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Noam Chomsky Quotes - Page 9

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On the other hand, a lot of the internet - I don't know the percentage, but I am sure a great mass of internet use - is pretty superficial interaction amongst people. Its not necessarily a bad thing. A teenager wants to

On the other hand, a lot of the internet - I don't know the percentage, but I am sure a great mass of internet use - is pretty superficial interaction amongst people. Its not necessarily a bad thing. A teenager wants to talk to her friend, that's fine, but I think it probably contributes to atomization, which is a threat to the society.

Teenager, Thinking, Hands

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

Compare mathematics and the political sciences - it's quite striking. In mathematics, in physics, people are concerned with what you say, not with your certification. But in order to speak about social reality, you must have the proper credentials, particularly if you depart from the accepted framework of thinking. Generally speaking, it seems fair to say that the richer the intellectual substance of a field, the less there is a concern for credentials, and the greater is the concern for content.

Reality, Thinking, Order

Noam Chomsky, Michel Foucault (2006). “The Chomsky-Foucault Debate: On Human Nature”, The New Press

There is no western concern for issues of aggression, atrocities, human rights abuses and so on if there's a profit to be made from them

Rights, Issues, Abuse

There are few genuine conservatives within the U.S. political system, and it is a sign of the intellectual corruption of the age that the honorable term 'conservatism' can be appropriated to disguise the advocacy of a powerful, lawless, aggressive and violent state, a welfare state for the rich dedicated to a lunatic form of Keynesian economic intervention that enhances state and private power while mortgaging the country's future.

Country, Powerful, Political

Noam Chomsky (1988). “The Culture of Terrorism”, p.29, South End Press

Democracy, in the United States rhetoric refers to a system of governance in which elite elements based in the business community control the state by virtue of their dominance of the private society, while the population observes quietly. So understood, democracy is a system of elite decision and public ratification, as in the United States itself. Correspondingly, popular involvement in the formation of public policy is considered a serious threat. It is not a step towards democracy; rather it constitutes a 'crisis of democracy' that must be overcome.

Money, Community, Decision

Noam Chomsky (1990). “On Power and Ideology”, p.6, Black Rose Books Ltd.

The first modern propaganda agency was the British Ministry of Information a century ago, which secretly defined its task as "to direct the thought of most of the world" - primarily progressive American intellectuals, who had to be mobilized to come to the aid of Britain during World War I.

War, Agency, Tasks

"How the Magna Carta became a Minor Carta, part 1" by Noam Chomsky, www.theguardian.com. July 24, 2012.

A lot of the people involved in the media are very serious, honest people, and they will tell you, and I think they are right, that they are not being forced to write anything... What they don't tell you, and are maybe unaware of, is that they are allowed to write freely because their beliefs conform to the... standard doctrinal system, and then, yes, they are allowed to write freely and are not coerced.

Writing, Thinking, Media

Source: theanarchistlibrary.org

Hume's paradox does hold: power is in the hands of the governed. If they refuse to accept it, you're in trouble, no matter how many guns you have.

Gun, Hands, Doe

Source: chomsky.info

Human language appears to be a unique phenomenon, without significant analogue in the animal world.

Animal, Unique, World

Noam Chomsky (2006). “Language and Mind”, p.59, Cambridge University Press

That is what I have always understood to be the essence of anarchism: the conviction that the burden of proof has to be placed on authority, and that it should be dismantled if that burden cannot be met.

Burden Of Proof, Essence, Anarchy

Noam Chomsky (2004). “Language and Politics”, p.775, AK Press

I like the cold weather. It means you get work done.

Mean, Weather, Snow

That's a point that Dan Ellsberg has made for years. He said it's kind of like if you and I go into a grocery store to rob it, and I have a gun. The guy may give you the money in the cash register. I'm using the gun even if I don't shoot. Well that's nuclear weapons - essential to post-war deterrence - they cast a shadow over everything.

War, Gun, Years

Source: www.counterpunch.org

I mean, what's the elections? You know, two guys, same background, wealth, political influence, went to the same elite university, joined the same secret society where you're trained to be a ruler - they both can run because they're financed by the same corporate institutions.

