Chomsky: We Shouldn't Ridicule Tea Party Protesters

[mcallistermd]

Ug...Mr. Chomsky is the messiah for the impotent 'new left'... Give me the hard-nosed fighting spirit of the old Popular Fronts and labour unions any day. The Spanish Civil War could've been the tomb of Fascism if they had had their way...

[hathigmonorow]

When things go badly it is always tempting to look for a scape-goat. But that still does not excuse lambasting everything that moves as being socialist or communist. The crisis that America finds itself is neither due to the left or the right. The way I see it is due to several generations left and right with a sense of entitlement, changing global economic environment. Also, the belief that half of America can sit back and play with money while they outsource jobs overseas.

[ebkurd]

Great interview and information---THANKS!

[nevetstdlob]

Teabaggers want to lead a tax revolt but the people who started the Teabaggers-military officers- are trying to divert all our tax dollars into the military.

The baggers are getting played.

[majikninja07]

if you do not think Reagan's presidency was the start of the neocon's strangle hold on both parties your insane, and im not saying that was the start of the neocons it was just the 1st time they controlled both parties and the presidents, and now the supreme court after 30 years of apointments

[centurion180ad]

Healthcare should not be determined by wealth. Healthcare should not be determined by need. Healthcare should be determined by medical professional ABILITY, in light of on-the-ground situations with the Hippocratic Oath in full force. Their ought not be ANY medical insurance, but a collective public bargaining. Period. Speculation for profit in human disease, misfortune & suffering is singularly SICK-O.

[IggyHazard]

So maybe Chompsky isn't always a chump. However, government is ALWAYS worse than the private sector. If corporations can't be trusted to do honest business, how can we possibly trust the government to do a better job? Sometimes, we Nationalists are more anti-state than you anarchists. However, we do have some common ground. Down with all internationalist bankers! Down with all internationalist lawyers! Resist the UN! Resist the EU! Anarchists and Nationalists, UNITE!!

[imadizzy1]

@IggyHazard to start off, I think Chomsky is an idealist and am not a mutualist socialist, but he brings up good points and I think I understand his perspective on this. The idea is that we need to have a fully activated citizenry who truly participate fully in the democratic process, from voting to civil disobedience. In this way, the people can control governments to ensure that they do what is best for them. Its about as idealistic as smith's idea of a market which corrects itself.

[FRTothus]

@IggyHazard The problem with your argument is that putting our trust into corporations is, by definition, putting trust into unaccountable, private tyrannies (top-down rule).The corporations consider it a sacred duty to their stock-holders to exploit the poor and needy. Government, on the other hand, IS accountable, its programs and policies subject to citizen scrutiny & control (democratic rule).The 2% w/ $ prefer tyranny of wealth, the 98% without prefer democracy to protect them from the 2%.

[joey23125]

Sorry, Noam Chomsky shows his white privilege here! Saying that the lumpen proletariat who are in the tea party have legitimate grievances is flat out wrong. These guys are a bunch of racists who are angry that a black president is in charge and nothing more. These same people hated Clinton because blacks were better economically. Noam needs get his ass out of his comfortable fairy tale, white Anglo world of Lexington Massachusetts and see the real world.

[MarekK64]

At least noam Chomsky is a smart leftist. He realizes that by calling Tea Party derogatory names like teabaggers is counter productive to the leftist cause since it tends to make the Tea Party members forget that they don't agree on a lot of things between themselves and unite against the leftist loons who attack them. I don't trust Chomsky and realize that he would be the first to dismantle the Tea Party Movement if possible but at the time of his choosing.

[GreyWolfLeaderTW]

In response to what Chomsky says at 4:13:

Health Care is not a Right, because it is created by the labor of another person. A doctor/nurse/guy who invents drugs uses his personal labor to help a patient/create a life saving drug, so if you say that Health Care is a right, you are saying that people have a *Right* to that worker's labor. And that is a violation of that person's rights.

[IntractableJ]

@GreyWolfLeaderTW Health care doesn't equal health insurance.

[Lomas4Life]

@GreyWolfLeaderTW Yes, but by that logic, a police officer/DA/law enforcement officer uses his personal labor to protect people from crime/violence (among other roles). You would agree that "...certain unalienable rights..." would include, "...Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness", and that certainly people have a right to the fruit of those workers' labors.

