Howard Zinn

Howard Zinn’s July 4 Wisdom Stands the Test of Time

Howard Zinn — Sat, 02 Jul 2016 14:06:42 +0000

Howard Zinn

We need to assert our allegiance to the human race...

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War and Peace

A Just Cause ≠ A Just War

Howard Zinn — Tue, 27 Jan 2015 16:58:25 +0000

Howard Zinn

Howard Zinn died five years ago today. This classic essay on nonviolence is adapted from his speech on May 2, 2009, at The Progressive’s 100th anniversary conference.

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Dissent at the War Memorial

Howard Zinn — Tue, 11 Nov 2014 12:27:13 +0000

Howard Zinn

In honor of Veterans Day 2014, we present from our archive a 2004 essay by Howard Zinn on just and unjust war. He writes, "I am finding that I am not the only veteran of World War II who refuses to be corralled into justifying the wars of today." One decade later, as we await the next perceived security threat––ISIS? Syria?––a former soldier's discomfort with the concept of "the good war" has never been more relevant.

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Militarism

On Memorial Day, Words from the Late Howard Zinn

Howard Zinn — Mon, 26 May 2014 16:50:19 +0000

Howard Zinn

"Let the dead of all our wars be honored. Let the living pledge themselves never to embark on mass slaughter again."

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Howard Zinn on Memorial Day, from Our Archives

Contributor — Mon, 27 May 2013 15:49:13 +0000

Howard Zinn

Another Memorial Day. Another war. Yes, let's honor those who died in the nation's many wars. But if we do not want to keep adding to the soldiers' graves, let's also ask why they died.

We know our political leaders will speak solemnly to the nation while the flags are unfurled and the bugles blow, and they will say, as they always do, "They gave their lives for their country."

And that is supposed to satisfy the families of the dead, supposed to satisfy all of us whose children and grandchildren may be called upon to serve in future wars.

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Put away the flags

The Progressive — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 14:37:35 +0000

Howard Zinn

On this July 4, we would do well to renounce nationalism and all its symbols: its flags, its pledges of allegiance, its anthems, its insistence in song that God must single out America to be blessed.

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Distilled Zinn

Anonymous — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 15:00:35 +0000

Howard Zinn

"Yes, we’re dreamers. We want it all. We want a peaceful world. We want an egalitarian world. We don’t want war. We don’t want capitalism. We want a decent society."

Changing Obama's Mindset

Anonymous — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 18:23:17 +0000

Howard Zinn

Obama has not gotten out of the militaristic missionary mindset. So he has to be pulled by the people who elected him, by the people who are enthusiastic about him, to renounce that mindset.

Untold Truths About the American Revolution

Anonymous — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 18:23:45 +0000

Howard Zinn

The American Revolution was not a simple affair of all of us against all of them. And who actually gained from it? Not the Indians.

Changing Obama's Mindset

Anonymous — Wed, 13 May 2009 18:17:56 +0000

Howard Zinn

Obama has to be pulled in the right direction.

Howard Zinn's Urgent Plea to You

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 18:25:49 +0000

Howard Zinn

I’ll be blunt: The Progressive magazine needs your support.
It’s one of our most important voices, and yet it is facing an acute cash-flow crisis right now.

Howard Zinn Defends Studs Terkel from Red-Baiting in the Times

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 12:58:54 +0000

Howard Zinn

Reading Edward Rothstein’s sour commentary on Studs Terkel in the New York Times on November 2 I was surprised that Rothstein, presumably a sophisticated thinker, seems to believe one can separate one’s political views from a historical narrative, even from oral history.

“It is, in fact, impossible to separate Mr. Terkel’s political vision from the contours of his oral history,” he wrote.

The Obama Difference

Anonymous — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:41:16 +0000

Howard Zinn

It seems that Barack Obama and John McCain are arguing over which war to fight. McCain says: Keep the troops in Iraq until we “win.” Obama says: Withdraw some (not all) troops from Iraq and send them to fight and “win” in Afghanistan.

As someone who has fought in a war (World War II) and since then has protested against war, I must ask: Have our political leaders gone mad? Have they learned nothing from recent history? Have they not learned that no one “wins” in a war, but that hundreds of thousands of human beings die, most of them civilians, many of them children?

Violence Doesn't Work

Contributor — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 17:41:21 +0000

Howard Zinn

The images on television have been heartbreaking. People on fire leaping to their deaths from a hundred stories up. People in panic and fear racing from the scene in clouds of dust and smoke.

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A Just Cause, Not a Just War

Contributor — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 17:34:01 +0000

Howard Zinn

I believe two moral judgments can be made about the present "war": The September 11 attack constitutes a crime against humanity and cannot be justified, and the bombing of Afghanistan is also a crime, which cannot be justified.

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