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May. 14 2009 - 11:41 am | 416 views | 1 recommendation | 0comments

Chomsky on education, South America, andPakistanBy ALLISON KILKENNY

Citizen Radio recently interviewed Noam Chomsky. You can

listen to the full interview here.

As promised, here is the full transcript. Feel free to repost and sample as

desired, but please credit Citizen Radio for the interview.

Citizen Radio opened the interview by discussing the tea-bagger

phenomenon and popular anger at the government.
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Kilstein: [If Barack Obama is] neutral and doesnt do anything radical, so

lets say by the next election, we dont have universal health care, or were not

out of the slump. Do you think that this was kind of our chance, and do you

think that if things are, lets say, the same stagnate that [Republicans will]

just be able to use that and completely

Chomsky: Well, I think if people are still feeling I mean they have a very

good reason to feel that somethings wrong. Theres a reason why 80% of the

country thinks its going the wrong way. Its been the worst period of economic

history.

Kilkenny: But its just misdirected.

Chomsky: Well, its misdirected, but you could say the same thing about Nazi

Germany. You know, it wasnt the Jewsand in this case, its even more

plausible. If its the rich liberals who own Wall Street, and run the

government, and run the media, give everything to the illegal immigrants,

dont care about us sort of fly-by people, and that sort of thing.

Kilkenny: But at the same time, its also Socialism, the fear of Socialism. So

you have the fear of the rich-

Chomsky: Its the rich. [laughter]

Kilstein: Thats kind of a massive contradiction.

Kilkenny: Sure

Chomsky: Its no more crazy than the belief the very widespread belief on

the left that the Republicans stand for free markets, which is totally

ridiculous. Reagan was the most protectionist president in post-war American

history. But its kind of drummed into your head over and over. I read it even

in the left journals.

Kilstein: Last time we talked a lot about religion and economics, and first of

all, thanks for doing the show so soon again. We want to rename the show

Chomsky and Friends [laughter]

Kilkenny: Leach off your name

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Kilstein: Every time youre not on just say, Hes not feeling well today. Ive

heard you talk a lot about how a lot of the people you grew up with didnt have

a high school education. Youve often said that they were just as educated as

the people you went to Harvard with, or you met at Harvard, and these kind of

higher institutions, and I wanted you to talk about the difference between self-education and formal education, and how a lot of the times formal education

can lead to apathy.

And the second part of the question is for someone whose new to politics,

which a lot of our audience is because they were sort of disenfranchised the

media, and what not, where a good place to start is because I think sometimes

when you want to get into it, youre so overwhelmed, and you just feel like

youre being lied to, and you just dont know where to begin.

Chomsky: Its pretty much the same answer in both cases. It wasnt self-

education. These were my unemployed, working class relatives. They were

parts of organizations. A lot of them were in the Communist party. We

misinterpret the Communist party as a result of decades of propaganda. For

them, the Communist party didnt have that much to do with Russia. Yeah,

okay, so they said some things about Russia, but they really didnt care. It had

to do with unemployment, with civil rights. For my seamstress aunts, it was a

place they had a social life. They could spend some place in the summer for a

week. They had educational activities, cultural activities, so it was kind of a

community. A community, bound together not by ethnicity, or having been

through the Second World War, or something, but by common ideals. And

they were progressive ideals. The unions were very intimately related to it.

In that general milieu that these people grew up and became educated. But its

not really self-education. Its mutual education in a culture of support and

creativity. And remember too that in those days, unlike now, left intellectuals

(many of them Communist party intellectuals, famous physicists and

mathematicians, and so on) were involved in popular education. They were

writing really good books worth reading today like Mathematics for the

Millions, J.D. Bernals books on physics, and so on. It was just part of an

interrelated culture that involved left intellectuals and working class people,

some of whom had very little in the way of formal education. Some got

through high school, but some didnt even get through elementary school.

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Even there, it was self-education, but in a community a community of

emigrants, left emigrants fleeing from Europe, who would hang around these

groups. One of them was one of my uncles, who never did get past fourth

grade. He had a newsstand. He was disabled, so under the New Deal

programs, he was able to get a newsstand. But it just became a center formigr, educated migr life. Psychiatrists, doctors, professionals, they would

hang around, and he was a bright guy, they liked him, and would have

discussions. He ended up getting quite an education.

Kilstein: Do you see anything similar to those groups today? Or do you think

if you dont have a college education, if you dont have a high school education,

do you think its possible to obtain that kind of knowledge by reading, or do

you think there really is something to a support group and gathering?

