Fantastic religious quote.

[Shockwave]

Meh. The US has interfered with, or subverted, foreign gov'ts 00's of times in the 20th century alone. Wars aren't needed if you can achieve your ends by other means.  

Isnt this a good thing?

[OTHstrong]

Isnt this a good thing?

Thank you, holy shit finally someone gets it, America is not a good or bad nation cause of the good it does or the minor evils it does, it is a good nation (overall that is) cause of the atrocities and horror, torment and sufferment it prevents on a global scale.

[Dr Dutch]

I'm not sure.  I thought Reagan was very well liked.

In Holland (and most of Europe) Reagan was the most hated president ever back in the 80s. I hated him too...
25 Yrs later, I think he contributed immensly in ending the cold war. And in comparison to today's Republicans, he was almost a liberal..
Reagan rocked !!

[dr.chimps]

Wars are the horrors of civilization, everything else is the lesser of 2 evils and pales in comparison. How many races have been obliterated off the globe from war, completed extinct how many people have been thrown into a massacre and raped, how many children have been thrown into a pile stacked 40 feet high and set ablaze, how many woman have grieved over these atrocities in war.

Considering the US has had the power to do so just like other nations that have been in the front seat and have broken the pattern of humanity, paved the way to a more civilized world should say something, you guys need to go and study your history then you will realize that this era is the only era that has seen lack of war from nations to nations and don't think for a second the one in the driver seat has nothing to with it.

The evils are many in life but make no mistake warfare is the main event, the pinnacle and climax of evil and sufferment and in a category of itself, trust me when America losses it's power and it will (every superpower has) you will see all hell break lose from these barbaric and uncivilized nations and the world once again will be in torment..

Consider myself lectured to. *sigh*

[dr.chimps]

well hes a linguistic professor with views on israel which dont agree with usa's "flaming torch" foreign policy

i like the guy

I like him for that reason,too. He was one of the first that I can think of, offhandedly, that openly disagreed with Israel's policies, both domestic and foreign. It was then a polar position; now it is one that is getting second looks, on a regular basis.

[YngiweRhoads]

[garebear]

The tyranny he talks about is abroad, and if he wasn't so high profile, I am sure he would have been locked up long ago and never heard off, I guess the authorities are just waiting for the old man to die.  Chomsky (along with other activists) also recently challenged the American Govt in a lawsuit for fear that he may be locked up for expressing his views due to new legislation that was introduced by the American Govt.  He has also stated before, that he chooses to live in America, because it is were he was born and that it is his home, and he still believed America is a great country or has the capacity to be so again.  There is nothing wrong with being pissed off that your government overtly murders and abuses human rights all over the world and standing up to it, what surprises me, is that there are few American citizens that stand up to this tyrannical empire, it appears that the Average American must be more than OK with the huge atrocities America commits worldwide, otherwise they would surely say something.  The average American has so much blood on his hands, but is either unaware or couldn't care less.  It appears to be a combination of both Ignorance and EVIL!

The facts illustrate that the United States has a dismal record on its own human rights and could not be justified to pose as the world’s “human rights justice.” However, it released the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices year after year to accuse and blame other countries for their human rights practices. The United States ignores its own serious human rights problems, but has been keen on advocating the so-called “human rights diplomacy,” to take human rights as a political instrument to defame other nations’ image and seek its own strategic interests.

The great evil empire is waiting for him to grow old and die?

What an evil plan! Apparently, nothing is beneath them. Great point.

[Radical Plato]

The great evil empire is waiting for him to grow old and die?

What an evil plan! Apparently, nothing is beneath them. Great point.

Why not, the Chinese have openly admitted they are waiting for the Dalai Lama to die, they have tried assassinating him, used massive propaganda to turn the whole country against him, but so far have been unable to take him out.  The American Government would love to get rid of Chomsky, but like I said, it isn't always the wisest thing to do to take out someone so high profile, it can bring many many supporters to his cause, and so far the Government and media have done a great job suppressing his message and keeping the truth from the people, so until his message becomes mainstream, they will continue doing what they are doing, shutting him out and keeping his message unheard - I good start for the uninformed is the doco "Manufactured Consent", Chomsky himself will tell you how his government keeps him silent!

[garebear]

Why not, the Chinese have openly admitted they are waiting for the Dalai Lama to die, they have tried assassinating him, used massive propaganda to turn the whole country against him, but so far have been unable to take him out.  The American Government would love to get rid of Chomsky, but like I said, it isn't always the wisest thing to do to take out someone so high profile, it can bring many many supporters to his cause, and so far the Government and media have done a great job suppressing his message and keeping the truth from the people, so until his message becomes mainstream, they will continue doing what they are doing, shutting him out and keeping his message unheard - I good start for the uninformed is the doco "Manufactured Consent", Chomsky himself will tell you how his government keeps him silent!

