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45 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Setting a Challenge, January 12, 2002
This review is from: Propaganda and the Public Mind (Paperback)
Noam Chomsky in "Propaganda and the Public Mind" tells his interviewer, David Barsamian, early in this fascinating, fact-filled book his objective as the man who has been frequently called "America's leading political dissident." Chomsky tells Barsamian that it is not his objective to persuade readers to follow him. Instead, he seeks to open up a path of inquiry wherein those readers investigate for themselves and draw their own conclusions. One of the world's foremost linguists, Chomsky explains how language has been used to serve the interest of the individual presenting a message. This tendency has been enhanced manyfold with the inroads of technology, from radio on to television, to the current period of cable TV and a never ending procession of talking heads seeking to entertain more than intellectually enlighten. Chomsky illustrates how Newt Gingrich and his Contract with America public relations campaign sought to manipulate minds through the use of supercharged terminology in a manner that he contends would have left British political visionary George Orwell roaring with laughter. A thorough reading of this work attunes one to how Chomsky approaches his research, and how those interested in researching important political topics might proceed on their own. On the subject of international politics, particularly military actions, Chomsky relies significantly on Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. He devotes strong emphasis to the East Timor tragedy and the appallingly insignificant attention it received from the mainstream media. Chomsky also laments how little attention was given to the assassination of Bishop Romero in El Salvador compared to any putatively comparable events occurring in nations of the former Soviet bloc or Cuba. Chomsky leaves no doubt that he is his own person. Contrary to a criticism made of him that he is an ideologue first and always without a consciousness toward pragmatic political considerations, Chomsky makes the point that voting considerations need to be oriented toward a practical result. A decision can be made to support a particular candidate not because Chomsky holds a basic affinity toward him, but because a practical goal can be realized by supporting that individual. Chomsky's encyclopedic mind and affinity for research are communicated impressively in this series of interviews with Barsmaniam. He communicates the need for the interested political participant to observe the entire picture after undertaking research.
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50 of 51 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Accessible, Enjoyable Chomsky (Who Would Have Thought?), April 25, 2002
This review is from: Propaganda and the Public Mind (Paperback)
David Barsamian is the cult superhero/guru of informative underground radio. He has also been doing cool interviews with prominant Leftist (read: critical) intellecutuals like Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn for a long time now. And thank god! Barsamian asks essential questions, and provides long-tenured intellectuals like Chomsky a venue for expressing their views in non-dissertation format. In other words, Barsamin gives us an accessible Chomsky, in plain, straight-forward, non-technical language. Who would have thought? If you are like me, and you always wanted to know what in the hell Chomsky is talking about (Try reading "The Culture of Terrorism"), this is your book. It even has a nice index with references, unlike some of his other books ("Profit Over People" has no footnotes for the first three chapters!!!). Lastly, this book also provides us with a sketch of Noam as human being. Apparently now that he is a grandfather, Chomsky has started spending time with young children and making appearances in public places, like baseball stadiums!!! Picture it: Chomsky consenting to sit for two hours without books, eat manufactured hotdogs and watch corporate-sponsered displays of wreckless, winner-take-all competition a la a Boston Red Sox game. A bit ironic, wouldn't you say? But as he says in the book, even hard-nosed intellectuals "need an annual breakout into the real world." Anyway, the book was enjoyable and engrossing. Definately worthy of being added to the canon. Issues it covers: Activism and public outcry against the MIA, as well as a description of what the MIA means (note: you can find a better description of the MIA and WTO challenge in David Suzuki's new book, "Good News"); history of America's involvement in East Timor; discussion of the land mines, agent organge, dioxin, and napalm (see Sandra Steingraber's "Living Downstream" for important scientific look at what dioxin actually does to the human body - rest assured it is not good); the privitization of the Internet; critique of modern economic theory; an analysis of international debt peonage; as usual, discussion of America's dirty roll in Guatamala and other Latin American coutries; analysis of intellecutual property/patenting rights (better discussed in "Against the Grain," by Lappe); critique of the Health Care system; interesting biographical information (e.g., he taught Hebrew out of his house in the early days); penetrating discussion of Amartya Sen's book, "The Black Book of Communism" (if Communism is responsible for 100 million deaths, how many deaths has capitalism claim?? -- very original stuff here); interesting facts about Plan Colombia (slightly different version of what he says in "Rogue States"); critique of the UN and Nato; discussion of the Isreal/Palestine issue (his unstated speciality); a critique of media propaganda and Freedom of Information Act (What freedom? What information?); critique of privitization (in schools, in the health industry, etc.); very fascinating analysis of "socialized risk" and "externalized debt," that is making the public pay for things it didn't purchase, ask for, or need in the first place; analysis of the meaning of Seatle Riots; and facts on American aid to genocidal or human-rights-violating nations, among other things.
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37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
In his own words and very easy listen, good sound, powerful, November 26, 2001
This 2 CD Set is incredibly helpful and informative. Chomsky sheds light on the corrupt system we have now - one that the rich and powerful have rigged in their favor. Explains the role of Big Media and the abuse of their power. YOU deserve to hear what he has to say. These CDs (regular CDs not a CDROMs) have a total of 112 minutes of great talk with questions from the audience that you would ask! (How do they pull the wool over our eyes - Chomsky explains!) This is very digestible, the easiest to understand and most straightforward Noam Chomsky statements I have ever heard or read in any format. A very warm approach and very accessible, listen to Chomsky talk about the daring depravity of our times - quoting James Madison. He points out examples from various times in U.S. history, there is much to learn with his insight on these CDs. Chomsky exposes the arrogance, hypocrisy and intentional acts of those that run our political system and how they use their power to benefit themselves while hurting the little guy. You may identify with him ( he explains what he had to do to fit in at school ) or his children ( who, as he reveals, were too independent and couldn't fit in ). Chomsky is very modest about the "this and that" I think. He really has accomplished
so much with his books, this CD set makes it so easy to absorb and think about these issues: Media what it does and how, the rich and powerful and the strings they pull, government's role in serving the will of the power players. Chomsky's research is incredible, the facts he brings forward are not highlighted by our current media system. A startling fact is that beyond the problem of what is called Corporate Welfare there is the rip off of the American taxpayers that the rich get away with. Great examples about lying, how it is performed in society with examples of children's behavior, very well explained. Labor's struggle and very interesting facts about 1850's labor press - the average workers thoughts and plea for justice. If you work for a living you will find this to be so motivating! ( Thanks to Chomsky for making me aware of this - I MUST READ THESE NEWSPAPERS (early labor's newspapers) HE MENTIONS! - there is so much to learn from these CDs. Chomsky reconnects us to a proud American past that rejected the sales pitch in 1850's: "gain wealth forgetting all but self". The struggle for our democratic rights is on going - these CDs will probable get you motivated to effect positive change.
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