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Noam Chomsky: "The Idea Of A Media Which Does Not Repeat US Propaganda Is Intolerable To American Leaders"
Few individuals polarize the public with their opinions, statements and mere presence, like Noam Chomsky. The 86 year old linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, logician, political commentator, social justice activist, and anarcho-syndicalist advocate, has strong opinions (and in some cases, entire schools of thought) on everything from philosophy, to sociology, to linguistics, but he is perhaps best known in recent years for his political activism which has led to death threats due to his staunch and far-reaching criticism of US foreign policy (allegedly the Anti-Defamation League "spied on" Chomsky's appearances).
His broader outlook is a peculiar version of libertarianism (he describes himself as an anacrho-syndicalist), in which he asserts that authority is inherently illegitimate, and that the burden of proof is on those in authority. If this burden can't be met, the authority in question should be dismantled. Authority for its own sake is inherently unjustified. He contends that there is little moral difference between chattel slavery and renting one's self to an owner or "wage slavery." He holds that workers should own and control their workplace.
He is has also repeatedly stated his opposition to ruling elites, among them institutions like the IMF, World Bank, and GATT.
In other words, the present, in which ruling elites (whether the BIS and "Troika) and ubiquitous US intervention in every possible foreign affair (courtesy of a State Department which, as it has now been revealed, had until recently worked on behalf of the highest foreign bidder) determine the fate of the entire world, should provide Chomsky with endless material for contemplation.
Conveniently, overnight we got a glimpse into his current thought process, courtesy of the following extended interview conducted by RT with the famed linguist and anti-establishmentarian, in which topics such as the "weaponization" of media and information, America's paradoxical propaganda machine, the immunity of the US from the set of rules it creates for everyone else (but itself), and America's conversion from a democracy into a plutocracy, as well as many more, are touched upon.
Whether one agrees or disagrees with Chomsky, he always provides a unique and interesting perspective on current (and future) events.
While the International Criminal Court investigates and sentences African dictators, any of the crimes the US commits like the invasion of Iraq, which has destabilized an entire region, go unpunished, philosopher Noam Chomsky tells RT.
RT: During a congressional hearing [on April 15, officially titled ‘Confronting Russia’s Weaponization of Information’], House Foreign Affairs Committee chair Ed Royce said, “The Russian media is now dividing societies abroad and, in fact, weaponizing information.” Where is that coming from? Is it a genuine fear or fear of alternative opinions?
Noam Chomsky: He’s talking about the Russian media but if there were any imaginable possibility of honesty, he could be talking about the American media, for which that is correct. Take the New York Times -- the greatest newspaper in the world. Take one example, at the first article that appeared today, that the tentative [nuclear] agreement with Iran was reached. It’s a thinkpiece, by Peter Baker, one of their main analysts. He discusses in it the main reasons to distrust Iran, the crimes of Iran. It’s very interesting to look at. The most interesting one is the charge that Iran is destabilizing the Middle East because it’s supporting militias which have killed American soldiers in Iraq. That’s kind of as if, in 1943, the Nazi press had criticized England because it was destabilizing Europe for supporting partisans who were killing German soldiers. In other words, the assumption is, when the United States invades, it kills a couple hundred thousand people, destroys the country, elicits sectarian conflicts that are now tearing Iraq and the region apart, that’s stabilization. If someone resists that tact, that’s destabilization.
That’s characteristic. The Summit of the Americas is meeting now in Panama. Take a look at the commentary on it here [in the US]. The big question is how much credit Obama will get for his move towards helping Cuba escape from its isolation in the hemisphere. It’s exactly the opposite. The United States is isolated in the hemisphere. You look back at the last hemisphere meeting in Colombia, a US ally. The United States was totally isolated. There were two big issues. One was admitting Cuba into the hemisphere. Everyone wanted it. The US refused, along with Canada. The other was the drug war, which the US insists on, and the Latin American countries who are being seriously harmed by it, they want it significantly modified, decriminalized and so on. And, again, the US was totally isolated. Those were the two main issues.
