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Chomsky, again, finds what ever facts he can to fit his theories, and disregards everything else. He's a proponent of the sort of effete liberalism of the 80's
by hguant 5y ago
Chomsky, again, finds what ever facts he can to fit his theories, and disregards everything else. He's a proponent of the sort of effete liberalism of the 80's and 90's, which says "well, if you're not perfect, then you're not allowed to say anything about other's actions"; a liberalism that's very comfortable, very twee, and quite content to do nothing, having shown how very very clever it is, and how very very little anything other than being clever matters.
Unfortunately, we do not live in Mr. Chomsky's world, where genocide can be waved aside as "internal repression" and immediately dismissed with a coy reference the US allowing misbehavior in Israel, as if it was a 51st state. Sadly, we cannot take a bare statement of the ridiculousness of US military power, and uncritically assume that there's no deep value the world gets from US hegemony, crumbling though it may be.
The whole article boils down to "The US has done things I think are bad, therefore it shouldn't do anything because it has no moral leg to stand on." That might work for wowing undergraduates; it does not make for good international policy.
- project2501a 5y agoChomsky is a liberal? ever since when? > that there's no deep value the world gets from US hegemony, crumbling though it may be. Jesus effing christ, this guy actually supports US hegemony... Kissinger, is it you?
- garmaine 5y agoIn the USA (re-)definition of the word, yes.
- hestefisk 5y agoHe refers to himself as an anarchist, first and foremost. He has what would be seen as very “liberal” as in “progressive” views in US political terms.
- jamil7 5y agoI’m not American, I felt the word liberal referred to an American democrat party, centre-left line of thinking more so than classic leftist views - is that wrong?
- garmaine 5y agoThat’s how Americans use the term, yes. It’s original meaning (still in partial use by the rest of the world) is shorthand for “liberalism”, which is a well defined political and economic philosophy that is actually somewhat conservative and center-right leaning in modern American political terms.
- wheybags 5y agoAdmittedly, I'm not someone who is very knowledgeable on the subject, but that is not what I got from the article at all. My read on it was that the US needs to be more diplomatic instead of forceful, and try to reach some sensible cooperation with China. That doesn't strike me as doing nothing? Also, as a non American, the "we're not special" narrative does resonate with me. American rhetoric is so often full of implicit superiority complex that does make the rest of us grind our teeth a bit. (The phrase that comes to mind immediately is public figures talking about "American lives" when what they should be saying is "human lives", another is calling for example, a black Englishman "African American" when he is neither African nor American). It's something that I suspect normal Americans are sometimes blind to, because it is so ingrained in the culture.
- throw0101a 5y ago> My read on it was that the US needs to be more diplomatic instead of forceful, and try to reach some sensible cooperation with China. Cooperation is useful when both actors are acting in good faith, and where both actors want something that is acceptable or tolerable to the other side. What are the motivations and goals of the CCP? Are they tolerable to the US (and the rest of the world)? Should there be accommodation in letting them achieve those goals? See for example: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Territorial_disputes_in_the_South_China_Sea https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Territorial_disputes_in_the_So... Cooperation is also a two-way street: how cooperative has China/CCP been with COVID investigations?
- neonate 5y agoThis is mostly name-calling, and you don't help your case by getting major facts wrong. Chomsky is no liberal, he has been the leading left critic of American liberals for over 50 years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Power_and_the_New_Mandarins https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Power_and_the_New_Man... As for the "80's and 90's" he's been writing this sort of article, IIRC, since 1940 or so, when he was 12.
- raxxorrax 5y agoI don't know what this has to do with Israel again, but there seems to be a pattern lately... That said, I don't think Chomsky held back on that department. Not even slightly, on the contrary he is pretty outspoken about it. But contrary to what we hear from others, it is often reasonable. It is a start to motivate people to hold their representatives accountable. Development and improvement can only happen here.