Howard Zinn's Analysis

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What role do we have in the deaths of innocents, poverty, and the poor situations we find ourselves in? Throughout this paper, we will see how these issues are related through the lens of Howard Zinn’s writing. In his paper, Zinn criticizes American society’s inability to stand ground against the injustices that the common people face. This lead to our federal government has become too strong and is abusing the power given to it, by engaging in wars, political silencing, and creating laws which are not in the interests of our country's citizens. When asked about the role of the artists, he retorts that artists are special in the sense that they “transcend” (more on his breakdown of “transcend” because of the complexity of his idea). Subsequently, he argues …show more content…
Imagine how that would apply to a individual, or an artist to be precise. What would a transcending artist be? Zinn answers that by stating “The artist thinks, acts, performs music, and writes outside the framework society has created.” (Zinn 2007) This idea signifies art can be used to express ideas that are challenging the status quo and can be a tool in achieving social equality. Therefore, Zinn is inspired by many musicians and poets as they have challenged the status quo, and he also references them in his paper.
The second idea, of being confined to a box stitches well with being transcendent. Being a critical thinker is vital, and if we are not able to express our own voice who will? Are we going to be led on by the media, aristocracy, and bureaucrats? And what will happen to us when the people in charge have more power than ever, leaving the common people defenseless? Answering these questions will help one’s understanding of the issues of today and will help shape the future. This leads to the paradox that our government, known for democracy, equality and justice; is it really standing to those
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