Howard Zinn Quote

“The election frenzy seizes the country every four years [Zinn argued,]  because we have all been brought up to believe that voting is crucial in determining our destiny, that the most important act a citizen can engage in is to go to the polls and choose one of the two mediocrities who have already been chosen for us.”

    

“And sad to say, the Presidential contest has mesmerized liberals and radicals alike…Would I support one candidate against another [Zinn asked]? Yes [he answered,] for two minutes-the amount of time it takes to pull the lever down in the voting booth.”

“But before and after those two minutes, our time, our energy, should be spent in educating, agitating, organizing our fellow citizens in the workplace, in the neighborhood, in the schools. Our objective should be to build, painstakingly, patiently but energetically, a movement that, when it reaches a certain critical mass, would shake whoever is in the White House, in Congress, into changing national policy on matters of war and social justice.”

   

“Let’s remember that even when there is a "better" candidate, that difference will not mean anything unless the power of the people asserts itself in ways that the occupant of the White House will find it dangerous to ignore….. It won’t mean anything unless it is met with rebellion from below…”