Ted's Reviews > Understanding Power: The Indispensable Chomsky
Understanding Power: The Indispensable Chomsky
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Ted's review
bookshelves: language, classics, history-us, politics-political-theory, society, americana, reviews-most-liked
Dec 19, 2011
bookshelves: language, classics, history-us, politics-political-theory, society, americana, reviews-most-liked
This really is the indispensable Chomsky. It's a summary of his views on just about everything.
Many of Noam's views are very left wing, progressive, anti-American policy, anti-Israel policy ... so a lot of people care not much for him. He is to me the most rational, truth seeking person I've read.
The book is not "writings" of Chomsky's. Rather it is edited transcriptions of Q&A sessions from a great number of teach-ins and college talks that he has given over the years. The editing has been done to add foot-notes, and of course to make both questions and answers read better and be more succinct in their wording and give greater depth to the answers (I would guess) than was done on the fly. In that sense, they are closer to writings than most Q&A transcriptions would be.
Ch 1. Weekend Teach-In: Opening Session (primarily Rowe Mass., April 1989)
Ch 2. Teach in: Over Coffee (ditto)
Ch 3. Teach-In: Evening (ditto)
Ch 4. Colloquy (primarily Fort Collins CO, April 1990)
Ch 5. Ruling the World (discussions in NY, MA, MD, CO, IL and Ontario, 1990 and 93-96)
Ch 6. Community Activists (discussions in British Columbia, MA, IL, MD and WY, 1989 and 93-96)
Ch 7. Intellectuals and Social Change (discussions at Woods Hole and Rowe MA, 93-96)
Ch 8. Popular Struggle (discussions in MA, MD, Ontario, CA and WY, 1989, '94 & '94)
Ch 9. Movement Organizing (discussions at Woods Hole MA, 93-96)
Ch. 10. Turning Point (discussions in IL, NJ, MA, NY and MD, 94-96 & '99)
Each of these chapters is in turn divided into 10-20 subtopics (all given in the TOC)
For example, Chapter 7 has the following subtopics:
- The Leninist/Capitalist Intelligentsia
- Marxist "Theory" and Intellectual Fakery
- Ideological Control in the Sciences and Humanities
- The Function of the Schools
- Subtler Methods of Control
- Cruder Methods of Control
- Forging Working-Class Culture
- The Fraud of Modern Economics
- The Real Market
- Automation
- A Revolutionary Change in Moral Values
The footnotes are not in the book itself. They are downloadable from a web-site as a PDF document. This I have done. It is 1.7 MB, 450 pages long - the footnotes. These footnotes are not only references but additional explanatory information.
The book has a pretty good index.
The book is more wide ranging than many of Chomsky's other publications, hence is not what you want if you only want his views on Media, or U.S. Foreign Policy. But making up for this, it probably gives a pretty good sample of his views on a full range of topics.
I use the word "views" here to try to be non-argumentative. But for a vast amount of this stuff, the evidence that Chomsky present qualifies the positions he outlines not as simply his views, but as flat out the truth. But it's a truth that the average American (unlike in many cases the average European) has no idea about - because the mainstream U.S. Media just refuses to print factual news which runs contrary to the U.S. exceptionalist view which we have of ourselves - news which commonly appears in the British, French, German, even Israeli press.
Rather than try to give any sort of summary of Chomsky's insights (there, a better word than "views"), I'll just conclude by quoting a paragraph from the back cover of the book.
That it is.
Many of Noam's views are very left wing, progressive, anti-American policy, anti-Israel policy ... so a lot of people care not much for him. He is to me the most rational, truth seeking person I've read.
The book is not "writings" of Chomsky's. Rather it is edited transcriptions of Q&A sessions from a great number of teach-ins and college talks that he has given over the years. The editing has been done to add foot-notes, and of course to make both questions and answers read better and be more succinct in their wording and give greater depth to the answers (I would guess) than was done on the fly. In that sense, they are closer to writings than most Q&A transcriptions would be.
Ch 1. Weekend Teach-In: Opening Session (primarily Rowe Mass., April 1989)
Ch 2. Teach in: Over Coffee (ditto)
