Ноам Хомский цитаты

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„Их (Власть держателей) цель достигнута. В субботу молодое поколение идёт в торговый центр, вместо библиотеки.“

„Цель обучения - показать людям, как учиться для себя. Другая концепция образования - воспитание.“

„Умный способ сделать людей пассивными и послушными - строго ограничить спектр приемлемых мнений, но разрешить очень оживленные дебаты в этом спектре - даже поощрять более критические и несогласные взгляды. Это дает людям ощущение свободного мышления, в то время как все время допущения системы подкрепляются пределами, налагаемыми на диапазон дебатов.“

„Если вы не верите, что лучшее будущее возможно, вы никогда не сделаете шаг, который приведет к тому, чтобы будущее было лучше. Если вы считаете, что нет надежды, ее не будет. Выбор за вами.“

„Смысл жизни определяется тем, как вы пользуетесь ею, во что ее превращаете.“

„Люди платят за свое подчинение.“

„Наука - это исследование очень сложных вопросов. Без недооценки теории эволюции это огромный интеллектуальный прогресс, но он ничего не говорит вам о том, есть ли то, во что верят люди, когда они говорят о Боге. Он даже не говорит об этой теме.“

„У вас не может быть демократии, которая работает без того, что социологи называют «вторичными организациями», местами, где люди могут встречаться, планировать, говорить и развивать идеи.
Места встреч для людей имеют основополагающее значение для проведения изменений в больших масштабах.“

„Если мы не верим в свободу выражения мнений для людей, которых мы презираем, мы вообще не верим в это.“

„Основная идея современной истории и современного либерализма заключается в том, что общественность должна быть изолирована. Широкая публика видится не более, чем невежественными исключенными людьми, которые вмешиваются, как дезориентированный скот.“

„Пропаганда для демократии - это принуждение к тоталитарному государству.“

„Соединенные Штаты необычны среди индустриальных демократий с точки зрения жесткости системы идеологического контроля, идеологической обработки, можно сказать, осуществляемой через средства массовой информации.“

„Права не предоставляются, они побеждаются.
Демократия не была поставлена ​​гарантами диктатуры.“

„Политика — это тень, брошенная бизнесом на общество.“

„Кто хранители истории? Историки, конечно. Образованные классы, в общем. Часть его работы состоит в том, чтобы формировать наше видение прошлого таким образом, чтобы поддерживать интересы нынешней власти. Если они этого не сделают, они, вероятно, будут так или иначе изолированы.“

„Осложнение простого — любимая игра интеллектуалов: чем непонятнее, тем лучше. Сами не до конца знаете, о чем говорите, но власть, престиж и влияние вам обеспечены.“

„Кто такие хранители истории?
Риторическая фраза, которая относится к правящим классам.“

„Интернет, как и любая другая технология, в основном нейтральный, вы можете использовать его конструктивно или вредно. Конструктивные формы реальны, но очень немногие.“

„Одна из причин, почему капитализм, похоже, преуспевает, заключается в том, что в нем всегда было много рабского труда, половина населения. То, что женщины делают - вне рабочего места - совсем не считается.“

„Компании просто тоталитарны, как большевизм или фашизм. У них одинаковые интеллектуальные корни начала двадцатого века. Следовательно, как и другие формы тоталитаризма, должны были исчезнуть, то же самое должно случиться и с частными тираниями. Они должны быть поставлены под общественный контроль.“

„Когда у вас есть возможность взглянуть на файл, который хранится у вас в ФБР, именно тогда вы обнаружите, что спецслужбы в целом крайне некомпетентны.“

„Образование само по себе имеет ценность, независимо от того, какое экономическое воздействие оно оказывает на общество.“

„Мы не должны искать героев, мы должны искать хорошие идеи.“

„Если вы предполагаете, что надежды нет, тогда вы гарантируете, что надежды не будет. Если вы предполагаете, что есть инстинкт свободы, тогда есть возможности что-то изменить.“

