Amazon.com
Noam Chomsky is considered the father of modern linguistics. In this richly detailed criticism of American foreign policy, he seeks to redefine many of the terms commonly used in the ongoing American war on terrorism. Surveying U.S. actions in Cuba, Nicaragua, Turkey, the Far East and elsewhere over the past half a century along with the modern American war in Iraq, Chomsky indicates that America is just as much a terrorist state as any other government or rogue organization. George W. Bush's 2003 invasion of Iraq drew worldwide criticism, in part because it seemed to present a new philosophy of pre-emptive war and an appearance of global empire building. But according to Chomsky, such has been the operating philosophy of American foreign policy for decades. Opponents of the Bush administration's tactics consistently point out how the American government supported Saddam Hussein for many years prior to the 1990 invasion of Kuwait (pictures of Donald Rumsfeld shaking Saddam's hand are easy to come by) as a means of pointing out how the United States is happy to fund despots when it's in American interests. But Chomsky, armed with extensive historical notation, takes this notion further, arguing how the repression of other nations' citizenry is, in fact, the very reason Americans support certain foreign leaders. The charges made throughout the book are severe, as are the dire consequences he posits if current trends are not reversed, and Chomsky is no more likely to make friends or gain supporters from the mainstream now than he's ever been. But Hegemony or Survival is relatively dispassionate. Instead of relying on camp or shock value or personal attacks as some of his contemporaries have done, Chomsky drives his well-supported points steadily forward in an earnest and highly readable style. --John Moe
Book Description
"Reading Chomsky today is sobering and instructive . . . He is a global phenomenon . . . perhaps the most widely read voice on foreign policy on the planet." The New York Times Book ReviewAn immediate national bestseller, Hegemony or Survival demonstrates how, for more than half a century the United States has been pursuing a grand imperial strategy with the aim of staking out the globe. Our leaders have shown themselves willing-as in the Cuban missile crisis-to follow the dream of dominance no matter how high the risks. World-renowned intellectual Noam Chomsky investigates how we came to this perilous moment and why our rulers are willing to jeopardize the future of our species.With the striking logic that is his trademark, Chomsky tracks the U.S. government's aggressive pursuit of "full spectrum dominance" and vividly lays out how the most recent manifestations of the politics of global control-from unilateralism to the dismantling of international agreements to state terrorism-cohere in a drive for hegemony that ultimately threatens our existence. Lucidly written, thoroughly documented, and featuring a new afterword by the author, Hegemony or Survival is a definitive statement from one of today's most influential thinkers.
Download Description
The United States is in the process of staking out not just the globe but the last unarmed spot in our neighborhood-the heavens-as a militarized sphere of influence. Our earth and its skies are, for the Bush administration, the final frontiers of imperial control. In Hegemony or Survival, Noam Chomsky investigates how we came to this moment, what kind of peril we find ourselves in, and why our rulers are willing to jeopardize the future of our species.
Customer Reviews:
Connect the dots?.......2007-09-13
This material is not easy to digest in two ways. First, there are so many facts and figures that after a while your head begins to spin. I listened to it twice in succession just for that reason. Secondly, it's difficult to believe that your country's political leaders could possibly be saying one thing and doing another. Aren't we, the US, always the "good guys"? Don't we always do things the right way, "the American way"? Maybe that is a problem. Perhaps other nations want to do things their own way.
If you wonder why so much of the world dislikes or even hates the US, then this book will offer bountiful explanations, dating back to probably the Monroe Doctrine in the first part of the nineteenth century. Whether or not you agree with Mr. Chomsky's conclusions is up to you, but to refute him you will have a lot of offered facts to overcome.
Previous reviewers have labeled him a communist, or at the least, a communist sympathizer. I didn't get that impression. He just doesn't like American interventionist foreign policy which supposedly is leading to a New World Order, with the US the undisputed leader. And a lot of other people in the world think the same way and don't like it either.
If even a small portion of what he writes is true, it's a sad situation in my eyes. But if you consider the facts and connect the dots...where does it lead? Make up your own mind.
Dr. Chomsky.......2007-09-10
The most insightful look at the past 60 some odd years of american foreign policy, it's consequences and possible motives. A thouroughly researched and meticulously catalogued breakdown of the views and voices that have been there every step of the way, the voices that are usualy silenced and swallowed up by the historical accounts of the victors.
Chomsky poses the compelling question of our time.......2007-08-28
Other reviews have covered, at length, the perceived pros and cons of Chomsky's critique of American foreign policy in general and of the war in Iraq in particular, and I will reveal from the outset that my conclusions on these topics are simliar to Chomsky's in many respects. The incredible value of this book, however, is that seeks to address the question of human survival within the context of American foreign policy.
Although Chomsky does not delve deeply into the topic of the pending petroleum crisis, it, as well as other questions regarding the future of industrial civilization, is never too far beneath the surface. According to geologists of the Hubbard school, the world has reached or will soon reach a point of peak oil production after which the ability of global production to meet demand will inevitably decline, leading to a global crisis of unprecedented proportions. To the extent that U.S. policy continues along the lines of exerting hegemonic control over what is left as opposed to engaging in principled and collective effort towards creating a more equitable post-petroleum global economy, it certainly does lead us towards destruction or at the very least, a nightmarish Hobbesian existence in which human lives will indeed be "nasty, brutish and short".
One may choose to agree or disagree with many of Chomsky's arguments. However, for any thinking person who is conversant with history and who has an interest in social justice for all and not just for some, Chomsky drives home a number of points that are practically unassailable:
1. U.S. foreign policy, like the policies of great powers before it, have rarely been predicated on the publicly espoused principles of democracy, equality and freedom, but in the pursuit of its elite's interests, often to the detriment of the environment, democracy itself, and of the well-being of working and oppressed people around the world as well as within the United States. The unprecedented ability of modern man to destroy not only each other, but the very environment that makes sustainable existence on Earth possible however, dictates that unlike any empire or imperial age before it, the consequences of American policy are truly global in scope, and they may prove to be beyond any conceivable ability of repair.
