Hopes and Prospects - Noam Chomsky

[Jim__]

I haven't read this yet, but I saw this review this morning:

If all you know of his work is the smears, then his new book Hopes and Prospects will be a revelation. In his rather dry understated way, he excavates the reality behind the babbling Babel of 24/7 corporate news, and places long-buried truths on the table for us to examine. Every one is sourced to the leading academic journals, the best experts, the sharpest medical advice -- yet each one is a shock if you rely on news brought to you by corporations and corrupt right-wing billionaires.

So, for example, he uncovers the story of why Haiti is so poor, and could be shaken to pieces by an earthquake that would have killed only a handful in California. It's a story of man-made earthquakes, one after another. The country was the first to rebel against slavery and to successful cast off the whip-hand -- and so it was brutally punished by the French Empire. Every time it has begun to rise onto its feet, it has been kicked back down, with the American Empire taking over to topple its elected leaders (the last was put on a plane at gunpoint in 2008) and stifle any moves towards development.

But who knows? Who has heard about it? Who ties to hold our leaders accountable for it? Chomsky is trying to rescue crimes from the memory-hole, so we can remember them. He explains that Ronald Reagan -- the great hero of the American right -- was a great champion of jihadism. It was Reagan who encouraged Pakistan to simultaneously become viciously fundamentalist, and acquire nuclear weapons. Chomsky coolly condemns "the global jihad launched by Zia and Reagan," launched for geopolitical reasons, with no concern for the after-effects.

But Reagan remains unstained. Chomsky quotes the great American historian Francis Jennings, who noted of early twentieth century leaders: "In history, the man in the ruffled shirt and gold-coated waistcoat levitates above the blood he has ordered to be spilled by dirty-handed underlings." Instead, Chomsky says, history is too often ruled by the maxim spelled out by Thucydidies: "The strong do as they wish, while the poor suffer as they must."

[marmar]

1. I'm reading it right now.....typical Chomsky truth-telling.

Upsetting to realize the crap this country has done in order to "free the markets."

[groovedaddy]

2. Most of Chomsky's work is dry and understated. That takes nothing away from the importance of

what he has to reveal. Which is precisely why he is reviled by those who have been exposed for what they are.

[Crystal Clarity]

3. I look forward to reading this

Thanks for posting the review.

[Jefferson23]

4. Methodical, patient, and subdued, Chomsky doesn't miss a trick.

I hope he lives a long time.

[Bigmack]

5. AGREED!

He is a national treasure. Ms Bigmack