„От случая к случаю мы видим, что соответствие - это легкий путь, путь к привилегиям и престижу; несогласие, однако, приносит личные расходы.“

„Не вижу никакой необходимости формулировать сложно, если можно формулировать просто.“

„Хотим ли мы иметь общество свободных, творческих и независимых личностей, способных ценить культурные достижения прошлого и учиться на них, а также вносить в них свой вклад или хотим, чтобы люди увеличивали ВВП? Это не обязательно то же самое.“

„Цель средств массовой информации… не в том, чтобы информировать и сообщать о том, что происходит, а скорее в том, чтобы формировать общественное мнение в соответствии с повестками дня доминирующей корпоративной власти.
Средства массовой информации и их пагубное влияние на мнение неосведомленного населения.“

„Свобода без возможностей - это дьявольский дар, а отказ от этих возможностей является преступлением.
Косвенная критика экономического либерализма.“

„Интеллектуальная традиция - это служение власти, и если бы я ее не предал, мне было бы стыдно за себя.“

„Люди, почитаемые в Библии, были лжепророками. Те, кого мы называем пророками, были теми, кто был заключен в тюрьму и отправлен в пустыню.“

„Наша культура скорейшего удовлетворения всех потребностей и желаний не слишком-то способствует развитию упорства и твердости.“

„Мы не должны искать героев, мы должны искать хорошие идеи.“

„В общих проблемах человеческой жизни наука говорит нам очень мало, и ученые, как люди, конечно, не являются руководством. На самом деле, они часто являются худшим проводником, поскольку они, как лазер, склонны концентрироваться на собственных профессиональных интересах и очень мало знают о мире.“

„Если вы не знаете, что ищете, если у вас нет идеи о том, что имеет отношение к делу, вы хотите подвергнуть сомнению эту идею, если у вас ее нет, изучение в Интернете - это только случайные, не поддающиеся проверке факты, которые ничего не значат.“

„Если вы не разовьете постоянную и живую демократическую культуру, способную привлекать кандидатов, они не будут делать то, за что вы за них проголосовали. Нажатие кнопки, а затем возвращение домой не изменит ситуацию.“

„Принципы ясны и ясны. Свободный рынок хорош для третьего мира и его растущего аналога в нашей стране. Матери с детьми-иждивенцами могут быть строго проинструктированы о необходимости самодостаточности, но не для руководителей и зависимых инвесторов, пожалуйста. Для них государство благосостояния должно процветать.“

„Финансовый капитал в основном хочет стабильной валюты, а не роста.“

„США волнует не радикальный ислам, а его независимость“

„Какие-нибудь инопланетяне, возьмись они составлять историю Homo Sapiens, по всей видимости, разбили бы её на две эпохи: ЭДЯР (эпоху до ядерного оружия) и ЭЯР (эпоху ядерного оружия). Вторая, понятно, началась 6 августа 1945 года. С этого дня ведется обратный отсчет времени для этого странного вида, достигшего достаточного уровня умственного развития, чтобы изобрести средство самоуничтожения, но – как вполне очевидно предполагает действительность – не достигшего ни моральной, ни интеллектуальной зрелости, чтобы контролировать свои самые пагубные инстинкты“

„Спорт играет общественную роль в порождении патриотических и шовинистских настроений.Им суждено организовать сообщество, которое предано своим гладиаторам.“

„Литература содержит больше информации о человеческой природе, чем любая научная теория. Но надо быть осторожным. Если я хочу, например, узнать что-то о китайской революции, то надо понимать, что на мое отношение к стране уже повлияли когда-то прочитанные книги — о мальчике-рикше, например. Приходится смириться с тем, что существуют другие, не менее важные источники информации о мире, чем литература.“