Ch 3. Teach-In: Evening (ditto)
Ch 4. Colloquy (primarily Fort Collins CO, April 1990)
Ch 5. Ruling the World (discussions in NY, MA, MD, CO, IL and Ontario, 1990 and 93-96)
Ch 6. Community Activists (discussions in British Columbia, MA, IL, MD and WY, 1989 and 93-96)
Ch 7. Intellectuals and Social Change (discussions at Woods Hole and Rowe MA, 93-96)
Ch 8. Popular Struggle (discussions in MA, MD, Ontario, CA and WY, 1989, '94 & '94)
Ch 9. Movement Organizing (discussions at Woods Hole MA, 93-96)
Ch. 10. Turning Point (discussions in IL, NJ, MA, NY and MD, 94-96 & '99)
Each of these chapters is in turn divided into 10-20 subtopics (all given in the TOC)
For example, Chapter 7 has the following subtopics:
- The Leninist/Capitalist Intelligentsia
- Marxist "Theory" and Intellectual Fakery
- Ideological Control in the Sciences and Humanities
- The Function of the Schools
- Subtler Methods of Control
- Cruder Methods of Control
- Forging Working-Class Culture
- The Fraud of Modern Economics
- The Real Market
- Automation
- A Revolutionary Change in Moral Values
The footnotes are not in the book itself. They are downloadable from a web-site as a PDF document. This I have done. It is 1.7 MB, 450 pages long - the footnotes. These footnotes are not only references but additional explanatory information.
The book has a pretty good index.
The book is more wide ranging than many of Chomsky's other publications, hence is not what you want if you only want his views on Media, or U.S. Foreign Policy. But making up for this, it probably gives a pretty good sample of his views on a full range of topics.
I use the word "views" here to try to be non-argumentative. But for a vast amount of this stuff, the evidence that Chomsky present qualifies the positions he outlines not as simply his views, but as flat out the truth. But it's a truth that the average American (unlike in many cases the average European) has no idea about - because the mainstream U.S. Media just refuses to print factual news which runs contrary to the U.S. exceptionalist view which we have of ourselves - news which commonly appears in the British, French, German, even Israeli press.
Rather than try to give any sort of summary of Chomsky's insights (there, a better word than "views"), I'll just conclude by quoting a paragraph from the back cover of the book.
In a series of enlightening and wide-ranging discussions ... Chomsky radically reinterprets the events of the past three decades [the last decades of the 20th century] covering topis from foreign policy during the Vietnam War to the decline of welfare under the Clinton administration. And as he elucidates the connection between America's imperialistic foreign policy and social inequalities at home, Chomsky also discerns the necessary steps to take toward social change. With an eye to political activism and the media's role in popular struggle, as well as U.S. foreign and domestic policy, (the book) is definitive Chomsky.
That it is.
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Reading Progress
December 19, 2011
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Started Reading
December 19, 2011
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December 19, 2011
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25.48%
"I love Chomsky's work. He is a little arrogant once in awhile, but not like your typical politician. He knows what he is talking about, in my opinion. And the things that he says that are obviously opinions I usually agree with. It is amazing that he has been as optimistic as he has over the years about our democracy, because he knows as well as anybody the way we are brainwashed."
page
106
January 14, 2012
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language
March 12, 2012
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classics
April 18, 2012
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history-us
April 18, 2012
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politics-political-theory
April 18, 2012
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society
April 18, 2012
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October 13, 2017
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Comments Showing 1-22 of 22 (22 new)
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message 1:
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Garima
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Jan 30, 2014 09:51PM

