October 26, 2003

Howard Zinn

AOn Confronting Government Lies@ ^(a)

ASmall acts become large social movements. If an idea takes hold in a population, it may become indestructible.@

AThose in power can induce people temporarily to support a war or even oppress others, but I don=t think that is the natural inclination of people. I think there is a natural desire to live in peace, to believe in the equality of people, to believe that people in other countries are as important as people here, that the lives of children in other countries are as important as the lives of children here. I think that=s a natural feeling.@

AI know that there are people who talk about original sin and say that human nature is tainted, violent and aggressive. But I like what the writer Kurt Vonnegut said, AI believe in original virtue.@

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^(a) Howard Zinn, Professor Emeritus at Boston University, Speech at the General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association, Boston, MA, 2003.