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Read Chomsky

Read Chomsky

Noam Chomsky (en.wikipedia.org)

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Noam Chomsky steps in on behalf of Needs

"Needs was surprised to hear back from the plant, which said it needed “expressed written consent” to use the sample. Though Needs considered dropping the bit, Orr opted to email both the broadcaster and Chomsky. While he didn’t hear from the CBC, Chomsky gave the act his blessing. He didn’t, however, take up Orr’s offer to send an MP3, writing: “Thanks for the offer to send the song. No use. Never have time to listen to or watch anything.”

http://www.straight.com/music/377376/noam-chomsky-steps-behalf-needs

Noam Chomsky on being watched (cbc.ca)

Quote:
Following last week's revelation that the CIA had apparently been keeping tabs on Noam Chomsky, guest host Kevin Sylvester speaks to the outspoken author, philosopher and MIT emeritus professor about government surveillance, then and now.

While Syria descends into suicide, Israel and the US are enjoying the spectacle (ceasefiremagazine.co.uk)

Noam Chomsky talks to Frank Barat about the current situation in the Middle East, notably the crisis in Syria, the peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, and the role of US power in the region.

 

 

Wow, great! I am downloading that and will listen to it in the car tomorrow. I was unfamiliar with Glenn Greenwald (is he any relation to Robert Greenwald, the filmmaker who has produced some great exposes like Outfoxed and Walmart: the High Cost of Low Price?) until a few weeks ago when I caught his participation on CBC Ideas Munk Debates. See here:

http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/episodes/2014/05/08/state-surveillance-the-munk-...

They were discussing the surveillance state and Greenwald and reddit's Ohanian argued against it, with the NSA director and -- of all people! --Alan Dershowitz as proponents of Big Brother. A brilliant debate (Dershowitz came across badly IMO) which you can listen to on the site or download as a podcast.

 I've got my name on the list for his new book. Very smart and articulate guy, a pleasure to listen to.

 

Chomsky’s views on 'post-structuralism' are wrought with scarcely concealed political bias, to such an extent that his statements in that respect lends credence to several 'post-structural' theories, the substance of which he’s often claimed an inability to grasp.  This would appear to be fully supported by his statements were it not for the fact that he is such an acclaimed intellectual.

Chomsky rounding on "French" Intellectual Culture

Would you like freedom fries with that?  It doesn't put him in a very good light quite frankly.

Slumberjack wrote:

Chomsky’s views on 'post-structuralism' are wrought with scarcely concealed political bias, to such an extent that his statements in that respect lends credence to several 'post-structural' theories, the substance of which he’s often claimed an inability to grasp.  This would appear to be fully supported by his statements were it not for the fact that he is such an acclaimed intellectual.

Chomsky rounding on "French" Intellectual Culture

Would you like freedom fries with that?  It doesn't put him in a very good light quite frankly.

I don't know if I would compare a critique of the French intelligensia and their academic schools with the neo-con freedom-fries brigade, who were considerably less informed about France than Chomsky is, and were just latching onto any rhetoric in order to whip up war frenzy.

If somebody were to say "I really don't think much of the Amercian Pragmatists and their influence on American philosophy and politics", and provide his reasons for thinking this, I would hardly say it's equivalent to the type of anti-Americanism expressed here(possibly NSFW)...

http://tinyurl.com/ojmd6l9

Plus, Chomsky is equally critical of his own country's intellectuals, albeit for different reasons. So it's not like he's just some loud-mouthed legionnaire mouthing off against France simply because it's foreign. And, given what I know about Chomsky's overall outlook, I believe he'd be a fan of Descartes and the later Englightenment thinkers. His comments in that video were confined to the post-1945 situation, it seems to me.   

 

 

 

 

One more thing...

Given his comments on Darwinism, one might get the impression he thinks France is a nation of creationists. But, going by what I've read, it's specifically Lamarckianism that maintained its hold over French scientific thought, long after Darwin had been accepted(among scientists anyway) in the anglosphere. I don't know all the details there, but it's something I recall reading somewhere.

 

voice of the damned wrote:
I don't know if I would compare a critique of the French intelligensia and their academic schools with the neo-con freedom-fries brigade, who were considerably less informed about France than Chomsky is, and were just latching onto any rhetoric in order to whip up war frenzy.

