You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train: A Personal History of Our Times by Howard Zinn

You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train: A Personal History of Our Times Reviews

• 
  Nomy

  this was the book that politicized my mom when she was in her forties. i had been a rebellious, critical kid for many years, and she had been a busy, tired middle school teacher and mom. she read this book and got all excited, she made my brother, who was in high school, read it too and discuss it with her. she went on to start teaching from "a people's history," started going to anti-racist activist gatherings and workshops, organizing diversity trainings for her school, housing books-to-prisoners in her basement, and otherwise just trying to be an active participant in the world that she wants to see created. hurray for howard zinn.
• 
  Kevin

  Here I go again, under-rating Zinn…
  
  Dear Future self,
  
  So, you have come back full of regret and are now proceeding to upgrade your original rating for yet another Zinn book. How predictable.
  
  Here were your original reasons why you chose to under-rate Zinn yet again:
  
  1) When I first came across Zinn, I had already gone through
  Noam Chomsky on US foreign policy/media propaganda and was in the midst of unpacking debates between
  Chris Hedges and
  Christopher Hitchens on US wars/religion, so while
  A People's History of the United States was impactful in its unique ways of engaging with history, the Zinn train seemed to have passed in a sense.
  2) I was also moving on to seek works that came directly from more diverse sources (geographic and social positioning), rather than having it filtered through the lens of the US academic Left (even if their objective was to be critical).
  3) Lastly, I was looking for analyses to detail and unpack real-world capitalism (i.e. political economy).
  
  The Good:
  --So, why return to Zinn?
  1) Accessible: I support a diversity of outreach styles, but there’s no question Zinn’s “A People’s History” style is a prominent one. No textbook remoteness/“objectivity” (which is still biased of course), resulting in the stereotypical boring history. All on-the-grounds, visceral substance, with the important idea that much of history is created not by singular events and singular great men, but by a groundswell of people power.
  
  2) Examples of change: what better place to start than Zinn’s personal story of starting as a gullible jock who became a US bombardier in WWII to “fight fascism” and then having this myth fall apart and ending up as an anti-empire history teacher?
  …Zinn’s first-hand accounts of the Civil Rights movement (esp. SNCC) is another major component. Interesting reflections change, like on how self-interest can bring openings, like the financial gain of integrating sports terms or the political gain from black votes after the Voting Rights Act. This of course needs to be combined with political economy.
  
  The Missing:
  --As suggested above, direct accounts from a diversity of social positions, and compilations filtered by those outside of Western/Global North/US academia. If we were to stay with the US,
  Gerald Horne is a historian I'd like to explore more:
  https://youtu.be/gAHHtVUIHtE
  --More theory on structures, esp. political economy (favorite intro:
  Talking to My Daughter About the Economy: or, How Capitalism Works - and How It Fails), as well as synthesizing this with “A People’s History”. 2 books jump out here, although I still have to unpack discussions on their historical methods:
  Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation and
  A People's History of the World.
  --All the above have for me culminated in a group of Indian Marxists (the English language does play a role too), especially:
  Vijay Prashad,
  Utsa Patnaik,
  Prabhat Patnaik,
  Amiya Kumar Bagchi (
  Perilous Passage: Mankind and the Global Ascendancy of Capital).
• 
  Tom

  In You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train, Howard Zinn elaborates on the experiences that formed his political views and informed his commitment to civil disobedience, and the challenges he inevitably faced in opposing the ills of American society. Not knowing much about him outside of his being a go-to boogeyman of right-wing internet users, it was fascinating to read of his involvement in the 1954-1968 civil rights movement, which added another layer to the picture I have of it courtesy of Taylor Branch's brilliant
  America in the King Years series. I didn't always agree with or understand everything he said (how, for example, can someone who fought in WWII question whether any good can come of war?) but his forthrightness and passion is palpable throughout. I'd recommend this book to anyone who wants to get a feel for who Howard Zinn was, whether you subscribe to his politics or not.
• 
  Antonis

  I had never thought I'd love an autobiographical non-fiction book, but half the time I was reading this one I was crying or laughing (or both), moved by the many inspiring "little acts" of courage and civil disobedience. It is a true injection of optimism.
• 
  John Gonzalez

  It's been years since I had read this book and it is shameful that one forgets any of it. This is the book that probably captures the essence of Howard Zinn as my intellectual hero.
  