2. The phenomenon of "globalizaton", in practice, has benefited, for the most part, only the financial elites and the military and technocratic elements whose services are necessary to maintain the system. For the rest of humanity, globalization has come to mean a nightmare of economic and cultural disruption and dislocation on a global scale. It is interesting to note that with the advent of globalization, the gap between the rich and poor has increased significantly, not only on a global scale but within the individual economies of the wealthiest nations as well. Lenin's "aristocracy of labor" is shrinking as we speak!
3. Despite the fact that the U.S. can justifiably be seen as the world's only military superpower, its attempts to exert unilateral control over the dwindling energy resources of the Middle East (and by extension of the rest of the world) will increasingly lead it into escalating conflict with other nations and peoples, resulting not only in its own moral, political and economic bankruptcy, but potentially in the destruction of civilization as we know it.
4. Only by understanding the nature of the current situation and organizing to change course can Americans and other people around the world prevent this continuing descent into madness.
Regardless of one's ideological inclination, "Hegemony or Survival" should provoke readers to serious thought on these matters, and for that Professor Chomsky should be thanked and applauded.
Another mandatory reading for those who wish to understand the world. .......2007-07-27
The writing has Chomsky's typical laser-like clarity. The facts are abundant and irrefutable. The arguments are powerful and inescapable. A refreshing break from all the propaganda and indoctrination that cover the landscape.
disturbing revelations.......2007-07-05
I hated how the book made me feel but it gets 5 stars for its brutal edification - as I'm sure was his intent.
Whatever your politics are, and regardless of whether you dislike or disbelieve Chomsky's conclusions, the facts laid out in this book speak disturbingly for themselves. Our government consistently pays lip service to supporting and promoting democracy but apparently has a nasty track record to the contrary. I would sincerely rather that not be true but there it is in the historical record. As stated by another reviewer, his facts are correct.
I could only read this book a little at a time. I would get too angry and have to set it aside for a few days until I could handle some more ugly truth.
I always thought Bush's statement that the terrorists "hate us because of our freedoms" did not quite ring true. In light of our government's actions reported in this book, the statement becomes absurdly transparent misinformation.
At least now we know the REAL reasons why they hate us.
SG
Book Description
“It’s hard to imagine any American reading this book and not seeing his country in a new, and deeply troubling, light.”—The New York Times Book Review
The United States has repeatedly asserted its right to intervene militarily against “failed states” around the globe. In this much-anticipated follow-up to his international bestseller Hegemony or Survival, Noam Chomsky turns the tables, showing how the United States itself shares features with other failed states—suffering from a severe “democratic deficit,” eschewing domestic and international law, and adopting policies that increasingly endanger its own citizens and the world. Exploring the latest developments in U.S. foreign and domestic policy, Chomsky reveals Washington’s plans to further militarize the planet, greatly increasing the risks of nuclear war. He also assesses the dangerous consequences of the occupation of Iraq; documents Washington’s self-exemption from international norms, including the Geneva conventions and the Kyoto Protocol; and examines how the U.S. electoral system is designed to eliminate genuine political alternatives, impeding any meaningful democracy.
Forceful, lucid, and meticulously documented, Failed States offers a comprehensive analysis of a global superpower that has long claimed the right to reshape other nations while its own democratic institutions are in severe crisis. Systematically dismantling the United States’ pretense of being the world’s arbiter of democracy, Failed States is Chomsky’s most focused—and urgent—critique to date.
Customer Reviews:
Very good analysis of the catastrophic U.S. foreign policy.......2007-09-19
This is my first Chomsky book. It is quite clear he is an academic and able to say the same thing in different ways (at least through out the first half of the book) but the context is nevertheless good and important- as a nation, we are "bullies" and it is ok for us to break laws but not for everyone else. He gives specific examples like treaties that have been violated and UN resolutions that we vetoed and violated too in order to protect and pursue our national security interests. And given the new generation of politicians- neoliberals and neoconservatives- it is nothing new when it comes to the Iraq War- It's all in the name of national security. We really don't care about democracy in the Middle East only that our thirst for oil is met.
The second part of the the book he clarifies the context and the meaning of the failed states. He delineates several examples after World War II in which we meddled into foreign country affairs and created "failed states"- from countries in Central America, South America, and the Middle East. Now because of our corrupt, immoral, and greedy influence, we are now more than ever looking like a failed state.
I thought he made several very good points but it was nothing new to me given that I have already read various books relating to U.S. foreign policy already. The only criticism I had was that it seemed redundant at times. Overall though, very good and recommended.
The bias of a Chompsky.......2007-09-10
Mr. Chompsky never fails me. Whenever I want to read something that makes me dislike America, I can count on Noam. His failure to be honest in this book is apparent from about page 5 onward. His positive reviews are pretty much canned and produced by the Jim Jones style followers he courts on college campuses. I give this book only 2 stars. One star because he uses a few big words and another star because in actually writing a book and marketing it, he is contributing to capitalism. Other than that, his rhetoric is tedious.
FAILED STATES: THE ABUSE OF POWER AND THE ASSAULT ON DEMOCRACY.......2007-08-31
THIS WELL-RESPECTED AUTHOR HAS DONE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE A GREAT FAVOR WITH THIS EASILY READ, WELL DOCUMENTED BOOK. TO ADMIT THAT WE, AS AMERICANS, HAVE INDULGED IN AND ALLOWED SUCH ABUSES OF POWER IS HUMILIATING. BUT WITH THIS AWARENESS, THERE IS HOPE WE CAN CHANGE COURSE AND MOVE AWAY FROM BEING A "FAILED STATE."
