Understanding Power: The Indispensable Chomsky

Media:	Paperback
Author:	Noam Chomsky, John Schoeffel, Peter Mitchell
Publisher:	New Press
Release date:	February, 2002
List price:	~~$19.95~~
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Understanding Power: The Indispensable Chomsky

Average rating: Stars

Oh! *Now* we see the violence inherent in the system!

Before reading Understanding Power, I knew of Noam Chomsky only by his (formidable) reputation as a linguist and author of Manufacturing Consent, which I had not (and still have not) read. In truth, I was prompted to buy Understanding Power - said to be a good collection of his works, having read, and been perplexed by, Chomsky's effusive praise of a transparently dim-witted book about the nastiness of corporations ("The Corporation", by Joel Bakan. You should read it: it's a hoot.) I was curious as to how such a respected, academic, intelligent commentator could come to be praising such a silly book.

Well, I am curious no more.

This is a nicely edited, packaged edition, which benefits from the fact that it seems to contain mostly transcripts of Socratic-style "teach-ins" (love-ins, more like) that Chomsky has conducted over the last few years. It's conversational and very easy to read: far from being weighed down by the carefully premeditated prose of a stuffy academic, Understanding Power positively zings with invective, humour, and oratory. Parts of it are funny (though not always intentionally so), parts fascinating, Chomsky's command of the "received" facts of recent political history (and his self-declared "true" ones) is consistently impressive. Not only does this book give you a very clear exposition of Chomsky's perspective, it is very entertaining as it does it. Credit, therefore, to the editors who have presumably sifted through weeks of audio tape, and have cleaned up and contextualised (undoubtedly with His Master's Consent) to add to the reading pleasure. They've also compiled footnotes of greater length than the text, which are available for spods online.

While his facts maybe impeccably marshalled, many of the conclusions at which Chomsky arrives - particular in the field of economics - are obviously baloney (it is basically conspiracy and paranoia writ on a scale even James Ellroy would baulk at) but it's maddeningly difficult to nail down exactly why. But this evening, in a taxi on the way home from my wage-slavery (ahem), on page 216, I nailed it: Chomsky's richest polemic is almost all unfalsifiable. There are no conceivable facts you could present to Chomsky that would lead him to say, "You know what? You're right! I've got this all completely wrong!" Arguing against Noam Chomsky would be like arguing against a born-again Christian. Facts are construed to fit the theory, and not the other way around.

That quality - falsifiability - is what distinguishes valid argument from dogma. The fact that something is capable of being proven false is what gives it explanatory traction in the world. If a statement is true for all possible circumstances, it's either circular, tautological or it bears no relation to the world we live in. Chomsky, the arch cognitive relativist, would, I guess, say "rationality is a western capitalist construct and is not a valid conceptual framework for judging my arguments" and thereby spin out of that tackle. But if those are the rules, there's not much point to playing the game. No-one can ever win: not Chomsky, not the would-be tackler: The try-line is missing.

So when the stooges in his audience (and boy, are they stooges, by the way) meekly suggest that his proposal for how to really manage an economy (namely: everyone pulls together and works towards the common good, no-one fights, no-one wants more than their fair share, everyone co-operates - utterly brilliant, isn't it?) has been tried in a few places, and it fell apart pretty quickly, Chomsky's retort is 'but that wasn't REALLY socialism! That was actually disguised CAPITALISM!' hence - objection is defined away, as opposed to being defended. Thus Chomsky spins out of yet another (pretty lame) tackle. The opposition begins to think, "stuff this for a joke - what's the fun of playing this game?"

Nonetheless, there are still some glaring facts which Chomsky can't explain away: The most obvious is that if the media and corporate elites are so indoctrinated, so suppressive of "dissident" views like Chomsky's, then how can Chomsky himself have been such a roaring success? A search within Amazon on "Noam Chomsky" lists 536 books (ten times as many as for "Rush Limbaugh", five times as many as for "P J O'Rourke", and only 8 fewer than for "George Bush"!). Chomsky is a global superstar, an arch propagandist, a fantastic brand, and though he commends his disciples not to take his word for it, legions of them (most notably the slurpers who sit cross-legged at his feet in the pages of this book) simply do. No-one subjects his patter to sustained criticism - possibly because it is no more fun than arguing with a born-again Christian. I suspect what sticks in Chomsky's craw more than anything else isn't that he's suppressed by his political opponents - he simply isn't - it's that he's happily tolerated and, for the most part, ignored.

