Noam Chomsky answers audience questions about the CIA and other topics.

[jimanHK]

Prof Chomsky as always simple and clear,respect!!

[shwwnn]

what's he playing with his hand? He's always twirling it in almost every video of him.

[getmealightbeard]

Why does it cut out as he states "As for Obama's foreign policy, it's probably more Hawkish as Bush..." and 4:28? Chomsky doesn't typically leave a statement hanging like that, I smell something fishy.

[stoprainingonme]

@getmealightbeard I think that it was the end of the sentence. I think it cuts out because they edited out the questions and left Chomsky's answers.

[mtb416]

I'll never know about Chomsky. He certainly oozes the idea that he is not to be trusted. He uses a rhythm and manner of speaking that is highly constructed and intended to draw you in and believe him. Chomsky is a very smart man, but I have always thought that he might just taking everyone for a ride for his own shits and giggles. Outside of syntax I have never heard a unique thought from Chomsky, just attacks against the establishment, which is exceedingly easy to do and which anyone could do.

[TheGodlessGuitarist]

@mtb416

"but I have always thought that he might just taking everyone for a ride "

well, skepticism is a healthy thing, but that smacks more of irrational cynicism to me.

It's fine to be cautious about taking people's word for things, but I would point to wikileaks and other scholars like Christopher Hitchens who will corroborate much of what Chomsky says, even though Hitchens and Chomsky disagree very strongly on how the US should operate in such matters.

[mtb416]

@TheGodlessGuitarist I find that Chomsky applies backward theories that are incapable of being proven. That the manner in which creates his assumptions about the world are more of a definition of his world view than that of the actual proceedings. I like theories that work both on the front-end as well as the back-end. Most of his ideas seem to only really work when applied in the Monday morning quarterback sense. Hope you're catchin' my continental drift.

[TheGodlessGuitarist]

@mtb416

"I find that Chomsky applies backward theories that are incapable of being proven"

I'm not sure what you mean. If you survey the evidence and it points to one conclusion then case closed. Most people don't survey the evidence, and rely on trusted 'mentors' to do it, analyse and conclude for them. And before you say it, guilty as charged. However I take motivation from a memorable quote "most people would rather die than think, and most people do". I hope to do better.

[TheGodlessGuitarist]

@mtb416

apologies for the wine influenced spellnig lol

[TheGodlessGuitarist]

@mtb416

oh crap, YT didnt take my comment

[TheGodlessGuitarist]

@mtb416

here goes again...

"Problem is that when using secondary research people have a problem of entertain the idea that all of it could be false."

That's the beauty of cross reference and examination.

"Noam is more about critique than he is reasons why"

When charged as you just have, in one interview he responded unequivacably, and to paraphrase: "solutions? Don't do the crime! DUH!"

[mtb416]

@TheGodlessGuitarist Well if that's his reasoning than I think he should find a new line of work!

[TheGodlessGuitarist]

@mtb416

"if that's his reasoning than I think he should find a new line of work!"

that doesn't follow for me. could you elaborate?

[mtb416]

@TheGodlessGuitarist In other words, I believe many of his assumptions in his theories are highly subjective and in relation to his own thought processes or world view.

The behaviors he cites for proving his assumptions are usually logical, it is just that "logical" does not mean "right."

So anyways, I agree to disagree with Chomsky on many things. I will say he is great at critiquing language and politics but not at providing correct assumptions, in my opinion.

[TheGodlessGuitarist]

@mtb416

I have to admit, I havent read Chomsky yet, though I have listened to him many times.

Conventional philosophy asserts that logically sound arguments with proven premises are correct. Sound to me like you just need to check his premises.

[mfatah281]

That cough in the background is fucking annoying!

[coffeebeaner]

7:07 He means Dershowitz, not Finkelstein, I guess. Yeah?

[TheGodlessGuitarist]

@coffeebeaner

"He means Dershowitz, not Finkelstein"

Yeah, I caught that one. Give him a break, he old and tired lol

[AnonymousWhitePerson]

The CIA is a Wall Street corporation.

It was drafted into existence in 1947 by Wall Street lawyer and banker, Clark Clifford.

The United States government is simply a private corporation of the Wall Street banks and of the City of London (London financial district).

[phooey108]

Chomsky is bang on with his assessment of Alan Dershowitz..

[montyone]

Nowadays the leftwing rightwing concept is not important any more("it never was" swim the crank growls- hes drunk but far from weekend). Chomsky had smart ideas in a time back then, I do not think he is one of the badguys("who the fuck cares" swim concludes "who cares" Chomsky in a strange clip regarding lying media). Fascist instigators self-label conservatives eat a goodmorning turd and ramble against peace, love and ..live ?!("liarsturdchokin..SWIM pukes..what else is new?) Honestly IDK

[tubegeg]

Chomsky ROCKS!

[TheOtherView]

Can someone explain how Chomsky believes that the U.S. is more civilized now aside from minority rights and more activism. He' s only looking at process. What about the fact that crime rates are up (rape, murder, theft etc.). Large parts of cities are uninhabitable, schools are unteachable...

Any thoughts? Thanks.

[4pt6billion]

I think he's saying that the US is more civilized from the top down. That is, the government cannot as easily get away with overt racial oppression or obvious slaughter overseas as it could in the past. The point is, I think, arguable.

[TheOtherView]

What overt racial oppression?

[whirlwindbliss]

The US crime rate has been going down since 1993. It's as low now as it was in the early 1970's.

