Choosing Between Democracy and Doom
Highly praised by Noam Chomsky as inspiring us to abolish the colossal folly of nuclear weapons, Professor Elaine Scarry proposes how to accomplish that task in her book: Thermonuclear Monarchy.
Elaine Scarry says that Social Contract practice is a tool for preventing injury and overseeing entry into war. She argues that the constitution and bill of rights hold two clauses that can be used to control and disarm nuclear weapons.
The first such clause is the right of Congress to declare war, laid down in Article one, Section 8, Clause 11 of the US constitution. The second provision that can help safeguard nuclear weapons – to everybody’s surprise – is the second amendment protecting the right of the people to keep and bear arms.
This very provocative statement will be explained in this radio program.
Elaine Scarry spoke on January 11, 2015, at the Wellington Ave. Church, Chicago, Illinois. She is Professor of Aesthetics and General Theory of Value at Harvard. Thermonuclear Monarchy is her most recent book.
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