Noam Chomsky

Noam Chomsky

Linguist, Philosopher, Activist

Noam Chomsky is a renowned linguist and political activist known for his critiques of media and power structures, particularly through his work 'Manufacturing Consent.'

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Born
December 7, 1928
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1.7K
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#238

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Noam Chomsky quotes (page 17 of 84)

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"Our concern is to help people counter the efforts of those who seek to "regiment the public mind every bit as much as an army regiments the bodies of its soldiers," so that the self-designated "responsible men" will be able to run the affairs of the world untroubled by the "bewildered herd" - the general public - who are to be marginalized and dispersed, directed to personal concerns, in a well-regulated "democracy.""

Running Army Men
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"'Reform' is a word you always aughta' watch out for. 'Reform' is a change that you're supposed to like. And watch it - As soon as you hear the word 'Reform', you should reach for your wallet and see who's lifting it."

Reform Watches Politician
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"My position is that we should not succumb to irrational belief."

Belief Should Irrational
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"For the totalitarian mind, adherence to state propaganda does not suffice: one must display proper enthusiasm while marching in the parade."

Mind Liberty Libertarian
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"Unlimited economic growth has the marvelous quality of stilling discontent while maintaining privilege, a fact that has not gone unnoticed among liberal economists."

Growth Quality Gone
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"What can one say about a country where a museum of science in a great city can feature an exhibit in which people fire machine guns from a helicopter at Vietnamese huts, with a light flashing when a hit is scored? What can one say about a country where such an idea can even be considered? You have to weep for this country."

Country War Gun
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"The atrocities in Cambodia are a direct and understandable response to the violence of the imperial system."

War Atrocities Violence
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"Some kind of settlement in Kashmir is crucial for both countries [Pakistan and India]. It's also tearing India apart with horrible atrocities in the region which is controlled by Indian armed forces."

Country India Atrocities
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"Language etches the grooves through which your thoughts must flow."

Flow Language Groove
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"If kids are studying for a test, they're not going to learn anything. We all know that from our own experience."

Kids Tests Study
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"Barack Obama is an opportunist, mostly supported by the financial institutions. He had no positions on anything. He's very intelligent. If you look at his program, almost no substance. Change, hope, what's that? I mean, he had some policies, but it was almost certain that he would give them up instantly, which he did."

Mean Intelligent Giving
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"You don't have any other society where the educated classes are so effectively indoctrinated and controlled by a subtle propaganda system - a private system including media, intellectual opinion forming magazines and the participation of the most highly educated sections of the population. Such people ought to be referred to as "Commissars - for that is what their essential function is - to set up and maintain a system of doctrines and beliefs which will undermine independent thought and prevent a proper understanding and analysis of national and global institutions, issues, and policies"."

Truth Independent Issues
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"It's very common for the victims to understand a system better than the people who are holding the stick."

War People Sticks
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"I suppose frogs pay no attention to being frogs. They take it for granted. What interests a frog are differences among frogs. From our point of view they are more or less the same, from their point of view they are all radically different."

Views Differences Different
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"States are not moral agents, people are, and can impose moral standards on powerful institutions."

Powerful Hero People
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"The "prophets" were what we would call dissident intellectuals. They provided critical geopolitical analysis, condemned the crimes of the powerful, called for justice and mercy for those who needed help, etc. I wouldn't personally endorse everything they said, any more than I would for critics of power and its crimes today. But rather generally I think they played an honorable role - and suffered accordingly."

Powerful Thinking Justice
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"Every predecessor has used mercenaries, often drawn from the country that they're attacking like England ran India with Indian mercenaries. You take them from one place and send them to kill people in the other place. That's the standard way to run imperial wars."

Running Country War
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"Human language is nothing like the signalling systems of other animals."

Animal Language Humans
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"To object that the facts about human nature set limits on our ability to change the world and ourselves makes about as much sense as the lament that our lack of wings sets limits on our ability to 'fly' as far as eagles under our own power."

Eagles Wings World
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"Bear in mind that we [ with Edward Herman] did not devise the terms "manufacture of consent" and "engineering of consent." We borrowed them from leading figures in the media, public relations industry, and academic scholarship."

Engineering Media Mind
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