Avram Noam Chomsky is an American professor and public intellectual known for his work in linguistics, political activism, and social criticism. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a major figure in analytic philosophy and one of the founders of the field of cognitive science. He is a laureate professor of linguistics at the University of Arizona and an institute professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Among the most cited living authors, Chomsky has written more than 150 books on topics such as linguistics, war, and politics. In addition to his work in linguistics, since the 1960s Chomsky has been an influential voice on the American left as a consistent critic of U.S. foreign policy, contemporary capitalism, and corporate influence on political institutions and the media. Born to Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants in Philadelphia, Chomsky developed an early interest in anarchism from alternative bookstores in New York City. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania. During his postgraduate work in the Harvard Society of Fellows, Chomsky developed the theory of transformational grammar for which he earned his doctorate in 1955. That year he began teaching at MIT, and in 1957 emerged as a significant figure in linguistics with his landmark work Syntactic Structures, which played a major role in remodeling the study of language. From 1958 to 1959 Chomsky was a National Science Foundation fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study. He created or co-created the universal grammar theory, the generative grammar theory, the Chomsky hierarchy, and the minimalist program. Chomsky also played a pivotal role in the decline of linguistic behaviorism, and was particularly critical of the work of B.F. Skinner. An outspoken opponent of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, which he saw as an act of American imperialism, in 1967 Chomsky rose to national attention for his anti-war essay "The Responsibility of Intellectuals". Becoming associated with the New Left, he was arrested multiple times for his activism and placed on President Richard M. Nixon's list of political opponents. While expanding his work in linguistics over subsequent decades, he also became involved in the linguistics wars. In collaboration with Edward S. Herman, Chomsky later articulated the propaganda model of media criticism in Manufacturing Consent, and worked to expose the Indonesian occupation of East Timor. His defense of unconditional freedom of speech, including that of Holocaust denial, generated significant controversy in the Faurisson affair of the 1980s. Chomsky's commentary on the Cambodian genocide and the Bosnian genocide also generated controversy. Since retiring from active teaching at MIT, he has continued his vocal political activism, including opposing the 2003 invasion of Iraq and supporting the Occupy movement. An anti-Zionist, Chomsky considers Israel's treatment of Palestinians to be worse than South African鈥搒tyle apartheid, and criticizes U.S. support for Israel. Chomsky is widely recognized as having helped to spark the cognitive revolution in the human sciences, contributing to the development of a new cognitivistic framework for the study of language and the mind. Chomsky remains a leading critic of U.S. foreign policy, contemporary capitalism, U.S. involvement and Israel's role in the Israeli鈥揚alestinian conflict, and mass media. Chomsky and his ideas are highly influential in the anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist movements. Since 2017, he has been Agnese Helms Haury Chair in the Agnese Nelms Haury Program in Environment and Social Justice at the University of Arizona.
Reading this book is part of what I call "waking myself up." Not a pleasure read, for sure, but necessary. I had a feeling this stuff was going on, but we are kept in the dark by the mainstream media.
Though this is quite a brief book, Chomsky accomplishes more with about a hundred pages here, than he does in such longer works as Hegemony or Survival.
In this pocket sized edition, the great man picks apart the media propaganda and outlines a rational view of: Reaganite atrocities in Latin America, the hypocritical and deadly war on drugs, the illusion of the Cold War, and the hegemony of the mainstream media. As usual, Chomsky's prose is no frills, although it's rife with bitter sarcasm, but of course Chomsky doesn't care if his book is literary as long as it's relevant and well-researched (it is, of course). One thing I found interesting here was that after outlining the incredibly dire situation of American neo-liberal politics, the section "what you can do" is about a page and a half long; it doesn't leave with much hope, but perhaps Chomsky meant to illustrate just how desperate our situation really is. But if this book shows anything, it's that his bitterness and repeated use of words like Fascist are indeed more than justified in the face of a Fascist American government. This slim volume is probably the best introduction to Noam Chomsky, and to modern leftism in general.
What Uncle Sam Really Wants, Noam Chomsky, 1986-1992, 111 pages. Historical Society Library Pamphlet Collection 92-3298. Dewey 327.73, ISBN 1878825011
This may be the single best Chomsky book. What's most important is here, concise.