  More than an academic, Howard Zinn was the type of person that never forgot the struggle of growing up poor. He never forgot the challenges, the strife, and never lost the compassion for others even as his fortunes improved. A former bombardier, Zinn arrived at the notion that war was just a way to brutalize all those involved to justify the atrocities commuted by both sides. It ultimately solved little despite moral justifications. And without maligning the soldiers that fought in it, Zinn simply kept asking the question of how it could eliminated. Rather than any bitterness, Zinn is the most hopeful of any of the historians and social-issues writers. He sees hope in the most minute human demonstrations of compassion. He seems small improvements even as change has to break through endless resistance and often leave those seeking it bloodied and beaten. Mostly, I admire Zinn because he cared about people, their right to happiness, education, health, fulfillment. He cared about the people without lobbyists, profit sheets, exploitable natural resources. In today's world that's somewhat radical notion; a socialist notion, I suppose. Howard Zinn reminds us to turn the tables and think of it as a human notion and responsibility.
  
  "Revolutionary change does not come as one cataclysmic moment (beware of such moments!) but as an endless succession of surprises, moving zig-zag towards a more decent society.
  
  We don't have to engage in grand, heroic actions to participate in the process of change. Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world" (p. 208).
• 
  Brad

  This is an absolutely inspiring piece of writing. I am not often filled with hope. Hell, I rarely have even a millilitre or two of hope in my measuring cup, but Howard Zinn poured a little hope into my heart with his personal story. Our world is a little darker without him in it, and soon we will be without his friend, Noam Chomsky. But we will always have Zinn's actions and words to hearten us. If you are reading reviews to decide whether or not to read this book take my advice: do.
• 
  Ai Miller

  First off, I received this book through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program, and I'm grateful to the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.
  
  This is a really good little memoir; if you've read others by activists like Zinn (Rebecca Solnit's Hope in the Dark, for example, or the memoir by Staughton and Alice Lynd,) you basically know what you're getting into, but it's still really solid and I think probably important for a lot of folks to read right now (hence, in some ways, the reason for the reissue.) Zinn comes across as both kind of soft and clearly self-ware, and some of the things he says here are really beautiful. There are things I would have liked more out of the book, but I can't exactly demand them here, and I admittedly haven't read his other works. Overall though I really enjoyed this, it's a really fast read, and I encourage folks interested in hearing his insights to read it!
• 
  Moira McPartlin

  I have a new hero! I read Howard Zinn's Just War a short time ago and was looking forward to reading this memoir. It tells of his time teaching black kids during the civil rights movement in the States and his part in furthering that cause. He then moves to teach in Boston and the timescale reaches the Vietnam War and again he describes his participation in the anti war movement. But he also explains his humble beginnings and why he fights for justice and human rights. His belief in human compassion and the power of individuals to make a difference is inspiring. The last chapter is about hope and the last page is so perfect in it's summing up I almost cried. I would urge anyone interested in politics to read this book.
  
• 
  Okan

  Zinn's is a very interesting life, I doubt if you can actually go through such a variety of experiences within the span of just one lifetime these days -from a poverty-ridden childhood to shipfitting, from that to being a bombardier in the WWII, from that to grad school and academic life, from that to civil rights activism in the American South and peace activism in the anti-Vietnam-War movement etc. etc. The storytelling around these moments was good and the book is full of sweet-sensuous anecdotes as well as inspirational events and personalities (my favorite being the priest with whom Zinn went to Vietnam for the return of three American POWs); but on the whole I found Zinn's optimism a little simplistic and his MO consisting of speeches, demonstrations, books, articles, picket lines and courtroom testimonials (at the end of which the public awakens and pressures/arguments become unbearable for the personalities of power) a bit difficult to relate to -almost irrelevant to the times and places I've grown and lived in.
• 
  Miquixote

  What an inspiring read. What a courageous man. An easy read of the life of the author of the legendary 'People's History of the United States'. Zinn, the academic caters to the general population in this work and succeeds in doing so.
• 
  Raquel

  If my mind were malleable and uncritical, I would have come away with a dangerous set of situational ethics and relative morals. But it's not, so I learned the author is a fool.
• 
  Larry Bassett

  Howard Zinn was a teacher for much of his life and he came in personal contact with a lot of students and people because of that. But he also grew up and lived for sometime in most difficult circumstances with limited resources. In someways he is a person who pulled himself up by his bootstraps. And yet he is also a person who would vehemently decline to support the idea that anyone in this country could do just as he has done.
  
