Do you think Noam Choamsky is a crackpot?

[jeff30997]

Personally I've read a lot of his writings and I think the guy is a visionary...What do you think?

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. Not at all. But Deepak Chopra sure is a nutjob.

[Maat]

3. I find Chomsky rather interesting - thought-provoking.

n/t

[jeff30997]

4. Hehehe...

I won't argue with you on that.

[Nevernose]

2. At times, yes.

Other times, no. I always read his stuff, though -- at the very least it will make me think.

[jeff30997]

Can you elaborate please ?

[Nevernose]

10. I don't always think he's right.

His stance on Palestine, for instance, is radically anti-Israel. I've found his writings on the subject to be, at times, bordering on the diatribe or fanaticism. Just a personal impression. While there is more than a kernel of truth in this particular position of his, he seems to have latched on to just one side of the conflict.

He also blamed the 9/11 attacks on American economic policy and our support for Israel. Once again, there is more than just a kernel of truth to this, but the situation between the Middle East and the West is far more complex than American/Israeli Policy=Bad, Everyone Else's=Good -- which is the impression I get (and am believe I am supposed to get).

That having been said, there are some seriously fucked up things with American global policy, things which Mr. Chomsky has been pointing out for several decades now. We DON'T treat most other countries with even a shred of respect or dignity. Noam is accurate in many of his descriptions of Amreican foreign policy; at times, it seems as if we're some kind of global serial rapist.

And of course his work in language acquisition and linguistics was revolutionary, affecting and transforming every field from psychology to education.

The world desparately needs more intellects like Chomsky's -- whether I always agree with or not.

[EstimatedProphet]

5. No, the rightwing wackos that call him a traitor are the crackpots

Noam is speaking out about what is wrong in sociaty and how to change it.

[laheina]

6. Since I've had Chompsky rammed down my throat

For several semesters worth of Linguistic Philosophy. I can say that I'm not very fond of his approaches, or the applications of his theories to the philosophy of language via Pinker, but the guy has some good ideas.

[bettyellen]

7. I loved the doc "Manufacturing Cocsent", but I haven't read too much...

what is most worth while Chomsky reading, anybody?

[ragin_acadian]

12. "understanding power: the indispensible chomsky"

best one out there:
it's kind of like the sampler platter at ruby tuesdays: a little meat, a little sauce, some garnishes, and presented in an informal manner that allows everyone at the table access to what suits their taste.

seriously though, i tried to read neccessary illusions first, and i found myself skimming the academia trying to find what the hell he was saying. then i read understanding power, and was able to go back and comprehend neccessary illusions.

i tried some of his linguistic work, even though i'm an undergraduate in communication, that stuff is damn near incomprehensible.

[enigmatic]

8. Nope; played his tapes on my station many times...

In fact, I/m going to play a few CD's by him next week..

[JimmyJazz]

9. He is my idol

[jeff30997]

11. Interesting replies...

[ragin_acadian]

13. Chomsky is to America, what

martin luther was to the catholic church.

except chomsky doesn't author documents and nail them to our door. he takes government documents, and pokes the government in the eye with them.

when a writer is marginalized to the point that chomsky has been, then you know there is truth in what he says. the establishment won't even acknowledge him; they will take michael moore and produce movies disputing his claims, or pay some balding neverhasbeen whore of an author to pick apart his psyche, but they don't even try to tackle chomsky. they just whistle, tap their foot, look up at the ceiling, and hope he goes away, or hope that we are too dumb to pay attention.

some of you might have seen that asshat sullivan on the last episode of bill maher: the only disparaging thing sullivan could say is: he's unamerican, and: he's charging people millions for appearances. both charges untrue. did he talk about any of chomsky's work? no.

[Floogeldy]

14. No