On December 5, 2017, Noam Chomsky will come out with his five millionth book. The dude is prolific. It's called Global Discontents.
The book is a collection of interviews with his loyal sympathizer David Barsamian.
I disagree with Noam Chomsky on so many issues. I often can't stand the guy.
Still, I force myself to listen to him because I respect him.
In today's echo chamber of the Internet, too many people simply surround themselves with media that reinforce their point of view. We must force ourselves to open our mind and listen to people we disagree with, even if we feel outraged.
For example, so many of my liberal San Francisco friends blame everything that's wrong in this world on Fox News. However, few have spent much time watching it. If they did, they might learn that many of the programs on Fox are as objective as any other mainstream news source.
Of course, many programs aren't, but the fact that few liberals realize that Fox News isn't always biased shows that they rarely listen to the opposition.
I pay attention to Chomsky for the same reason I watch Michael Moore's movies. I disagree with many of the points but it's important to hear their intelligent (or at least entertaining) arguments.
Noam Chomsky is such a downer
What I dislike most about Chomsky is his pessimism:
- He's the ultimate cynic.
- A constant party pooper.
- A nonstop whinner.
- A professional complainer.
- A woe-is-the-world grumpy old man.
I suppose I should read Optimism Over Despair. I suppose he wrote that book (actually, it's like this one: a series of interviews) to answer critics like me who say that he's such a perennial downer. Still, the reviews of that book imply that the book should have been called Despair Over Optimism, which aptly sums up Chomsky's political philosophy.
Where Chomsky's right
What I like about Chomsky is that he's not loyal to any political party. Most Republicans probably think he's prejudiced against Republicans.
No. He hates everyone equally.
He's rightly criticized Obama's inability to end the wars in the Middle East, even though he prematurely won the Nobel Peace Prize. The Obama bailout of the banks was horrible. Chomsky is right that money has infected politics too much.
Chomsky's excels at criticism but is short on solutions.
When he does offer solutions, they are often unrealistic. Besides, if Bernie Sanders (or whoever he likes the most) ever came to power, I'm sure he'd start to criticise him.
VERDICT: 7 out 10 stars.