Nobody is forced to work as a doctor, law enforcement officer, etc. therefore there is no violation of that worker's rights.

[SUpersaiyajinjerkbag]

In my opinion chomsky did a poor job of defending the teabaggers. Not all of them are working class stiffs (far from it), and there are answers besides Rush Limbaugh

[JADLER423]

Arent the private corporations running the gov't? I think the tea party movement is about people tired of losing their civil liberties and watching the constitution be ignored. Tired of paying taxes to watch gov't bodies make problems worse. i.e, "the war on drugs".

[MarmaladeINFP]

Chomsky recently explained further why liberals shouldn't ridicule the Tea Party. He said the mood of these people reminds him of the populist mood of Germany when Hitler was gaining power. Chomsky remembers earlier in his life having heard Hitler speak and he fears fascism could easily take over American politics. So, take the Tea Party grievances seriously or else they might destroy democracy. Of course, Chomsky said it in a more calm conciliatory way.

[darkprose]

One thing binds all of Chomsky's work and ideas: for whoever you are, to take complete responsibility for what you can be doing, but are not. Very few thinkers in the US have such integrity.

[USA4July1776]

Tea Party protesters reflect the reality of the pain, anguish and violence that a global oligarchy is imposing on the middle classes of the world through the economic, social and cultural disaster that is globalization.

The Left has become the useful idiots (to use Lennin's words) of the international financiers, who want the free flow of goods, capitals and labor, according to the market needs... the Left gives them a humanitarian aliby by labeling any outraged American citizen as a racist.

[whiteballoonsin1978]

A lot of you guys are hilarious. If this was about ethnic minorities, gays, etc... you'd be up in arms and furious about their oppression.

But, since it concerns a group you see as the enemy and the other (i.e., white, religious, uneducated rednecks), you adopt a hard-line "pull yourself up by the bootstraps" stance that would make Rush Limbaugh blush.

[clustro]

totally agree.

The left these days is implicitly racist, because they view people of color as helpless, stupid, and oppressed, and therefore shouldn't be blamed when they adopt "extreme" positions. Blacks also get a bye when they are religious.

Whites on the other hand, are basically told to "deal with it" when they have a grievance, and religious, non-racist, white people are hammered as backwater, uneducated, bumpkin racists.

total double standard from the left.

[forrestcrow]

Chomsky's perceptions on the reality of our system is the best you can find in terms of how it actually works in reality as opposed to the Reagenite, illusory propaganda. However, there is a fatal flaw in his supposition to the state being "better" than corporations. While you cannot influence a corpoation democratically, at least they are more decentralized than the state. The state makes laws and executes them, not corporations. They can only influence the state variably.

[Illimitus]

If Noam Chomsky could go on the Alex Jones show and talk to them in their language, he could do more for democracy than a million petitions for Kurdistan and East Timor.

Why can't a genius linguist talk to the proletarian whites in their own language.

[frea35g]

he went on alex jones and alex talked about some fact about british gun laws for two thirds of the interview.

seconds after the interview was over alex went on a ten minute rant about how evil noam was (alex was too chickenshit to confront noam seconds earlier when he was actually on the air and could respond and defend himself)

alex's interview format goes something like this: 5 minute interview, 15 minute monologue about the interview. the answer to your question: alex won't let him.

[DeathNeedsTime]

@frea35g

Oh yeah. I remember listening to that interview. It was shameful. One of the worst Alex has ever done. Alex burned a bridge that day, and for no good reason. It was stupid. I doubt Chomsky will ever appear on his show again.

[Knuxes]

I agree. That interview is shameful & 'burning bridges' is exactly what I thought.

[nakedpower]

because alex jones has ntohing to do to the proletarian and his language is irrational conspiracy theories

[cuntpiss]

Yah, Alex Jones isn't doing anything to end the culture war.

[SpeedyOJ]

thanks for uploading this

[Re5Publica]

I'd recommend you look at the happiest country in the world, and look inside their homes and see what kind of consumer goods they have, and whether or not they were invented or first produced for consumption in the U.S.

Businesses cannot take your money without your consent, but the government does not require your consent, and it can confine you against your will. There's no question as to who's a greater danger to freedom.