Chomsky: Doing these things alone is extremely hard. Theres been a huge

effort I dont know if it can be called propaganda the whole doctrinal

system is geared towards atomization. You know, be out for yourself, get as

much as you can in the way of consumer goods, and forget about everything

else. But it means theres very little in the way of community. You can see it in

all kinds of ways. Say care for the elderly. In those days, it was just taken for

granted. People get older; they live with their families instead of in nursing

homes. My grandfather lived with his daughter until he was 95. He was totally

impossible, but they just worked it out and the family took care of him. But

you were part of a group, and I think there still are pockets of ethnic

communities that are like that. But these were not just ethnic. They were also

especially the ones Ive been talking about social, cultural, political, and so

on. All of thats been torn apart. People are very much alone, and on your own,

its extremely hard to do anything.

And that goes back to your other question: Where do I start? If somebody

comes in here and says, Im interested in biology. Where do I start? You

cant start alone. You cant start reading every biology journal in the world.

You have to know what youre looking for. You have to develop a framework of

understanding, and that takes interaction. Thats how science works. Take the

work on this floor [at MIT] or almost anywhere here, take a look around.

People are working together. You go out to the room there, youll see one guy

standing at a blackboard, and another guy talking to him, stuff like that. You

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work things out together. Maybe Einstein could do it himself, but even that

wasnt true. There was a very complex community including his wife who did a

lot of the stuff, but its very hard to be thrown into a complicated world and

say, Where do I start? And if there are real, live social structures that you can

be a part of, you can work at your own ideas, hear what other people have tosaythats how a democracy thats what unions were in many ways.

Part of the passion about breaking unions, which is overwhelming, is it does

leave people alone. Even unions in the United States, which is distinct from

other countries, had this highly self-centered character to it. You can see it in

the breakdown of the healthcare system.

Take Canada and the United States, very similar societies. Canada has a

functioning national healthcare system. The United States is alone in theindustrial world in that it doesnt. Part of the reason for that is the difference

in the ways the unions acted. If you go back to the initiation of the healthcare

system in Canada came from the labor unions. Except, what they fought for is

healthcare for everyone. The American unions fought for healthcare for

themselves. So UAW got a good social welfare package: healthcare, pension,

stuff like that, for themselves. Not for anyone else. Part of this deep

indoctrination into Were all in it together, no class struggle, theres only

one group of people who are highly class conscience: business. So theyre

always fighting a bitter class war. But everyone else is supposed to be classless.

The unions were willing to just trust management. Since were all in it

together, you guys will take care of us. Well, you can see what happened.

Management decides, Sorry, games over. They ended up with nothing. If

they had worked for social welfare for everyone, it wouldnt be a utopia, but at

least there would be some functioning system for everyone.

My own feeling is thats part of the reason why theres such a constant effort to

try to malign and undermine social security. For example, a lot of young

people think that its unfair that they have to pay for elderly people, which is

true. Social security takes money from working people and gives it to elderly

people. Now, any civilized society would say thats very fair. They were

working, they took care of you when you were young, why shouldnt you take

care of them when theyre old? This sense of immoralism is really driven into

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people. In fact, a lot of young people think theyll never get social security

because theyre drowned in propaganda about how the systems collapsing-

Kilkenny: So we have to privatize it.

Chomsky: but its as healthy as it ever is. Tweak it a little, itll go on forever.

Theres a constant effort to privatize it, get rid of it, and I think part of the

reason is that social security is residue of that sense of community that was

alive in the 30s. You really should take care of each other. Form the CIO, thats

for everybody, not just me. Labor slogans are: Solidarity, not: I Gotta Get

What I Want. Social security fortifies it. It relies on it, and also fortifies it.

From the point of view of the class warriors in the business world, thats

dangerous. You really want people to be atomized. If theyre atomized, theyre

controlled. You cant control people by force anymore, but you can get them tofocus on nothing but maxing out five credit cards, okay you got them under

control. They dont talk to anybody. They have no ideas. They dont think you

can do anything. If you want to talk about American exceptionalism, thats

what it is.

Kilstein: That would be an awful UAW slogan: I Gotta Get What I Want.

[laughter]

Chomsky: And now theyre stuck with it. There was a time around 1979, orso, when Doug Fraser, the head of UAW You know, UAW was getting

smashed for something or other, I forget for what, he came out saying, you

know, I never realized this before, but you, management, youre fighting a

class war. And sure, theyre always fighting a class war. Theyre vulgar

Marxists, basically. But everyone else is supposed to think its classless.

Harmony. Americanism. That kind of stuff.

Kilkenny: Speaking of American exceptionalism, America always likes to

present itself as this great democracy, but in fact, in South America, we seeactual democratic movements happening. What do you think the central

difference is between an American culture where we vote to uphold leader that

dont really represent us, and a South American culture where leaders

represent the people?

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Chomsky: I think the most democratic country in the world right now is

Bolivia. So the United States is trying hard to undermine it. But if you think

about what happened in Bolivia in the last ten years, its pretty astonishing.