As for the steps towards Cuba, they’re described as noble gestures. The picture is that we’ve -- exactly as Obama said -- we’ve tried for 50 years to bring freedom, justice, and democracy to Cuba, but our methods have failed, so we might try some other methods to achieve these noble goals. The facts are very clear. This is a free and open society, so we have access to internal documents at an extraordinary level. You can’t claim you don’t know. It’s not like a totalitarian state where there are no records. We know what happened. The Kennedy administration launched a very serious terrorist war against Cuba. It was one of the factors that led to the missile crisis. It was a war that was planned to lead to an invasion in October 1962, which Cuba and Russia presumably knew about. It’s now assumed by scholarship that that’s one of the reasons for the placement of the missiles. That war went on for years. No mention of it is permissible. The only thing you can mention is that there were some attempts to assassinate [Fidel] Castro. And those can be written off as ridiculous CIA shenanigans. But the terrorist war itself was very serious. That was a footnote to it.
The other, of course, was a crushing embargo. We also know the reasons, because they’re stated explicitly in the internal documents. Go back to the early ‘60s, as the State Department explained, the problem with Castro was his successful defiance of US policies that go back to the Monroe Doctrine -- 1823. The Doctrine asserted that the United States has the right to control the hemisphere. They couldn’t implement it at the time, but that’s the Doctrine. And Cuba was successfully defying that Doctrine. Therefore, we have to carry out a terrorist war and crushing embargo that have nothing to do with bringing freedom and justice to the Cubans. And there is no noble gesture, just Obama’s recognition that the United States is practically being thrown out of the hemisphere because of its isolation on this topic.
But you can’t discuss that [in the US]. It’s all public information, nothing secret, all available in public documents, but undiscussable. Like the idea -- and you can’t contemplate the idea -- that when the US invades another country and the other resists, it’s not the resistors who are committing the crime, it’s the invaders. And we, of course, understand that very well when, say, Russia invaded Afghanistan. If somebody resisted it, we don’t say they’re criminals, they are destabilizing Afghanistan. Maybe Pravda said that, I doubt it. But here, it’s normal.
So if the House wants to study the weaponization of the media, they can look right at the front pages of the newspapers that they get every day.
RT: Our network has come repeatedly under attack, even from State secretary John Kerry. Recently, he said, “RT’s influence is growing,” while his very own deputy, Victoria Nuland, said that nobody watches RT in America, which is probably not true. Do you think this is about money? Because we know that the BBG -- the Broadcasting Board of Governors -- has a budget of $750 million as opposed to RT’s $250 million, which has never been a secret. Or is it something else?
NC: I think it’s something else. I don’t think they care about the money. The idea that there should be a network reaching people which does not repeat the US propaganda system is intolerable.
RT: To them.
NC: Yes. That’s normal.
RT: As for US-Russia relations, are we really in Cold War version 2.0?
NC: It’s dangerous. The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists has a famous doomsday clock. It goes back to the late 1940s. The clock is placed several minutes before “midnight.” Midnight means we’re done, finished. They just moved it two minutes closer to midnight -- three minutes from midnight. That’s the closest it’s been since the early 1980s when there was a major war scare. We now know how serious that war scare was. It wasn’t quite understood at the time, but it was very serious. Now it’s moved that close. One of the reasons is the deterioration in Russia-US relations, which is quite threatening. The other is environmental catastrophe, which we weren’t thinking about then. But, yes, that’s serious.
RT: Is it all because of the Ukrainian crisis?
NC: Partly. It’s also because of other domains in which Russia and the United States don’t see eye to eye. Just as there is a US-Iranian crisis. Everyone in the United States -- every leading commentator, every presidential candidate and so on, recently Jeb Bush -- says Iran is the greatest threat to world peace. That’s repeated over and over.
There’s also another opinion on the matter. Namely, the world’s opinion, and we know what that is because there are polls taken by the leading US polling agencies. The Gallup organization has international polls. And they ask the question, “Which country is the greatest threat to world peace?” The United States is way ahead of anyone else. No other country is even close. But Americans are protected from that. The US media simply refused to print it. This major poll, I think it was December 2013, it was reported by BBC. But not a single word in the major American media. So if the world thinks that, so much for the world. We say Iran is the greatest threat to world peace, therefore that is true. We can repeat it over and over.
