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<div class="heading"><b><strong class="heading">[This is an almost
comical translation from the German - it sounds like a Mel
Brooks movie. Chomsky probably didn't answer in German: his
practice when interviewed by non-English speakers (whom he
normally understands) is to answer in English and have his
answers translated. These read as if they went from
Chomsky's English through German and back to a Germanized </strong><strong
class="heading">English... </strong>Nevertheless some
important points are made.]<br>
</b><strong class="heading"><br>
"Students Should Become Anarchists": Noam Chomsky</strong></div>
<div class="author">by Noam Chomsky
<br>
<em>Monday Jun 27th, 2011 7:05 AM </em></div>
</div>
<br>
<div class="article"> ZEIT Campus interviews a luminary, Noam
Chomsky, linguist, political activist and one of the most quoted
scholars of the world <br>
<br>
[The American linguist-professor Noam Chomsky (82) is known
worldwide as a political activist and capitalism-critic, not only
for his “universal grammar.” This interview published in: ZEIT
Online, 6/14/2011 is translated from the German on the Internet, <a
href="http://www.zeit.de/campus/2011/04/sprechstunde-chomsky">http://www.zeit.de/campus/2011/04/sprechstunde-chomsky</a>.]
<br>
<br>
ZEIT Campus: Professor Chomsky, you are not only one of the most
quoted scholars of the world. For 45 years, you have been a
political activist. When one looks at politics today, one must
ask: Can “public intellectuals” like yourself accomplish anything?
<br>
<br>
Noam Chomsky: How can you ask that question? <br>
<br>
ZEIT Campus: There is war in Afghanistan. The world suffers in the
consequences of the economic crisis. The social gap grows more and
more. <br>
<br>
Chomsky: The problem is simple. Most intellectuals are servants of
power and counsel governments. They call themselves experts; they
have sought prestige for centuries, not only today. However every
society has critical intellectuals at its edges. Both types have
influence: the servants of power and the dissidents. <br>
<br>
ZEIT Campus: We are still skeptical. What have you changed in the
past 45 years? <br>
<br>
Chomsky: I personally did not change anything. I was part of a
movement and this movement accomplished many things. The world
today is fundamentally different from the world 45 years ago. The
actions for civil rights, human rights, women’s rights and
environmental protection, resistance against oppression and
violence have substantially influenced the world. I cannot
understand how you can argue I have not changed anything. <br>
<br>
ZEIT Campus: Do you believe the world is better today than 40 or
50 years ago? <br>
<br>
Chomsky: Obviously! Walk along the open fields [No: "die Flure" =
the corridors --CGE] here at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. Half of the students are women; a third belongs to an
ethnic minority. People are dressed more casually and are engaged
for all possible things. This place was very different when I came
here 50 years ago. Then you saw white men, formally dressed and
only interested in their own work. You could see the same
development in Germany and all over the world. <br>
<br>
ZEIT Campus: But are students more political? Today’s generation
is often reproached for being disinterested in the world. <br>
<br>
Chomsky: I think that reproach is false. The period of high
politization at the universities was very short – from 1968 to
1970. Before that, students were apolitical. Consider the Vietnam
War, one of the greatest crimes since the Second World War. Four
or five years went by until some form of visible protest stirred
in the US. That quickly ebbed away in the 1970s. The mood was very
different before the Iraq war. To my knowledge, the Iraq war was
the first war in history where there were demonstrations before it
began. My students missed the lectures to demonstrate. That would
never have happened 50 years ago. The protests did not prevent the
war but limited it. The US was never able to do in Iraq a fraction
of what it had done in Vietnam. <br>
<br>
ZEIT Campus: Were those protests only a straw fire? <br>
<br>
Chomsky: No. The politization today is much greater than in the
1950s. Forms of lasting activism developed that enabled many of
our battles to be won. For example, there was a continuous
progress in women’s rights. If I had asked my grandmother whether
she was oppressed, she wouldn’t have known what I was talking
about. My mother said: “I am oppressed but I don’t know what to
do!” My daughter would shout to me after such a question: Our
world is more human! <br>
<br>
ZEIT Campus: Do you believe in historical progress? <br>
<br>
Chomsky: Progress is slow but dramatic over long time horizons.
