From: Mark Steven Heyman (markheyman@infoproconsulting.com)
Date: Wed Nov 17 2004 - 00:10:05 GMT
Hi Sam
On 16 Nov 2004 at 21:59, Sam Norton wrote:
I was interested with something you said (while I was lurking and
occasionally reading the archives) re Chomsky, to the effect that he
didn't comment on other countries, he just wanted to make the US
better. I think that's right - although the context which he ignores
does need to be reapplied in decision making.
msh says:
Well, this isn't quite what he says. As you can imagine he is
frequently asked why he spends so much time criticizing American
foreign policy, and not so much the foreign policy of other
countries.
He is in fact critical of the inhumane and unjust activity of ANY
powerful system. But his position is that he is an American and
therefore has some influence, however little, over what his
government does in the world. If he did not spend the bulk of his
activism time and energy analyzing and criticizing USG crimes against
humanity, he feels he would be tacitly approving these crimes which,
after all, are being carried out in his name and with his tax
dollars. This is morally unacceptable to him Someone once asked him
why he has dedicated so much of his life to political activism. He
said: "It's just a matter of being able to look at myself in the
mirror every morning."
On the other hand, he has absolutely no influence over the activities
carried out by the Taliban, or al-Queda, or Hussein, or Russia or
China, no matter how horrendous, so why focus on those activities.
Besides, there are plenty of people in this country, including many
right here on this list, who are more than happy to criticise the
behavior of our official enemies. The US airwaves are crammed full
of such folks. I think Chomsky sees his work as an attempt to
provide a badly needed counterpoint to the prevailing winds.
I don't know how deeply your interest runs, but you might want to get
hold of Understanding Power. It's an easy read, as it is a
collection of informal talks and interchanges with all kinds of
regular folks. There's an additional 500 pages of notes, references,
and analysis available free, online at UnderstandingPower.com. This
PDF file alone is an invaluable reference source.
Best,
Mark
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