I never said happiness comes from big business.

[abdulazizmuqa]

"Businesses cannot take your money without your consent, but the government does not require your consent"

Well, business in western societies "manufactor" the consent of the public through advertisment and propagation. In the other hand, government in a democracy does requier the consent of the population because it's accountable to them. I know this isn't the case in reality, but this's b/c there is no real democracy around. (I recommend reading Galbraith's The Affluent Society)

[ymirfrostgiant]

The Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) released a study this year ranking Denmark, Finland and the Netherlands at the top of the list for countries who's citizens feel the most positive about their lives.

These northern European countries also favor strong government health-care, welfare, worker protections and benefits.

Incidentally the New Zealand and Canada ranked numbers 8 and 6 respectively as the only non-European countries, but the USA didn't make the top ten.

[natdavi]

You mean a 100% government funded organization came out in favor of government organizations?

No kidding?

[durrutti]

businesses DO tke money without your consent all the time when they, for exampel, pay you shit wages that you cant live on.

[finster1968]

Wrong, you don't have to stay working for the same business. Go market yourself, and make yourself more desireable for the pay you think you deserve. If you stay making shit wages at the same company, that's your consent. That's your choice.

[seiferganon]

Some people simply cannot make themselves more marketable.

[TimeTelescope]

As long as there are more people than jobs, most people cannot make themselves more marketable. And yes, there are many more people than jobs, many struggling to keep their homes or health insurance or cars etc. The corporations have the advantage over such desperate people, who effectively become wage-slaves in an economy where jobs are scarce. Only through government can this structure be systematically reformed. That is why corporations want people to believe government cannot help.

[meshzzizk]

That's absurd. How is someone supposed to earn another degree, improve their resume, or acquire additional skills when they work endless hours and can hardly afford rent, food and healthcare? And even in circumstances where there are options for self-improvement, the job market is still desolate, wages still stagnant.

[newsradiohead]

The perfect example of the corporate nanny state is the case of mineral rights in Wyoming. In Wyoming, you own your land but not the right to the minerals on your land. The govt literally sells the rights to the minerals on your land to a major mining company who sets up shop in your backyard. You can hold the govt accountable by petitioning them to stop this practice but you'd never get the mining company to stop this practice. That is the key difference Chomsky is pointing out.

[Re5Publica]

I don't remember tea party protestors ever saying "What am I doing wrong?", they are unhappy with the growth of government, not with the quality of their lives, quite the contrary, they're worried that the quality of their lives, in particular the quality of their healthcare, will decrease due to government takeover, and increased spending and borrowing.

These people are not out of an Arthur Miller novel, they believe in the American dream, Chumpsky.

[yrrmom]

Chomsky doesn't say any of them actually says "What am I doing wrong?" He does say 0:55, about the protestors, "What are they doing wrong & how come their lives are so crummy?" But he's not describing what they say, but trying to explain what leads them to protest. It's undeniable that economically things have gotten worse over the last 30 years for everyone except the richest 5%. So unless the protestors are mostly in that 5%, I think Chomsky's characterization of their situation makes sense.

[Re5Publica]

@yrrmom

I meant an Arthur Miller play, btw.

The Tea Party movement is not protesting the deteriation of their quality of life, but the growth of government at the people's expense. Although many of them have seen hardship, to suggest they're somehow disillusioned with the free market, or the american way of life is a mischaracterization of them. The Tea Party movement knows that free markets are what made America the most prosperous and advanced nation in the history of mankind.

[yrrmom]

I don't think Chomsky ever suggests that the protesters are disillusioned with the free market or the american way of life. In fact he explains that part of the problem is that they are *not* disillusioned with free markets. So he explains (starting around 4:47) that they (as well as most Americans) have been fooled by corporate propaganda into believing that the key to economic success for all Americans is free markets (which happen to favor people who are already rich & powerful).

[Re5Publica]

@yrrmom

The reason corporations are so successful in convincing the people that free markets are key to succdess is because they have history on their side, there's not a place in the world where quality of life had not improved under free markets. It takes an intellectual like Chomsky to ignore what's blatantly obvious. Americans have had an unprecendented quality of life, and that's due mostly to companies like Ford. Imagine life without a washer and dryer, or the automobile.