The major newspapers in the United States -- the New York Times and the Washington Post -- have recently published op-eds by prominent figures calling for bombing Iran right now. How would we react if Kayhan, say, or Pravda, or any newspaper, published articles by leading figures saying ‘let’s bomb the United States right now’? I mean, there would be a reaction. There would. But if this happens here, it’s perfectly fine. It’s normal.
If we look closely at the conflicts, we can find plenty of problems with both sides. But the way they’re interpreted here is that we’re necessarily right about everything, and if anyone’s in the way, they are wrong about everything. I wouldn’t say there’s no disagreement on that, there’s some. Take for example Ukraine. The standard position here is that it’s all the fault of the Russians, it’s Russian aggression and so on. However, you can read -- not in the mainstream press, but in prominent journals -- different opinions. So in Foreign Affairs, the leading establishment journal, you can read a lead article on the front, the West is responsible for the Ukraine crisis.
RT: The West or particularly the United States?
NC: Well, the West means the United States and everyone else goes along. What’s called the international community in the United States is the United States and anyone who happens to be going along with it. Take, say, for example, the question of Iran’s right to carry out its current nuclear policies, whatever they are. The standard line is that the international community objects to this. Who is the international community? What the United States determines it to be. The latest meeting of non-aligned countries -- the large majority of the world’s population -- the last meeting happened to be in Tehran, where they once again -- they’d done it before -- vigorously endorsed Iran’s right to pursue its nuclear programs in accord with the provisions of the non-proliferation treaty, which allow that. But they’re not part of the international community [to the US]. They may be the majority of the world, but that’s not the international community. Any reader of [George] Orwell would be perfectly familiar with this. But it continues virtually without comment.
RT: If we are to assume that the US is the root of the problem in Ukraine, what is the endgame? What would Washington want out of this? Destroying Russia-Europe ties?
NC: I wouldn’t say it’s just the US. I don’t agree with that. I think it’s more complex. But a large part of the problem is what [John] Mearsheimer [author of the Foreign Affairs piece on Ukraine] described. It goes back to the breakup of the Soviet Union -- roughly 1990. At the time, there were many questions. One question was, what happens to NATO? If you had accepted the propaganda of the past -- since the late 1940s or 1950 -- you would’ve said ‘NATO should disappear.’ NATO was supposed to protect Western Europe from the Russian hordes. Okay, no more Russian hordes, now what happens to NATO? The question of its disappearance didn’t even arise. [Mikhail] Gorbachev made a pretty remarkable proposal. He offered to let Germany be unified and to join NATO, a hostile military alliance. You look at the history of the century, that’s a pretty astonishing move.
There was a quid pro quo, that NATO not expand one inch to the east. That was the phrase that was used in diplomatic interchanges. That meant East Germany. There was no thought of it expanding beyond. Of course, NATO, at once, moved to East Germany. Gorbachev was infuriated, he objected, but he was informed by the United States that this was only a verbal agreement, there was nothing on paper. So, too bad. [President Bill] Clinton came along and expanded NATO to the borders of Russia to, as Mearsheimer points out.
To the current threat to incorporate Ukraine into NATO, it’s a various serious threat that no Russian leader, whoever it is, could easily tolerate. It’s as if Mexico in the 1980s had overthrown the government, and the new government called for joining the Warsaw Pact. It’s inconceivable. So it’s a real problem. Not the whole problem, but part of it.
The Ukrainian parliament, as you know, recently overwhelmingly passed a resolution to move towards joining NATO. That’s pretty serious. Now there is -- I think, anyone who thinks about it, including the negotiators on all sides, knows what a resolution ought to be. Ukraine ought to be neutralized, with a recognition on all sides that it won’t join any hostile military alliance. That’s perfectly feasible, even good for Ukraine. And then steps have to be taken to some kind of devolution of power. You can discuss exactly how much should be done, but the basic outlines are clear. That could be a partial resolution to the crisis, but, unfortunately, there are other voices.