And it's not really hard to see why. On one hand, Chomsky has little enough faith in the intellectual integrity of his common man to blame the prevalence of consumerism and capitalism on his brainwashing by the media and the corporate elite, but enough faith in it to suppose that some sort of anarcho-syndicalist communal form of existence for humankind is even remotely viable. He may well be right in his first assessment (but if they're happy, so what, actually?); the second is utterly ludicrous. But it's the only solution he can come up with - such is the poverty of his constructive analysis. It is one thing to criticise, quite another to propose a constructive alternative - and I'm afraid consensual, non coercive, state-free social planning (if by that you don't mean naked capitalism, and trust me, Chomsky doesn't) just ain't it.

Lest you think I'm exaggerating about Chomsky's skills as a propagandist, check out this little piece of disinformation: The dust jacket of Understanding Power quotes the New York Times as describing Chomsky as "arguably the most important intellectual alive". Well, if you read the book, you'll know that Chomsky is no fan of the New York Times, so I was surprised by this quote - surprised enough to Google on it to see if I could find the original. And I did: properly contextualised, it reads "...Noam Chomsky is arguably the most important intellectual alive today. He is also a disturbingly divided intellectual. On the one hand there is a large body of revolutionary and highly technical linguistic scholarship, much of it too difficult for anyone but the professional linguist or philosopher; on the other, an equally substantial body of political writings, accessible to any literate person but often maddeningly simple-minded".

Haha, Professor Chomsky: Caught red-handed! *Now* who is "manufacturing consent"?

At the end of the day, the most withering criticism of Noam Chomsky's political outlook comes not from the New York Times, but from the much-beloved satire on the anarcho-syndicalist peasant in Monty Python and the Holy Grail quoted in the title of this review.

I must say, I tend to side with King Arthur's ultimate view, as he trudges away, bored and frustrated with totally pointless conversation.

Python Afficionados will know what I mean.

Olly Buxton

Understanding Power: The Indispensable Chomsky - Noam Chomsky, John Schoeffel, Peter Mitchell

Revelatory - The best possible introductory overview to Chomsky

When I brought this book I assumed that the term 'indespensable' would mean that it would be a collection of excerpts of his writing - rather it is a collection of transcripts of public forum discussion. The results were unputdownable for me as they have the air of having Noam Chomsky over for a chat over the dinner table and serve as an immensely accessible and unpretentious introduction to his thinking - by that virtue alone this definitely deserves to be called truly indespensible.

The chosen transcripts are all so carefully chosen and thoughtfully editorialised as to represent his views on the widest possible range of issues. There will be something in this for everyone as a consequence, with everything here having as much or even more immediate relevancy to our post-9/11 times as it did when first published. The rise and fall of the Soviet Union, the Korean war, the Vietnam war, the real meaning of the Watergate incident, the Middle East conflict, the need for enviromental reform - these and so many things are covered in a dazzling tour de force of thought. Chomsky bravely says things with aplomb that nobody else would dare to say - in case you too ended up knowing too much.

This is a book that makes so much in our age seem so much more transparent, when the media has become a tool of the political propaganda machinery linked as it is to the moguls of their industry. It is scarcely possible to see any event in the last 80+ years of world history in the same light, such is the revelatory nature of the thought presented here that literally makes the scales fall from your eyes.

Subsequently this book has encouraged me to read other of his writings but I am immensely pleased that I started here. I have also lent this book to others - and judging by the postive responses I have had I doubt I am going to see it back for a very long time. I unconditionally recommend this book with whole-hearted enthusiasm and think anyone would find something personally affecting here. This is a book that truly everyone should read just to empower themselves with the ability to see through so much politically driven mass media distortion (my euphemism for propaganda) that we are all so thoroughly saturated in.

Noam Chomsky, John Schoeffel, Peter Mitchell - Understanding Power: The Indispensable Chomsky

Uncle Noam

This is a great book, an ideal entree to Chomsky's thought. Massive respect to the editors for an exemplary job in making these Q & A's unified and gripping.

Completely agree also with the admonishment below of Big Egos who in their faux-sophistication affect to dismiss Chomsky . Noam does seem to bring out the Ass**** in some people, rather like the guy at the bar who decides he doesn't like your face (remember Christopher Hitchens, a former admirer, taking a swing at Chomsky post 9/11? Sad.). The reviewer who opines that Chomsky is a "dilettante and not a serious thinker" is either highly satirical or needs gently reminding that Chomsky revolutionised linguistics single-brainedly and is the 9th most quoted person after Jesus, Marx, etc. Get a grip, people, read this guy (or watch the DVDs).

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