Re: Noam Chomsky?

["Bryan A. Alexander" <bnalexan@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Mon, 8 Jan 1996, Louis N Proyect wrote:

>...
> Louis: I recommend "alt.fan.noam-chomsky" for "fans" of Chomsky, but this
> is one of my major problems with him.
>
> Basically, a cult around Chomsky has arisen. People purchase his tapes
> the way Iranians used to get tapes of the Ayatollah Khomeini when he was
> in exile. They make documentaries on him. They publish every word he
> says, in pamplets or books. Z Magazine has built a shrine on his behalf.

I first encountered this with the atrocious MANUFACTURING CONSENT movie,
which manages to be shallow, offensive, trite, and pointless -as well as
relatively uninformative - in more than three hours.
        I however appreciate a large part of the exchanges of Chomsky's
articles, due to their relative unavailability.  Nevertheless, I'm not
sure how much of my inherent bibliophilia is responsible for this, and
how much motivation stems from C's status as Token Dissenter, with its
consequent cult of personality.
        Personally, I find his style arid.  His speeches are interesting
for this teacher of rhetoric, and I'm always glad for anyone who digs up
stacks of useful information.

 >
> All the while, Chomsky never has any answers for how people should
> organize for revolutionary change. He is a member of the DSA, a decent
> but basically reformist outfit. What does this say politically?

I mentioned this before as part of my crit.  Alas, ANARCHY agrees with
me, so I'm nervous about my stance...
>
> Chomsky is dismissive of Marx and has stated in a Z magazine interview
> that Marx's views on class, while correct, are "obvious".

I'd love to see this.  Damn.
>
> Chomsky is much worse when he discusses revolutionaries like Lenin,
> Trotsky and Castro. He puts them into the same category as Stalin and
> echoes the tired old Social Democratic analysis that Lenin leads to
> Stalin. In his discussions of the degeneration of the Soviet Union, he
> *never* gets into the burdensome details of history, but issues sweeping
> generalizations.

Good point.
>
> When I find some time, I am going to develop a critique of Chomsky and
> post it all over the Internet, as well as the bulletin board of Z magazine.

>
That'll be fun.  "Uncle Lou Versus Papa Noam."


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