“The most important victory, in fact, was in Indonesia. In 1965 there was a military coup, which instantly carried out a Rwanda-style slaughter, and it's not an exaggeration. Rwanda-style slaughter, which wiped out the only mass-based political organization, killed mostly landless peasants, and instituted a brutal and murderous regime. There was total euphoria in the United States. So happy, they couldn't contain it. When you read the press, it was just ecstatic. It's kind of suppressed now because it doesn't look pretty in retrospect, but it was understood. Years later, McGeorge Bundy, who was the national security advisor, recognized that, he said, and I think he's right, the U. S. should have stopped the war in Vietnam in 1965, because we basically won. By 1965 South Vietnam was largely destroyed, most of the rest was going to quickly be destroyed, and we had saved the major prize, Indonesia. The rot wasn't going to spread to Indonesia after this delightful Rwanda-style slaughter.”

“In my view, if there's going to be an army, I think it ought to be a citizens' army. Now, here I do agree with some people, the top brass, they don't want a citizens' army. They want a mercenary army, what we call a volunteer army. A mercenary army of the disadvantaged. And in fact, in the Vietnam War, the U. S. military realized, they had made a very bad mistake. I mean, for the first time I think ever in the history of European imperialism, including us, they had used a citizens' army to fight a vicious, brutal, colonial war, and civilians just cannot do that kind of a thing. For that, you need the French Foreign Legion, the Gurkhas or something like that. Every predecessor has used mercenaries, often drawn from the country that they're attacking, like England ran India with Indian mercenaries. You take them from one place and send them to kill people in the other place. That's the standard way to run imperial wars. They're just too brutal and violent and murderous. Civilians are not going to be able to do it for very long. What happened was, the army started falling apart. One of the reasons that the army was withdrawn was because the top military wanted it out of there. They were afraid they were not going to have an army anymore. Soldiers were fragging officers. The whole thing was falling apart. They were on drugs. And that's why I think that they're not going to have a draft. That's why I'm in favor of it. If there's going to be an army that will fight brutal, colonial wars… it ought to be a citizens' army so that the attitudes of the society are reflected in the military.”

“"Tough love" is just the right phrase: love for the rich and privileged, tough for everyone else.”

“If the principle is, "Let's not get lethal substances out to the public", the first one you'd go after is tobacco. The next one you'd go after is alcohol. Way down the list you'd get to cocaine, and sort of invisibly low you'd get to marijuana.”

“Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982 with the intention of destroying secular Palestinian nationalism.… OK, they did destroy the secular PLO and instead what they got was an Islamic fundamentalist movement that they couldn't control, that drove them out of most of Lebanon. What did they do next? They did exactly the same thing in the West Bank.”

“When the facts are in, it may well turn out that the more extreme condemnations were in fact correct. But even if that turns out to be the case, it will in no way alter the conclusions we have reached on the central question addressed here: how the available facts were selected, modified, or sometimes invented to create a certain image offered to the general population. The answer to this question seems clear, and it is unaffected by whatever may be discovered about Cambodia in the future.”

“I would feel no hesitation in saying that it is the responsibility of a decent human being to give assistance to a child who is being attacked by a rabid dog, but I would not intend this to imply that in all imaginable circumstances one must, necessarily, act in accordance with this general responsibility. One can easily concoct imaginary situations in which it would be inadvisable, even immoral to do so […] [I will not defend] the assumption that it is reprehensible for a powerful nation to invade a weak and tiny neighbor in order to impose on it an "acceptable" government […] just as I would not take the trouble to justify my belief that one should assist a child being attacked by a rabid dog.”

“Virtually all informed observers agree that a fair and equitable resolution of the plight of the Palestinians would considerably weaken the anger and hatred of Israel and the US in the Arab and Muslim worlds – and far beyond, as international polls reveal. Such an agreement is surely within reach, if the US and Israel depart from their long-standing rejectionism.”

