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Noam Chomsky Quotes - Page 15

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Remember that in any major nuclear war, the first strike destroys the country that attacks; it's been known for years. The first strike of a major power is very likely to cause what's called nuclear winter, leads to

Remember that in any major nuclear war, the first strike destroys the country that attacks; it's been known for years. The first strike of a major power is very likely to cause what's called nuclear winter, leads to global famine for years and everything's basically gone. Some survivors straggling around. Could [Donald Trump] do it? Who knows.

Country, War, Winter

Source: www.counterpunch.org

We naturally assume that our mental structures are universal. But I suppose an outside biologist looking at us would see something very different. He would see that, like other organisms, we have a narrow sphere within which we are very good, but that sphere is very limited. And that, in fact, the very achievements we can have within that sphere are related to lack of achievements in other spheres.

Achievement, Different, Facts

Source: chomsky.info

If the US were to attack North Korea, they'd certainly destroy North Korea, but South Korea would be pretty well wiped out too.

Korea, Would Be, Wells

Source: www.truth-out.org

[Mikhail] Gorbachev complained. He was told look, there's nothing on paper. People didn't actually say it but the implication was look, if you are dumb enough to take faith in a gentleman's agreement with us, that's your problem. NATO expanded to East Germany.

East Germany, Agreement, People

Source: www.counterpunch.org

The Fourteenth Amendment, after the civil war, in principle brought former slaves into the category of persons, theoretically. But if you actually look, almost all the cases brought up for personal rights under the Fourteenth Amendment were by corporations. Freed slaves couldn't do it. In fact they were pretty much driven back into something like slavery by a north - south compact, that allowed former slave states to criminalize black life, which made a criminal force that was basically used as a forced labor force, up until the 1930s.

War, Labor Force, Rights

Interview with Jegan Vincent de Paul, chomsky.info. August 15, 2012.

I mean you look back at American history and American culture, it's pretty striking. I mean this has been the safest country in the world forever, and the most frightened country in the world.

Country, Mean, Forever

Source: www.counterpunch.org

For example, when my father was able to buy a secondhand car in the late 1930s, and he took us to the countryside for a weekend, if we looked for a motel to stay in we had to see if it said "restricted" on it. "Restricted" meant no Jews.

Father, Weekend, Car

Source: thehumanist.com

In fact, by universal grammar I mean just that system of principles and structures that are the prerequisites for acquisition of language, and to which every language necessarily conforms.

Mean, Facts, Principles

Source: chomsky.info

America has always been the richest and most secure, and sometimes the most dangerous country in the world. In the early years, the danger was to everybody near us, slaves, Native Americans, Mexicans. It finally expanded in 1898 to the Caribbean, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and the Philippines.

Country, Native American, Years

Source: www.commonwealmagazine.org

The Obama administration is dedicated to increasing terrorism. In fact, he is doing it all over the world. Obama is running the biggest terrorist operation that exists, maybe in history. The drone assassination campaigns - which are just part of the special forces operations and so on - all of these operations are terror operations.

Running, Special, Administration

Source: www.truth-out.org

I don't have any oratory skills. But I would not use them if I had.

Skills, Use, Oratory

I think religion has often played a very positive role. Take western civilization, the Catholic Church has played an honorable role in helping those in need. In contrast, the US carried out a virtual war against the church in central America in the 1980's primarily because prime elements in the church were working with great courage and honor to help those in need. And to organize them to help themselves.

War, Thinking, Civilization

Source: chomsky.info

In studying language we can discover many basic properties of this cognitive structure, its organization, and also the genetic predispositions that provide the foundation for its development. So in this respect, linguistics, first of all, tries to characterize a major feature of human cognitive organization. And second, I think it may provide a suggestive model for the study of other cognitive systems. And the collection of these systems is one aspect of human nature.

Thinking, Organization, Trying

Source: chomsky.info

Tough love is just the right phrase: love for the rich and privileged, tough for everyone else.

Love Is, Tough Love, Phrases

Noam Chomsky (1996). “Powers and Prospects: Reflections on Human Nature and the Social Order”, p.92, South End Press

Real popular culture is folk art - coalminers' songs and so forth.

Song, Art, Real

In the years of the Reagan-Bush administration alone, about 1.5 million people were killed by South Africa just in the surrounding countries. Forget what was happening in South Africa and Namibia.

Country, Media, Years

Noam Chomsky (2011). “Media Control: The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda”, p.57, Seven Stories Press

In any institution-factory, university, health center, or whatever-there are a variety of interests that ought to be represented in decision-making: the work force itself, the community in which it is located, users of its products or services, institutions that compete for the same resources. These interests should be directly represented in democratic structures that displace and eliminate private ownership of the means of production or resources, an anachronism with no legitimacy.

Mean, Community, Decision

The new crimes that the US and Israel were committing in Gaza as 2009 opened do not fit easily into any standard category—except for the category of familiarity.

Israel, Gaza Strip, Fit

Noam Chomsky, Ilan PappŽ (2014). “Gaza in Crisis: Reflections on Israel's War Against the Palestinians”, p.101, Haymarket Books

Even Stalin proclaimed his love for democracy. We do not learn about the nature of systems of power by listening to their rhetoric.

Listening, Democracy, His Love

"Kurds within the Arab spring and the Middle East Crisis". Interview with Haidar Nasih, chomsky.info. December 30, 2012.

But on the other hand, in discussion and debate concerning social issues or American foreign policy, Vietnam or the Middle East, for example, the issue is constantly raised, often with considerable venom. I've repeatedly been challenged on grounds of credentials, or asked, what special training do you have that entitles you to speak of these matters. The assumption is that people like me, who are outsiders from a professional viewpoint, are not entitled to speak on such things.

Hands, Issues, People

Let's imagine again an observer looking at us without any preconceptions. I think he would be struck by the fact that although human beings have the capacity to develop scientific knowledge, it must be a very limited capacity because it is only done in very narrow and specific domains.

Thinking, Would Be, Done

Source: chomsky.info

Public opinion can be influential, the media can be influential.

Media, Public Opinion, Opinion

Another problem is the confrontation with India. Pakistan just cannot survive if it continues to do so (continue this confrontation).

Pakistan, India, Problem

Source: www.dawn.com

It's quite extraordinary to hear a supposedly learned person call the United States a leading terrorist nation, one of the leading terrorist nations in the world. It's false and very treacherous teaching.

Teaching, Learned Person, United States

Source: www.counterpunch.org

There are major efforts being made to dismantle Social Security, the public schools, the post office - anything that benefits the population has to be dismantled. Efforts against the U.S. Postal Service are particularly surreal.

School, Office, Effort

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