The most repressed population in the hemisphere (the indigenous

population), which happens to be the majority, and has been totallymarginalized for 500 years, ever since the Spanish, they managed to get

themselves organized, active, and elected a president from their own ranks.

Not some rich guy. They elected a poor farmer. They developed programs, and

the programs are serious, everybody knows what they are. Youre not waiting

for some leader to tell you, Heres the programs. On crucial issues: cultural

rights, justice, multiculturalism, control of natural resources, really basic

things. And furthermore, election is just one day in an ongoing process. On

that day, you push the levers, but then you go back to the struggle you werepart of before, struggles against privatization of water, and all sorts of things.

Thats real, functioning democracy. So of course, the old elites are trying to

break it up, and the U.S. is supporting it. We dont know exactly how much

because USAID will not release information on who its funding, but you can

be pretty sure that its funding the quasi-secessionist sort of mostly white

elites in the eastern provinces to try to break up the system of democracy.

And our system is almost the opposite. Policies dont come from the public.

They come from above. The public isnt supposed to know about them, andusually doesnt. So campaigns are run so they keep away from issues and talk

about personalities, body language, and rhetoric, and that sort of thing. The

front page of the New York Times has pictures of Michelle Obama wearing a

designer dress in the morning, and a different one in the afternoon. Thats

what youre supposed to be interested in, not whats happening with

healthcare, and whats happening is extremely interesting.

I dont know if you saw this, theres a Senate committee a [Max Baucus (D-

MO) committee which is meeting on healthcare, and they had a sessionseveral days ago, which fortunately was filmed by CSPAN.

Kilkenny: We say that. The protesters.

Chomsky: I asked a friend who does database researchno coverage. It was

astonishing. Heres health care reform. The only people who testified-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xntn4Zv17ochttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xntn4Zv17oc

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Kilkenny: The blogs picked up on it. The mainstream media ignored it

entirely.

Kilstein: Just watching the Senators laugh at them.

Kilkenny: Actually, I forget what Senator it was, but he said, We need more

police. And everybody laughed. They thought it was great.

Chomsky: I didnt see it, but people told me about it. That sounds incredible.

And thats the Obama administration. Thats our kind of democracy. Its none

of your business. And these guys are doctors, after all. Theyre not just the

general population, though they do represent the general population. The

polls for fifty years have shown that a large majority is in favor of [healthcare

reform], but theyre not part of the system. In fact, its even interesting in the

way that the Obama campaign, and the media, have pictured Obamas populist

triumph. There were articles, after the election, that talked about how he had

this army of people hed mobilized, and so on. But the tone of them, at least

the ones I saw, including the campaign itself, was that this is really important,

now the Obama army is awaiting instructions. Were going to tell you, Heres

the next thing on our agenda. You go out and push the doorbells. Push for

brand Obama. Thats what they call it, in fact. Thats a straight totalitarian

concept. But thats called a new model of democracy here. Even the primaries

work that way.

Kilkenny: So why do you think in Bolivia they could see how democracy

works?

Chomsky: For one thing, theyve been fighting about it for 70 years. It goes

way back. They had a very radical tin miners union. In fact, they technically

had a Trotskyite government in the late 40s and early 50s. The U.S. managed

to co-opt it in various ways.

Its kind of interesting, if you look back at the history. In the late 40s, the

internal U.S. records identify two major problems in Latin America. One was

Bolivia and one was Guatemala. In both countries, which had traditionally

been nice dictatorships, there were bad things happening. In Bolivia, it was

the tin miners union. In Guatemala, they had the first signs of democratic

revival ever. It was about the same problem in both cases. But the government

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reacted to them in different ways. In Guatemala, they just threw out the

government and imposed a military dictatorship. In Bolivia, they realized

correctly, as it turned out that they could co-opt the government. They acted

in a supportive manner toward the government by bringing them into the U.S.

system and separating them away from their working class base, and givingthem privileges, and so on. It ended up a dictatorship, and the two systems

ended up the same way, but with different techniques. And those were the two

problems because both of them had democratic movements. It was just

understood. You cant tolerate that. Whats different now is that the U.S. cant

do much about it. Its forced now to accept governments that it would have

overthrown 40 years ago.

Kilkenny: When Evo Morales is on The Daily Show, it makes it difficult to

disappear him.

Chomsky: Well, [Lula da Silva, the President of Brazils] positions arent very

different from the Brazilian government that the Kennedy administration

organized a coup to overthrow. Its just that now the U.S. doesnt have the

power to do it. And its a little on another level. Its kind of like what we were

talking about before. The countries are getting organized, and theyre even

getting integrated for the first time. Latin America has been very separated. I

mean, road systems, everything else, but theres a move towards integration,

and thats a prerequisite for independence just as in personal life social

organizations are kind of a prerequisite for independence of thought.