  This is a story of the life of Howard Zinn through the early 1990s. But it is not just a recitation of the events in his life but of his awareness about how social change and community organizing can be successfully undertaken. He is a firm believer in the power of small actions, the accumulation of small things that sometimes surprisingly turn into big things unexpectedly.
  
  If you are a person who works for or desires social change in any aspect of life in this country and in this world you might well find yourself motivated in your activities by the story of Howard Zinn because he is an optimist and he has a wealth of experience to share.
  
  The fact that this book ends in the early 1990s is a deficit in the book. But the fact that it was finally recorded in the audible format in 2017 is a benefit to us all.
• 
  ben

  I am still a huge fan of Zinn. His writing is humble but so smart. He inspires me to do more, be more, and live bigger.
• 
  Mary

  Zinn's message rings just as true today as it did in 1993 when it was published. READ IT.
• 
  Elizabeth Lapp

  I found this interesting to see how far we have come, but how far we still need to go.
• 
  Bia

  Leiam!Leiam!Leiam!
  
  Um sopro de esperança em tempos sombrios
• 
  Rachel

  The more I learn about Zinn the more respect I have for him. This memoir highlights just some of his incredible life and I would definitely recommend to anyone looking to start understanding Zinn. Really interesting to hear about these events from his own perspective after learning about his role throughout them.
• 
  Sarah Y

  dang what a life... every story in this book blew my mind and i hope to have a teacher like him one day R.I.P
• 
  Haley Afable

  neat guy 👍
• 
  India Alfonso

  A succinct yet powerful book. It’s hard to believe how many lives Zinn lived - from army man in WWII to civil rights activist to teacher to anti-war demonstrator to expert in civil disobedience. There were a few moments and ideas that I wished he had dug into a little deeper, and at times his writing style didn’t really work for me. All in all though, it was fascinating to read about his life and learn how he remained optimistic for the future despite troubling times
• 
  Shirin A.

  What could I ever say about this book that would live up to its greatness? Not much.
  
  This is a testament to the urgent, relevant nature of Howard Zinn's work and the necessity for hope, always.
• 
  Adam

  Undoubtedly one of the most powerful books I've read.
  
  My first introduction to Zinn came at the great expense, and weight, of A People's History. While I didn't have the tenacity to make my way all the way through, the idea of an alternative history book really peaked my interest in its author.
  
  Upon my brother's return from a semester at Morehouse College, where he spent most of his time in classes at Spelman College, he eagerly dropped Zinn's memoir into my lap, insisting I take it with me to school. I couldn't be more glad he did.
  
  "You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train" reflects on the positions Zinn held throughout his career, the choices that drove him to those positions and the challenges he faced, and posed, in each. In a similar light as Derrick Bell's, "Confronting Authority," Zinn eloquently and accessibly lays out his ideals in confrontations with those who stood in his way or actively disagreed with his pursuit of a true justice.
  
  Much of what I find most inspiring about Zinn is not any particular ideology he holds but rather the process through which he encouraged his students to find their own path. He believed strongly in critical pedagogy, recognizing that individuals can come to their own conclusions but that in order for the educational experience to be comprehensive, it inevitably requires questioning and critical thinking, not rote memorization and passive acceptance of a world-as-is.
  