[yrrmom]

The following points, which Re5Publica seems to accept, aren't lessons of history, but rather ALL PART OF CORPORATE PROPAGANDA:

- Americans are better off than most others in the world.

- The US economy is a free market system.

- Corporations owe their success to free market & innovation rather than govt support & subsidy.

- What happiness we have is thanks to big business & free markets.

- For our ills, the govt is to blame, rather than big business.

[Jcolinsol]

It's reall easy to throw around terms like "free market" and "regulation" because it makes it really easy to avoid talking about reality.

Bottom-line, you cannot centrally manage an emergent system.

[bonfirejovi]

@yrrmom before wilson i.e. the racist who showed the birth of a nation to congress and the segregated the congress, the US was close to a free market system and in the 19th century because of its closer to the free market ideals it grew enormously. unfortunately wilson strengthen the collusion between big government and big business. big government subsidises big business and creates monopolies and unfair competition. big government is a fail.

[abdulazizmuqa]

The United States isn't -and actually has never been- a free-market state. Go back and look to the days of Alexander Hamilton and you'll discover that he was a protectionist, economic nationalist and statest, and he's the creator of the American economic System.

[smujismuj]

@Re5Publica

Ask people in Central and South America about being better off.

Have you ever heard of the United Fruit Company?

Have you ever heard about the legacy of the oil industry in places where there are no environmental laws?

You are either wearing industrial strength blinders, or you're in on the plundering.

[IxAMxERROR]

@Re5Publica, quality of life has improved because of scientific innovations. Any socioeconomic system which impliments scientific theory into application will experience benefits, but this is not to say that capitalsm or the free market system is the system which impliments science best. In fact, to think that ANY system impliments it "best" is to be ignorant to the emergent nature of scientific progress, rather, we can only know what works better.

[StraussBR]

@Re5Publica

that is not true

Bolivia was in big debt with the IMF and privatized it's water company and it got bad,

i live in brazil and know a lot of more examples in my country

[Marly61]

Re5Pub,

Recommendation, The Netherlands and Norway are reported to have much higher standards of living then in the US. If you disregard many of the US's political freedoms in the analysis many of the oil rich countries make the US look improvished at per capita income of 70,000 US dollars. If you look at quality of life studies the US is so low it doesnt even make the report sometimes or the top ten.

One report is The State of Working America;

[Re5Publica]

Oil rich countries in the gulf do have a good quality of life, despite not having many political or civil rights. It's interesting to note that the oil in the gulf was discovered by American geologists working for American oil companies.

America is not as great as she was. When I said Americans have had, I used past tense. But, I repeat the challenge, look into the homes of the average Norwegian or Dutch, and see if the consumer goods were not invented by entrepreneurs in pursuit of profit.

[yrrmom]

Re5Publica said, "...look inside their homes and see what kind of consumer goods they have, and whether or not they were invented or first produced for consumption in the U.S."

Slaves too use the "goods" provided to them by their masters.

[dredyouall2]

Yup the material goods that satisfy thier material needs are probably made by entreprenuers. But the basic needs that are there fore them when shit hits fan; thier healthcare system, thier welfare system are all provided at a basic level by the government. I know living in Britain that I feel a lot happier knowing that a safety net exists for me if I should lose my job or fall sick, the idea that these things wouldn't be thier for me (like in america) feels horrible.

[lexave]

@Re5Publica Most of the populations of the oil rich countries do not live well at all; the fact that these countries (such as Saudi) are rich does not trickle down to the masses. In fact, given the wealth they have, it is absolutely shocking how bad their infrastructure is. The money does not flow back to the population through public works, for instance.

[Marly61]

Re5Publica,

Youre a joke, you spin and expect credibility when your spin is so weak and Noam isnt available to comment further. I could also quess but I dont want to look as stupid as your spin

[Re5Publica]

Ok.. but your spin is worse than my spin, so don't spin on my spin.

[Marly61]

Could you post the link to the Business Week article Wall Street vs America?

Like the French say, A la Rue! then everything gets smashed up!

[yrrmom]

@Marly61: See the link I put in the description to the right of the video.

[flycar817]

Thanks Noam.