The U.S. Government wants continuing profit for investors, by plundering the rest of the world p. 72-74, 77, including plundering the nonrich in the U.S. pp. 73, 76, 79-80, 82-84, 86-91, 97-98. To this end, we kill millions of people we know are, or suspect of, opposing corporate control. (By proxy if possible, p. 57. We fund and arm militaries, paramilitaries, and security forces all over the world, so that our friends the military officers can stage coups if the elected government fails to serve investors. "Before the coups, we were very hostile to the governments, but continued to send them arms [that is, to send arms to friendly military officers]" pp. 30-31, 51-52, 54-56, 69. Such as in Latin America pp. 18-20, 28-33, 57, 72, 82, Central America pp. 17, 19, 54, 72, 96, 100, Guatemala pp. 17-18, 1954 & 1963 p. 21, 25, 30, 46-50, El Salvador pp. 21, 23, 25, 34-40, 46, 70, 87, Nicaragua pp. 21, 23, 25, 34, 40-46, 49, 51-52, 54, 56, 60, 66, 68-69, 77, 81, 86, Honduras pp. 35, 54, Panama pp. 17, 50-56, 60, 81-82, Costa Rica pp. 20-21, 43, 45, 47, Grenada 1983 p. 22-23, 56, 77, Haiti pp. 11, 54, the Dominican Republic pp. 11, 1963 & 1965 p. 21, 30-31, 54, Brazil 1964 pp. 21, 31-33, 71, Chile 1973 pp. 21, 24, 31-32, Argentina pp. 32, 41, Colombia p. 17, Venezuela p. 17, Mexico p. 71, Cuba p. 72, 96, Florida 1818 p. 30, Indochina pp. 23-24, 56-60, 85, 100, Vietnam pp. 12-13, 16-17, 22, 26, 56-60, 70, 85-88, 96, 98, Cambodia pp. 58-59, 61, 70, Laos 1960s p. 22, 57, 59, 70, 85, Thailand pp. 58-59, 84-86, Indonesia 1965 pp. 31, 54-55, 58, 61-62, East Timor p. 58, 61-62, Philippines 1972 pp. 27, 54, 58, Japan pp. 17, 25-27, 84, South Korea pp. 17, 26, 58, 84, Taiwan p. 84, China p. 55, 59, 84-85, Middle East p. 27, 88, Iran 1953 p. 21, early 1980s p. 31, 68-69, Iraq pp. 54-55, 60-68, 77, 82, Lebanon p. 64, Palestine p. 65, 88-89, 100, Pakistan p. 86, Afghanistan p. 86, Africa p. 73, North Africa p. 14, Zaire pp. 54-55, 66, Namibia p. 66, Angola p. 66, Italy pp. 15-16, 24, France pp. 18, 85, Eastern Europe p. 71-72, Romania pp. 54-55, 70-71, Greece p. 16 .)
Torture and murder by the U.S. or its proxies are of no interest at home. p. 34-37, 40, 43, 46, 49, 52-54, 58-60, 62, 64, 66-69, 73, 75, 82-83, 85, 88, 93-95. The Carter administration even persuaded the media to downplay the story of the rape and murder of four American nuns by U.S.-armed, -trained, and -funded Salvadoran armed forces. p. 36.
Financial control by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank is easier than military control. In exchange for a loan, a country's economy is controlled for foreign investors; services for the people are cut. p. 32-33, 43-44, 71, 73, 76. Brazil has a wealth of natural resources, and has industrial development. It should be rich. Thanks to the 1964 coup and following "economic miracle," its people are destitute. One-third of Brazil's education budget goes to school meals. The kids would otherwise not eat. p. 33.
Our leaders have succeeded rather well at their assigned chores. pp. 28, 61.
Every U.S. president since WWII has been involved in war crimes. p. 32.
Peasants are the main victims, along with labor organizers, students, priests, newspapermen, or anyone suspected of working in the interests of the people. pp. 15, 22, 25, 34-37, 40, 49-52, 58, 87-88.