[TheOtherView]

That's a valid point. But it's nowhere near where it was in the 1950's (pre revolution).

[nilbud]

Multiple choice instead of an education might have something to do with it. Chemicals in cheap food.

[KentAllard]

It is incarceration that is astronomical. Ditto for the media coverage. Crime is about comparable for the rest of the industrial world.

[TheGodlessGuitarist]

@KentAllard

"Crime is about comparable for the rest of the industrial world."

err...maybe if you average the rest of the industrial world. Hardly something to brag about though. If the US wants to do better it has to compare itself to the best at the very least, but generally speaking sets low personal standards and consistently fails to meet them LOL. Take Kyoto for instance, or Guantanamo, or healthcare.

[alwayswilling1232000]

Brilliant.

[billyraysonmusic]

Thanks for uploading! I was there, it was amazing.

[boing3887]

chomsky said 'finkelstein published an article saying his mother survived auschwitz b/c she was a kapo' - what he meant to say is that 'dershowitz published an article saying finkelstein's mother was a kapo' just in case anyone misunderstood hehe

[daz19nz]

yea hes getting old

[Arjuna1901]

Dershowitz is a fucking idiot.

His book was refuted entirely by Norman.

And Chomsky has beat Dershowitz like a red-headed step-child in debates.

Zexarious, please post your arguments. I doubt they are of ANY substance, since you're tooting your own horn so damn much.

Pathetic.

[intrepgun]

anyone could beat doucheowitz [teehee, i'm internet funny] in a debate on many topics because any kindergartener knows everything necessary to see that he's a vulgar propagandist and a liar. but dershowitz has had a lot of training [legalese] in talking incessantly to skirt the real underlying issues.

like his discussion of US proposals in gaza. the US has absolutely no right to say anything about it. hence, he gets laughed at. same with his idiotic idea of a 'security fence' on WHEELS. !? haha

[Gold2Credit]

Shocking!Prof.Dershowitz is anything but a lunatic or old-fashioned,Prof.Finkelstein anything but defamed or non-tenureworthy and Prof.Chomsky anything but neurotic or anti-self jew. So one fancies him in a new watch: nothing fake,plastic or digital,rather, small,black, reptilian leather, onyx-studded on white gold with turquoise quartiles. If that's too blingbling or oxford-goy, it may also host a launch veto button for all major nuclear arsenals and one to shortfuse rogue missiles&satellites.

[KentAllard]

why is everyone asking these days about source of inspiration and hope?

[intrepgun]

because marketing and propaganda works. but less cynically, because recent history of governments has been quite shitty. and people know it. they marched against it and failed. and after 8 years of some of the worst policies in history here in the US, many people were indeed losing hope. and their homes. and jobs. and medicare. i agree that there's a pathology of looking up for someone above the crowd, and if everyone in the crows looked at eachother, they'd see there is much hope to be had.

[KentAllard]

more to it than marching, very naive

[intrepgun]

i had to cram a comment into 500 characters. did stating the obvious and then making a snide remark make you feel like a big brainy guy, mr. kent allard? honestly. the march [the single largest global march in history, pretty significant to have that level of activism of any kind] was an example. kind of like how you're now an example of belittling someone for making conversation on topics worth having friendly discussion about.

[djboony]

lol right on!

[KentAllard]

single best source on the CIA: Killing Hope by Wiliam Blum.

I'd also recommend 2nd or 3rd edition of The Politics of Heroin by Alfred W. McCoy for the drug angle.

[KentAllard]

and as you read Killing Hope you realise they are not following some rogue agenda or tools of some secret society, they are carrying out government policy.

[applaya]

Brilliant, and classy. What a guy.

[tarnopol]

Well done, On The Earth Prod! Well filmed.

[ontheearthproduction]

thank you

k

[Irtidad]

Good to see Noam more lively and energetic.

[zexarious]

Noam chomsky's ideology is dangerous because it is based on an ethos which defies precise description and thus proves itself to be nothing more than a mental exercize. If the fundamental tenets of your worldview fail the scrutiny of applicability to observable reality and have no utility outside of theoretical constructs (which bend under the ideology), what you have is simply a toy.

[tarnopol]

Yes, his work is totally non-empirical. Please -- you clearly haven't read any of it. It's so full of data it's excruciating, actually. Try _Manufacturing Consent_ or _The Political Economy of Human Rights_. You can criticize him on other grounds, but not on the basis of a lack of supporting data.

[zexarious]

While his work may be empirical, the ideology he sets forth is anything but! And while any complex idea, but its very nature may never be in accordance with reality, it doesn't give us an excuse to tread so far away from actuality as to be unrecognizable as truth.

[KentAllard]

institutional analysis is not empirical?

[zexarious]

It may or may not be, but that's irrelevant in this case, since nothing that has ever even smelled of "analysis" was involved in giving life to chomsky's charade.

[boya3gah]

I disagree. Even though such a pure ideology cannot be implemented over night, for decades to come, or even ever, but in my opinion there is always a necessity for such a clear mission to inspire every one to try to make the world a more just place. I mean, the principles of justice and peace he applies are basic and simple, and that is where their beauty lies.

[KentAllard]

big words, big words, and more big words.

Hey I can talk just like zexarious too.

[zexarious]

I appreciate the way chomsky people are censoring me and thumbing me down, just because I critiqued him on valid grounds.

[t0kt0k]

Thanks! Looking forward to seeing the rest!

[MMCmedMD]

Thanks for posting this video of Noam Chomsky.

I trust him--not may others I can say that about.

Do you have more??