“A good way of finding out who won a war, who lost a war, and what the war was about, is to ask who's cheering and who's depressed after it's over - this can give you interesting answers. So, for example, if you ask that question about the Second World War, you find out that the winners were the Nazis, the German industrialists who had supported Hitler, the Italian Fascists and the war criminals that were sent off to South America - they were all cheering at the end of the war. The losers of the war were the anti-fascist resistance, who were crushed all over the world. Either they were massacred like in Greece or South Korea, or just crushed like in Italy and France. That's the winners and losers. That tells you partly what the war was about. Now let's take the Cold War: Who's cheering and who's depressed? Let's take the East first. The people who are cheering are the former Communist Party bureaucracy who are now the capitalist entrepreneurs, rich beyond their wildest dreams, linked to Western capital, as in the traditional Third World model, and the new Mafia. They won the Cold War. The people of East Europe obviously lost the Cold War; they did succeed in overthrowing Soviet tyranny, which is a gain, but beyond that they've lost - they're in miserable shape and declining further. If you move to the West, who won and who lost? Well, the investors in General Motors certainly won. They now have this new Third World open again to exploitation”

“Despite these shortcomings, the insights into the organization of grammar that were achieved in Cartesian linguistics remain quite impressive, and a careful study of this work can hardly fail to prove rewarding to a linguist who approaches it without prejudice or preconceptions as to the a priori limitations on permitted linguistic investigation.”

“[Q: when do you think is it right to intervene in the affairs of another nation? ] I think there are conditions under which that would be possible. One basic condition is that nonviolent -- you mean violent intervention? -- that nonviolent means have been exhausted. That's one condition. A second condition is that the people of the country in which you're intervening support the intervention. Under those conditions -- and you can think of others -- intervention would be justified. However, we don't ever apply those conditions.”

“Now of course, the idealistic slogans are still needed for the media, for a lot of scholarship, for the schools, and so on. But, where the serious people are, the problem is that we have to maintain this disparity, and obviously it's gotta be maintained by force. So none of the idealistic slogans at home. So when you're setting up death squads in El Salvador under the Alliance for Progress, you're not hampered by these idealistic slogans. That's for the masses, for us. Well, given this kind of thinking, it's not too surprising that President Kennedy should say, with regard to El Salvador after supporting a military coup there, that "Governments of the civil-military type of El Salvador are the most effective in containing communist penetration in Latin America." This at the time when he organized the basic framework for the death squads that have been torturing and murdering ever since, and which we attribute to some kind of extreme right-wingers who somehow we can't get under control.”

“The dominant propaganda systems have appropriated the term "globalization" to refer to the specific version of international economic integration that they favor, which privileges the rights of investors and lenders, those of people being incidental. In accord with this usage, those who favor a different form of international integration, which privileges the rights of human beings, become "anti-globalist." This is simply vulgar propaganda, like the term "anti-Soviet" used by the most disgusting commissars to refer to dissidents. It is not only vulgar, but idiotic. Take the World Social Forum, called "anti-globalization" in the propaganda system -- which happens to include the media, the educated classes, etc., with rare exceptions. The WSF is a paradigm example of globalization. It is a gathering of huge numbers of people from all over the world, from just about every corner of life one can think of, apart from the extremely narrow, highly privileged elites who meet at the competing World Economic Forum, and are called "pro-globalization" by the propaganda system. An observer watching this farce from Mars would collapse in hysterical laughter at the antics of the educated classes.”

“…I don't feel that they deserve a blanket condemnation at all. There are many things to object to in any society. But take China, modern China; one also finds many things that are really quite admirable. […] There are even better examples than China. But I do think that China is an important example of a new society in which very interesting positive things happened at the local level, in which a good deal of the collectivization and communization was really based on mass participation and took place after a level of understanding had been reached in the peasantry that led to this next step.”

