U.S. set up for letdown

America’s election of a black man into the White House may not be as historic as it seems, Noam Chomsky said at the Arlington Street Church Wednesday.

President-elect Barack Obama’s actions since his election night victory bode more of the same, Chomsky told over 500 people crowded into the aisles and balcony of the church.

Chomsky said Obama has already begun to disappoint him following his appointment of Rahm Emmanuel, a well-known Iraq war supporter, as White House Chief of Staff. The fact that Robert Rubin is the leading candidate for Secretary of the Treasury additionally conflicts with Obama’s supposed message of change, Chomsky said. Rubin held the same position under former President Bill Clinton, and Chomsky said he blames Rubin in part for the current economic crisis.

‘Selecting them was like electing Osama Bin Laden to run the war on terror,’ Chomsky said. ‘Most of these people shouldn’t be giving advice on the economy. They should be subpoenaed.’

While the 2008 U.S. election was one for the history books, this display of color-blind democracy in America will not spark the worldwide revolution the public seems to expect, because countries like Haiti and Bolivia have already elected minority leaders, he said. Change must come from the bottom, and it is up to normal, everyday citizens to make sure it happens.

‘Elections are only one part of the process,’ he said. ‘It is up to us to determine what democracy we want.’

Although Chomsky expected a landslide election, the strong grass-roots organization and political indignation of conservatives influenced the American people.

‘Everything the Bush administration touched turn bad,’ Chomsky said. ‘Eighty percent of the population says the country is going the wrong direction, and 94 percent complain that the government doesn’t listen to public will. You would have expected a landslide.’

The election’s historic outcome is a result of decades of social activism by people like him, Chomsky told the Daly Free Press after the event.

‘This happened because something happened 40 years ago,’ Chomsky said.’ The activism in the ’60s civilized the country.

Attendee Jamie Thompson said he had lingering questions after Chomsky’s talk.

‘We live in a fragmented society,’ Thompson said. ‘It would have been nice to see how we can change that. The right has a lot of things they bond over, such as religion and abortion, but with the left, it’s been harder.’

Massachusetts Global Action and Encuentro 5, two local community grassroots organizations, organized the address.

Event organizer Brian O’ Connell, who said he had seen Chomsky speak before, said people have been open to new ideas because of this election.

‘People realize now that it’s social activity and not politicians that create change,’ he said.