He has gone to some lengths to say that he doesn't understand most, if not all of it, which seems to have been the main thrust of his critique over the years.  It should be readily admitted by anyone who has ever appreciated Chomsky's insights and work that a lack of comprehension as the critical reason provided is a little suspect on his part.  But it appears less so in terms of not having to engage in a substantive criticism of the material in question.  In other words, the throw-away line that it's impenetrable gibberish which is being referred to neatly tucks away the need to extend one-self.  If the critique were simply left at that, as a lack of time or interest with which to dedicate to the task of extracting whatever sense the complexity of the material may contain, then there's little to be said about that because it would likely be derived from stylistic preferences.  On the other hand, critique takes on a different character altogether when it's prefaced by comments that appear to indicate country of origin stereotyping.  The term ‘surrender monkeys’ accomplished the same thing in another context, particularly when the warmongering establishment in Washington DC was upset at Dominique de Villepin and his performance at the UN in 2003.  Why is that even necessary for Chomsky?  When it’s accompanied by little else in this regard perhaps?

Chalk another one up for Chomsky here though, in an account of how the scales were finally lifted for one journalist.

Quote:
In reality, neither the MA nor my early years in Nazareth helped. In fact, the better educated I became on the Middle East the more alienated I felt from my colleagues and their coverage. Further, in refutation of De Botton’s analysis, the better I became at presenting the news, making it more interesting and informative, the less likely – at least, if it related to Israel – I usually was in getting it published in mainstream media.

What I started to suspect was that the fault was not mine, or related to my presentational skills, but with the media itself.

I stayed in a state of journalistic bewilderment until I stumbled across a book by Noam Chomsky, Understanding Power. Then, my confusion started to lift. With a framework for understanding how the interests of economic and political power were pursued through western state policy, I could make sense both of the events taking place around the world and the media’s failure to cover them meaningfully.

The End of History? (inthesetimes.com)

Quote:
The likely end of the era of civilization is foreshadowed in a new draft report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the generally conservative monitor of what is happening to the physical world.

Quote:
While the International Criminal Court investigates and sentences African dictators, any of the crimes the US commits like the invasion of Iraq, which has destabilized an entire region, go unpunished, philosopher Noam Chomsky tells RT.

Chomsky: 'International law cannot be enforced against great powers’ FULL INTERVIEW (rt.com)

Hearing: Confronting Russia’s Weaponization of Information (foreignaffairs.house.gov)

Why the Ukraine Crisis Is the West’s Fault (2014) (foreignaffairs.com)

Quote:
There’s also another opinion on the matter. Namely, the world’s opinion, and we know what that is because there are polls taken by the leading US polling agencies. The Gallup organization has international polls. And they ask the question, “Which country is the greatest threat to world peace?” The United States is way ahead of anyone else. No other country is even close. But Americans are protected from that. The US media simply refused to print it. This major poll, I think it was December 2013, it was reported by BBC. But not a single word in the major American media. So if the world thinks that, so much for the world. We say Iran is the greatest threat to world peace, therefore that is true. We can repeat it over and over.

Happy new year? The world's getting slowly more cheerful (2013) (bbc.com)

Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua (Nicaragua v. United States of America) (1986) (icj-cij.org)

Obstacles to social mobility weaken equal opportunities and economic growth, says OECD study (2010) (oecd.org)

Noam Chomsky: Popular Movements Needed To 'Reverse the Mad Rush Toward Destruction'

http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/265-34/31914-noam-chomsky-popula...

Noam Chomsky interviewed by David Barsamian

"...There is a Yanomami shaman leader named Davi Kopinawa. He says, 'The white people want to kill everything. They will soil the rivers and lakes and take what is left. Their thoughts are constantly attached to their merchandise. They relentlessly and always desire new goods. They do not think that they are spoiling the earth and the sky and that they will never be able to recreate new ones.'

NObody knows it and tells it like Chomsky. If only his outstanding intelligence, knowledge, and ability was appreciated for what it really is. 

And no two-bit journalist with a bone in his mouth is ever going to demonize him in the eyes of people of decency. 

Noam Chomsky, Edward Snowden and Glenn Greenwald

A Conversation on Privacy (theintercept.com)

The balance between national security and government intrusion on the rights of private citizens will be the topic of a panel discussion featuring renowned linguist and MIT professor Noam Chomsky, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, and Intercept co-founding editor Glenn Greenwald. Nuala O’Connor, president and CEO of the Center for Democracy and Technology, will act as moderator.

Chomsky and Greenwald will appear in person at the event, hosted in Tucson by the University of Arizona College of Behavioral Sciences, while Snowden will appear via videoconference.

Here's some essays on the common criticisms of Chomsky's thought.   Useful overview of what's been said about him and how it relates to what he says.

General criticisms, the "faurisson affair", "anti-americanism"":

http://flagrancy.net/chomsky.html

And on his "support for the Khmer Rouge":

http://flagrancy.net/khmerchomsky.html

 

 

 

 

 

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