Noam Chomsky during an appearance at the Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe, Germany in 2014 (Uli Deck/Getty)
Published by the Irish Independent:
When we found a stray kitten under the bed, I named it Chomsky.
It was a tribute to the influence that Noam Chomsky, linguist and political commentator, had upon the course of my career in academia and journalism.
He wrote and spoke vividly about how US foreign policy had failed to live up to American values during and after the Cold War. As the Bush Administration, with the hubris of superpower, pursued the deadly shock and awe of Iraq 2003, his was an all-too-accurate warning.
But as my devotion to Chomsky the Cat grew, my attachment to Chomsky the polemicist waned. I came to realize that as he assailed the US system over Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, and Cuba, he showed little recognition of Iraqis, Afghans, Palestinians, and Cubans —- their experiences, their fears, their aspirations. They were merely the extras in his never-ending screenplay of American perfidy.
He continued to fulminate in print and on screen, passionate, angry, and frustrated, but a complex world beyond the US and its failed superpower had passed him by.
Chomsky, 95, is recovering in Brazil from a stroke. In what is likely to be his final book, The Myth of American Idealism, he departs with lines now exhausted of value.
What a profoundly misguided take on Chomsky’s world view. His critique of power focuses on America so much because America has been the preeminent world power throughout his life. His commentary applies equally to any other state. You sound personally offended that he’s picking on your team without understanding why. There are valid criticisms of the man but not one of them are raised here.
Your all-too-familiar character assassination of Chomsky reminds me how much we all need to continue to read – and re-read – his ‘Responsibility of Intellectuals’….written 57 years ago [1967] and just as valid now as it was then
Symonds,
Thank you for your e-mail. I fully agree with you about “The Responsibility of the Intellectuals”.
Part of that responsibility is not only to call out the misdeeds and malevolence of Governments, but also to represent those civilians whose voices are often unheard.
I admire Chomsky for his quest to speak truth to the power of the US Government and other entities. Unfortunately, the exclusivity of that quest means that civilians are often not represented and, indeed, that those who threaten them are not held to account. I fear that this has been the case — not just with Chomsky but others who could have been influential in the “responsibility to protect” — from the Balkans to North Africa to Syria to Ukraine.
S.
So you don’t think Chomsky represents “those civilians whose voices are often unheard”
I think your opinion is palpable nonsense.
Either you are being wilfully ignorant or you are really quite stupid. Chomsky cares deeply about people if he fails to do any other single thing in his life. Your sentence “I came to realize that as he assailed the US system over Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, and Cuba, he showed little recognition of Iraqis, Afghans, Palestinians, and Cubans —- their experiences, their fears, their aspirations.” reveals your contempt and puts on display your ignorance. Even Chomky’s enemies appreciate how much he cares about the people of the world and that is precisely why he cares when they are the victims of great crimes: hence half his life work. You are a silly man.
Anders,
There is an important difference between caring for people — as Chomsky undoubtedly does — and recognizing their experiences and situations. It is the regrettable downside of his critique of “America”, which while having merit, is to the exclusion of that recognition of the local.
S.
https://www.reddit.com/r/chomsky/comments/fdi9xf/when_i_saw_noam_chomsky_cry_what_a_good_and/?rdt=56586
Scott Lucas you have demonstrated such shallow understanding and weak grasp of history & geopolitics. While Chomsky will forever remain a giant- your ignorance is encyclopedic.
Priceless
FACT: Many bombs dropped on Gaza – that has resulted in the deaths of 17,000 children – were made in the United States:https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2024/05/02/military-aid-israel-united-states-gaza-dublin-declaration-247856
America is Israel’s partner in genocide and infanticide.
You didn’t even get the date right for the hamas attack. And don’t mention that ben gvir declared war oct 6, 2023 by matching on temple mount. Disingenuous, disinformation. Shallow analysis.
*marching