Great.......2007-08-06
Well researched, well thought out. Another fine book. I will use it with my history students.
an uneasy reality.......2007-07-21
Reading Chomsky is like being sprayed in the face with a garden hose. Just as there is no question that you are now soaking wet, there is no question about what our country has become. Noam Chomsky is an excellent author who manages to get his point across with a good dose of truth and factual evidence. There is no denying what he says and it makes you fear the path our nation's leaders have chosen despite the wishes of the citizens. The author demonstrates a real need for change and gives you ideas on how to effect those changes. A quick read loaded with fact and not all that preachy. A good book to be sure.
Amazon.com
An absolutely brilliant analysis of the ways in which individuals and organizations of the media are influenced to shape the social agendas of knowledge and, therefore, belief. Contrary to the popular conception of members of the press as hard-bitten realists doggedly pursuing unpopular truths, Herman and Chomsky prove conclusively that the free-market economics model of media leads inevitably to normative and narrow reporting. Whether or not you've seen the eye-opening movie, buy this book, and you will be a far more knowledgeable person and much less prone to having your beliefs manipulated as easily as the press.
Book Description
In this pathbreaking work, now with a new introduction, Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky show that, contrary to the usual image of the news media as cantankerous, obstinate, and ubiquitous in their search for truth and defense of justice, in their actual practice they defend the economic, social, and political agendas of the privileged groups that dominate domestic society, the state, and the global order.
Based on a series of case studies—including the media’s dichotomous treatment of “worthy” versus “unworthy” victims, “legitimizing” and “meaningless” Third World elections, and devastating critiques of media coverage of the U.S. wars against Indochina—Herman and Chomsky draw on decades of criticism and research to propose a Propaganda Model to explain the media’s behavior and performance. Their new introduction updates the Propaganda Model and the earlier case studies, and it discusses several other applications. These include the manner in which the media covered the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement and subsequent Mexican financial meltdown of 1994-1995, the media’s handling of the protests against the World Trade Organization, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund in 1999 and 2000, and the media’s treatment of the chemical industry and its regulation. What emerges from this work is a powerful assessment of how propagandistic the U.S. mass media are, how they systematically fail to live up to their self-image as providers of the kind of information that people need to make sense of the world, and how we can understand their function in a radically new way.
Customer Reviews:
A brilliant critique of the American mass media.......2007-09-30
In this critique of the American Mass Media, the authors present a "propaganda model" and then go on to support it with a variety of examples. The model is based on five "filters" that news passes through:
1. That of corporate/profit-minded ownership
2. Of advertising as a revenue model, which makes media reliant on big advertisers
3. Of the necessity to be close to common "sources" of news and PR (because the media can not be present themselves everywhere that news is made at the time it's made), many of which are controlled by Government and big corporations
4. The aversion to Flak, i.e., negative responses to media programs and
5. Anti-communism as a control mechanism (yes, the book is fairly old - it was originally written in 1988, I think)
These forces cause the media to behave in certain strange ways towards news. One of these, the authors point out, is the treatment of "worthy" and "unworthy" victims, the former being those that are oppressed by/in countries aligned with Communists, and the latter being victims of policies supported by the United States. For instance, the murder of Jerzy Popieluszko, a Polish priest murdered by the Polish police, attracted far greater attention in the media than the murders of several other priests murdered in countries that were within the American sphere of influence.
Unlike other treatments that suggest a conspiracy theory, the authors have chosen to analyze the forces (the five filters) that make journalists and others internalize the principles of distortion.
The Propaganda Model in the book is very powerful, and comes alive through the numerous case studies. As the authors point out, a freely functioning media is often thought to be central to any notion of a democracy, and hence the importance of this deep understanding of the ways the media operates.
The book leaves me hanging with a few thoughts:
1. How does this thinking apply to media in other countries where the models of ownership, legal structures, market economy and many other variables are very different? Especially, I am curious to know if someone has done a similar analysis of media in my home country, India.
2. Is the web helping democratize news? The authors talk a fair bit about the consolidation of mainstream media in a few hands, and the reasons for that which are primarily around the economics of distribution. I feel that the web has changed the economics sufficiently for news to become more open, but I'd love to see a more academic treatment of the subject.
Presents Examples; Model is Too Theoretical.......2007-08-13
This book presents a "propaganda model" which is designed to predict (and has held up remarkably well) what stories will be covered by the press and what ones will go uncovered. The model is made by filters, which a story must pass through - the more filters a story collides with the less likely it'll be covered. The problem with the model is that it's nothing new - it explains what we've already known; that victims of the state get less coverage and victims of our enemies are exaggerated. But, no new insight will arise about what causes it (editors blocking the story, journalistic incompetence, etc.) and it might be naive to think anything one model can, because circumstances are highly individual.
Furthermore, the rest of the book (which is just individual analyses of overseas conflicts and how they were depicted back home) hardly addresses the model - because it can't. The only way a book could have incorporated the thesis (propaganda model) would be to investigate what at home, in the newsbereaus went wrong. Instead, the authors examine overseas situations and who the media sided with. Regardless of your views about whether Chomsky's and Herman's view of the truth about these situations is, the model seems like an excuse to write about these overseas situations.
With that being said, the book is very helpful in describing what really happened overseas, particularly Indochina and Central America. Not only will you learn a lot about what actually happened, but also about the unreported and misreported events.
