A Sour Chomsky Shows Disrespect to a Young, Paying Audience
The lights went down, a screen lit up. We got to watch Harold Pinter's speech accepting the Nobel Prize in Litteratoor from 2005. The playwright wore a red lap blanket and said the crimes of the U.S. were legion and unreported, from Nicaragua to Chile to Indonesia to Iraq, and Tony Blair was the U.S.'s poodle. The speech went on for 40 minutes, it felt like; and was a little motheaten.
After the speech the lights came up and without fanfare Chomsky came to the podium. He said he was going to take questions now. Well I thought that was odd. The event was advertised as a lecture from Chomsky. No. He was just taking questions, after Pinter's taped old speech.
There were a half dozen questions, and then Chomsky said, OK, Thank you, and walked off the stage. A short burst of applause, and that was the end of it. He had answered questions for 15 or 20 minutes, it felt like. Most of it was a tired attack on the big corporations, and—a newer thread—celebrating the democratic movement of integration that is occurring now in South America. I wanted more, much much more. I wanted to see that mind in real exercise, on the jumbotron. (I wanted to hear more about Israel than the idea that it is America's client, trying out 100 new warplanes—his one statement about Israel.)
As it was, the event seemed faintly squalid. The mind at the end of the day, in its nightclothes, wandering around a house. It was so casual as to be insulting to us, all the folks who had paid to hear him. And I heard a lot of grumbling as I went out on to Broadway.
When someone had asked a more difficult question, Chomsky said, Well that is a complex question, I've written about it. As if to say, don't make me jump thru any hoops, kid, you can go buy the book.
He had one interesting idea/emotion. Maybe I will get his actual words off my taperecorder later (for now I'm infected by his laziness). He kept saying that If we wanted to stop the war, we could. We possessed the power. He said that the people of Venezuela had shown great resolution, and any people was capable of democratic resolution, if they only cared. There was something wonderful and sour about this idea. He was judging us pitilessly, and saying, You are responsible for this war because you are doing diddly and you have all the rights in the world. You could be holding your elected representatives' feet to the fire. A student asked him to endorse the Feb. 15 strike by students, and Chomsky had said, Well that's good, maybe you will actually do something. Another time he described us as privileged with free speech, and we face no risks to expressing ourselves, unlike South Americans, or Russians, or Saudis.
It was a theme that wanted to be developed, in a grand speech. No grandeur. Just nightclothes.
A few possible explanations:
1. Chomsky had given a speech about linguistics earlier that day at Columbia. Dude is 78. You can't expect multiple pops. (OK; but he shouldn't have scheduled this speech and demanded $5 from all of us.)
2. Chomsky's whole life is this now: the guru of the left continually answers questions from eager minds, 24/7. What you see is what you get. Why do you expect him to stand on ceremony? This is a better explanation, actually. Chomsky does email all day long, answering questions. He answered one of mine once. He feels a real responsibility and I guess this is genuinely now The Chomsky presence, he doesn't put on a tutu, he answers a few questions, like the Delphic oracle. If you're expecting a stemwinder, go listen to a fool, turn on CSpan. (Well I still expect a little moment. A little concentration of energy for a hall full of young people. Just think of Norman Finkelstein's speeches, they're an hour long and full of wit and ideas).
3. Arrogance. He is overly adored, it has made him contemptuous and lazy. I don't want to believe this.
4. Chomsky's handlers were hustling him on to another event. Beforehand, I saw a truck unloading gold party chairs on Broadway. Maybe a fancy dinner? (If true, inexcusable Marie Antoinette behavior).
5. Old. My father tells a story about a scientist waiting to meet Einstein because he wanted to be worthy of him when he does; so he wins some prize and then sees Einstein at Princeton and Einstein is old, not all there, and the guy feels punctured.
6. True sourness. Many greats go sour as they age. Robert Frost, Mark Twain. Maybe Chomsky has doddering contempt for us as soft and overprivileged, which he expressed.
Chomsky is a broken man, he knows it and we know it too, from these clips:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzGd0t8v-d4
(3 mins)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoDqDvbgeXM
(4 mins)
so,
little phil wants his 5 dollars back.
when a room full of imbeciles venture out on a subzero night to have their paranoid self-hating ideas reinforced by a pitiful old fraud what can they expect?
as PT Barnum would say "theres a sucker born every minute"
If he doesn't have contempt for you, I do. And he does. Leftist intellectuals have contempt for all people except themselves. They are narcissists. You will learn that or become one. Read Paul Johnsons "Intellectuals" and take the cure. Do no harm.
