Chomsky on Taxes: "Make them a democratic tool"

In other words, don't reject common funds, but try to develop the sense of community of a participatory society by compelling the government, as much as possible, to do what the public wants.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• taxes
• Chomsky

[anarchosolar]

@MillionthUsername prove it !

[warriorprince1010]

@mr1001nights The problem is that governments are corrupt both the so called left and right. Community does not need the state people should work together. Schools can be ran by the teachers and parents, no need for corrupt politicans. For example Finland and Spain have similar high taxes. Yet Finland spends more of these taxes on good education. Political corruption means ideology means nothing. A theif will tell you he has good intent, then steal everything.

[DwiteTheSpriteKnight]

@MillionthUsername Hopefully that book will shed some light on how his work in linguistics has benefited the military thus far. One article I read today seemed to be saying Chomsky's attempts to convert all human language into a form computers can interpret, if it's grammatically correct, is still far more experimental than useful. That article did say that the military is riding on the results and funding the research though. It sounds he's too rich for his beliefs but not astronomically rich

[MillionthUsername]

@DwiteTheSpriteKnight You can read excerpts from the book Do As I Say (Not As I Do) at google books, IIRC. That's where some of the information comes from.

To my knowledge, he doesn't think he needs to defend anything. There's a disconnect between the things he preaches and how he lives his life.

[DwiteTheSpriteKnight]

@MillionthUsername I've now read a few articles about the contradiction between Chomsky's personal wealth, how he acquired some of it and his political views. These articles definitely distort some of what Chomsky says in an effort to discredit him. I don't know why they go to the trouble to do that when their more credible sounding claims about his work in linguistics having aided the US military is enough to suggest he's a hypocrite. I'm still trying to find an unedited defence from Chomsky.

[DwiteTheSpriteKnight]

@MillionthUsername If Chomsky is making millions and keeping more of his income than he needs to, to live in reasonable comfort and secure his future then I agree that is hypocritical considering his views on socialism. If you can recommend any books to me so I can research this I will appreciate that a great deal.

[MillionthUsername]

@DwiteTheSpriteKnight He's worth millions. Don't know how many and don't care. He richer than most of the "capitalists" he hates who have real jobs. That I know.

Is it illegal to be subsidized by the Pentagon? No. It's just a strange occupation for a so-called "anarchist." It's also hypocritical, but nobody cares about hypocrisy of people they agree with (which makes me wonder what they agree with and why they would agree if they don't care about hypocrisy in said beliefs).

[DwiteTheSpriteKnight]

@MillionthUsername It doesn't sound like you're talking about anything illegal or a secret. If the Pentagon is subsidising Chomsky's post at MIT they don't seem to be having any success in getting him to support their outlook. To those who tend to agree with Chomsky's stances on human rights issues etc he is doing good things with money that was never meant to do good in the world. Can you put a figure on his personal wealth? Where does he rank in the US rich list?

[MillionthUsername]

@DwiteTheSpriteKnight For decades his post at MIT has been subsidized by the Pentagon. He says it's fine for him to feed at the public trough, but not Halliburton, Lockheed, and Blackwater apparently. I haven't figured out how yet, but I'm not a wealthy "socialist" who gets paid big bucks to spew commie rhetoric.

[DwiteTheSpriteKnight]

@MillionthUsername What do you mean that he managed to siphon millions from the public trough, directly from the Pentagon. If you're going to make that kind of claim I think that a bit more of an explanation is required.