The U.S. government officials and business elite know they're much wealthier than most of the world. They're afraid of losing that status. So they do all they can so that poor countries remain poor suppliers of free raw materials and cheap labor, and to keep poor Americans obedient laborers p. 14. Huge military expenditures; cutbacks in social services. Don't even /speak/ of human rights, living standards, or democratization. pp. 8-11, 29, 43, 46-48, 51-52, 56-57.
The U.S. Government defines "Communism" as, "the idea that the government has direct responsibility for the welfare of the people." --George Kennan, head of the State Department planning staff, 1950. p. 10. Any supplier country infected by this heresy, must be crushed, brutally. pp. 11-16, 18-23. The weaker and poorer a country is, the more dangerous it is /as an example/. If a tiny, poor country like Grenada can succeed in bringing about a better life for its people, some other place that has more resources will ask, "why not us?" pp. 22-25, 42-48, 51-52, 56-57, 78.
Diplomacy risks compromise. Military conquest ensures domination. p. 74-75, 89. This is why George W. Bush rushed to war in Iraq, forestalling any risk of a peaceful defusement of the crisis. pp. 60-68, 75. The U.S. blocked all attempts at a political settlement of the Vietnam conflict, which risked successful development of Vietnam outside U.S. influence. pp. 57-60. No lawful path could stop the very low-level social revolution in Laos in the 1960s, but secret genocide by bombing worked well. p. 22. The U.S. dismissed possibilities for a peaceful resolution of the Cold War, which would have left intact the actual Soviet threat, which was never military but political: the idea that the government has direct responsibility for the welfare of the people. pp. 78-82. The sole military threat of the USSR was ballistic missiles--which the U.S. made no effort to curtail. p. 78.
The parts of the U.S. economy that are able to compete internationally are primarily the state-subsidized ones: capital-intensive agriculture, high-tech industry, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, etc. pp. 13, 15, 87.
Until 1968, the U.S. led the world in oil production. We didn't need Mideast oil. We wanted to control Mideast oil as a lever of world power, and to direct the profit to U.S. and British corporations. pp. 27, 67.
OUR INFLUENCE
No one protested President Kennedy's terrorist campaigns against Cuba and Vietnam. Not until Southeast Asia was awash in blood. Twenty years later, when Reagan hinted he'd like to send a few marines to get Central America in line, Americans shouted, "Like hell you will!" so loudly, Reagan had to make do with CIA operations (some of them illegally funded). p. 96-97. Sustained, organized dissent is effective. The struggle for freedom is never over. The people of the Third World need our help. We can provide them with a margin of survival by internal disruption in the United States. There's a growing Third World at home. pp. 98-101.
read this one a while back, just revisiting old journal entries and saw this quote I had made note of:
"These sectors of the doctrinal system serve to divert the unwashed masses and reinforce the basic social values: passivity, submissiveness to authority, the overriding virtue of greed and personal gain, lack of concern for others, fear of real or imagined enemies, etc... The goal is to keep the bewildered herd bewildered. It is unnecessary for them to trouble themselves with what's happening in the world. In fact, it is undesirable- if they see too much of reality they may set themselves to change it." pg 94-5
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Informacije, mi拧ljenje i stavovi sadr啪ani u knjizi izneti su na takav na膷in da nema (mnogo) prostora za sumnju u njihovu verodostojnost. Izvori kojima se 膶omski slu啪i su, koliko sam shvatio, dostupni ali u ameri膷kim medijima ili zaboravljeni ili predstavljeni kao irelevantni.
