Customer Reviews

The Masters of Mankind: Essays on the Struggle for Freedom and Democracy

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I have a hard time taking any of these critiques seriously when people say Chomsky is "anti-American". If you read the mans work and actually hear what is being said, it becomes obvious that he loves america and americans as well as all people of this earth. What you do get, if emotion is reserved, is a serious analysis of how power is attained and maintained. There is no "anti-American" sentiment, only anti-greed, anti-corruption and anti-deception that is daily administered to the people of this country.
Not only is Chomsky researched to the nines, but he is willing to do what very few are willing or able, due to a lack of resources and a severe shortage of BALLS! This man is not off center or eccentric, what he is is what we all need to be more like if we ever want to stay on this planet long enough to fufil our mission as humans, to be conscience, confident, content and responsible organisms.
I am thankful for Mr.Chomsky as should we all, a very exceptional example to follow. If you get down to the reality of it, we dont have long with all our pollution and destruction to slow this ship down before it flies apart.

This thoroughly flawed account includes no new scholarship and in fact many of the essays within this volume are reprints of old essays or have appeared elsewhere in the more then half a dozen books Chomsky has authored this year. Nonetheless these essays include a typical anti-American theme. The first conclusion, that America is the worlds only superpower and their America is evil is foolish in the extreme. Since America has not always been the `only superpower' where is the essay critiquing China for being the Superpower of Asia, or Russia for its superpower status from 1945-88?

The main fallacy within this books convoluted segments is that most of the essays have no real defining characteristic, they are simply devoid of any original thinking. The essays model themselves on `dissent' but the reality is that dissent for dissents sake doesn't make writing interesting or ideas `revolutionary'. From these essays the conclusion is that any act of terror is legitimate and any act of self defense is unacceptable. Although the books title includes the word `struggle for democracy' no actual struggles are depicted in the collection. One would think that one essay might illuminate the triumph of democracy in some sub-Saharan African nation but no such work is found here, in fact all the essays focus on how America is a big bully. In the end the book has no redeeming features and the conclusions are unoriginal. IF you're a fan of Chomsky you'll no doubt gobble up this tripe with the same relish as you might read `Fateful Triangle' but for those searching for original work you will dismayed.