Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #20908 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-02
• Released on: 2007-10-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

From AudioFile
This audiobook is a series of interviews with semanticist and social critic Noam Chomsky, conducted in 2006 and 2007. It explores the Israel-Palestine issue, U.S. relations with various Middle East nations, nuclear weapons, China, Latin America, and much more. Chomsky seeks to show how actual reality differs from what the United States says is reality by exploding ÒspinÓ and obfuscating language. ChomskyÕs unvarnished worldview offers a searing critique of what we are hearing out of Washington from both political parties. The conversations take a great deal of attention, so listeners are advised to take this book in small pieces. Neither speakerÕs voice changes much, so it can be easy to lose concentration and miss something important. R.C.G. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Review
“It’s an excellent book to help us understand what’s been happening in the world throughout the 20th century and what's happening now.”           —Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela on Hegemony or Survival

About the Author
Noam Chomsky is the author of numerous bestselling political works, including Hegemony or Survival and Failed States. A professor of linguistics and philosophy at MIT, he is widely credited with having revolutionized modern linguistics. He lives outside Boston, Massachusetts.
David Barsamian, director of the award-winning and widely syndicated Alternative Radio, is the winner of the Lannan Foundation’s 2006 Cultural Freedom Fellowship and the ACLU’s Upton Sinclair Award for independent journalism. Barsamian lives in Boulder, Colorado.

Customer Reviews

Fine critique of US (and therefore British) foreign policy
Chomsky consistently finds documents and articles that the rest of us have missed. Like all his books, this is full of fascinating revelations.

His title comes from a speech by George Bush senior in 1991, when he said that the main principle of his new world order was, `what we say goes'. In eight interviews conducted in 2006 and 2007, Chomsky and radio journalist David Barsamian cover matters including the US state, the Middle East, the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and the rise of democracy in Latin America.

Chomsky cites a Pentagon document that recommended an information strategy including: "Diversion: list of interesting declassified material - i.e. Kennedy assassination data", for `providing good faith distraction material'. He suggests that conspiracy theories are there to distract people from real struggles.

In January 2007, Chomsky said, "there is a housing bubble that somehow overcame the collapse of the stock bubble. If the housing bubble bursts, it could turn out to be very serious."

He shows how the US state has fostered Islamic fundamentalism by supporting Saudi Arabia, `the most extreme fundamentalist tyranny in the world' - and also the US state's oldest ally in the Middle East.

He shows the continuity of imperial rule over Latin America. In 1907, the British empire's rulers instigated a massacre of a thousand workers in Iquique, Chile. He points out, "Right through the Clinton years, Colombia was by far the leading recipient of U.S. aid, and also had by far the worst human rights record in Latin America."

He shows how the biggest divide in the USA is not between North and South, or black and white, but between the capitalist state and the American people. In every opinion poll, a majority of Americans favour a national health service, more spending on education and welfare, and less spending on war. On Iran, 75% of the American people think that the USA should end military threats and turn to diplomacy. Two-thirds of the American people want to re-establish ties with Cuba.

Chomsky says that the national interest is `a mystical term', but although the capitalist class and its state naturally claim that their minority interests are the national interest, the real national interest is always a nation's people.

As well-informed as ever
Chomsky consistently finds documents and articles that the rest of us have missed. Like all his books, this is full of fascinating revelations.

His title comes from a speech by George Bush senior in 1991, when he said that the main principle of his new world order was, `what we say goes'. In eight interviews conducted in 2006 and 2007, Chomsky and radio journalist David Barsamian cover matters including the US state, the Middle East, the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and the rise of democracy in Latin America.

Chomsky cites a Pentagon document that recommended an information strategy including: "Diversion: list of interesting declassified material - i.e. Kennedy assassination data", for `providing good faith distraction material'. He suggests that conspiracy theories are there to distract people from real struggles.

In January 2007, Chomsky said, "there is a housing bubble that somehow overcame the collapse of the stock bubble. If the housing bubble bursts, it could turn out to be very serious."

He shows how the US state has fostered Islamic fundamentalism by supporting Saudi Arabia, `the most extreme fundamentalist tyranny in the world' - and also the US state's oldest ally in the Middle East.

He shows the continuity of imperial rule over Latin America. In 1907, the British empire's rulers instigated a massacre of a thousand workers in Iquique, Chile. He points out, "Right through the Clinton years, Colombia was by far the leading recipient of U.S. aid, and also had by far the worst human rights record in Latin America."

He shows how the biggest divide in the USA is not between North and South, or black and white, but between the capitalist state and the American people. In every opinion poll, a majority of Americans favour a national health service, more spending on education and welfare, and less spending on war. On Iran, 75% of the American people think that the USA should end military threats and turn to diplomacy. Two-thirds of the American people want to re-establish ties with Cuba.

Chomsky says that the national interest is `a mystical term', but although the capitalist class and its state naturally claim that their minority interests are the national interest, the real national interest is always a nation's people.

fresh air
Chomsky has a way of cutting through miles of obfuscation. He gets at the core of an issue and eats it away with relentless logic and rationality. This book is more of the same. Chomsky talks about our double standards, environmental and nuclear threats, the Middle East, Iraq, and much else besides.
Even where I disagree with Chomsky's analysis, I always respect his well-thought positions. He is truly commited to making the world a better place. Who else, sans Chomsky, would answer each and every one of their 200+ emails a day while maintaining a preternaturally rigorous schedule- all this by a soon to be octogenarian!!

Anyone concerned with the current state of affairs- globally or domestically- should read this book. It's easy to read interview format makes it perfect for beginners. However, do not let the lucidity of Chomsky's responses fool you; even seasoned, politically astute readers could gain much from listening to Chomsky's voice.