"Michael M. Butler" wrote:
>
> I usually find Chomsky at least worth listening to when I see him on some
> PBS program. Haven't done any deep reading of him, though _Manufacturing Consent_
> has been on my to-read list for a long time. I find his viewpoint provocative and
> worthwhile, usually, even though I often don't agree with his conclusions.
>
> He's an anarchosocialist, which makes it funny that Dees and Lorrey should
> both find fault with him.
>
> Then again, plenty of people criticize _The Bell Curve_ when they haven't ever
> even read the chapter précis...
Well, I have read a number of essays and speeches he's given, which
invariably are variations on the theme of "The
US/Americans/capitalists/libertarians are always wrong because of x, y,
and z" where x,y, and z are generally a laundry list of events and/or
assumptions that have been put through the propaganda gristmill to such
an extent that they bear no relation to actual events or science, while
at the same time, he excuses the far more heinous acts of others simply
because they are not Americans/capitalists/libertarians, etc with his
patent pending rhetoric of moral equivalence, somewhere along the lines
of "He beat you to death? Well, you deserve it because you once
embarrassed him."
He presents his arguments in such a measured, well paced way that those
who are predisposed to agree with his conclusions fail to cross examine
his premises.
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