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Yep, agree with you 100% on this Ted. I've never understood why this stuff isn't the mainstream thinking -- it's so logical and beneficial to society overall, which in turns benefits the individuals. I wonder how he is regarded generally in Europe...

Yep, agree with you 100% on this Ted. I've never understood why this stuff isn't the mainstream thinking -- it's so logical and benef..."
That's an interesting question. I don't know how well he is known, though I would think he at least must be fairly well know in Great Britain.
I noticed another thing on the back of the book. From The Guardian (of course they would know him well): "Chomsky ranks with Marx, Shakespeare, and the Bible as one of the ten most quoted sources in the humanities."
If true, then I suppose he must be quoted in Europe on occasion.
I think Chomsky might say, answering your question, "well, the mainstream media shapes mainstream thinking, and the things I'm saying are not exactly the message the mainstream media wants to spread around." At best, some of the insights Chomsky has may get a few paragraphs on page 14 of section B, with no follow-up as a "continuing story".

Wow. That is some statement. Humanities is no narrow field after all.

Recent research on citations in three different citation indices show that Professor Chomsky is one of the most cited individuals in works published in the past 20 years.
In fact, his 3,874 citations in the Arts and Humanities Citation Index between 1980 and 1992 make him the most cited living person in that period and the eighth most cited source overrall--just behind famed psychiatrist Sigmund Freud and just ahead of philosopher Georg Hegel.
Indeed, Professor Chomsky is in illustrious company. The top ten cited sources during the period were: Marx, Lenin, Shakespeare, Aristotle, the Bible, Plato, Freud, Chomsky, Hegel and Cicero.

What kind of things do you have in mind?

What kind of things do you have in mind?"
Okay, there are lots of examples of this in the book, here's one. I'm paraphrasing what it says in the book.
Before the invasion of East Timor by Indonesia in 1975, the U.S. media had quite a bit of coverage of East Timor. The reason was the Portuguese "empire" was collapsing in the early 70s, and there was a lot of concern that the former colonies such as East Timor would move "toward communism, meaning moving towards independence, which is not allowed."
Then after the invasion, the coverage started to decline, then declined very sharply. by 1978, when the atrocities (genocide by Indonesian backed forces) had reached their peak, "coverage reached flat zero, literally zero in the U.S. and Canada, which has been another big supporter of the occupation".
There follows a paragraph about the lies that the State Department and Indonesian Generals were issuing about the situation during this time.
And, although its never been really reported in the U.S. media, it's not as if it isn't admitted in certain ways. For example, in Daniel Patrick Moynahan's memoirs (our U.N. ambassador at the time), Moynahan writes that he was given the task of making sure that the U.N. prove utterly ineffective in whatever measures it undertook to intervene in the slaughter. Moynahan says that "I carried this forward with no inconsiderable success"
Of course the memoirs were published long after the fact, but even then, it never really got in the news over here.
Well this goes on and on, other details, lapses of the media.
Now this doesn't fit well the the word you chose to ask about, "exceptionalism", but that's my word, I'm not sure Chomsky ever says anything about that, it not in the index. I assume you know what I'm talking about.
This is more an example of things that were known in some parts of the world, and were certainly known by western governments, including the U.S. and Britain and Australia, but never got into the press over here - whether they appeared elsewhere in this particular case I don't know.
I know there are examples of this in the book, but I don't remember which they are. Maybe some of the things that have gone on in Central America.
Don't know whether this really answers your question, Jan-Maat. If not let me know, and I think I can find other things without too much trouble. I've been up all night, going to bed.

OK, so a lack of alternatives to a dominant media narrative, I imagine the USA is not exceptional in that regard, that is probably typical.
Sleep well!

thank you i like this review :)

Magnitude is something to consider.
For further analysis, I recommend the brilliant Vijay Prashad!
1) on media "censorship":
2) on world power:

I'm not sure what his "politics" amount to. He levels a lot of criticism at the way things work in this country, but that criticism doesn't seem to be based on a political position so much as on a feeling of people being controlled by forces which they have not agreed to be controlled by. He does call himself a certain type of anarchist. Is that what you mean?

The ... I really can't think of anything similar by other authors. As for other books by Chomsky, of what I'm familiar with (only a few of the scores of books with his name on them) this is the best.

Yes, for me as well. I first met him at MIT studying computer linguistics and theory of language. His mind is startling; I was captured.
When he moved into political commentary, so did I.
I have a saying:
Always pay attention to Chomsky
Thank you for the review!