Invasions & Evasions
Chomsky talks about tinkerers vs. overhaulers. He says, “We should be in favor of both. Sometimes tinkering with the system can be of great help to people.” And addressing media reform, he says, “If you can induce the media to give a somewhat fairer treatment of significant issues, that’s all to the good. It doesn’t change anything fundamental, but it can make a difference.” The conversation moves on to imperialism and how the U.S. power structure creates a web of euphemisms and fantasies to obscure its interventionist policies. He discusses Israel and the intellectual culture in the U.S. that supports it. He then goes on to discuss Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, Jimmy Carter’s book, and the ensuing hysteria about it.
Interviewed by David Barsamian.
Recorded at MIT.
Speaker
Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky, by any measure, has led a most extraordinary life. In one index, he is ranked as the eighth most cited person in history, right up there with Aristotle, Shakespeare, Marx, Plato, and Freud. His contributions to modern linguistics are legendary. In addition to his pioneering work in that field, he has been a leading voice for peace and social justice for many decades. Chris Hedges says he is “America’s greatest intellectual” who “makes the powerful, as well as their liberal apologists, deeply uncomfortable.” The New Statesman calls him “the conscience of the American people.” He is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy at MIT and Laureate Professor of Linguistics and Haury Chair in the Program in Environment and Social Justice at the University of Arizona. At 97, though having health setbacks, he continues to inform and inspire people all over the world. He is the author of scores of books, including Masters of Mankind, Consequences of Capitalism, Chronicles of Dissent, and Notes on Resistance. He is co-author with Edward Herman of Manufacturing Consent. His latest books are The Myth of American Idealism: How U.S. Foreign Policy Endangers the World and Surviving the 21st Century.
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