[Peace-discuss] Chomsky talk

[C. G. Estabrook]

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2011/05/noam_chomsky_us_policy_serves.html

Syracuse, NY -- Before more than 1,000 people at Nottingham High School 
Wednesday night, linguist and political analyst Noam Chomsky spoke about 
American foreign policy, public education and how it feels to be called stupid.

Shortly after the death of Osama bin Laden, Chomsky wrote a reaction piece for 
Guernica magazine where he called the military action in Pakistan “a planned 
assassination” that should have ended with bin Laden being taken into custody 
and not killed.

The article sparked much discussion on the Internet, including an article from 
journalist Christopher Hitchens that calls Chomsky’s reactions “stupid and 
ignorant.”

During the question-and-answer portion of the event, Chomsky responded to Hitchens.

“If I wanted to stoop to that level, there would be very simple responses. He’s 
been producing hysterical rants for 20 years,” Chomsky said. “I just ignore 
them. They’re not worth responding to.”

During his speech, which commemorated the 75th anniversary of the Syracuse Peace 
Council, Chomsky discussed how American foreign policy has affected its own 
population in a negative way.

“Foreign policy and domestic policy are driven by a search for security, in a 
very special sense,” Chomsky said. “Security for those groups in society who 
Adam Smith called ‘the masters of mankind,’ those who basically own the society 
and are the principal architects of policy and design it so their own interests 
will be well served, no matter how grievous the impact on domestic population.”

Chomsky also discussed how American foreign policy is used to stabilize other 
countries in which it has a vested interest. One of those countries was Chile 
during the 1960s and¤’70s.

“When we invade those countries, and half destroy them, that stabilizes the 
region. This is the normal usage of the term stability,” Chomsky said. 
“Stability means we run it, we own the world.”

The revolutions in countries like Egypt and Tunisia over the last few months 
have inspired their neighboring countries and threatened the United States, 
Chomsky said.

“It’s threatening to bring democracy,” Chomsky said. “And democracy, if it means 
anything, it means that the will of the population has some effect on policy, 
not just the masters.”

Breaking from the topic of American foreign policy, Chomsky discussed the tragic 
state of education in the country. He specifically mentioned the public 
education system in Southern California.

“The public education system is being systematically destroyed,” Chomsky said. 
“The tuition is so high in the major universities, it’s just for the rich. It’s 
at the level of Ivy League colleges.”