Don't get the book to understand anything more about how the media operates (you'll learn nothing new). Get the book if you want another side to the presented overseas situations. This newer edition talks about the IMF and World Bank protests in 1999 and 2000, and also the Kosovo Crisis.
Best book to read if you want to understand how the media works .......2007-07-07
Manufacturing Consent
Manufacturing Consent pretty much sums up how the media works within the United States model of democracy. Far from a "conspiracy theorist" (which Chomsky is not) evaluation, the authors explain that the control of the media is systematic within a corporate-controlled framework; that is to say that, since the media is essentially run by large corporations, they wont go too far to the left, exposing the crimes of the country that allowed them to be subsequently rich. So this book is as much of a "conspiracy" analysis as an analysis of capitalism itself it, which is ludicrous, as neither are "conspiratorial" (in the sense of people who think, for example, the U.S. government faked the 1969 moon landing), but rather the expected, systematic outcome of what takes place under such a system; YOU own a newspaper - you get YOUR views across (or something close to it).
Chomsky and Herman vociferously reveal that political debate is framed within certain bounds that are mainly applicable to how far "left" you can go. For example, the question is always asked, "What are `we' going to do about Iran's nuclear program?" The question is almost never asked whether they have the right to even have a nuclear program, so there definitely won't ever be any debate within that framework. So in other words, the media makes presuppositions we're just supposed to accept, and if we don't debate within that structure, we'll be labeled "marginal" and thus our opinions shunned.
This book is far better than, say, Slander, by Ann Coulter, as she apparently fails to understand the role of the "liberal" intellectuals and reporters, which is to set the bounds on how far to the left you can go in political debate - and if you cross that line, there will be a whole list of words you'll be called, like,
-socialist
-communist
-anti-American
-terrorist sympathizer
-and a slew of other silly buzzwords, which have been completely evacuated of any substance, and utilized purposely to dismantle any further discourse.
Anton Batey
Anton_Batey@yahoo.com
A socialist idea from a socialist.......2007-06-28
Now im going to sate this right out: i dont have any negative feelings for Noam Chomsky as a person. He seems well intentioned and his work does bring out facts about american foreign policy that are interesting. My problem with most of his works are his scholarship. This book i have read more then once and it is a severe blunder in an attempt at media analysis. The basic theory behind this book is that The News corporations are beholden to the advertising companies who give them money and the the government who not only helps the news corp with "Selective" news leaks but is sinisterly connected to the corporations. Not to mention the monopoly of only a few media corporations controlling the news. Since Big business (which owns government) is controlled by elites, They mold the news to fit what they want people to hear.
This is supposed to be a free market view. Actually this is very much the view a person steeped on socialist thinking would have. The idea of elites managing a system from the top down could be nothing farther from a freemarket view. As a editor states in the documentary, this view could only come from someone who doesnt understand the way a newspaper or news show works. This book is interesting if you believe in capitalist conspiracies
Manufacturing Lies.......2007-06-05
Manufacturing Consent is poorly researched, shoddily organized and replete with attempts to mislead and deceive the unsuspecting reader. This is not hyperbole- one can find falsehoods on nearly every page.
A typical example of the book's deceit is Chomsky and Herman's analysis of "legitimizing versus meaningless" Central American elections. They attack the fairness of the 1984 Salvadoran elections on the grounds that voting was required by law and that the government defense minister Guillermo Garcia stated abstention would be treasonous. They state that a "climate of fear" which worked to "encumber free debate and free choice... was rarely even hinted at in the mass media" (Manufacturing Consent p. 108).
They also provide a footnote (n. 69, p. 359) stating: "Warren Hoge did quote Garcia, but only to suggest an open election: 'Without any lies, you can see here what it is that the people want...' ("Salvadorans Jam Polling Stations," New York Times, Mar. 29, 1982)".
There are two problems here:
1) The Warren Hoge NYT article (the actual headline is "Salvadorans Jam Polling Stations; Rebels Close Some" - the latter part curiously omitted) cited in the footnote proves just the opposite of what Chomsky and Herman claim about the US media:
a) It explicitly mentions that "[t]he left had refused to run any candidates, arguing that they would not be safe from retaliatory violence in the current atmosphere in El Salvador."
b) It explicitly quotes a woman at a polling place who said "that people had voted out of fear that officials would threaten those whose names did not appear on the voting lists."
c) It explicitly mentions that after a guerrilla attack on a polling place, "soldiers pulled residents from their homes and beat them." Other articles from the same day mention guerrilla threats to kill those who voted ("Rural Voters, Despite Fears, Hike for Miles," New York Times, Mar. 29, 1982)
And from these sources Chomsky and Herman would have the reader believe that a "climate of fear" in the Salvadoran elections was "rarely even hinted at" in the major media. Ridiculous.
2) Chomsky and Herman also do not mention Daniel Ortega giving the same treason warning as the Salvadoran defense minister to Nicaraguans in 1984: "The only ones who will not vote will be the enemies of Nicaragua, the traitors, the turncoats... and [they] will expose themselves to the fury of the people at the moment of intervention" (Robert Leiken, Why Nicaragua Vanished, p. 136), nor that this threat at a campaign rally was not cited in major press accounts (ibid. p. 135), a fact which would seem to directly contradict their propaganda model. Instead Chomsky and Herman's analysis of coercion in Nicaragua's 1984 elections descends into utter hypocrisy and absurdity: they cite a Time magazine article that says failure to vote was considered a counter-revolutionary stance, and which quotes Ortega as saying those who did not vote would be "sellouts". To this they lamely reply that Ortega's statement "was an insult but not a clear threat... not clearly a warning" (p. 124). And this rubbish is held up as penetrating analysis?
Anyone who reads this book should take the time to fact check and verify each citation, if only to see how badly they're being conned. Better yet, save your time and money and look elsewhere for scholarly and intellectually honest treatments of media bias.