And also they have other options now that they didnt have like Chinas an

option. The European Unions an option. Trade is diversifying. Other

connections are diversifying. The U.S. has basically weakened its two main

weapons: one was violence (overthrow the government) and the other was

economic strangulation, which doesnt work as easily so the U.S. is compelled

to tolerate and even pretend to approve of governments it would have opposed

like Brazil.

Kilstein: My next question was about the twenty-four hour news networks,

but just to tie it into this real quick, do you think that maybe part of the reason

in places like Bolivia they did accomplish everything they did, and the people

worked together, is because they didnt have this kind of twenty-four hour

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news network either just throwing out propaganda, or having them scared

about swine flu instead of health insurance, and they just didnt have that

constant barrage of fear and government memos?

Chomsky: If you look at the media I dont know about Bolivia specifically but in most of Latin America, the media are very right wing. Venezuela must

be the only country in the world where the major media not only oppose the

government but want them hung and quartered. You dont have media like

that in any other country. But thats been true in Latin America for a long time

because its the nature of the societies. Theres a very high concentration of

wealth, huge poverty, and the media is in the hands of the rich. So, yes, of

course theyre ultra-right wing. How much they reach the population, I dont

know.

Kilstein: I guess it is just us [laughter]

Chomsky: Ive been told that radio and television are even worse. Ive looked

at the print media.

Kilstein: I wanted to ask you about our media. We were watching the pretty

famous debate between you and William F. Buckley, and right afterwards the

contrast was really weird right afterwards we watched Keith Olbermann on

MSNBC, who is kind of known as the lefts hero now, but hes never actuallydebated anyone with opposing views on his show, and I wanted to ask do you

see the new liberal pundits like on MSNBC for example as being either

important as kind of conduits of information that we might not hear on other

news networks, or do you see them as left wing versions of FOX news, and a

substitute for actual independent journalism?

Chomsky: I really cant say because Ive never seen them. [laughter]

Kilstein: That may be for the best.

Kilkenny: Yeah, I think it is.

Chomsky: I think theyre on cable.

Kilstein: Yeah, they are. No, thats better. Well go with that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYlMEVTa-PIhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9Samvw6Z08&feature=relatedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYlMEVTa-PIhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9Samvw6Z08&feature=related

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Chomsky: I hear about them from friends.

Kilstein: Well, its this really bizarre thing where they kind of just do the

same thing that the right does where instead of actually going out and doing

journalism like say an Amy Goodman, and bloggers like Glenn Greenwald,they instead just kind of make fun of the right wing like FOX News makes fun

of us. And then, I think the scariest problem is now everybody kind of assumes

we have our liberal voices, right? But because theyre on MSNBC, and because

theyre owned and their bosses are these giant corporations, by default there

are going to be some things that they arent allowed to say, so it kind of puts us

at ease because we have our voices but then-

Chomsky: Do they interview left wing activists?

Kilkenny: Never activists. Theyll have left wing personalities, so like a comic

whose left wing, but never a Greenpeace activist or anything.

Chomsky: People like Howard Zinn?

Kilkenny: No, certainly not Howard Zinn.

Chomsky: See, thats the difference with you know, Amy you get

information from. Its not just that she makes fun of somebody. She doesnt

make fun of people. She says, look, heres thing you dont know about. Whyare there Somali pirates? If toxic wastes are being dumped in the water, and

the multinationals are fishing out the waters illegally, then yeah, people have

to survive. You certainly dont hear that in the press.

Kilstein: No, its the opposite. One of our biggest left wing people, Rachel

Maddow, whose very liberal on social issues, so people just kind of assume

shes gentle, when the pirates came up, she

Kilkenny: It was gross. It was just Navy Seal worship.

Chomsky: Really?

Kilkenny: Yeah, showing the graphics of [the Seals] shooting [the pirates] in

the heads.

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Chomsky: Thats kind of an interesting case because theres quite a

background there. Part of it, which I think Amy did show I didnt see it, but

people told me she showed it was that its the direct result of illegal

overfishing and toxic dumping by Europe and mainly Europe, but probably

Saudi Arabia and others, which drives the fishermen out of the water.

But theres a further background. During the so-called War on Terror, the

Treasury department found a charity a big charity, which they claimed was

funding terrorists. So that was their big triumph. They closed down this

charity. I mean, they later conceded that they were wrong, they werent doing

anything, but it turned out that this charity they helped close down was

keeping Somalia alive. It was a major source of income for Somalia, and it

even was developing banks, and businesses, and so on. So when they pulled

the rug out from under them, that really shafted the economy, not much of aneconomy to begin with, but when you pull out a big segment like that, its

harmful.

