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Greg
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« on: September 27, 2009, 12:41:16 PM » |
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Just curious. Is anyone a "fan" of Noam Chomsky? Even if you're not, hey, you don't want to silence the critic now!
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mervap
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« Reply #1 on: September 27, 2009, 01:14:29 PM » |
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Honestly, although I know the name, I am unfamiliar with Chomsky...I'll have a look!
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"If Love is blind, how will it ever find a way?"
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« Reply #2 on: September 27, 2009, 02:13:09 PM » |
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Oh yeah....the Rights punching bag.......he hits back really good though. :)
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It's Better to have No Taste, than Bad Taste.
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Greg
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« Reply #3 on: September 27, 2009, 03:20:53 PM » |
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He's something like the third most quoted source in the humanities index behind Karl Mark and Jesus...or something like that. Yet no one know him. A truly amazing guy. If you are right wing you'll either hate him or say he's crazy, disregard him, or just say he's wrong. He's on youtube with great interviews. He, like I, rarely votes because it's pretty much a sham here (imo, imo).
Has anyone ever read Toffler's idea of a semi-direct democracy? He says that the public should count for a third of the vote on many issues. congress/senate/public. If you get selected to vote on a bill you have a chance to look into it and cast your vote. It would be worth a try for this reason. At least you wouldn't be beholden to lobbyists. It couldn't be any worse than what we have now. You wouldn't have this type of vote for matters such as going to war or something. Anyway. I don't get involved with long, long, drawn out political threads because it just dwindles into comparing someone to Hitler no matter what the argument or party.
I totally don't mean to anger someone. That's not my intention here.
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mervap
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« Reply #4 on: September 27, 2009, 06:03:38 PM » |
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Don't worry, Greg...this site is a place where folks of all political persuasions are welcome and intelligent discourse (hopefully!) is the rule rather than the exception. Name-calling is not a part of such a dicussion, so no worries....by and large, I would guess many of the folks here are open-minded about things.
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"If Love is blind, how will it ever find a way?"
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oldasSoul
The Silver Beatles
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« Reply #5 on: September 27, 2009, 06:13:30 PM » |
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There was a great documentary done on Chomsky by the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corp.) that mainly showed him lecturing on the college circuit. Fascinating, and a little easier to digest than his books. Think I made it through the first 50 pages or so before the cerebral hemmorage.  On the political side, Arthur C. Clarke had the idea in one of his novels that leaders should be chosen from the general populace, much like choosing people for jury duty. The thinking was that anyone aspiring to the position would be too jaded/beholden to special interests to work for the public good. Random individuals wouldn't necessarily have an agenda, and would just want to do the job and move on. Given the politicians running the show where I am, this sounds better everyday! (My thinking may be clouded by the fact that I saw some of "The Candidate" the other night.) |
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I know you know what you know, but you should know by now that you're not me.
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« Reply #6 on: September 27, 2009, 06:41:16 PM » |
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He says that the public should count for a third of the vote on many issues. /quote]
That's a pretty good idea. At least you would be able to voice your opinion over the guy you elected, when he flip flops on the issues you elected him for. |
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It's Better to have No Taste, than Bad Taste.
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Paperback Writer
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« Reply #7 on: September 30, 2009, 01:12:09 AM » |
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You gents are all correct, no doubt there is a ruling elite.  |
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Kylenz
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« Reply #8 on: September 30, 2009, 02:44:19 AM » |
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Ahhh.. I've had my share of being trolled / baited by the website admin on another Beatle forum, putting words in my mouth on contentious geopolitical issues and it was quite an unpleasant experience. I try and keep my mouth shut these days, it's better that way. All I will say is that despite Chomsky's pretensions as a bit of an anarchist, he doesn't seem to actively expose any of the real manipulation going on in the world. For example, on one hand he appears to be a radical critic of the system and governments, yet he has no time for the 9/11 truth movement. There's something fishy about that. I'm not saying he's wrong for adopting that stance, I just find it.. intriguing.