Book Description
Supplement includes the full text of the UCC as revised, Official Comments, and pre-revision versions of Articles 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, and 9. It also includes PEB commentary 1-15, The Food Security Act of 1985, selected sections from the Uniform Consumer Credit Code, Uniform Fraudulent Conveyance Act, Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act, Uniform Motor Vehicle Certificate of Title and Anti-Theft Act, UETA, E-Sign, UN Convention on the International Sale of Goods, Consumer Credit Protection Act, Regs. Z, M, B, E, J, and CC, Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act Regulations, Magnuson-Moss Warranty-Federal Trade Commission Improvement Act, FTC Credit Practices Rules, FTC Holder-In-Due-Course Regulations.
Book Description
Two of the twentieth century's most influential thinkers debate a perennial question.
In 1971, at the height of the Vietnam War and at a time of great political and social instability, two of the world's leading intellectuals, Noam Chomsky and Michel Foucault, were invited by Dutch philosopher Fons Edlers to debate an age-old question: is there such a thing as "innate" human nature independent of our experiences and external influences?
The resulting dialogue is one of the most original, provocative, and spontaneous exchanges to have occurred between contemporary philosophers, and above all serves as a concise introduction to their basic theories. What begins as a philosophical argument rooted in linguistics (Chomsky) and the theory of knowledge (Foucault), soon evolves into a broader discussion encompassing a wide range of topics, from science, history, and behaviorism to creativity, freedom, and the struggle for justice in the realm of politics.
In addition to the debate itself, this volume features a newly written introduction by noted Foucault scholar John Rajchman and includes additional text by Noam Chomsky.
Customer Reviews:
Highly recommended, and a welcome contribution to library philosophy shelves........2007-07-09
The Chomsky-Foucault Debate On Human Nature collects and presents an integral debate held between two of the world's top intellectuals, Noam Chomsky and Michel Foucault, held in 1971 (during the height of the Vietnam War) to wrestle with the ancient question: Is there such a thing as "innate" human nature independent of our experiences and external influences? In addition to reproducing the debate verbatim, The Chomsky-Foucault Debate On Human Nature includes later writings by each speaker: "Politics" (1976) and "A Philosophy of Language" (1976) by Noam Chomsky, and "Truth and Power" (1976), "Omnes et Singulatim: Toward a Critique of Political Rason" (1978) and "Confronting Government: Human Rights" (1984) by Michel Foucault. "The concept of legality and the concept of justice are not identical; they're not entirely distinct either. Insofar as legality incorporates justice in this sense of better justice, referring to a better society, then we should follow and obey the law... Of course, in those areas where the legal system happens to represent not better justice, but rather the techniques of oppression that have been codified in a particular autocratic system, well, then a reasonable human being should disregard and oppose them, at least in principle; he may not, for some reason, do it in fact." Highly recommended, and a welcome contribution to library philosophy shelves.
What a find!.......2007-02-06
I didn't know about this debate between these two on this subject--what a find! I am reading it now, and a line of friends are waiting for their turn.
Foucault's Chomp.......2006-11-27
It is now widely conceded among post-modern/post-structuralist circles that Foucault broke the back of linguist-political scientist Noam Chomsky in this televised debate on Dutch television. Perhaps this conception further contributed to Chomksy's disdain with the French intellectual community entire in subsequent years. Nevertheless, regardless of one's political/philosophical disposition, this is an endlessly fascinating debate, between two thinkers working as "tunnellers through a mountain working at opposite sides of the same mountain with different tools, without even knowing if they are working in each other's direction" (2), to use the moderators' description.
The debate begins technically, Chomksy addresses his discoveries within the domain of cognitive linguistics, and Foucault outlines his historical research into the sciences in Western civilization. Chomsky is a self-described rational `Cartesian,' a philosophical disposition largely rejected by post-modernity after the detruktion of Western philosophy by Martin Heidegger. Foucault, on the other hand, (who began as a major Heideggerian) seems to adopt a Nietzschean disposition; he rejects Chomsky's assertion that a genuine concept of human justice is rooted biologically in the human species. Rather, that our knowledge of morality and human nature are always necessarily rooted in social conditioning. Chomsky actually fails (here as well as elsewhere) to really confront the philosophy of Nietzsche, who necessarily put a dent in all forms of socialism, whether democratic, libertarian, or totalitarian. To illustrate Chomsky's elusiveness: "FOUCAULT: it seems to me that the idea of justice in itself is an idea which in effect has been invented and put to work in different types of societies as an instrument of a certain political and economic power as a weapon against that power. But it seems to me that, in any case, the notion of justice itself functions within a society of classes as a claim made by the oppressed class and as justification for it. CHOMSKY: I don't agree with that. FOUCAULT: And in a classless society, I am not sure that we would still use this notion of justice" (54-55). But Chomksy replies by reasserting his belief that there must be an absolute basis in which notions of human justice are "grounded" (ibid), however, he relies once again solely on his partial knowledge of what `human nature' is.
Unusual clarity.......2006-11-16
Helps the reader easily grasp both authors divergent and convergent insights on language. The material on politics was enlightening.
Average customer rating:
- Being really smart does not mean you know anything.
- Chomsky is total disinfo
- disappointed
- Spot on but outdated
- Fantastic Little Book !!!
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9-11
Noam Chomsky
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Similar Items:
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![Imperial Ambitions : Conversations on the Post-9/11 World [American Empire Project] (American Empire Project)](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000GQLCV4.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
Imperial Ambitions : Conversations on the Post-9/11 World [American Empire Project] (American Empire Project)
ASIN: 1583224890 |
Book Description
Chomsky's international bestseller, analyzing terrorism, Osama bin Laden, U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, and the long-term implications of America's military response to September 11.