RT: We saw, at the end of last year, without any consent of the United Nations, the US started operations in Syria on ISIS positions. Pretty much the same thing is happening right now in Yemen. Professor, would this mean that international law, as we’ve always known it, is pretty much dead, is pretty much gone, is not used and considered anymore ?
NC: To say that it’s dead implies it was ever alive. Has it ever been alive? Go back to, say, the 1980s. There were two resolutions brought to the UN security council calling on all states to observe international law. They both were vetoed by the United States with the support of Britain and France, its allies. Why? Because the hidden understanding, not expressed, was the intent was to call on the United States to accept the judgment of the world court, which condemned what it called the unlawful use of force by the United States against Nicaragua. It called on the United States to terminate the attack and pay enormous reparations. The US refused. Then came these two UN security council resolutions, which the US vetoed. That tells you what international law is, but we can go much beyond.
International law cannot be enforced against great powers. There’s no enforcement mechanism. Take a look at the International Criminal Court, who has investigated and sentenced African leaders who the US doesn’t like. The major crime of this millennium, certainly, is the US invasion of Iraq. Could that be brought to the international court? I mean, it’s beyond inconceivable. In fact, as you may know, there’s a law in the United States, passed by Congress and accepted by the president, which, in Europe, it’s called the Netherlands Invasion Act. It’s a law that authorizes the president to use force to rescue any American that might be brought to The Hague for trial. Does international law have anything to say about this? Well, it does. Actually international law has something to say about a standard comment made over and over again by Western leaders, by Obama and others, with regard to Iran: ‘All options are open.’ That includes attack, the kind of attack which is called for in the major press. There happens to be a UN charter, which, in Article II, bans the threat or use of force on international affairs. Does anybody care? No. International law is kind of like the United Nations. It can work up to the point where the great powers permit it. Beyond that, unfortunately, it can’t.
RT: Finally, the documentary about you which is about to premiere -- called Requiem for an American Dream. Do you think the American dream is gone?
NC: It’s certainly declined. So the US has close to the lowest social mobility in the OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] -- you know, rich countries. If you look at OECD measures of social justice -- accessibility to health care, obvious measures -- the United States ranks near the bottom, I think right next to Turkey. These are serious attacks on what’s called the American dream. It’s still the richest and most powerful country in world, there are extraordinary advantages. In many respects, it’s the most free country in the world, as I’ve already mentioned.
So there’s plenty of positive aspects, but it’s a very serious decline. In fact, even American democracy -- which is presented as a model to the world -- is very remote from democracy. In fact, that’s one of the major topics of academic social-political science, the study of relation between public opinion and public policy, which is pretty easy to study. You see the policy, there’s extensive polling, you know what people’s opinions are. And basically most of the population is disenfranchised. Their representatives pay no attention to their opinion. That’s roughly the lowest three-quarters on the bottom of the income scale. Move up the scale, you get a little more influence. At the top, essentially policy is made. That’s plutocracy, not democracy.
Democracy functions formally: you’re free, I’m free, anyone’s free to express their opinions. I can vote any way I like in the coming election. If I feel like voting Green [Party], I can vote Green. There’s not going to be very much fraud, it’s mostly honest. So the formal trappings of democracy do exist, which is not a small point. But the functioning of democracy has very severely declined.
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And his views are main stream academia. Those in our education system are attempting to be his clone, as is our beloved Obama. And never concern yourself that their mercurial decrees of moral superiority seldom align to their actions. Really smart people who have figured out how to make a living through extolling their religion without ever breaking a sweat. I'm sure they have great empathy for we peons. Just follow our leaders. Its not hard to anticipate our destination when we consider that virtually every "qualified" leader comes from the same swamp of educational indoctrination.
http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/glubb.pdf
The Fate of EmpiresThe ambition of the young, once engaged in the pursuit of adventure and military glory, and then in the desire for the accumulation of wealth, now turns to the acquisition of academic honours.
The moar I read you the more confused I get.
