Cogswell David - Chomsky For Beginners

Knowledge and information

Abbreviations of sources of quotes.

AC -- After the Cataclysm, Noam Chomsky and Edward S. Herman, 1979, South End Press.

APNM -- American Power and the New Mandarins, Noam Chomsky, 1967, 1969, Pantheon.

ATS -- Aspects of The Theory of Syntax, Noam Chomsky, 1965, MIT press.

CR -- The Chomsky Reader, ed. Richard Peck, 1987, Pantheon Books.

DD -- Deterring Democracy, Noam Chomsky, 1991, 1992, Hill and Wang.

ESP -- Equality and Social Policy, Noam Chomsky, 1978, University of Illinois Press.

FRS -- For Reasons of State, Noam Chomsky, 1970, 1971, 1972, Pantheon.

FT -- The Fateful Triangle, Noam Chomsky, 1983, South End Press.

INT -- Interview with Noam Chomsky, Sept. 14, 1993, David Cogswell

L&P -- Language and Politics, by Noam Chomsky, 1988, Black Rose Books.

MC -- Manufacturing Consent, Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky, 1988, Pantheon Books.

MCF -- Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media. A film by Mark Achbar and Peter Wintonick in association with the Canadian Film...

Nl -- Necessary Illusions, Noam Chomsky, 1989, South End Press.

NCZM -- Noam Chomsky writing in Z Magazine.

PE -- Pirates and Emperors, Noam Chomsky, 1986, Amana Books.

PD -- The Panama Deception, a film by the Empowerment Project, 1992.

RC -- Rethinking Camelot, Noam Chomsky, 1993, South End Press.

TNCW -- Towards a New Cold War, Essays on the current crisis and how we got there, Noam Chomsky, 1982, Pantheon.

TT -- Turning the Tide, Noam Chomsky, 1985, South End Press.

WC -- The Washington Connection and Third World Fascism, Noam Chomsky and Edward S. Herman, 1979, South End Press.

WUS -- What Uncle Sam Really Wants, Noam Chomsky, 1986-92, Odonian Press.

Y5 -- Year 501, Noam Chomsky, 1993, South End Press.

Editors note:Actual quotes by Chomsky are denoted with quotation marks and abbreviations indicating the source of the quote.

oam Chomsky is one of the ten most-quoted writers of all time.

The Chicago Tribune has called Professor Chomsky the most cited living author, adding that among intellectual luminaries of all eras, he ranks eighth, just behind Plato and Sigmund Freud.

writes James Peck in the Introduction to The Chomsky Reader.In all American history, no ones writings are more unsettling than Noam Chomskys. No intellectual tradition quite captures his voice . No party claims him; he is a spokesman for no ideology.

And the Mother of American newspapers, The New York Times, called Noam Chomsky arguably the most important intellectual alive.

In the 1990s, this is still the most frequent response to the mention of the name of Noam Chomsky, a mild-mannered professor of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

(Why, you might wonder, have so many of us never heard of someone so famous? Is this the ultimate Yogi-Berra-ismHes so famous no ones ever heard of him?)

The reason you havent heard much about Noam Chomsky (which, by the way, is a demonstration in action of his thesis that the Media manipulates /distorts/withholds information to suit their owners) is because the gentlemen who own the Major Media dont want you to know about Noam Chomsky.

If too many people listen open-mindedly to what Chomsky has to say about huge corporations running the country, the world, both political parties, and the Major Mediawhy, the whole ginger-bread fantasy weve been fed about America might vanish like the Emperors clothes.

One of the wonderful things about Chomsky is that he makes us feel smart. Though our leaders have lied to us and played us for fools, and the Media has parroted their lies, even the most naive of us have known that we were not being given the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. We have even intuitively grasped the basic principles underlying many of Chomskys views, even if we couldnt quite explain them. We may not understand the subtleties of the systems that control our lives, but many of us have noticed at least in part, several important truths:

Our government often lies to us.

Our government serves the needs of some and ignores the needs of others.

Our economic system is rigged.

With regard to most of the issues that affect most of the people, the major political parties are virtually identical.

The news media do not give a full, balanced picture of political events.

Though the United States is called a democracy, most of us are locked out of any meaningful participation in the decision-making process of our own country.

Above all, our government, our politicians, and our media, ignore the needs of the majority and serve the needs of the rich.