Noam Chomsky on the rich and powerful

Noam Chomsky on the rich and powerful People :

“It is pretty ironic that the so-called ‘least advanced’ people are the ones taking the lead in trying to protect all of us, while the richest and most powerful among us are the ones who are trying to drive the society to destruction”

— Noam Chomsky

Read this Quote in Bengali

Know Source and Context of this Quote :

Noam Chomsky, criticizing Canada's shale gas energy project, said that the exploitation of Canada's tar sands and shale gas will have dire consequences for the environment. Rushing to exploit these resources will destroy the environment.

In an interview with Martin Lukacs, a journalist for the American newspaper ‘The Guardian’, on Friday, November 1, 2013, he strongly criticized the energy policy of the Canadian government under Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, saying: “It means taking every drop of hydrocarbon out of the ground, whether it's shale gas in New Brunswick or tar sands in Alberta and trying to destroy the environment as fast as possible, with barely a question raised about what the world will look like as a result.”

It is noteworthy that in this interview he mentioned that Canada's indigenous peoples are supposed to lead the fight against climate change. Chomsky highlighted the opposition of the indigenous people of Alberta and said that the Canadian government is trying to expand this project widely despite international criticism and strong protests from the residents there. Thus, in the context of the efforts of Canadian indigenous peoples to save the environment and the role of the Canadian government in the pursuit of corporate profits, Noam Chomsky said in this interview —

“It is pretty ironic that the so-called 'least advanced' people are the ones taking the lead in trying to protect all of us, while the richest and most powerful among us are the ones who are trying to drive the society to destruction”

He expressed concern about an indigenous community in New Brunswick, which he said was attacked a week ago by heavily armed Canadian police forces for blocking shale gas exploration.

The protests came at the beginning of the indigenous-led Idle No More movement, which began in late 2012 in response to the Harper government’s rollback of numerous environmental protections and often aggressive promotion of resource projects on indigenous lands.

At the time (a week before this interview) Chomsky was giving a speech in Montreal to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Canadian Dimension magazine.

He told the Guardian that progressives "should work climate change into their efforts to organise", but in a way that emphasizes how tackling climate change can improve people's lives rather than make them worse. There, he said, “If it's a prophecy of doom, it will act as a dampener, and people's reaction will be ok, I'll enjoy myself for a couple of years while there's still a chance. But as a call to action, it can be energising. Like, do you want your children, and grandchildren, to have a decent life?”

While supporting the principles of the ‘degrowth’ movement aimed at curbing overproduction and overconsumption, Chomsky cited public transportation, local agriculture and improvements in energy efficiency as effective forms of growth that could mitigate climate change and improve living standards.

Chomsky says that a ‘major issue’ behind climate change is the failure of the market system. In the case of the environment, there is no one to protect it.”

------------xx---------