On Chomsky
My brief response to an inquiry regarding my views on Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky was one of my first introductions to leftist politics and his work definitely set me on the right path and inspired me to learn more. I watched tons of his lectures and read his collection of short books (it was a box set I discovered while working at an independent book store after high school). I remember his pamphlet on 9/11 became incredibly popular because not many media voices mentioned the relevant historical context of the U.S. arming and training the mujahideen in Afghanistan, a Salafi-jihadist organization that later formed al-Qaeda and the Taliban. My friends and I had heated discussions about this over drinks.
I watched the documentary about him (“Manufacturing Consent”) many times and read a few of his other books. My initial exposure to the Israel/Palestine issue was also shaped in part by Chomsky’s analysis. I’d say at this point the main aspects of Chomsky’s work that stick with me are his critique of U.S. foreign policy and his analysis of the way the mainstream media “manufactures consent” for war and other destructive policies. These definitely still hold up as a valuable analyses.
However, since I have refined my political views over the years, I ended up in disagreement with Chomsky on other issues. I am a Marxist-Leninist and…
