, you white bastards blackbirded my ancestors and enslaved them in the fields and now I want reparations. I'll take a check for six cents from each of y'all, or a gov'ment payment for $30,000, thank you. I'm sure Landpoke's folks were mixed up in all this back when.

[landpoke]

Reminds me of that scene in Michener's Hawaii where the white man introduces measles to the genetically defenseless natives and in their fever-induced delirium, they lay down in the surf to cool their fevered bodies.



That also reminds me, you white bastards blackbirded my ancestors and enslaved them in the fields and now I want reparations. I'll take a check for six cents from each of y'all, or a gov'ment payment for $30,000, thank you. I'm sure Landpoke's folks were mixed up in all this back when.

I'm trying to come up with a quip here that is merely inappropriate and not wildly inappropriate and am coming up short. Truth be told I suspect some of my forebearers may well have been slave owners. Mom's mom was from an old virginia family. They owned a place that had a classical greek name. The dots are there but I've never taken the time to seriously connect them.

Laying in the warm hawaiian surf does sound nice right now though.

[I.J. Reilly]

I'm trying to come up with a quip here that is merely inappropriate and not wildly inappropriate and am coming up short. Truth be told I suspect some of my forebearers may well have been slave owners. Mom's mom was from an old virginia family. They owned a place that had a classical greek name. The dots are there but I've never taken the time to seriously connect them.

Laying in the warm hawaiian surf does sound nice right now though.

If you would only take a moment to find your way over to the closest Mormon genealogical center, I'm sure there are some nice old ladies there who would be more than happy to fill you in on your slave-owning history.