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Chomsky would never describe himself as anti-American. He's a critic of power structures. His focus is on U.S. power structures because (a) they're the most imp
by gruseom 13y ago
Chomsky would never describe himself as anti-American. He's a critic of power structures. His focus is on U.S. power structures because (a) they're the most impactful and (b) in the classic prophetic/dissident tradition, he believes that one ought to criticize one's own house before condemning others. That's actually an act of loyalty, or can be, despite its inevitably being met with anger at the time. History tends to take the opposite view, of course.
I've heard Chomsky speak about his feelings toward the U.S. a couple times in interviews and it was quite clear that he's devoted to it. (IIRC he even described it as "the greatest country in the world", or agreed with a questioner who so described it. I remember being surprised that he didn't demur at that.) He talked about how he feels much more comfortable with American values than anywhere else he's traveled. But he clearly doesn't like to talk about himself, let alone proclaim national sentiments, so there aren't many instances of this.