Harold Pinter as my late Mother said in much better language, is an over rated blowhard like the French who fought to the last American and Englishmen in WW II and still haven't returned the assets of the French Jews the French Police murdered for their Nazi allies, but, getting back to the self~hating Jews, Left or Right, WHY GIVE THE SONOFABITCH THE FIVE BUCKS IN THE FIRST PLACE. I've seen Mr. Weiss, believe me, when Chomsky's Arab allies or MORE LIKELY VENEZUELAN TERRORISTS FROM CHAVEZ START BLOWING UP NY JEWS THEY WILL CERTAINLY ZERO IN ON JEWISH LOOKING MR WEISS.
Weiss should be ASHAMED of himself for shelling out the five bucks.
Chomsky is 78 years old. Its been obvious that he's declining for a couple years now. His wife has been increasingly protective of him the last few years, and has worked hard to manage his time and his appearances to show Chomsky in the best of light. His seminal works such as "Manufacturing Consent" are still great contributions, people just get old and the baton is passed.
Not only did you waste five bucks, why did Mr. Socialism charge if he is so in love with Chavez and Castro. He should have paid you to listen to his tired, stupid liguistics and bullshit. You decided to go hear this old fart, you get what you pay for. The only good news is that he is 78 years old.
Chomsky does not look a "broken man" at all...but he does look a very, very tired man.
So would you or I be, if we were 78 years old, and working as hard as he.
He may not look like a broken man but his statement that it doesn't matter who really committed the 9-11 crimes shows a broken spirit and intellect.
You are a tiny intellectual midget compared to Chomsky. No wonder you envy him so much. Why don't you side with the american people like he does?
Chomsky, to me, is like America's Orwell.
The truths that he speaks are unpalatable to many - but such truths need to be faced.
Look at the truths he speaks - don't look at the man. He is as fallible and human - just like you and me.
How about this scenario. Chomsky decided to cruise in, collect his speaking fee and cruise on out. Maybe because he is an asshole who now that he is closer to the end than the begining is starting to wonder about who he is and the company he keeps. Nah.
For God's sake, give the guy a break !
He has been described as 'The Einstein of Modern Linguistics', and Bono has described him as 'A Rebel Without A Pause'.
Just look in the mirror, a check there's not an "asshole" looking back.
Chomsky has made great contributions to our public discourse, much greater than most. Cut the guy some slack.
I would agree with the last comment. and go further...
I am not a Chomsky 'groupie' - there are other names who have helped shape my views - but I do believe that future history will be putting him alongside the 'greats' - Marx, Einstein, Russell to name but three.
We might disagree with him - strongly so sometimes - but the hatred, bitterness and downright nastiness towards him is not just unkind - it is also unjustified...saying more about the accuser than the accused.
I'm no Chomsky 'groupie', but I do believe future history will put him amongst the 20th century 'greats' - Orwell, Einstein and Russell to name but three.
Why should ANYONE bother to 'inform' you..or continue to be a perferoming monkey for YOUR interests?
If by now you dont know YOUR rights and responsibilites enough to get the hell out there and DO something, prefering instead to be idolitors and hang on the words of tottering old men..then he has WASTED his life.
His whole point through every speech and book was to EMPOWER...was to promote acceptance of the Truth AS IT IS and to invigorate CHANGE - that power is and has always been in your hands....but you wont use it.
Too comfortable perhaps.
Soon that wont be the case.
I dont blame him for walking off.Maybe like many people who can see where this is all headed..he's just given up trying.
Why bother continuing when the population of the worlds largest powerbase seem content to be lulled into mindless Nazism...remains intent on abdicating all responsibility to 'leaders', continuing in a headlong downward spiral of idotic self serving egoistc behaviour..
Congratulations Chomsky for SHOWING them the truth this time, not just speaking it - well done!
Philip, Back in '85 I saw a poster for a talk by Chomsky when I was in Madison, Wisconsin. I'd never heard of him, but I went to see him speak. He spoke 4 times over 2 days for at least 4 hours each time. Afterwards he stood around and spoke with us til after 1 am... a few years later he came through Iowa City and did the same. It was amazing...