Download Description
Noam Chomsky comments on the the new war on terrorism, U.S. foreign policy, Osama bin Laden, U.S. involvement with Afghanistan, and the long-term implications of America's military attacks abroad.
Customer Reviews:
Being really smart does not mean you know anything........2007-08-30
Noam Chomsky could well be the character upon whom famed intellectual/cannibalistic mass murderer Hannibal Lecter is based. Brilliant in his chosen field (that's linguistics, not political science), he nonetheless is possessed of an insatiable need to feed on the flesh of the nation that welcomed his people while the Europeans were burning Jews' homes, and preparing to do much worse.
9-11 is a miserable, malicious, and awesomely unsophisticated villification of the greatest and most successful country in the history of mankind, the United States of America.
If you want to know why your toddler knows the f-word even though you never said it in front of him, read Chomsky. If you want a cogent and insightful analysis of American foreign policy and the politics of Muslim fanaticism, you'd do just as well to ask that same toddler as to read this glob of moronic silt.
Chomsky is total disinfo.......2007-04-23
Look up the "5 Dancing Israelis" and Building 7. It's called controlled opposition, disregard and find out the real truth about 9/11.
disappointed.......2007-01-11
Very disappointed with the book that I didn't even finish reading it. The book is more or less an interview with Chomsky. It really didn't offer any insight to 911 and it didn't offer anything new. I expected more out of this book and from Chomsky.
Spot on but outdated.......2007-01-09
Chomsky's analysis of the political situation is, as always, extraordinarily astute. He has a knack for cutting to the quick, summing up extremely complex international political situations succinctly and comprehensibly. And he certainly doesn't beat around the bush!
But five years down the line, though most of his predictions have sadly proved true, this book is clearly outdated. Owing to its structure, moreover - a series of interviews with journalists asking more or less the same questions - it's rather repetitive.
Now I'd like to know his thoughts on the situation in Iraq - and Somalia....
Fantastic Little Book !!!.......2006-11-02
I am a big fan of Noam Chomsky, and if you like to read a short book about 9/11 and the lies and deceptions attached to this tragic event, I highly recommend this book.
Amazon.com
Over the last four decades, most of the significant contributions to the study of language origins and evolution have come from outside the field of linguistics, which has been dominated by theories of transformational-generative grammar. As articulated by Noam Chomsky, these theories generally agree that the ability to learn and use language is innate and specific to humans; they mostly sidestep the issue of how this ability came to be, preferring to treat it as a given of the human mind.
But, neurophysiologist William Calvin and linguist Derek Bickerton observe in this lively book, language is probably not a deus ex machina invention "tacked onto an ape brain." Instead, it evolved, along with the brain, to accommodate an ever more complex social calculus. The authors suggest that this evolution had two major phases. The first ushered in "protolanguage," individual words with only a rudimentary syntax, while the second brought forth a more complicated syntax that allowed the conception and utterance of antitruths, conditionals, and outright falsehoods. Bickerton writes that "it's words, not sentences, that dramatically distinguish our species from others," while Calvin takes a more pointed interest in neural adaptations that allowed for "structured language"--that is, long statements with embedded clauses and phrases. Their account of human language's origins and development does not reject Chomskyan views of language out of hand, as so many scholars have tried to do. Instead, it attempts to forge a reconciliation of notions of innate structure with those of natural selection.
That's a tall order, and, although their book advances some controversial ideas about the relative importance of social intelligence in language formation, Calvin and Bickerton make a fine and comprehensible effort in its pages. --Gregory McNamee
Book Description
A machine for language? Certainly, say the neurophysiologists, busy studying the language specializations of the human brain and trying to identify their evolutionary antecedents. Linguists such as Noam Chomsky talk about machinelike "modules" in the brain for syntax, arguing that language is more an instinct (a complex behavior triggered by simple environmental stimuli) than an acquired skill like riding a bicycle.
But structured language presents the same evolutionary problems as feathered forelimbs for flight: you need a lot of specializations to fly even a little bit. How do you get them, if evolution has no foresight and the intermediate stages do not have intermediate payoffs? Some say that the Darwinian scheme for gradual species self-improvement cannot explain our most valued human capability, the one that sets us so far above the apes, language itself.
William Calvin and Derek Bickerton suggest that other evolutionary developments, not directly related to language, allowed language to evolve in a way that eventually promoted a Chomskian syntax. They compare these intermediate behaviors to the curb-cuts originally intended for wheelchair users. Their usefulness was soon discovered by users of strollers, shopping carts, rollerblades, and so on. The authors argue that reciprocal altruism and ballistic movement planning were "curb-cuts" that indirectly promoted the formation of structured language. Written in the form of a dialogue set in Bellagio, Italy, Lingua ex Machina presents an engaging challenge to those who view the human capacity for language as a winner-take-all war between Chomsky and Darwin.
Customer Reviews:
The usual lie.......2000-06-09
Calvin bases his ideas on this 'observation' in chapter 7:
"The axon acts like an express train, skipping many intermediate stops, giving off synapses only when about 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 mm away from the tall dendrite (and sometimes continuing for a few millimeters farther, maintaining the integer multiples of the basic metric, 0.5 mm). "
This is a plain lie.
Conversation on conversation.......2000-04-03
The so-called "reconcilation" promised by the title is not entirely delivered. Both Calvin and Bickerton seem too taken with their respective ideas. It is an interesting discussion nonetheless, and good points are made by both writers.
