From: Samantha Atkins (samantha@objectent.com)
Date: Thu Dec 12 2002 - 16:54:14 MST
Mike Lorrey wrote:
> --- Dehede011@aol.com wrote:
>
>>In a message dated 12/10/2002 11:59:15 AM Central Standard Time,
>>jonkc@att.net writes: I think the New York Review of Books got it
>>right when
>>they called Mr. Chomsky "the Doctor Demento of American Political
>>Commentary."
>>
>>Okay, you have me hooked. You have my interest caught. We have
>>people right here on this list that treat Chomsky as if he were
>>rational and highly intelligent. Worse yet he is considered by
>>many to be well informed. How do you account for that?
>
>
> It's fairly simple. Such people, esp on this list, who are Chomsky fans
> I have also found to be highly anti-Israel, Pro-Arab, anti-capital,
> anti-libertarian, pro-collectivist, anti-science/technology,
> pro-luddite/green mysticism, anti-rationalist, pro-spiritualist.
>
This is [un]fairly simplistic. "Such people"? Do you really
believe we can be talked about meaningfully as a monolithic
group? Chomsky is sometimes very right-on about the problems of
seriously interventionist policies of the US and the effects.
He is usually, imho, wrong about many of the causes and
especially about what a cure would be. I am "anti-Israel" in
that Israel is behaving largely like a rogue state and we are
pouring billions into aiding it doing so. It has broken an
order of magnitude more UN resolutions than Iraq has yet we
still support it almost blindly. That is idiotic imho. I am
not pro-Arab. I am pro-sovereignity and self-determination for
individuals and nations (although I have a bit more problem with
the latter generally). I am not anti-capital [sic], am
pro-Libertarian, anti-collectivist, pro-science/technology,
anti-Luddite but pro serious consideration of consequences of
deploying various technologies, pro-rational and pro-spiritual
(spiritualist is something else again).
> I won't raise more hackles by applying a well known political label to
> people who think this way, as I think it is rather plain-as-day, so
> nothing further need be said.
>
Yep, you need say nothing more to show your discerning intellect
cuts quite cleanly if only in much too broad strokes lobbing off
much of reality.
- samantha
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