Now he is 78 and fading. So I'd give him the benefit of the doubt. His wife is probably right: he should stay home and rest more, but he will be out there til the bitter end - - and he is bitter... but so am I! Like many work-a-holic lefties he is angry at complacent Americans who just sign petitions and vote. 25 years ago Chomsky supported the direct action No Business as Usual groups. If anything it is all much worse now and the American public is watching it on TV and complaining!
Well said, Blue.
From what I know of Chomsky, he is 'his own man'. He does not suffer fools gladly, especially if he feels they are also wasting his time.
But if Chomsky feels someone is genuinely seaching for facts, and thus the truth, he is much like a Professor to a Student.
I don't know what happened at that $5 venue, but this I know :
If Chomsky felt that it was a waste of time talking to this audience, he would 'walk off' - not because of "sourness", or whatever, but because it was simply a waste of time talking any longer to that kind of audience.
Time is precious - especially to a 78 year old.
He doesn't need a bunch of comfortably-numb students to waste that precious time.
That time can be better spent somewhere else...probably his bed at that time.
You may not achieve it.
Consider it, and you'll
get a PEACE of it.
WHEN WILL PEOPLE WAKE UP AN SEE THAT MR. CHOMSKY IS JUST A WOLF IN SHEEPS CLOTHING.( A SHILL FOR THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY)
it is impossible to believe
someone as smart as chomsky
could believe the BS he says
in this piece.
he says it doesn't matter who
killed kennedy(s)
give me a break. it was a coup
de 'tat.
and as for 9/11, ask him about
PNAC, or why WTC 7 magically
fell down.
Chomsky is a liar and cannot
be trusted.
he's protecting the banking
cartells and israel.
big surprise..
Chomsky wouldn't dignify those last two comments with a reply - so neither will I.
Maybe chomsky would have preferred to reach the folks who pay more than $5 for a cup of coffee. Doubtful they'd wanna listen but for sure they're the one whose minds he needs to reach.
Preaching to the converted can't be much of a challenge to an old goat such as he...
I think that Noam is tired of telling us all the time that we have to do something. Look at the writer;
"He had one interesting idea/emotion. Maybe I will get his actual words off my taperecorder later (for now I'm infected by his laziness). He kept saying that If we wanted to stop the war, we could. We possessed the power. He said that the people of Venezuela had shown great resolution, and any people was capable of democratic resolution, if they only cared"
He admits that he is lazy and goes on to say that Noam said we have the power to stop the war if we get togeather. Do we have the WILL? Are we just LAZY slobs that are happy with the TV AND BEER? A bunch of HOMERS? Noam was tired of being asked the same questions and saying the same old speeches with nothing being done. He is doing all he can and if we all did what we could things would get done!
Mcbob, you got us man, Chomsky at first
glance is a low life piece of shit scumbag. But, in reality he is a mossad agent pulling the strings of the neocon zionist warmongers, and in turn taking his orders from the elders in Jerusalem
he is totally out of step with
all the new information that
is available because of the
internet.
he is either trying to protect
his job/family/himself, or he
is not what he claims to be.
either way, he looked right at
those people in that interview
and lied his ass off..
it was just the standard
scoffing at conspiracy theories
tactic...which is, really,
beneath him, and totally
contradictory to what he's
written about countless times.
as though false flags aren't
one of the oldest tricks in
the book. how could such an
esteemed scholar of politics
and history not see right
through that.
maybe they have his balls in
a vice..
About his attitude:
Chomsky has a chip on his shoulder because we're all a bunch of frivolous deadbeats not exercising our rights to stop the war, etc. Fine, he's right. Whatever.
About his 911 opinion:
Everyone has their quarks. Very smart people tend to have some idiot savant qualities. In fact everyone does. At least he's not like the late great John Nash who talked to people who weren't even there.
Mcbob, your amazing. You saw right through the fog of deception that we have created. Noam Chomsky is actually our pawn and has been so since the begining. His cover was to be an obnoxious, scumbag, self hating asshole. But that was only the cover. Underneath he is one of us and it only surprises me that the charade has gone on so long.
Pearlman..what i said was quite
rational..
i allowed for the possibility
that chomsky had no choice to
say what he said for his own
safety.
remember gore vidal was one of
the earliest sceptics of the
official 9/11 story
now, from the looks of a
recent interview, it seems
he has been reigned in, doing
the old scoff at conspiracy
theorists number..
the point remains that chomsky
lies like hell..
his reasons are up for discussion
Us Indians still have our Reservations about America.