Book Description
The Uses of Haiti tells the truth about uncomfortable matters-uncomfortable, that is, for the structures of power and the doctrinal framework that protects them from scrutiny. It tells the truth about what has been happening in Haiti, and the US role in its bitter fate.-Noam Chomsky, from the introduction
In this third edition of the classic The Uses of Haiti, Paul Farmer looks at what has happened to the health of the poor in Haiti since the coup.
Winner of a McArthur Genius Award,
Paul Farmer is a physician and anthropologist who has worked for 25 years in Haiti, where he serves as medical director of a hospital serving the rural poor. He is the subject of the Tracy Kidder biography, Mountains Beyond Mountains.
Customer Reviews:
Haiti used for sex tourism.......2007-06-06
Readers of this book may also be interested in a fictional account of sex tourism in Haiti. It's entitled Naked in Haiti: A sexy morality tale about tourists, prostitutes & politicians.
Paul Farmer's Haiti.......2007-05-18
Another one of Dr. Paul Farmer's great insights and works regarding what really goes on in our world's history and in life today. He gives great detail and record of events that we as humans should not ignore, comma!
the greatest book on Haiti's recent history.......2007-02-04
Dr Paul Farmer wrote a passionate and well researched book.
His work in Haiti is remarkable and his courage talking against the coup
makes him for ever a friend of Haiti.
Wake up America!.......2007-01-15
The content, in the beginning, was difficult for a non political/history reader....but before long I was locked in and was amazed...appalled...at the role of our government in keeping the Haitian people in 'slavery' while claiming to support democracy. Life is a political game to which I have closed my eyes for too long! I am ashamed of the underhanded political dealings my government has been part of in keeping the poor people of Haiti prisoners of the elite and military powers of their own country....Paul Farmer has no ax to grind....he should be applauded and held in high esteme for his courage and wisdom ....and for the first hand exteriences of Haiti that he shares with the little people of the world...us. We give too much trust and power to our gov/politicians who work the system to their own advantage. Learn something citizens of America.....we are being led like sheep....we are part of the problem of the economic abuses being leveled against a small, destitute , struggling country that is fighting for their right to govern themselves as they see fit, with no real support from the rest of the world...least of all the U.S.
Disappointing.......2005-02-09
A disappointing biased review of the history and politics of Haiti. The conspiring bogeymen consist of the USA, France, Canada, the UN, the World bank, the IMF, JFK, the OAS, Bill Clinton, George Bush, most journalists and especially that right wing mouthpiece - the NY Times. This narrative can be likened to the blind mans description of the elephant. A disjointed and bizarre introduction by Noam Chomsky is included.
Customer Reviews:
Educated Ignorance.......2006-09-26
Such a terrible mis-directed perversion of Mind. Well educated Ignorance. A true weaver of Stalinist theory. What a malignant waste of thought.
Necessary Reading.......2006-05-20
This Chomsky book, while tough to get through at points (have a dictionary on hand), is an absolute must if you are interested in learning how to "read" the mainstream news.
Facts are given and cited. And Chomsky, as always, asks readers to draw their own conclusions. I drew mine. This was the first book of his I read, but it wasn't the last.
The Obligation of Silence, Containing The Enemy, & Awaiting The Hidden Hand.......2006-01-08
"They who have put out the people's eyes, reproach them of their blindness." ~ John Milton
This was released in 89', the end of the Reagan/Bush era, and offers an insightful outline of then-versus-now contrast. Many similar behind the scene names and fear-based strategies. The specifics have changed, yet the song unfortunately remains the same. Chomsky demonstrates our democracy's historical need of "containment of the enemy" [a populace in which free voices have the capacity to resound] through imposed and vested interests, and through a pervasive media propaganda model, which, as adjuncts of government, manipulate a collective turning of an onus blind eye from the crimes, atrocities, familar ideologies, preferences and prefabricated belief structures of the favored state.
As usual, the unyielding Chomsky wields an elementary punch of fact-packed, deep-impressioned, miles-back swing. It's quite astonishing to read such blatantly anti-democratic {compared to the widely adhered to definitions and perceptions of democracy} quotations from prominent historical political figures who formulate policies designed to advance and serve oligarchic interests through deceiving the people, and diminishing their capacity for involvement and of having a direct hand in the shaping of public policy.
"Necessary Illusions" is an essential read in the canon of what Chomsky refers to as necessary "intellectual self-defense courses" to counter Power's perilous necessary illusions which menace our representative form of government, human rights here and abroad, and, realistically, the fate of our species and the planet.
I love it. If Only I Could Read It!.......2002-12-04
I am influenced by Chomsky more than any other political philosopher (although he seems to encompass much more than a mere career categorization). I've studied him on and off for the past five years, and I find it harder and harder to rely on mass media (TV, radio, movies, increasingly more of the internet) for any information. It's like lost innocence. One can never look at these things the same after reading Chomsky.
In this book, he tackles these themes, but concentrates a great deal on U.S. international relations. The equation is basically this: corporations control the government and own the media. U.S. international relations are directly affected and influenced by the whims of multinationals; namely the desire for [inexpensive] production and [inexpensive] resources, exploiting civilians and foreign lands to achieve these means. The government is in the pocket of the corporations.
The ordinary American has little say. We may vote; but we vote for one party; solely representing the interests of the rich, and the huge corporations.
That's a bit of Chomsky in a nutshell. This book supports these arguments with EXHAUSTIVE research. I admit, I found it exhausting to read, but not from lack of interest. He is detailed; which makes his arguments valid. He uses countless examples, all supported by the contradictory historical actions and propaganda of U.S. foreign relations; where the government lies to the public via the media. There are so many quotes and supportive examples that the bibliography could be 40 pages long!
So, I love Chomsky. However I really don't like reading him; but I try. I find the easiest way to get the big picture of Chomsky's views is by watching the documentary, Manufacturing Consent, reading Z Magazine, and also "The Real Story" series of transcribed interviews with Chomsky.