There is no issue to life but death. Now that is simple to understand as an individual and impossible to accept as a part of a bigger whole that won't accept the idea the "whole" is a "black hole" of regression. We have to believe in something. The whole issue is what is that something...for some its life, liberty and free guns, for others its law and orrrrderrrr, for others its the welfare state and some mix of progress and security.
Nihilism or its contrary : utopianism; invisible hands of concepts like free markets or "God's will be done"; do not match reality and require us to question finality of these universal theories to which there is no REAL intemporal "final" answer; 'cos thats around the corner in the future and no man knows whats up ahead in a REAL world. We are on an uncertain trail and always will be.
Matching theory to facts is a bitch to predict the future trajectory BUT it stays the universal law in western civilization.
IF the theory does not fit the facts you junk the theory NOt the facts. And you recalibrate the path.
Here at the Hedge there is a distinct aroma of people who would prefer to twist the neck of facts in order to PROTECT their precious vision of theory, like free hand etc. . (All the while they say the same about those others on the other side of the aisle). As Americans it must be clear to most that the future will not be like a continuation of the last 50 years since 2008 happened.
But do you throw in the towel and say its all a fool's paradise, civilization and education, and just live life day by day ? If civilization is a merry go round then lets enjoy the ride on the roller coaster while it lasts! Until we find ourselves at the bottom of the hill like Sisyphus...and the climb rebegins. At some moment the rich become poor and then hunger drives them to aspire for new knowledge. That is the process of progress; never a hunger for moar mindless violence.
I guess thats why Oldwood is good firewood, its dry and its crackles good !
The knowledge tree ! Never say die to it!
And the tale of the snake is long and winding, much like the words of Norm and for that matter your posts. Truth is simple and short...
So short n simple you can't say it... and Bill Gross wants to short it further in this mad race to a place you couldn't short anymore, as its called foggy bottom!
The day this USD fed casino ends we will have at least resolution on the games that libertarians love above all else to play : make money not on their own labour but on the market by manipulating the relative value of produce of others. And it works both ways in the current system either via government (taxes and wars) and via oligarchs (monopolies and moar wars!). And the financial gamblers play it both ways!
What can a day trader say as he is lock stock and barrel hooked into the casino machine?
Take that casino away and ZH loses its raison d'etre!
That is the bottom line. That is why ZH is relevant as long as this is a big casino world run out of DC/WS.
Hangman's rope and the dope who thinks he won't be party to the noose !
Now what were you saying about socialism and truth that tickles your funny bone?
Maybe
Some ski as elders loving the Sun.
No, am suffering lupus, in cheap clothes, uphill
Who the fuck wants to hear that? Your wife? Your kids?
NOT EVEN YOU.
YOU'LL DOWN VOTE THIS TO MAKE YOURSELF FEEL GOOD.
HOW DO YOU SATISFY INTELLIGENT PEOPLE IN DENIAL?
Sheer eloquence.
And of course you will be voted down. People want to believe (including Tyler) that this nightmare was caused by the stupidity of the central bankers --- if you can convince yourself of that then you can also see how there might be a way out of this.
THERE IS NOT WAY OUT.
Can you not see that the desperate and seemingly insane measures are the last gasps of civilization?
This is not another Great Depression. This is not another Dot Com crash. This is not 1987.
This is the MOTHER FUCKING END of EVERYTHING.
Thank fuck we live in a DieMockery! Take that Clown Prick ( crown prince ) of Banana Bahrain ( pronounced Bachrain ). The Fat PIG FUCK with his Camel Breath that ( Brit & Other Slime Elites ) love to deep throat. Immaculate OxBridge accent nurtured by the Brit Establishment from birth and trained to keep the heavy boot of DieMockery on the throat's of the Citizenry of said country.
Salman Bin Hamad Bin Isil Khalifa
The main thing that I got out of Chomsky's interview is that we are all completely fucked. After all, who in the hell believes any thing that any politician or any news outlet says (besides the average swinging dick in the U.S). No wonder I drink so much.
The best thing that ever happened to me was the election of Obama.
Within months of that I realized what an obscene sham democracy is.
And that sent me on a journey of understanding of who controls the world and how it works.