  So much of what I read in Zinn is what I hear coming from my brother's struggles and I feel fortunate to have such a guiding and challenging force in my life. One that asks the questions of me that force me to ask further questions of myself and the world in which I exist. For if there's one take away that resonates most with me, it is not that the goal is any particular answer but but rather finding the questions that can lead us towards an ever expanding series of answers that define the path of justice.
• 
  Ilya Ilyich Oblomov

  At a 1992 Kalamazoo talk, someone asked Howard Zinn, “What gives you hope?” The question frames this book. Why optimism? Why now?
  It’s the people, Zinn says.
  
  It’s the communist shipbuilders Zinn labored with in WWII dockyards, who after hellish days hauling, hammering, and welding in the bellies of battleships, would pass out Marxist literature and help organize “unskilled” laborers into unions. It’s the black girls at Spelman College who, risking their spots at the university, challenged a conservative president on his reactionary bullshit, joined SNCC, and marched across the South to tear down Jim Crow. It’s a young John Lewis Zinn watched being beaten, beaten, beaten, and then rising to march again.
  
  It’s the professors Zinn taught with at Boston University who marched with their students against the Vietnam War, spiting the conservative college president and walking away from easy tenure. It’s Father Berrigan, the Catholic priest who spoke against the Vietnam War when his Church wouldn’t; who commiserated with all humans, not just those backed by the US Army, and thus had no problem travelling with Zinn to meet the Viet Cong and bring back prisoners; Dan Berrigan who broke into an army office and burned draft cards, protesting a draft that preyed on the poor to uphold a façade for the powerful; who hid from the FBI from years, was eventually tried for arson, and when released, took up the cause of peace once again.
  
  It’s Zinn’s parents who raised him in tenements, ground down their bodies working any job they could find, and spent their last pennies buying Zinn the collected works of Dickens, whom Zinn would read to understand his own experience.
  
  It’s us, if we’re bold enough.
  
• 
  Vaishak

  Howard Zinn’s inspirational memoir is one of a kind. It traces a few anecdotes from his life’s events, but its principal thrust comes from telling the stories of extraordinary people doing extraordinary things, Howard Zinn among them. The people are extraordinary in the sense that they are ordinary people challenging the status quo, challenging oppression, putting themselves up for sacrifice for our common good.
  
  Howard Zinn has been called many things: from being a radical to be a troublemaker, but I think in the end all he wanted was to be a good human being. This took him from participating in early civil rights efforts in the deep south to giving talks about justice and democracy in Boston and everywhere else. This memoir jots a few of the seminal events of his time, while bringing out the very many people playing small roles, but then, precisely because they went against what existed, big roles. More importantly, this memoir is a story of hope, of how we can achieve an understanding of the people around us: white, brown, black, and of every other color by simply speaking up, by simply questioning the injustice that plagues the modern age. Zinn argues if history is any evidence of how things will turn out, there are then countless stories of cruetly but also of compassion and sacrifice, and by emphasizing the kind sides of human beings, we can go a long way to a peaceful and worthwhile existence. “You can’t be neutral on a moving train” is a remark by Zinn to warn us that acting and acting now, is of the fundamental importance.
• 
  Jamie

  I received this updated version of Howard Zinn's memoir/autobiography. I knew who Zinn was, of course, and what he had written, but hadn't myself read anything of his yet. In these tumultuous times, reading is an escape, so I haven't been reading much like this. I decided to give this book a try because his purpose for writing it was to show how movements can create change, and to give hope. I learned a lot from Zinn's book - specifics of movements I knew about in general. His history is fascinating, and just as I had hoped, it is hope-infusing. Important history to read and know about, and a perfect read in these scary times if you need some hope.
• 
  Graham

  An entertaining, easy read. Zinn was a great writer and thinker and I personally think that anybody who lives in the US should have to read his "People's History Of The United States." In this, his memoir, the reader is offered a glimpse of the forces that shaped his thinking. It's nothing too earth-shaking, certainly lacking much of the insight for which he's better known, and can occasionally seem self-congratulatory. But it's worth reading either as an introduction to the man himself or as a supplement to his more thoroughly-researched work.
• 
  Nancy Ross

  I keep meaning to read A People's History of the United States, but this came up on Overdrive so I went for it. Nicely narrated by David Strathairn. Zinn was a thoroughly admirable man, who lived his principles and was always on the right side of every struggle. I wish he were still alive.