Kilkenny: Do you think its ever acceptable to use military intervention, and

how do you think the military should be used in the case of a situation like

genocide in Darfur or the Talibans takeover of the Swat valley [in Pakistan]?

Chomsky: First of all, those are different cases. Darfur Its a good question

why Darfur is such an issue. I mean, theres a lot of killing in Darfur. Thenumbers are apparently mostly made up, but its substantial. On the other

hand, it isnt a fraction of the dead in Iraq, lets say, and it isnt even a tiny

fraction of the dead in the Congo right near by. So why is there a huge

campaign about Darfur, and not one about a hundred times as bad about the

Congo, and one a thousand times as bad about Iraq? Because were doing

them. Its not for pretty reason, I think.

In Darfur, its presented as a morality play. Poor blacks being killed by bad

Arabs. Theres no such differences, but youre supposed to hate Arabs, and itssort of nice to be in favor of the blacks. There are Save Darfur committees all

over the place, but apparently not much funds if anything goes to Darfur.

So its become a huge morality play. Now, what are you going to do with

intervention?

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In fact, one of the decent things the Bush administration did there werent

many, but there were some one of them was that it did help negotiate a

partial settlement of a major civil war, the north-south civil war. There were

other complexities in the western (inaudible) of Darfur, in Sudan. Its very

complicated multiethnic problems, problems between nomads and farmers.Desertification is driving the nomads off their land, and they had a kind of

organic interaction with the farming communities in the past, but its just

become extremely hostile.

(inaudible)

Its striking that the few people who know something about Sudan are

against military intervention like Alex de Wall or Mahmoud Mamdani, and

others. They actually have probably because they know something about it.(inaudible)

So military intervention: the answer is that they need political settlement, and

economic aid, and so on.

The Taliban in the Swat valleyagain, its part of a much bigger issue. First of

all, what we call Taliban are probably to a large extent just the northwest

tribes. Theyve never accepted central government control. Ever. They have

never accepted the Durand Line, the line that separates Pakistan fromAfghanistan.

8/8/2019 chomsky on

14/24

It cuts right through Pashtun territory. For them, its as if we somebody

outside power separate Cambridge from Boston. (laughter) There are Taliban

there. Also, thats just one of the uprisings thats tearing Pakistan apart.

Theres a big revolt in Balochistan (southwest area of Pakistan) thats been put

down very brutally.

Theres disturbances in Sindh (southeastern area of Pakistan), the Pashtun

(people of southeastern and northwestern Pakistan, constitute the majority of

Afghanistan) hate the Punjabi (people in the region straddling the border

between India and Pakistan)

The armys mostly Punjabi. Its a very difficult situation. Foreign invasion even if its conceivable, which it isnt. I mean, theres a reason why the US is

using drones. Its an internal Pakistani problem, and its a much bigger one

than just Swat Valley.

8/8/2019 chomsky on

15/24

Theres a segment [in Pakistan] thats radical Islamists, but its a small

segment. Its a pretty democratic country in many ways. When you have a

vote, the vote is against the radical Islamists. On the other hand, the people in

these areas its a feudal society. A tiny percentage of the population has all

the wealth. Theres tremendous poverty there.

Theres no functioning society. Theres no security, theres no health, theres

no nothing. No agricultural support. When these so-called Taliban come in,

they are brutal, but at least they impose some kind of order, which apparently

for many people is better than nothing. Thats one reason the (inaudible) is

not sending the army after them. Its using Special Forces and air force

probably because they just dont trust the army (inaudible) thered be

sympathy for [the Taliban].

And in fact, we have a big hand in that. Thats one of Reagans legacies. Its

never been pretty in Pakistan. The US has supported military dictatorships all

along, but in the Reagan years it went out of control. Pakistan had a vicious

military dictator, Zia ul-Haq, who wanted to radically Islamize the country, so

money was pouring in from Saudi Arabia, which is a very extreme,

fundamentalist version of Islam, different than the softer Sufi kind they had in

Pakistan. They had madrasahs all over the country where kids are doing

nothing but studying Koran and becoming Islamic extremists, and Reagan was

pouring money in.

It was also Reagan or whoever in his administration who was doing these

things they were pretending Pakistan wasnt developing nuclear weapons.

They knew perfectly well that they were, so that they could keep the flow of

funds from (inaudible) Congress. The purpose of it was to kill Russians. They

said so. The Russians were in Afghanistan; this was a great opportunity to kill

them. It wasnt to help the Afghans. In fact, they armed them, but they were

killing plenty of Russians, so if Afghanistan and Pakistan go down the tube,

somebody else will worry about it.

8/8/2019 chomsky on

16/24

"If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't

believe in it at all."