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Greg
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« Reply #9 on: September 30, 2009, 08:29:20 PM » |
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Fair enough. He seems to be opposed to almost all of the doings in foreign policy like East Timor, the Sudan, Iraq and others. He seems disgusted at what he sees portrayed in the U.S. media. The 911 situation. What can I say? You're right. He's dismissed it. I really like Chomsky a whole lot. I'm just curious. Do you find him, for the most part, a good voice in the world? I am just curious what you think. No argument from here either way.
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TrllVl90
The Quarrymen
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« Reply #10 on: February 28, 2010, 12:00:02 AM » |
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Personally I find he's point of view quite refreshing. I despise the "news" media and utterly refuse to take part in it and become agitated if not thoroughly enraged when forced to be around it or anyone who believes in such nonsense (i.e. practically anyone in my family as it turns out). After skimming through his political stand points I'd have to say I agree. I am not certain what he said about 911 so if someone could clarify so I could properly voice my opinion about that I would appreciate it. As it turns out I am very disenchanted with humanity and hold very little sympathy for it. We are too dumb (IMO) to break ourselves out of this ridiculous self-destructive cycle we have been in for centuries and all this violence doesn't help. I'm going to pull a quote from an anime (yes, an anime. I find inspiration in the strangest places) "Revenge, only begets more revenge" and I agree with this with all of my heart and soul. I will never approve of ANY violent act whether it be provocative or retalitory. It is simply barbaric and any truly "advanced" society and or species should be able to see, process and agree with that. Our intelligence seperates us from the rest of nature, but we are still as pointlessly violent as many "lesser" species. again, just my opinions, horribly off track and I apologize if this offends somebody, which is certainly not my intention; however, your offense offends me :P lol
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Greg
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« Reply #11 on: February 28, 2010, 03:01:16 AM » |
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I think, and this is only a guess, that Kylenz was referring to the fact that Chomsky doesn't believe that the 911 attacks was an inside job.
Kylenz if I got that wrong iou.
If you know Chomsky, TrllVl90, you prob know Zinn too. No?
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TrllVl90
The Quarrymen
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« Reply #12 on: February 28, 2010, 03:19:21 PM » |
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No I have yet to delve into chomsky or zinn, the latter of which I haven't heard of
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Kylenz
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« Reply #13 on: February 28, 2010, 05:59:46 PM » |
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I think, and this is only a guess, that Kylenz was referring to the fact that Chomsky doesn't believe that the 911 attacks was an inside job.
Kylenz if I got that wrong iou.
Thank you Greg. Yes, Chomsky wrote a book on 9/11 and completely sidestepped any considerations that the attacks were an inside job, rather he goes into an elaborate diatribe on terrorism. Really disappointing. Apparently this is the way he treats conspiracy theories in general. It makes me wonder if this is part of an agenda to appoint a sage in academic circles apparently 'in opposition' whereas he is in reality perpetrating a distraction from the real issues going on. I think he is the kind of disinformation specialist governments most value. An intellectual who 'appears' to be anti-establishment, yet only serves to lead fellow intellectuals/academics further along the garden path on a wild goose chase. That's just my feeling on him. He was regarded as a bit of a hero in my Social Anthropology classes at university.. and in retrospect I have an uneasy feeling, especially having read about agendas such as the Rockefeller Foundation to control everything written in textbooks. Chomsky in my view, is all part of the mind manipulation of the masses - corners the market for those whom are so-called 'free-thinking' and 'intelligent'. The Elites like to have a bob each way, a finger in both pies, when it comes to these things.. even the Rothschilds funded Kark Marx! That's how you control the world. |
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Pam
The Quarrymen
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« Reply #14 on: February 28, 2010, 06:32:40 PM » |
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Chomsky may have been covered so much in your Social Anthropology class because he is a linguist - his other academic "hat" in addition to his political critiques. My favorite political analyst is Tariq Ali (the same guy who hung out with John and Yoko in the early 70s). If you look him up on YouTube you'll find an excellent critique of the Obama administration thus far. I think that regardless of whether or not 9-11 was an inside job, it's clear that the U.S. is seen as imperialist by many. In my opinion, we are only perpetuating terrorism against us if we continue such things as sending 30K more troops to Afghanistan.
As far as political parties are concerned, I am greatly disillusioned with the Obama administration. I voted for him but have since decided that the Democrats are just a kinder, gentler Republican Party. Big business currently has both parties in their pockets.
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