The people who control the world are those who control the reserve currency --- they make the rules --- they make the money out of nothing --- they realize interest on every dollar printed --- they control the world through their control of interest rates and who gets money from the largest corporation to the man on the street.
“Once a nation parts with the control of its currency and credit, it matters not who makes the nation’s laws. … Until the control of the issue of currency and credit is restored to government and recognized as its most sacred responsibility, all talk of the sovereignty of parliament and of democracy is idle and futile.” — Mackenzie King, Canadian Prime Minister 1935-1948.
"I care not what puppet is placed on the throne of England to rule the Empire, ... The man that controls Britain's money supply controls the British Empire. And I control the money supply." Nathan Rothschild
Nothing has changed. The owners of the Fed run the world.
GWB election in 2000 woke me up. Welcome to the bright light of truth friend.
"The people who control the world are those who control the reserve currency"
I made the same journey Magoo but it took me my whole f*cking life to make it..... before I realized what you did.
The zios have many, many layers of gatekeeeper. The litmus tests, especially for the jewisher ones, are 9/11 and the holohoax. If they don't touch those two fables, they are gatekeepers.
Let's not forget that much of what the elite do is for profiteering, inviting an intellectual like Noam chomsky on your show is more or less going to amount to more views of your show, more or less, and so if you see the marketing for what it is (marketing intelligence, because people like to stroke their egos), then you understand why I'm saying what I am here...
I'd say coming clean on 9/11 and the Holocau$t™ is probably a step too far for him. Don't forget that the Tribe visits a terrible vengeance on those of their own who expose those particular hoaxes. So don't be too hard on Noam.
That piece of shit deserves a bullet in his head.....
He certainly does! What gets me are all the pseudo intellectual idiots who read his crap...
Noam Chomsky is a POS. Who gives a SHIT what he says?
Like the propaganda to hide
The American Curse >>> http://wp.me/p4OZ4v-3z
Having read nearly everything Chomsky has written, I would suffice to say most negative commentors haven't read much. He is absolutely not an apologist of the elites. He constantly calls for the prosecution of various American elected officials, prosecution of the US for War Crimes, and constantly exposes the truth regarding America and it's "foreign affairs." He constantly reminds that all American invasion in most of our history are by definition, terrorism, and he calls them that. Terrorist attacks by the United States. He is of Jewish decent, but is one of the most outspoken critics of Israel, and defender of Gaza. He constantly calls for criminal prosecution of Israel for war crimes against Palestine. He has outlined in great detail the mechanisms of the American propaganda machine, detailed and exposed the mechanisms (see Manufacturing Consent), and most importantly inspired many many people to question and analyze the people 'in charge.' Perhaps in some aspects of belief regarding how we as a country should be structured in THEORY he deviates from standard libertarianism, but to cast him aside completely because of slight theoretical differences or because of his ancestry, I am sorry to say, but this is to be guilty of the same thing you accuse the sheeple of. Small-minded, narrow, and overly ridged beliefs.
I agree with you but would point out that he fails the 9/11 Test, vigorously taking the focus off the Israeli involvement.
And finally, Chomsky wasn't saying that the New York Times is the greatest newspaper as fact. If you have read anything he wrote, or even put in context of what he wrote in this article, he means, it is toted as, accepted worldwide as, the greatest newspaper. Not that it IS the greatest, he calls it propaganda horseshit. But rather that most people HOLD THE View that it is.
what's he talking about, they reguritate chomsky, err anti-american propaganda, on a regular basis
the marxists are dependent on it
@nailgunnin4you, thank you, probably the most rational summation of Chomsky I have read on this thread. I respect the man enormously, though in governmental theory, I am more a ZHer. However my disagreement in one area does not stop me from appreciating the light he shines on US injustice and evil, and that is something the world desperately needs. I have also read his works on linguistics, which are a bit more pertinent than people think, and all of his social, political writings are heavily footnoted and IMHO well analyzed. Same reason I like ZH, which is satisfying the burden of proof, and eliciting thoughtful analysis. Too many here have been guilty of 'if I disagree with one part, I cannot agree with any.'