Posted: 2/7/2008 7:22:18 AM EDT
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What do you guys think? I found it more than a little disturbing. Curious as to how factual it is... http://chomsky.info/articles/20080101.htm |
Chomsky is an expert in propaganda...specifically in its use, not about educating people about how it works (if he did, it would be reduced in effectiveness.)
In fact, "the Vietnam war is fundamentally wrong and immoral" was often heard from the far-left (I myself remember hearing it from my hippie friends in the early/mid 70s) Mainstream media didn't say it--but then, they don't have to. It becomes an unstated (but clearly implied) definition of the argument. The way "public opinion" works is that the media defines an argument with unstated assumptions--Chomsky himself mentions them earlier:
"The air that we breathe..." Chomsky only touches on this idea, but it is absolutely fundamental to understanding how propaganda works... And if you understand it, one of the first things you'll ask is "Am I under the influence of any propaganda *now*?" And of course, the answer will be.... YES. So please, don't upset the Empire's apple cart. |
Yeah. About as intresting as the fart I just laid. I'm not about to APOLOGIZE to ANYONE for being a "super-power", nor am I going to allow some eggheaded fuck twist a bunch of shit around to make me (US) out to be the bad guy.  You know what? Sometimes we ARE the bad guy.  Sometimes we create our own problems due to lack of understading about foriegn policy.  Does this mean we "deserved" 9-11 as a result of backing the Jihad in 1980's Afghanistan?  Do we or do we not have to change allies because the situation? (I guess it was our fault for the cold war by backing Stalin in WWII?) Gimme a fucking break. None of the shit going on in the world is that simple.  ETA- If we're sooooooo in control why doesn't the world's leaders just....fall in line? I bet this guy says Iraq is about oil...which it is to a degree, but then again, why isn't Iraq shipping it here for free????
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| Read it. Has some interesting points. One must remember that objectivity doesn’t exist and everything has a context. The context of this is one Avram Noam Chomosky whose World View is rooted in Libertarian Socialism and Anarchcho-Syndicalism. Both of these views end up in a softer form of communism…but communism is communism. |
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Anyone remember an old '80's Mac game called Balance of Power? Man, that was a long time ago.... It drove home a lesson I personally subscribe to... World politics is nothing more than a 200-country game of King of the Hill. It's generally held that being the king is the best place to be, but it has its costs (namely 199 others are always trying to take your place). The reason Chomsky and his ilk ring so hollow is because to be truthful, they would have to acknowledge that ANY other country before, now or in the future, will behave no differently as King - the mantle forces you to do things to stay on top - things you claim you would never do. |
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My thoughts… 1. In terms of the U.S. being the bad guy… Maybe the lesser of two evils….at best. 2. The anti-war agenda is a joke. The democrats gained power in Congress for that very reason and have done nothing about it. SO much for progress in that department. 3. Author states the President can do and say whatever he wants. Within in reason I guess. People can also use their brains to accept or deny what the president says. But it isn’t some kind of dictatorship where the president speaks and what he says goes. Actually that does happen sometimes when the People and the Congress don’t stand up to him… 4. I do worry about War with Iran is imminent. 5. In the end, this author is advocating a world view where everyone holds hands and skips through fields of daises singing the Barney song. Evil will always exist. You can either fight it and be the lesser evil or you can be a sheep going to the slaughter pretending there is no evil. The result of this article is a new hippie 70’s movement. |
"Moral relativism"? |
All moral relativism does is define context for each individual. Every person has differing opinions and differing morals, and will view any given situation according to their own personal (read: Biased) world view. Thusly, based off of their habitually learned personal bias, the context is created, and thusly interpretation and decisions based on any given situation further defines and strengthens their personal views and morals. Sort of a vicious circle kind of thing where any situation can be interpreted in many different ways, and they CHOOSE to view/interpret in a certian way based on past learned bias, and they use that as justification to continue interpreting things in that manner because they are not self aware enough to realize that their own self righteousness is not justification in and of itself. Which they think it is. This is why so many libs will say things like "Because so many people believe that Bush caused 911, they must be right.".... Just because half the country are retards, it dosn't make them right. But they can't see it that way. |
I didnt say moral relativism...Rather, I mean the inability to approach an issue without a bias in place. |
Well said. |
We all have our bias's. IMO America only appears to be the "bad guy" because of the self imposed rules we live by...the same rules the rest of the world ignores. When we get outside of those rules.....useful idiots such as Chomsky are the first to point it out....saying "see...see....America is the bad guys" |
Exactly. America is by no means a saintly nation given our involvement in Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Ecuador, Panama, and other examples of "soft" empire, but could you imagine if CHINA was in charge? If you haven't been to China, basically it's dog eat dog. The government and most of the people could barely give two shits about other Chinese people's lives, and WHEN they become a global super power they won't have domestic leftist intellectuals to whine about their imperial behavior. Any time anyone complains about America.. 1. America aint perfect, not by a long shot, but at least we try to make things better... well most of us do. 2. Imagine if it was China/India/Britain/France/Germany in charge. Not so hard with the european countries given their attempts at world domination are still pretty fresh by historical standards... |