Running, Mean, Two

"Final Edition". Book by Wallace Shawn, 2011.

My suspicion is that those who seem oblivious to suffering, whether it is nearby or in remote corners, are for the most part unaware, perhaps blinded by doctrine and ideology. For them, the answer is to develop a critical attitude toward articles of faith, secular or religious; to encourage their capacity to question, to explore, to view the world from the standpoint of others. And direct exposure is never very far away, wherever we live - perhaps the homeless person huddling in the cold or asking for a few pennies for food, or all too many more.

Religious, Attitude, Suffering

"Noam Chomsky: On Trump and the State of the Union". Interview with George Yancy, www.nytimes.com. July 5, 2017.

The United States has done some very good things in the world, and that does not change the fact that the World Court was quite correct in condemning the United States as an international terrorist state.

United States, Doe, Done

"American Morning" with Paula Zahn, edition.cnn.com. May 30, 2002.

As far as Bernie Sanders is concerned, he is a decent, honest person, and I supported him. What he means by socialism is New Deal Liberalism. In fact, his actual policies would not have been a great surprise to General Eisenhower. The fact that this is called a "political revolution" is a sign of how far to the right the political spectrum has shifted, mainly in the last 30 years since the neoliberal programs began to be instituted. What he was calling for was a restoration of something like New Deal Liberalism, which is a very good thing.

Mean, Political Revolution, Years

Source: pennpoliticalreview.org

Africa's a wreck and it's not because it was hit by an asteroid. It's a wreck largely because it was hit by Europe.

Europe, Wrecks, Asteroids

Source: www.madre.org

There has to be spiritual transformation among the masses, who have to be willing to recognize that their oppression is not a law of nature. That's what Latin American bishops were doing when they formed base communities. They were trying to get peasants to recognize that you can take your fate into your own hands. That's what the civil-rights movement did here. That's what the women's movement did.

Spiritual, Latin, Fate

Source: www.commonwealmagazine.org

The murder of Lumumba, in which the U.S. was involved, in the Congo destroyed Africa's major hope for development. Congo is now total horror story, for years.

Years, Horror Stories, Development

"Part I: Instead of “Illegal” Threat to Syria, U.S. Should Back Chemical Weapons Ban in All Nations. Part II: Chomsky on 9/11, Syria's “Bloody Partition” and Why U.S. Role Ensures Failure of Mideast Talks". Interview with Amy Goodman, chomsky.info. September 11, 2013.

Legalizing marijuana would make a lot of sense, I don't think there's a single case of marijuana overdose on record and tens of millions of users. It's much less dangerous than alcohol, for example.

Marijuana, Thinking, Alcohol

"Noam Chomsky: Drug Cartels and the Growing Border War". Interview with Luis Fernando Cárdenas, chomsky.info. August 15, 2011.

The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory for Osama bin Laden, whose announced goal was to bankrupt America by drawing it into a trap. The 2011 military budget - almost matching that of the rest of the world combined - is higher in real terms than at any time since World War II and is slated to go even higher .

Running, Military, Real

Noam Chomsky (2016). “Who Rules the World?”, p.62, Metropolitan Books

In the humanities and social sciences, and in fields like journalism and economics and so on, people have to be trained to be managers, and controllers, and to accept things, and not to question too much.

People, Humanity, Too Much

"Understanding Power". Book by Noam Chomsky, 2002.

When geologists announced the beginning of a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene, humans destroying the environment, one of the main things they pointed to is the use of plastics in the earth. We don't think about it, but it has a tremendous effect. But these are things you don't see right in front of your eyes. You need to think about them a little, to see what the consequences are. It's easy to put them aside, and the media don't talk about them.

Eye, Thinking, Media

Source: www.salon.com

The people I find most impressive are generally unknown at the time of their actions and forgotten in history.

People, Action, Forgotten

Source: www.publicanthropology.org

Expressing criticism of society is not being a grouch.

Criticism, Grouches

"Ezra Levant Interviewed Noam Chomsky and They Disagreed On Pretty Much Everything" by Chris Bilton |, www.vice.com. March 10 2015.

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