Na kraju knjige, kao 拧to se i o膷ekuje, 膶omski postavlja pitanje o tome 拧ta 鈥瀘bi膷an鈥� gra膽anin mo啪e da u膷ini a da uti膷e na politi膷ke okolnosti u dr啪avi u kojoj 啪ivi, te, izme膽u ostalog, ka啪e slede膰e, i time i zaklju膷uje:
鈥濧ko su izbori mahom ne拧to u 膷emu jedan deo stanovni拧tva u膷estvuje tako 拧to priti拧膰e dugme svakih par [nekoliko 鈥� prim. Svetolika Ta拧tinskog :D] godina, oni ne zna膷e ni拧ta. Ali ako se gra膽ani organizuju u podr拧ci odre膽enog stava i vr拧e pritisak na svoje predstavnike u vezi s tim stavom, onda izbori ne拧to zna膷e. [...] Ne znamo da li su iskreni i predani napori dovoljni da se ovakvi problemi re拧e, ili 膷ak samo ubla啪e. Me膽utim, mo啪emo biti sasvim sigurni da nam odsustvo takvih napora garantuje katastrofu.鈥�
In 1949, The U.S. turns Eastern Europe espionage over to Ex-Nazi Richard Gehlen. What the U.S. then did in Greece becomes the model for the Vietnam War: to 鈥渄efend鈥� a country against its own population. The United States in many ways picked up where the Nazis left off with replacing town resistance with fascists and also its Operation Paperclip which involved the U.S. hiring of war criminals like SS officer Klaus Barbie. 100,000 anti-fascist Koreans were killed (30,000 to 40,000 in Cheju Island only) when the U.S. brought fascists back to power in South Korea Post-WWII. In Latin America, the U.S. for decades battled the 鈥渄angerous heresy鈥� - 鈥渢he idea that the government has direct responsibility for the welfare of the people.鈥� According to planners, any country believing the heresy was branded communist. The Cold War real threat wasn鈥檛 the smoke screen of communism, it was third-world nationalism and the need to eradicate 鈥渢he dangerous heresy鈥�. As planner George Kennan clearly stated, 鈥淲e should not hesitate before police repression by the local government.鈥� The threat in Vietnam wasn鈥檛 Communists conquering Asia by force, 鈥渂ut that they might set a dangerous example of national independence that would inspire other nations in the region鈥� a.k.a., the threat of successful third world nationalism. The State Department would not let Mennonites send pencils to Cambodia, it rejected both OXFAM鈥檚 solar pumps, and India鈥檚 offer of 100 water buffalo. Heck, our country even stopped shovels from going to Laos to dig up the many unexposed land mines we put there! Since 1970, the U.S. has also been #1 in vetoing Security Council resolutions. We are now #1 at opposing the rest of the world.
We know previously from Noam that the U.S. prefers to fight the most defenseless countries because victory is more assured. But here Noam points out the smaller the country, the more its independent success will cause larger/stronger countries to say, 鈥淒amn, if they can defy the U.S., WHY can鈥檛 we?鈥� George Kennan allowed Japan to industrialize because we controlled oil imports and so we would always have them by the balls if Japan stepped out of line. The death toll by U.S. backed forces in Central America is 200,000. 鈥淎s Stalin used to say, we鈥檙e 鈥榙izzy with success.鈥欌€� Here鈥檚 the military training forced on one group of U.S. backed Salvadorian soldier trainees: they were forced to kill dogs by biting their throats or twisting off their heads. They had to watch torture: fingernail removal, cutting off heads, 鈥渃hopping their bodies to pieces and playing with dismembered arms for fun.鈥� Our U.S. taxpayer dollars at work.
The U.S. invaded South Vietnam, yet nowhere will you see that written; it is still unspeakable. The U.S. achieved its objectives in Vietnam because the country was effectively destroyed and will never pose as a successful model. But lest we think the U.S. mellows out in time, the U.S. in 1991, 鈥渞enewed the embargo and sanctions against Vietnam.鈥� Russia publicly admitted that their invasion of Afghanistan was illegal; imagine the U.S. ever admitting the same about Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. The Cold War was two powers controlling their own populations by focusing only on the crimes of the other.
Let鈥檚 talk drug fatalities. Every year 300,000 die from tobacco and 100,000 from alcohol, and so the governments job is to focus tons of money on only illegal drugs which kill around 3,500 annually. We are the world鈥檚 leading drug peddler because no one will touch U.S. Tobacco. Bakunin predicted how the Russian Revolution turned out. The Bolsheviks destroyed socialism and both they and the U.S. then pretended what was still left was called socialism. Today, those in power can easily live with you going to the occasional demonstration. What they don鈥檛 want is sustained organized pressure. Thus, the path we must choose is clear鈥