Perhaps I'm just a lazy reader. However I think this book legitimizes many of Chomsky's views, in a dense, detailed, way. But without these supporting examples and quotes, his views couldn't be seen as valid.
Eyeopener for newcomers, disappointment for Chomskyites.......2000-07-25
On the whole, this book is disappointing and greatly inferior to Chomsky's similarly theme-ed Manufacturing Consent. Necessary Illusions amounts to little more than an updating of media duplicity in mainstream coverage of Central America and Israel. From the title, I expected a more systematic analysis of methods, mechanics, and reasons that operate behind media coverage. Instead, Chomsky offers a loose model of journalistic propaganda and a few methods for detecting its presence, viz. the Comparison Method. However, the model is neither detailed nor a really very useful one. Thus at a time when tv's propaganda function, for one, is becoming clearer to the public, Necessary Illusions fails to deliver much beyond the usual case studies familiar to Chomskyites. Important as this empirical work may be, especially for newcomers to Chomsky, what is needed is a more thorough-going model of how raw news gets processed into self-serving policy reinforcement. In short, a better model of the communication industry's ideological function.
It's surprising that someone as skilled at theorizing as Chomsky appears to shy away from this next logical step to his many invaluable case studies. Americans by and large recognise that despite being "free", the popular media is not to be trusted. Now we need be persuaded why this is so. Perhaps Chomsky doesn't want to risk credibility by pursuing more abstract formulations where researchable fact is less immediate. Whatever the reason, in this book he has clearly debunked some of America's most prestigious and self-serving institutions, which is always a worthwhile read.
Customer Reviews:
The final account.......2003-06-02
This is the single most influential book in the cognitive sciences. Everybody in that field defines their position in relation to this book.
Has it stood the test of time?
The fundamental distinction in the book is between 'competence' and 'performance.' We can have a hard, mathematical and super precise science of competence, but not of performance. Performance, at the time this book was written, was a "mystery." Chomsky went on to claim that it would always be a mystery.
As it turns out, Chomsky's distinction (which is fairly isomorphic to Kant's position of "knowledge" and "faith," whether he knows it or not) has turned out wrong. Sociobiologists have basically made "Orwell's problem" (why do we know so little about such obvious stuff?) into a permanent fact of human nature. It is effectively the case that all societies have elites, they all have crime, and they all exercise violence to lesser or greater degrees. And if you read Chomsky's work in politics (all of which is in the realm of performance or Kantian faith) he comes out and says it: every state that has ever existed is run by gangsters.
What of the idea of 'competence'? It will probably last a long time, it may very well be the equivalent of mass in physics. But there are problems with it. Namely that it treats the person who applies it and is alive as though he or she is dead. It is essentially a self-fulfilling prophecy that is derivate on the Universal self fulfilling prophecy and tries to usurp the Universal's power. My guess is that it is like Freud's Oedipus. It has overwhelming heuristic and pragmatic value, but no ontological power.
(What is it with these Jews? They come up with the best ideas!)
Aspects is like space.......2003-02-19
It's a little strange to find or place reviews of such a seminal and magisterial work on a commercial web site. Aspects (and Syntactic Structures) essentially created the intellectual space in which linguists have operated for almost half a century. Not reading Aspects is only possible in the way that not reading "Origin of Species" is. An interested reader can certainly learn the same stuff another way -- more easily, in fact -- but when you come to understand it, you will want to get to the source for yourself.
The 60s Linguistics Nuclear-Bomb: Cannot be ignored........2002-11-19
Joe from Providence.
I was a linguistics student when this book came out. Students and instructors alike were baffled, spent hours trying to understand it, and loved it or berated it. But no one could remain neutral about Chomsky's Theory of Syntax.
Many years after graduate courses in different linguistic grammars, I picked it up again, and it is a comparatively easy read for present or former lingusitics students.
The initial problem readers encountered was Chomsky's presupposition of a wide knowledge of all aspects of linguistics (and some major theories of learning behavior)-- he presupposes that you have grasped the sources that he either is reacting to or revising: What came before is what forced Chomsky to begin creating his theory of syntax. This is NOT like his later books: this IS syntax, the "technical kind." And that is partially what makes the book so important.
Regardless of your opinion or reaction to this book: NO ONE CAN IGNORE IT, or its effect on linguistics after its publication.
IT IS NOT SUFFICIENT TO READ 'WHAT SOMEONE SAYS CHOMSKY SAID.' Read the original.
CHOMSKY IS AN ISA.......2002-04-17
Hmmm. If I had to pin down in accurate one word to fit in my feelings towards this book for you said for to not to drink the drink I would admit that reasons for understanding how would you like a cinnamon biscuit thrown at your head were a little undervalued considering that jelly works in subtle and unegotiable ways.
elegant.......2002-03-21
I agree the one star review below is confusing, especially since, if this book is to be attacked, it should be on the basis of the ideas, not the organization. In fact, I think Chomsky's work represents some of the most concise, elegant, and well formulated academic writing I've ever come across; for that reason alone, this book is a classic in the genre. Of course there are certain assumptions on which his theory rests which have since been discredited, but this book is still influential, even within competing linguistic theories, and is very important from a historical perspective. Be forewarned, the text is extremely dense and slow going.
Books:
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- How to Brew: Everything You Need To Know To Brew Beer Right The First Time
- How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free: Retirement Wisdom That You Won't Get from Your Financial Advisor
- "I'm Staying with My Boys..." The Heroic Life of Sgt. John Basilone, USMC
- Innocent in Death
- International Trotskyism, 1929-1985: A Documented Analysis of the Movement
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Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