Noam Chomsky

tags: belief, believe, despise, expression, freedom, freedom-of-expression

160 people liked it

add to favorite quotes

"The whole educational and professional training system is a very elaborate filter,

which just weeds out people who are too independent, and who think for

themselves, and who don't know how to be submissive, and so on -- because

they're dysfunctional to the institutions."

Noam Chomsky

tags: education, education-system, instituions

96 people liked it


"The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum

of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum."

Noam Chomsky

tags: acceptable-opinion, control, debate, limit, lively-debate, obedience, obedient,

opinion, passive, passivity

62 people liked it


"Everyones worried about stopping terrorism. Well, theres really an easy way: Stop

participating in it."

Noam Chomsky

tags: participate, responsibility, stop-terrorism, terror, terrorism

55 people liked it


"We shouldn't be looking for heroes, we should be looking for good ideas."

Noam Chomsky

53 people liked it

http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=beliefhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=believehttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=despisehttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=expressionhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=freedomhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=freedom-of-expressionhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/24634http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=educationhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=education-systemhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=instituionshttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/47436http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=acceptable-opinionhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=controlhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=debatehttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=limithttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=lively-debatehttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=obediencehttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=obedienthttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=opinionhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=passivehttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=passivityhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/15454http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=participatehttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=responsibilityhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=stop-terrorismhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=terrorhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=terrorismhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/68996http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/71044http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=beliefhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=believehttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=despisehttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=expressionhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=freedomhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=freedom-of-expressionhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/24634http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=educationhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=education-systemhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=instituionshttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/47436http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=acceptable-opinionhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=controlhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=debatehttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=limithttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=lively-debatehttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=obediencehttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=obedienthttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=opinionhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=passivehttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=passivityhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/15454http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=participatehttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=responsibilityhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=stop-terrorismhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=terrorhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=terrorismhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/68996http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/71044http://www.goodreads.com/user/new

8/8/2019 chomsky on

17/24

"All over the place, from the popular culture to the propaganda system, there is

constant pressure to make people feel that they are helpless, that the only role they

can have is to ratify decisions and to consume."

Noam Chomsky

tags: consume, consumerism, decisions, helpless, popular-culture, propaganda,ratify, role, roles

40 people liked it


"I think it only makes sense to seek out and identify structures of authority,

hierarchy, and domination in every aspect of life, and to challenge them; unless a

justification for them can be given, they are illegitimate, and should be dismantled,

to increase the scope of human freedom."

Noam Chomsky

tags: authority, challenge, dismantle, domination, freedom, heirarchy, human-

freedom, illegitimate-power,justification

38 people liked it


"It is the responsibility of intellectuals to speak the truth and expose lies."

Noam Chomsky

38 people liked it


"Colorless green ideas sleep furiously."

Noam Chomsky

35 people liked it


"Either you repeat the same conventional doctrines everybody is saying, or else you

say something true, and it will sound like it's from Neptune."

Noam Chomsky

tags: truth

34 people liked it

http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=consumehttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=consumerismhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=decisionshttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=helplesshttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=popular-culturehttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=propagandahttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=ratifyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=rolehttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=roleshttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/109278http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=authorityhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=challengehttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=dismantlehttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=dominationhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=freedomhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=heirarchyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=human-freedomhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=human-freedomhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=illegitimate-powerhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=justificationhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/31015http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/84526http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/17289http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=truthhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/34766http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=consumehttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=consumerismhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=decisionshttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=helplesshttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=popular-culturehttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=propagandahttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=ratifyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=rolehttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=roleshttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/109278http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=authorityhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=challengehttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=dismantlehttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=dominationhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=freedomhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=heirarchyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=human-freedomhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=human-freedomhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=illegitimate-powerhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=justificationhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/31015http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/84526http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/17289http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=truthhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/34766http://www.goodreads.com/user/new

8/8/2019 chomsky on

18/24

"Education is imposed ignorance."

Noam Chomsky

tags: education, homeschooling, ignorance, public-education

30 people liked it


"If you assume that there is no hope, you guarantee that there will be no hope. If

you assume that there is an instinct for freedom, that there are opportunities to

change things, then there is a possibility that you can contribute to making a better

world."

Noam Chomsky

29 people liked it


"See, people with power understand exactly one thing: violence."

Noam Chomsky

tags: violence

26 people liked it


"Optimism is a strategy for making a better future. Because unless you believe that

the future can be better, you are unlikely to step up and take responsibility formaking it so."

Noam Chomsky

tags: future, optimism, responsibility

25 people liked it


"In this possibly terminal phase of human existence, democracy and freedom are

more than just ideals to be valued - they may be essential to survival."