Think of the abolition of slavery or the development of freedom of
expression. Rights are not simply bestowed. People who joined
forces and banded together realized them. Still progress is not a
linear development. There are also times of backward steps. <br>
<br>
ZEIT Campus: If there are times of progress and times of backward
steps, will the world be better in 50 years than today? <br>
<br>
Chomsky: What will be in 50 years depends strongly on what the
young generation does today. Two great dangers threaten the
existence of the world: our relation to the environment and the
danger that starts from nuclear weapons. If we do not champion
environmental protection more vigorously today, we could be mired
in a grave environmental crisis in 50 years, let alone the risks
of nuclear weapons. The terrible catastrophe of Fukushima reminds
us that the non-military use of nuclear power is fraught with
extreme risks. We cannot ignore this under any circumstances! <br>
<br>
ZEIT Campus: In 60 years students of today will be as old as you.
What must they do to look back on their life with satisfaction? <br>
<br>
Chomsky: Naturally they could say they lived contentedly with
friends, children and fun. But to really lead a fulfilled and
satisfying life, they should recognize problems and contribute to
solving them. If they cannot look back at 80 and say “I have
accomplished something!,” then their life will not have succeeded.
<br>
<br>
ZEIT Campus: At 82, are you satisfied with what you achieved? <br>
<br>
Chomsky: Being satisfied is impossible. My life has too many
dimensions, family, profession, politics and several others. In
some areas I am satisfied but not in others. The problems of this
world are quite great. Inequality in the US is at the level of the
1920s and the economy still has tremendous influence in our
society. I cannot be satisfied! <br>
<br>
ZEIT Campus: Political engagement like yours is rare among
scholars. Are you sometimes furious at the “servants of power” as
you say or at professor colleagues who only concentrate on their
academic work? <br>
<br>
Chomsky: I consider it immoral to be a supporter of a power
system. However that does not mean that I am furious at anyone.
Scholars per se do not have deeper political insights than other
persons and are not morally superior to others. But they are
obligated to help politicians seek and find the truth. <br>
<br>
ZEIT Campus: That sounds like you are becoming mild in old age. <br>
<br>
Chomsky: No. My views and attitudes have not changed in the course
of the decades. I still believe what I believed as a teenager. <br>
<br>
ZEIT Campus: Is that good – to still believe what you believed
almost 70 years ago? <br>
<br>
Chomsky: Yes, when fundamental principles are involved. Obviously
I have changed my opinions in many questions – but my ideals are
the same! <br>
<br>
ZEIT Campus: You often say you are an anarchist. What do you mean
by that? <br>
<br>
Chomsky: Anarchists try to identify power structures. They urge
those exercising power to justify themselves. This justification
does not succeed most of the time. Then anarchists work at
unmasking and mastering the structures, whether they involve
patriarchal families, a Mafia international system or the private
tyrannies of the economy, the corporation. <br>
<br>
ZEIT Campus: What was the key experience that made you an
anarchist? <br>
<br>
Chomsky: There was none. When I was twelve years old, I began to
go to secondhand bookshops. Many of them were run by anarchists
who came from Spain. Therefore it seemed very natural to me to be
an anarchist. <br>
<br>
ZEIT Campus: Should all students become anarchists? <br>
<br>
Chomsky: Yes. Students should challenge authorities and join a
long anarchist tradition. <br>
<br>
ZEIT Campus: “Challenge authorities” – a liberal or a moderate
leftist could accept that invitation. <br>
<br>
Chomsky: As soon as one identifies, challenges and overcomes
illegitimate power, he or she is an anarchist. Most people are
anarchists. What they call themselves doesn’t matter to me. <br>
<br>
ZEIT Campus: Who or what must challenge today’s student
generation? <br>
<br>
Chomsky: This world is full of suffering, distress, violence and
catastrophes. Students must decide: does something concern you or
not? I say: look around, analyze the problems, ask yourself what
you can do and set out on the work! </div>
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