“Say, take Rachel Corrie, local young woman, she was extremely courageous. She's a martyr for peace and justice. We happened to kill her too, even if we don't like to admit it. She was killed by U. S. sent equipment, which is Caterpillar…
[Q: you draw that line right back to you and me sitting here? ] Absolutely, we're responsible for it. I mean, we didn't drive the bulldozer, but why is it there? What's it doing? Who provides the military, economic, and diplomatic support for destroying the occupied territories?”

“Let us turn now to the most elementary principle of just war theory, universality. Those who cannot accept this principle should have the decency to keep silent about matters of right and wrong, or just war. If we can rise to this level, some obvious questions arise: for example, have Cuba and Nicaragua been entitled to set off bombs in Washington, New York, and Miami in self-defense against ongoing terrorist attack? Particularly so when the perpetrators are well known and act with complete impunity, sometimes in brazen defiance of the highest international authorities, so that the cases are far clearer than Afghanistan? If not, why not?”

“Somebody's paying the corporations that destroyed Iraq and the corporations that are rebuilding it. They're getting paid by the American taxpayer in both cases. So we pay them to destroy the country, and then we pay them to rebuild it.”

“Going back years, I am absolutely certain that I have taken far more extreme positions on people who deny the Holocaust than you have…Even to enter into the arena of debate on whether the Nazis carried out such atrocities is already to lose one's humanity.”

“Independent nationalism is unacceptable to the West, no matter where it is, and it has to be driven back into subordination. In the case of Grenada, you can do it in a weekend; in the case of the Soviet Union it may take 70 years. But these are matters of scale, the logic is essentially the same.”

“Spectator sports make people more passive, because you're not doing them—you're watching somebody doing them.”

“After September 11th I had tons of interviews everywhere, except the United States of course, and often it was national radio and TV. A couple of times it turned out to be Irish television and BBC back to back, and the difference in reaction was startling. If I said this much on Irish TV, OK, discussion over, everyone understands what I'm talking about. You try to say it on BBC, you have to go on for like about an hour to explain to them what you mean. The Irish sea is a chasm, and it just depends who's been holding the whip for 800 years and who's been under it for 800 years.”

“Nothing should be done to impede people from teaching and doing their research even if at that very moment it was being used to massacre and destroy. […] the radical students and I wanted to keep the labs on campus, on the principle that what is going to be going on anyway ought to be open and above board, so that people would know what is happening and act accordingly.”

“Clinton, Kennedy, they all carried out mass murder, but they didn't think that that was what they were doing - nor does Bush. You know, they were defending justice and democracy from greater evils. And in fact I think you'd find it hard to discover a mass murderer in history who didn't think that.”

“Control of thought is more important for governments that are free and popular than for despotic and military states. The logic is straightforward: a despotic state can control its domestic enemies by force, but as the state loses this weapon, other devices are required to prevent the ignorant masses from interfering with public affairs, which are none of their business.”

“A study of the inter-American system published by the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London concluded that, while the US pays lip service to democracy, the real commitment is to "private, capitalist enterprise." When the rights of investors are threatened, democracy has to go; if these rights are safeguarded, killers and torturers will do just fine.”

“We're supposed to worship Adam Smith but you're not supposed to read him. That's too dangerous. He's a dangerous radical.”

“Nothing can justify crimes such as those of September 11, but we can think of the United States as an "innocent victim" only if we adopt the convenient path of ignoring the record of its actions and those of its allies, which are, after all, hardly a secret.”

“I think the basic question you ask is a good one: if we were to withdraw our own beating people over the heads with clubs, would it necessarily follow that somebody else would take that role, or are there other alternatives? Well yeah, there are other alternatives. For example, the alternatives that are favored by the overwhelming majority of the population of the United States. I mentioned one piece of it: let the UN function. The UN isn't perfect, a lot of things wrong with it, just like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights isn't perfect… But one step would be to pay some respect to the "decent opinion of mankind", to quote the famous author, and let international institutions function so as to reduce the likelihood that anybody will use force…”

“Modern linguistics has also failed to deal with the Cartesian observations regarding human language in any serious way.”