Noam Chomsky

tags: democracy-freedom

23 people liked it

http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=educationhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=homeschoolinghttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=ignorancehttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=public-educationhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/130126http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/112259http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=violencehttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/38772http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=futurehttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=optimismhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=responsibilityhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/158840http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=democracy-freedomhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/35639http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=educationhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=homeschoolinghttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=ignorancehttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=public-educationhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/130126http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/112259http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=violencehttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/38772http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=futurehttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=optimismhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=responsibilityhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/158840http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=democracy-freedomhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/35639http://www.goodreads.com/user/new

8/8/2019 chomsky on

19/24

"That is what I have always understood to be the essence of anarchism: the

conviction that the burden of proof has to be placed on authority, and that it should

be dismantled if that burden cannot be met."

Noam Chomsky

tags: anarchism, anarchy, authority, politics

23 people liked it


"Our ignorance can be divided into problems and mysteries. When we face a

problem, we may not know its solution, but we have insight, increasing knowledge,

and an inkling of what we are looking for. When we face a mystery, however, we

can only stare in wonder and bewilderment, not knowing what an explanation would

even look like."

Noam Chomsky

tags: ignorance-mysteries-problems

22 people liked it


"The Bible is one of the most genocidal books in history."

Noam Chomsky

tags: bible-genocide

21 people liked it


"The more you can increase fear of drugs, crime, welfare mothers, immigrants and

aliens, the more you control all of the people."

Noam Chomsky

18 people liked it


"Science is a bit like the joke about the drunk who is looking under a lamppost for akey that he has lost on the other side of the street, because that's where the light

is. It has no other choice."

Noam Chomsky

tags: science

17 people liked it
http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=anarchismhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=anarchyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=authorityhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=politicshttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/114402http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=ignorance-mysteries-problemshttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/19718http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=bible-genocidehttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/21316http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/129657http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=sciencehttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/153753http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=anarchismhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=anarchyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=authorityhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=politicshttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/114402http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=ignorance-mysteries-problemshttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/19718http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=bible-genocidehttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/21316http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/129657http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=sciencehttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/153753

8/8/2019 chomsky on

20/24


"That's the whole point of good propaganda. You want to create a slogan that

nobody's going to be against, and everybody's going to be for. Nobody knows what

it means, because it doesn't mean anything."

Noam Chomsky

tags: books, politics

16 people liked it


"It is quite possible--overwhelmingly probable, one might guess--that we will always

learn more about human life and personality from novels than from scientific

psychology"

Noam Chomsky

tags: art, human-condition

16 people liked it


"Most problems of teaching are not problems of growth but helping cultivate

growth. As far as I know, and this is only from personal experience in teaching, I

think about ninety percent of the problem in teaching, or maybe ninety-eight

percent, is just to help the students get interested. Or what it usually amounts to is

to not prevent them from being interested. Typically they come in interested, and

the process of education is a way of driving that defect out of their minds. But ifchildren['s] ... normal interest is maintained or even aroused, they can do all kinds

of things in ways we don't understand."

Noam Chomsky

tags: education

15 people liked it


"If you look at history, even recent history, you see that there is indeedprogress. . . . Over time, the cycle is clearly, generally upwards. And it doesn't

happen by laws of nature. And it doesn't happen by social laws. . . . It happens as a

result of hard work by dedicated people who are willing to look at problems

honestly, to look at them without illusions, and to go to work chipping away at

them, with no guarantee of success in fact, with a need for a rather high

tolerance for failure along the way, and plenty of disappointments."

Noam Chomsky
http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=bookshttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=politicshttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/237623http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=arthttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=human-conditionhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/169410http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=educationhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/154452http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=bookshttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=politicshttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/237623http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=arthttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=human-conditionhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/169410http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomskyhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?name=educationhttp://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/154452http://www.goodreads.com/user/newhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomsky

8/8/2019 chomsky on

21/24

12 people liked it


"Bolivia is a striking example. The mostly white, Europeanized elite, which is a

minority, happens to be sitting on most of the hydrocarbon reserves. For the first

time Bolivia is becoming democratic. So it's therefore bitterly hated by the West,

which despises democracy, because it's much too dangerous."

Noam Chomsky

10 people liked it


"Language is a process of free creation; its laws and principles are fixed, but the

manner in which the principles of generation are used is free and infinitely varied.

Even the interpretation and use of words involves a process of free creation."

Noam Chomsky

10 people liked it


"The death penalty can be tolerated only by extreme statist reactionaries who

demand a state that is so powerful that it has the right to kill."

Noam Chomsky

9 people liked it


"We need not stride resolutely towards catastrophe, merely because those are the

marching orders."

