Noam Chomsky - The Clinton Vision: Old Wine, New Bottles part 1/6

Noam Chomsky - The Clinton Vision: Old Wine, New Bottles

In these times, with the Obama administration in office, it is greatly important to analyse the history of the United States. It is apparent to me that the Clinton Administration has many parallels with the current administration, thus this speech is becoming more and more relevant.

1992, after 12 years of a Republican White House, Bill Clinton was elected President of the Unites States by voters hungry for change. President Clinton promised a new vision, a new activism, and a new direction for the U.S. With Clinton's re-election battle nearing, Noam Chomsky discusses the US president's actions on NAFTA, health care, crime, labour relations, foreign policy, and the economy.

Noam Chomsky is a tireless and principaled spokesperson for the progressive movement, as well as a linguist who revolutionized the study of language. One of the world's leading intellectuals and political critics, and the authority of over 30 books on contemporary issues, Chomsky lectures to standing-room-only audiences are the globe.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Noam
• Chomsky
• democrat
• obama
• clinton
• NAFTA
• health
• care
• crime
• labour
• labor
• foreign
• policy
• economy

[dendryite]

@Hythloday71 I think also that the US, if not most of the world, has forgotten what the role of the "public intellectual" is/was. Unlike almost all of the idiocy we are subjected to today, Chomsky is an old-fashioned intellectual (an near-extinct breed, unfortunately). In most of his talks and writings, he tries to expose the facts and lets the audience draw their own conclusions. If he appears to pander, it's probably because his supporters are typically the ones who go listen to him.

[Hythloday71]

@dendryite - yes, i like some of his points about this, particularly how tax payer subsidises high tech and war industry. Thanks for clarifying his position, but that just confirms his oratory style as one of pandering to his listeners to get their general support, because it give the impression he is on the side of the worker lossing his job, when really, on the larger scale, and i know he says this too, everything u just said, its just a criticism of his style.

[dendryite]

@Hythloday71 The very people who are paying taxes that are, in turn, given to support the US Corporate Welfare system are the ones losing their jobs so that the corporations can go find another population to exploit. They've raped not only 95% of humanity in this way, but ALL of the earth's goods.

If you want to know where Chomsky stands, listen to more of what he has to say. He's not against free trade; it's just that the US has never had "free" trade.

[Hythloday71]

@dendryite - I know, but it is far from clear, whether he is actually for actual free trade either, i draw this conclusion from his oft allusions to 'jobs going abroad'.

[dendryite]

@Hythloday71 Chomsky's position is that what we have in the US is not "free" trade AT ALL but rather a perverse form of state capitalism (and have spread this feces elsewhere).

[Hythloday71]

@Hythloday71 - contrast, say the writings of Stigalitz, who clearly states the benifits of free trade, but yet also criticises NAFTA and other trade agreements in factual imotive manner. His goal is clearly raising WORLD poverty by trade, what is Chomsky's position? Those jobs that go abroad help this end. Is he, is followers, isolationists, jobs and wealth for us, protectist ?

[Hythloday71]

He is a great critic, but not much else i think. He points out hypocrisy, but he plays to much to the audience (at least his) for my total liking. Meaning he is one sided. take this series, a major theme is NAFTA and free trade. He doesn't make it clear if he is FOR or AGAINST free trade. On the one hand he points out the hypocrisy that it is not free trade, but at the other hand plays for sympathy by pointing out that free trade leads to jobs going abroad.