Governments are not representative. They have their own power, serving segments of the population that are dominant and rich. - Noam Chomsky 1 Share Now -
If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all. - Noam Chomsky 2 Share Now -
If workers are more insecure, that's very 'healthy' for the society, because if workers are insecure, they won't ask for wages, they won't go on strike, they won't call for benefits; they'll serve the masters gladly and passively. And that's optimal for corporations' economic health. - Noam Chomsky 3 Share Now -
The former colonies, in Latin America in particular, have a better chance than ever before to overcome centuries of subjugation, violence and foreign intervention, which they have so far survived as dependencies with islands of luxury in a sea of misery. - Noam Chomsky 4 Share Now -
You could imagine a language exactly like English except it doesn't have connectives like 'and' that allow you to make longer expressions. An infant learning truncated English would have no idea about this: They would just pick it up as they would standard English. - Noam Chomsky 5 Share Now -
Debt is a trap, especially student debt, which is enormous, far larger than credit card debt. It's a trap for the rest of your life because the laws are designed so that you can't get out of it. If a business, say, gets in too much debt, it can declare bankruptcy, but individuals can almost never be relieved of student debt through bankruptcy. - Noam Chomsky 6 Share Now -
The Occupy movement did create spontaneously communities that taught people something: you can be in a supportive community of mutual aid and cooperation and develop your own health system and library and have open space for democratic discussion and participation. Communities like that are really important. - Noam Chomsky 7 Share Now -
There's a War Crimes Act in the United States passed by a Republican Congress in 1996, which says that grave breaches of the Geneva Convention are subject to the death penalty. And that doesn't mean the soldier that committed them - that means the commanders. - Noam Chomsky 8 Share Now -
In the early 1940s, as a young teenager, I was utterly appalled by the racist and jingoist hysteria of the anti-Japanese propaganda. The Germans were evil, but treated with some respect: They were, after all, blond Aryan types, just like our imaginary self-image. Japanese were mere vermin, to be crushed like ants. - Noam Chomsky 9 Share Now -
Death and genitals are things that frighten people, and when people are frightened, they develop means of concealment and aggression. It is common sense. - Noam Chomsky 10 Share Now -