Noam Chomsky (9-11)

9 people liked it


"For the powerful, crimes are those that others commit. (p.73)"

Noam Chomsky (Imperial Ambitions: Conversations on the Post-9/11 World)

8 people liked it


"It is quite possible -- overwhelmingly probable, one might guess -- that we will

always learn more about human life and personality from novels than from scientific
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psychology"

Noam Chomsky

tags: art, human-condition

6 people liked it


"The war against working people should be understood to be a real war.

Specifically in the U.S., which happens to have a highly class-conscious business

class. And they have long seen themselves as fighting a bitter class war, except

they dont want anybody else to know about it."

Noam Chomsky

5 people liked it


"Optimism is a strategy for making a better future. Because unless you believe that

the future can be better, its unlikely you will step up and take responsibility for

making it so. If you assume that theres no hope, you guarantee that there will be

no hope. If you assume that there is an instinct for freedom, there are opportunities

to change things, theres a chance you may contribute to making a better world.

The choice is yours."

Noam Chomsky

5 people liked it


"If you claim to have a theory that deduces unexpected consequences from

nontrivial principles, let's see it."

Noam Chomsky (Propaganda and the Public Mind)

4 people liked it


"As soon as questions of will or decision or reason or choice of action arise human

science is at a loss." Noam Chomsky

4 people liked it


"Education is a condition of imposed ignorance!

"
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Noam Chomsky (Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass

Media)

4 people liked it


"To cite the facts of history is to fall prey to 'moral equivalence,' or 'political

correctness,' or 'the error of of atheism,' or one of the other misdeeds concocted to

guard against the sins of understanding and insight into the real world."

Noam Chomsky (World Orders, Old and New)

2 people liked it


"Neoliberal democracy. Instead of citizens, it produces consumers. Instead of

communities, it produces shopping malls. The net result is an atomized society ofdisengaged individuals who feel demoralized and socially powerless.

In sum, neoliberalism is the immediate and foremost enemy of genuine

participatory democracy, not just in the United States but across the planet, and will

be for the foreseeable future."

Noam Chomsky

2 people liked it


"Un sistema de adoctrinamiento que funcione como es debido debe cumplirdiversas tareas, algunas bastante delicadas. Uno de sus objetivos son las masas

estpidas e ignorantes. Debern ser mantenidas en ese estado, distradas con

simplificaciones groseras y de gran fuerza emocional, marginadas y aisladas. En

una situacin ideal, cada persona debera hallarse sola frente a la pantalla de su

televisor, viendo deportes, telenovelas o comedias, privada de estructuras

organizativas que permitan a los individuos carentes de recursos descubrir cules

son sus pensamientos y creencias en interaccin con otras personas, formular sus

propias preocupaciones y planes y actuar para hacerlos realidad. Llegada esa

situacin, se les puede permitir ratificar las decisiones tomadas por quienes son

mejores que ellos en elecciones celebradas peridicamente, y hasta animarles ahacerlo. La "multitud canallesca" es el blanco apropiado de los medios de

comunicacin y de un sistema de educacin pblica encaminado a generar

obediencia y formacin en las destrezas requeridas, incluida la de repetir lemas

patriticos en ocasiones oportunas.

El problema del adoctrinamiento es un tanto distinto para aquellos de quienes se

espera que participen en la toma de decisiones serias y en el ejercicio del control:

los gestores de las empresas, del Estado y de la cultura, y los sectores culturizados
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en general. Estas personas deben interiorizar los valores del sistema y compartir las

ilusiones necesarias que permitan su funcionamiento en inters de quienes

concentran en sus manos el poder y los privilegios. Pero tambin han de tener

cierta comprensin de las realidades del mundo, pues de lo contrario no sern

capaces de realizar sus tareas con eficacia. Los medios elitistas y los sitemas

educativos deben encontrar la forma de resolver esos dilemas, lo cual constituyeuna labor nada fcil. Es interesante ver en detalle cmo se lleva a cabo dicha labor,

pero se trata de algo que cae fuera de los lmites de estas observaciones."

Noam Chomsky (On Anarchism)

1 person liked it


"Over the last 25 years, the major popular movements that have had significant

impact on the general society and have changed it, that have had a major civilizing

effect the feminist movement, the environmental movement, and so on these

are mostly developments of the 70s and 80s. Their roots might be in the activism

of the 60s, but the movements themselves developed and extended later. The

same is true of the changes in respect for other cultures, rights of oppressed

people, and so on. These are quite significant changes. If you compare the United

States now to what it was, say, 35 years ago, the changes are quite dramatic. These

are changes in popular consciousness that are quite deeply embedded."

Noam Chomsky

tags: change, progressives

1 person liked it


"I am not too happy with terms like the left, to be honest. And I dont use it

much.if by the left you mean people who are committed to peace and justice

and freedom and so on, there cant be elements of the left opposed to workers

movement, at least under that definition."

Noam Chomsky
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