The level of destruction and terror and violence carried out by the powerful states far exceeds anything that can imaginably can be done by groups that are called terrorists and subnational groups. – Noam Chomsky
In the literal sense, there has been no relevant evolution since the trek from Africa. But there has been substantial progress towards higher standards of rights, justice and freedom – along with all too many illustrations of how remote is the goal of a decent society. – Noam Chomsky
It makes sense for Japan to pursue a more independent role in the world, following Latin America and others in freeing itself from U.S. domination. – Noam Chomsky
Under the worst conditions, horrendous conditions, people still, you know, fight for their rights and don’t just succumb. – Noam Chomsky
There are major efforts being made to dismantle Social Security, the public schools, the post office – anything that benefits the population has to be dismantled. Efforts against the U.S. Postal Service are particularly surreal. – Noam Chomsky
Rational discussion is useful only when there is a significant base of shared assumptions. – Noam Chomsky
The doctrine that everything is fine as long as the population is quiet, that applies in the Middle East, applies in Central America, it applies in the United States. – Noam Chomsky
If you are working 50 hours a week in a factory, you don’t have time to read 10 newspapers a day and go back to declassified government archives. But such people may have far-reaching insights into the way the world works. – Noam Chomsky
In the United States, we can do almost anything we want. It’s not like Egypt, where you’re going to get murdered by the security forces. – Noam Chomsky
Human language appears to be a unique phenomenon, without significant analogue in the animal world. – Noam Chomsky
In many respects, the United States is a great country. Freedom of speech is protected more than in any other country. It is also a very free society. – Noam Chomsky
In the early days of the military Arpanet, my daughter was studying in Nicaragua. Because the U.S. was essentially at war with them, contact was difficult. I managed to use MIT’s Arpanet connection, and she found one, so we could communicate thanks to the Pentagon! – Noam Chomsky
It is true that classical libertarian thought is opposed to state intervention in social life, as a consequence of deeper assumptions about the human need for liberty, diversity, and free association. – Noam Chomsky
International affairs is very much run like the mafia. The godfather does not accept disobedience, even from a small storekeeper who doesn’t pay his protection money. You have to have obedience; otherwise, the idea can spread that you don’t have to listen to the orders, and it can spread to important places. – Noam Chomsky
When Reagan left office, he was the most unpopular living president, apart from Nixon, even below Carter. If you look at his years in office, he was not particularly popular. He was more or less average. He severely harmed the American economy. – Noam Chomsky
If you get to a point where the existing institutions will not bend to the popular will, you have to eliminate the institutions. – Noam Chomsky
Occupying armies have responsibilities, not rights. Their primary responsibility is to withdraw as quickly and expeditiously as possible, in a manner determined by the occupied population. – Noam Chomsky
France had a policy, initiated by General de Gaulle, of trying to turn Europe into what was then called a ‘third force,’ independent of the two superpowers, so Europe should pursue an independent course. – Noam Chomsky
In the US, there is basically one party – the business party. It has two factions, called Democrats and Republicans, which are somewhat different but carry out variations on the same policies. By and large, I am opposed to those policies. As is most of the population. – Noam Chomsky
The rise of capitalist practice and morality brought with it a radical revision of how the commons are treated, and also of how they are conceived. – Noam Chomsky
The government argues that First Amendment rights are outweighed by the need to prosecute those who transmit classified information and documents. – Noam Chomsky
Those who had demanded no more than an end to the bombing of North Vietnam and a commitment to negotiations saw their demands being realized, and lapsed into silence. – Noam Chomsky
The people who were honored in the Bible were the false prophets. It was the ones we call the prophets who were jailed and driven into the desert. – Noam Chomsky
Up until the First World War, when people turned anti-German, Germany had been described by American political scientists as the model of democracy. – Noam Chomsky
Governments are not representative. They have their own power, serving segments of the population that are dominant and rich. – Noam Chomsky
As for my own views, they’ve of course evolved over the years. This conception of ‘renouncing beliefs’ is very odd, as if we’re in some kind of religious cult. I ‘renounce beliefs’ practically every time I think about the topics or find out what someone else is thinking. – Noam Chomsky
The Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor led to many very good things. If you follow the trail, it led to kicking Europeans out of Asia – that saved tens of millions of lives in India alone. – Noam Chomsky