O God is he here again ! Which band wagon is he jumping on now, or has he arrived to start campaining for Kerry to the ex-pat US market.

Noam Chomsky, tosser of the week (any week)

I have noticed that he is giving a speaking tour,unfortunately I have never been able to read his stuff,too difficult,his language ,so I dont know why someone would hate him,perhaps you could explain,Noam hater,is it because you are a rightwing fascist?or do you have some other reason,its not good enough to just say he is jumping on a bandwaggon.

Ess have you tried to read anything by Noam that is published by Seven Stories Press?
I agree that most of the stuff i've read by him is quite hard but the smaller books like "Media Control" or "9-11" are much simpler to follow.

The stark staring dearth of literacy in the above 3 comments makes it abundantly plain why their authors might face challenges when it comes to a writer like Chomsky. This however, tells me more about them than about their subject matter. Yes, you do need a reading age above 7, and sometimes it might even take a bit of hard work. What a cunt, eh? Pass the spliff. Now, once again, from the top:

"no justice, no peace, fuck th...(etc)"
"Hey, that Goerge Bush eh? Who's the REAL terrorist? Tell me that!...(etc)"
"Can't believe this stuff's illegal, man. I mean, no one gets stoned and goes out and starts a fight...(etc)"

PLAYTIME! Goodee!...

There seems to be a determined effort (by probably one troll/automated algorithm) to blurt out 'Chomsky ergghhh BANDWAGON bleeep whirrrr SUPPORTS JOHN KERRY crackle hiss' everytime Noam Chomsky's mentioned.

Chomsky has not endorsed, supported or given birth to John Kerry. He said he's probably a 'fraction' better than Bush. I happen to disagree, 'serious' 'liberals' tend to be able to convince the liberal intelligensia that genocide is the only moral course, whereas criticisng Bush is like shooting fish in a Barrel (or civilians in Falluja). If you disagree with Chomsky's analysis, then debunk it. Of course thats actually pretty difficult because he's well read and pretty intellectual, so its easier to just throw childish insults and false slurs anonymously over the web.

Now Now, jim matthews, there's no need for intellectualism now is there?

Ess, the stuff published by seven stories press is pretty easy going, I second KV's recomendation here. '9-11' is a good start point as its basically a series of interviews transcripted. 'Web of Deceit' by Mark Curtis is a similar thing focussing on the UK and is very readable as it breaks down into distinct chapters on Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo etc, and its only £6 or so from online retailers (which i'll refrain from advertising here ;-)

Easiest intro to Chomsky I found is at  http://www.chomsky.info. There you can find audio (and some video) of Chomsky lectures. He is actually very easy to understand and speaks plainly (and sometimes humorously). Once you have listened a little then you might like to read some of the articles he has written - they are also easy to read. I had no real interest in history until I read some Chomsky and discovered how important it is given the propaganda we are immersed in.

Enjoy.

While of course i agree with much of what Chomsky says, i doubt that it even holds up intellectually. He just throws 'facts' at it, without ever really thinking about anything in depth or seeing potential complexities (his opinions on Marxism - to take just one example - are quite deeply ignorant; but his lack of knowledge doesn't stop him pronouncing with 'authority' on the matter).
Is there any point in going to see him speak, other than to witness him slaying opponents, talking in dull facts and figures, and generally being quite coercive?

Has to be the most famous boring person on the planet, i cant wait :-)

Ben doubts whether chomsky makes sense. Maybe another case of someone that needs to read some Chomsky and then write a comment, rather than leaving irrelevant and unbacked ideas messing this page.

Chomsky's approach is certainly not coercive. The reason he has such a position of pretige on the left is because he is truly an intellectual who with great insight and explanation, luckily backed up with much factual reference (surely you'd prefer someone who's views are based in factual analysis, ben?) that manages to discuss and analyse the global situation without the blinkers of an agenda set by a political doctrine (eg. Marxism, self interested neo-liberalism etc).

Chomsky, as an anarchist, takes an incredibly, in fact astonishingly, openminded and informed viewpoint; this is why he is so well respected as a face of the left; he is unerringly rational. And this is complex, it isn't easy to grasp some of his ideas, so it is important to go and hear what will probably be his final lecture in the UK.

Hope to see you there.

Noam or Eco"nom"ic Chomsky as he is nicknamed in some circles, is no more or less than one person who espouses his personal ideas and philosophies in the marketplace of ideas. Not once has he been accused of being lead by external influences by credible sources. He would simply be out of a job if he did not have ownership of original thoughts that attract people to him. The fact is that he can back up these thoughts with fact, making the educated guesses needed to explain his ideas on how and why forces work in the market place. This is what makes what he says attractive in the market place as a sound thinker to thinking people. What do others have to offer other then being "sounding boards" for the elite of mainstream academia that is fast becoming a joke as they become more and more isolated in their small circles of conversation of same old, same old. These of who only seem to affirmate only among each other to one another. Souding off the same ideologies of old commonly accepted ideas without risk as such gain no freedom of thought. Leaving only behind historic relics of thought marked with iron in stone rerecording their narrow minded beleifs. Seeing the world through their beleif windows that have become only the domain of smaller and smaller thinking in an icredibly shrinking library of once great knowlage, and collecting dust as the world grows rapidly outside their once hollowed halls of Alexandria. Think God for Noam, a real free thinker in the market place of ideas of ever expnding knowlage.

Robert E. Kroff Licoln City, OR / U.S.