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Title: Deterring Democracy by Noam Chomsky ISBN: 0-374-52349-5 Publisher: Noonday Press Pub. Date: 06 April, 1992 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.04 (23 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: You Pays Your Money, You Makes Your Choice
Comment: Having met Chomsky at Loyola University Chicago a few years ago, after studying much of his work, I must say that this scholar is the foremost authority on the political economy of the world. His books and conversation are endless in their documentation of political and military facts. Many of his sources are the works and speeches of those in power and who have been in power. One needs only to read these works, from Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, to the US State Department Reports on human rights, to realize that the US and its clients are fully aware of their motives behind the terror they employ in keeping the world in submission--they want power, privilege, and comfort. His detractors (see article below) cannot face reality when they say that Chomsky's research is poor, that the US (and this applies to all political powers) acts only out of its own defence or as a benevolent superpower. Research Chomsky's documentation before agreeing with his conclusions...
I have two problems with Chomsky's work. The first is that he proposes no well-defined alternative to the way things are; his political works, by his own admission, are only documentions of the abuses of the "best." He has neither a solid philosophical or pragmatic model for sound government, other than a peaceful anarchism. Next, aside from his analysis of contemporary mass media, Chomsky has touched little upon the culture and psychology of the wealthy and privileged classes who govern. Why do these classes, in so ignoble and savage a way, attack folks who are defenseless and weaker than they? What is deficient in one who seeks extreme wealth and comfort (there are more in the US other than the rulers who wish they could live so)? What makes a "good" ruler? Chomsky's reflections are not so affirmative. Chomsky's book is informative and will enlighten any open mind hungry for truth about "the New World Order." But this book is useless if the reader has no inclination toward truth.
Rating: 5
Summary: Utterly Astonishing
Comment: If there was one book that changed my perspective on the world, this is it. For years, I believed the US was a well-intentioned but negligent country on the world scene, but far superior to the Soviet Union. Chomsky meticulously dismantled that traditional liberal myth, and many others, by comparing them to the demonstrated behavior of the US. Why, for instance, was it acceptable for the United States to invade Panama on the flimsiest of pretexts in 1990, but barbaric for Iraq to do the same to Kuwait? Chomsky rigorously leads the reader through a multitude of analyses, until, towards the end of the book, the terrible conclusion of what kind of country the United States really is finally comes into full view. However, this book is not an easy read. Readers will have to deal not only with the rude shock of some of their most cherished national myths tumbling down before their very eyes, but also with Chomsky's writing, which tends to be a grammatical nightmare. Despite that, I consider this book a must-read to grasp how our society truly works.
Rating: 4
Summary: Excellent cold war revisionism, overall a creepy book.
Comment: Before reading this book, (or any Chomsky for that matter), I would say I was a typical democrat who thought stuff like "Clinton's not perfect, but any republican is a lot worse" and similar opinions. But after reading this book, my somewhat sheltered opinion gave way to a massive distrust of anyone in power. I would say this is a good start for anyone starting to get into the dissident viewpoint, it is relatively easy reading, besides some rambling in parts. Some more reactionary types may attack, but they fail to show an alternative cause for many of the alleged things the US did highlighted in the book. Chomsky starts out by dissecting the causes of the cold war. He repeatedly denounces Leninism, so any hard headed conservative cannot reliably use red baiting against the man. In fact, he actually succeedes in debunking the lefist myth of Lenin's innocence in the authoritarian and despotic strains of Soviet Communism without succumbing to propaganda.
Overall, the book shows the many despotic regimes and human rights abuses that the U.S establishment is calpable in creating, supporting, or maintaining. Chomsky goes on to make the point that much of the cold war was an ideological construct to have U.S citizens and the establishment to support vested interests, namely the "military industrial complex". What sounds like a conspiracy theory to some, becomes very convincing in Chomsky's hands. He doesn't just focus on one cause, and sticks to the point throughout the book. The point becomes very convincing if one considers: 1. why did the US support despotic regimes besides their intentions of fighting one form of despotism, namely communism.
2. What did America's elite interest (corporations) have to gain from exploiting these countries and supporting these regimes?
3. If the U.S establishment is committed to Democracy, why do they CONTINUE to support many regimes where Democracy does not see the light of day?
Even though this book is over ten years old, these questions remain relevant and this book is neccesary reading for everyone.
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Title: Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies by Noam Chomsky ISBN: 0896083667 Publisher: South End Press Pub. Date: June, 1989 List Price(USD): $22.00 |
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Title: Manufacturing Consent : The Political Economy of the Mass Media by Noam Chomsky, Edward S. Herman ISBN: 0375714499 Publisher: Pantheon Books Pub. Date: 15 January, 2002 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: World Orders Old and New by Noam Chomsky ISBN: 0231101570 Publisher: Columbia University Press Pub. Date: 15 April, 1996 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
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Title: Media Control: The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda by Noam Chomsky ISBN: 1583225366 Publisher: Seven Stories Press Pub. Date: December, 2002 List Price(USD): $8.95 |
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Title: Understanding Power: The Indispensable Chomsky by Noam Chomsky, John Schoeffel, Peter R. Mitchell, Peter Mitchell ISBN: 1565847032 Publisher: New Press Pub. Date: February, 2002 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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