I have not seen Mr Chomsky that often on CNBC, FoxNews or CNN !
Is he not up to their level of thinking ?
jh
Chomsky is ojmne
----- Original Message -----
From: "Nicholas Herndon" <nherndon@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, May 27, 2010 11:31 AM
Subject: Re: [OM] OT: Chomsky
> >The interesting part came when he opened it up for a few questions. One
>>of the first, reflecting, I think, a general interest of the audience,
>>was on the lines of "What can we do to change things?" Chomsky's answer
>>was "Nothing", saying the historical and cultural situation and the
>>forces in place were too broad, powerful and entrenched to be moved by
>>activism.
>
>>As I was not looking for action to take, but to understand the
>>situation, I wasn't as much troubled as others. But I did have a sort of
>>sensation of futility. What was his purpose in coming if that was all he
>>could offer. Couldn't he have just sent a postcard saying it's all
>>inevitable and there's nothing to do about it?
>
>>Considering how long it has been since and what's happening in the area,
>>it appears he may well have been right.
>
> See, that was my biggest problem with the guy when I saw him speak.
> He offered a lot of criticisms but no solutions. He could have just
> said "I don't know" and at least been honest about it. But he has a
> problem with that. He's so entrenched in his views and flat out
> arrogant, that he often practices intellectual dishonesty under the
> guise of activism, but doesn't even realize he is doing it (e.g. his
> take on the Cambodian atrocities, his misquotes of President Truman
> and subsequent refusal to admit that he was wrong, his opposition to
> ownership of intellectual property when he in fact holds the
> copyrights to his own work and profits off of them).
> I do agree with him on a lot of things though, even if they are
> largely self-evident: that those in power will do whatever they can to
> stay in power (including the invasion of other countries), the media
> only serves the interests of those in power, and both history and
> current event reporting are written by those in power, to serve them
> in whatever way suites them best. Since the US is currently (in his
> opinion) the most powerful nation in the world, they are frequently
> the target of his criticisms (I think maybe he should start
> criticizing China).
> His ideas on local democracy also appeal to the libertarian in me.
>
> DISCLAIMER: I am not in any way trying to start a political flame war,
> just sharing my opinion on Chomsky as a thinker and political
> activist. And it's just that, an OPINION, as I am not a scholar on
> Chomsky, nor am I very political.
> --
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