7 ms·

I realize that this is an especially old article (1967), but I found it pertinent when I read: > With respect to the responsibility of intellectuals, there are

by foenix 16y ago

I realize that this is an especially old article (1967), but I found it pertinent when I read: > With respect to the responsibility of intellectuals, there are still other, equally disturbing questions. Intellectuals are in a position to expose the lies of governments, to analyze actions according to their causes and motives and often hidden intentions.

grandalf 16y ago
It's a very appropriate article these days. How many of us donated to Wikileaks? How many will even go public (on Facebook) as supporting Wikileaks?
- hazzen 16y ago
  Careful there; you've gone from a fact about yourself to a generalization of everyone in a group. Down that road lies fallacy.
  - grandalf 16y ago
    I realize not all HN readers support Wikileaks. I used it as an example b/c it is one of the few controversial entities left to support (or not). Pretty much everyone opposes slavery, hunger, etc.
- itistoday 16y ago
  I do, I'm sure there are many who do. You shouldn't be ashamed of standing up for truth (unless, of course, you feel that doing so is causing more harm than good, and there's the rub, but I feel Wikileaks is on the whole a force for good, and the world is better off with it than without). Just as an example of someone of prestige and integrity, standing up for Wikileaks and kicking ass while doing so (on national television), is Ray McGovern, "former high-ranking CIA official": http://www.juancole.com/2010/12/former-cia-official-ray-close-defends-assange.html http://www.juancole.com/2010/12/former-cia-official-ray-clos...
  - babeKnuth 16y ago
    if you haven't seen it, the gentleman from texas also makes some lovely comments as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxPB9yy7IJ4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxPB9yy7IJ4
- jbooth 16y ago
  The way the wikileaks thing went down made me want to grow dreadlocks and become a marxist. This guy comes out and contributes to what the press should have been doing the last 10 years, and what happens? The cable news networks spend all their time talking about his "motivations" and how "anti-american" he is or isn't. Or who on the washington circuit is saying he's anti-american and how that fits into the political gossip column. What about the damned cables!?
MikeMacMan 16y ago
I like this one: "The facts are known to all who care to know. The press, foreign and domestic, has presented documentation to refute each falsehood as it appears. But the power of the government’s propaganda apparatus is such that the citizen who does not undertake a research project on the subject can hardly hope to confront government pronouncements with fact." This speaks to the great failing of today's media. Who has time to stay current on all the world's events? I can hardly keep up with my Hacker News RSS feed! We rely on the media to do this research that Chomsky speaks of (or at least to use sources that have done said research). Given limitations on our time and focus, we have no choice but to accept what the media reports at face value. The more information proliferates, the more important becomes the filter.
- jdub 16y ago
  The only thing which is different 40 years later is that corporations -- certainly together, some in cooperation, and some even alone -- maintain more power and apparatus of propaganda than the government. That is why populist Libertarianism (Randian muck) and the ghastly half'n'half-baked ideology of the Tea Party are so awfully (and often ironically) misdirected these days.
- babeKnuth 16y ago
  check out the documentary on chomsky "manufacturing consent". this is partly addressed there. all these things are toys and distractions. it's up to you to choose what to follow: the false prophets or the real ones. the issues that actually matter or the ones that actually don't. the main thing i have found is that it all feels impossible/insurmountable in the beginning. but as with anything else, it gets much easier over time as long as the work and effort is there. e.g. "programming is too hard". but in reality EVERYTHING is "too hard". nothing is easy. nothing is black and white. etc.

by foenix 16y ago

grandalf 16y ago

It's a very appropriate article these days. How many of us donated to Wikileaks? How many will even go public (on Facebook) as supporting Wikileaks?

hazzen 16y ago
Careful there; you've gone from a fact about yourself to a generalization of everyone in a group. Down that road lies fallacy.
- grandalf 16y ago
  I realize not all HN readers support Wikileaks. I used it as an example b/c it is one of the few controversial entities left to support (or not). Pretty much everyone opposes slavery, hunger, etc.
itistoday 16y ago
I do, I'm sure there are many who do. You shouldn't be ashamed of standing up for truth (unless, of course, you feel that doing so is causing more harm than good, and there's the rub, but I feel Wikileaks is on the whole a force for good, and the world is better off with it than without). Just as an example of someone of prestige and integrity, standing up for Wikileaks and kicking ass while doing so (on national television), is Ray McGovern, "former high-ranking CIA official": http://www.juancole.com/2010/12/former-cia-official-ray-close-defends-assange.html http://www.juancole.com/2010/12/former-cia-official-ray-clos...
- babeKnuth 16y ago
  if you haven't seen it, the gentleman from texas also makes some lovely comments as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxPB9yy7IJ4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxPB9yy7IJ4
jbooth 16y ago
The way the wikileaks thing went down made me want to grow dreadlocks and become a marxist. This guy comes out and contributes to what the press should have been doing the last 10 years, and what happens? The cable news networks spend all their time talking about his "motivations" and how "anti-american" he is or isn't. Or who on the washington circuit is saying he's anti-american and how that fits into the political gossip column. What about the damned cables!?

MikeMacMan 16y ago

I like this one: "The facts are known to all who care to know. The press, foreign and domestic, has presented documentation to refute each falsehood as it appears. But the power of the government’s propaganda apparatus is such that the citizen who does not undertake a research project on the subject can hardly hope to confront government pronouncements with fact." This speaks to the great failing of today's media. Who has time to stay current on all the world's events? I can hardly keep up with my Hacker News RSS feed! We rely on the media to do this research that Chomsky speaks of (or at least to use sources that have done said research). Given limitations on our time and focus, we have no choice but to accept what the media reports at face value. The more information proliferates, the more important becomes the filter.

jdub 16y ago
The only thing which is different 40 years later is that corporations -- certainly together, some in cooperation, and some even alone -- maintain more power and apparatus of propaganda than the government. That is why populist Libertarianism (Randian muck) and the ghastly half'n'half-baked ideology of the Tea Party are so awfully (and often ironically) misdirected these days.
babeKnuth 16y ago
check out the documentary on chomsky "manufacturing consent". this is partly addressed there. all these things are toys and distractions. it's up to you to choose what to follow: the false prophets or the real ones. the issues that actually matter or the ones that actually don't. the main thing i have found is that it all feels impossible/insurmountable in the beginning. but as with anything else, it gets much easier over time as long as the work and effort is there. e.g. "programming is too hard". but in reality EVERYTHING is "too hard". nothing is easy. nothing is black and white. etc.