In an interview with labor educator and activist Partha Banerjee, Noam Chomsky argued that radicalization of the Republican base has “frightening” implications for the future of American politics.

“The last vote,” he said, referring to the November elections, “was the lowest turnout since 1940, in the middle of [World War II], when people couldn’t vote.”

“Why? Because people understand what is shown in academic political science — that their voices just don’t matter. The opinions of the lowest 70 percent of the population — the lowest on the income scale — are simply disregarded.”