What do you disagree with him on?

[Radical Plato]

What do you disagree with him on?

That America is still a great country!

[avxo]

Chomsky is a f'n tool.

That's a ridiculous statement. Perhaps you disagree with his political positions & viewpoints - I know I do - but that doesn't make him a fool. The simple fact, as a matter of fact, is that he isn't a fool. He's actually quite bright, and some of his research in the field of languages has been truly ground-breaking and has far-reaching consequences. His formal hierarchy of grammars, for example, which he formulated in the mid-50s is the corner stone of language theory in computer science, an active field of study in theoretical computer science and one with many practical applications.

[Radical Plato]

That's a ridiculous statement. Perhaps you disagree with his political positions & viewpoints - I know I do - but that doesn't make him a fool. The simple fact, as a matter of fact, is that he isn't a fool. He's actually quite bright, and some of his research in the field of languages has been truly ground-breaking and has far-reaching consequences. His formal hierarchy of grammars, for example, which he formulated in the mid-50s is the corner stone of language theory in computer science, an active field of study in theoretical computer science and one with many practical applications.

"The Ugly" is a fool - not to be taken seriously

[garebear]

That America is still a great country!

Face it, you're a fundamentalist. You're not going to take a balanced approach to anything. Your mind is made up and you will simply manipulate evidence to conform to your viewpoint.

You're no different than a religious nutjob.

[Radical Plato]

Face it, you're a fundamentalist. You're not going to take a balanced approach to anything. Your mind is made up and you will simply manipulate evidence to conform to your viewpoint.

You're no different than a religious nutjob.

If you consider a fundamentalist is espousing a philosophy of holding life sacred, that humans are our greatest resource, that war is evil, no matter the justification and that there is no path to peace and that peace is the path,  if strictly adhering to the concept of promoting non-suffering is considered fundamentalist, well, I am guilty as charged and proud of it.  I am always amazed how aggressively people advocate for war and then attack anybody who stands up to them.  What did the Warmongers think, humans were just going to watch while they destroyed the civilised world, Idiots!  Behaviours that murder and take away peoples human rights should be stood up to, and any citizen who doesn't should be ashamed!

[garebear]

If you consider a fundamentalist is espousing a philosophy of holding life sacred, that humans are our greatest resource, that war is evil, no matter the justification and that there is no path to peace and that peace is the path,  if strictly adhering to the concept of promoting non-suffering is considered fundamentalist, well, I am guilty as charged and proud of it.  I am always amazed how aggressively people advocate for war and then attack anybody who stands up to them.  What did the Warmongers think, humans were just going to watch while they destroyed the civilised world, Idiots!  Behaviours that murder and take away peoples human rights should be stood up to, and any citizen who doesn't should be ashamed!

I haven't advocated anything, and that's exactly my point.

[Dr Dutch]

That America is still a great country!

Even better: it's "God's own country.."

[King Shizzo]

That's a ridiculous statement. Perhaps you disagree with his political positions & viewpoints - I know I do - but that doesn't make him a fool. The simple fact, as a matter of fact, is that he isn't a fool. He's actually quite bright, and some of his research in the field of languages has been truly ground-breaking and has far-reaching consequences. His formal hierarchy of grammars, for example, which he formulated in the mid-50s is the corner stone of language theory in computer science, an active field of study in theoretical computer science and one with many practical applications.

He said tool not fool. 

[avxo]

He said tool not fool. 

You're right. I totally misread that.

[The Ugly]

I don't dig his politics is all. Don't like his moral relativism or revisionist anti-Americanism. I'm not talking about his work with linguistics. National and international politics - the dude's a self-hating tool. My opinion, big deal.  

[syntaxmachine]

I don't dig his politics is all. Don't like his moral relativism or revisionist anti-Americanism. I'm not talking about his work with linguistics. National and international politics - the dude's a self-hating tool. My opinion, big deal.  

It is interesting that you attribute moral relativism to Chomsky, particularly because he is constantly arguing that it is "wrong" to violate human rights and that certain governmental policy is objectively abhorrent. No moral relativist could say such things; so, is Chomsky unaware of the inconsistency between his statements and his particular view of morality or have you incorrectly attributed relativism to him? I'm guessing it's the latter.