108 lines
4.7 KiB
Plaintext
108 lines
4.7 KiB
Plaintext
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Underground eXperts United
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Presents...
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[ Central Ideas... Noam Chomsky & Jerry Mander ] [ By Eric Chaet ]
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____________________________________________________________________
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____________________________________________________________________
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CENTRAL IDEAS IN BOOKS BY NOAM CHOMSKY AND JERRY MANDER (+ a note)
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by Eric Chaet
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Central idea of Noam Chomsky's PROFIT OVER PEOPLE (1999):
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That the U.S. government[*], at home and abroad, consistently works in
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favor of the interests of the wealthiest capitalist (corporate) enterprises
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- against the interests of competing enterprises and the poor - and, so,
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against both free trade and democracy - in the name of free trade and
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democracy.
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[* The U.S. government is administered by politicians whose campaigns are
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funded by private contributions. Bureaucrats are under the control of these
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politicians. To the extent that this is so with the governments of other
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"developed" nations, the same situation is bound to prevail. Also, those
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who seek political power are, I'd guess, inclined to seek allies among
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those with other kinds of power - financial or, say, religious. Chief
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executive officers and the greatest share-holders of giant corporations -
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and popular prophets and those who administer the affairs of the most
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populous organized religions, are likely, therefore, to become their allies
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- or adversaries. - E.C.]
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Central ideas of Jerry Mander's IN THE ABSENCE OF THE SACRED (1991):
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That stone age peoples, for at least tens of thousands of years (and
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currently), have lived in more successful relationship with the earth and
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universe and their own needs than the technologically adept and driven
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people who now dominate them and are turning the world into an artificial,
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polluted place, far less desirable - in spite of the claims of each new
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group intent on getting people to buy its new technology.
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Long-term, detrimental effects are inevitably unmentioned when the new
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technology is unveiled - the first act of the sales campaign. (Consider
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nuclear power, pesticides such as DDT.)
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Tens of thousands of commercials in our lives teach us to seek satisfaction
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by BUYING (this or that - it hardly matters).
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Each new technology is PART of the inter-locking system of technologies.
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(We watch "smart" bombs blow up targets in Iraq or Serbia on television.)
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Corporations "spit out" anyone who puts people ahead of profits, REQUIRING
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their executives to sacrifice anything and everything and everyone, for the
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profit of the share-holders.
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A note:
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A friend, a philosopher and writer and a person I greatly value, has
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objected, on reading the above brief reviews, that I am doing Chomsky a
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disservice (and mis-leading people, maybe), introducing him in over-
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simplified fashion.
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So: Chomsky is an extraordinary person, who has written dozens of books,
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saying true things that needed saying that others weren't saying, at least
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publicly. That's why I thought to call him to your attention.
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I don't mean to say that he is less important than he is; or that my brief
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reporting of the main idea in this one book - which is, I believe, accurate
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reporting - is anything other or more than it is.
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I have always believed in the value of saying no more than needs saying
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(except for occasional fun with words) - so that we don't get bogged down
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all our lives in words, without having to sacrifice the great value of
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words. I have also always appreciated being introduced to the work of
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important thinkers. I was attempting to do for others, as I wish they would
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do for me, more frequently.
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For a greater development of the ideas of Chomsky, read Chomsky. Likewise,
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Manders.
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---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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uXu #556 Underground eXperts United 2000 uXu #556
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Call Terraniux Underground -> +46-8-7777388
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