Chomsky? Top Intellectual? For What, “Big Words?”
Noam Chomsky is the most self-deprecating “intellectual”… ever. When told that he was voted “World’s Top Public Intellectual,” Chomsky probably let out what amounted to an uncomfortable sigh.
You see, Chomsky actively participates in the world through the construct of language, which is highly relational and contextual, not hierarchical. This is why his political views are so unpopular with the American power elite; he’ll play along with their restructuring of nature’s flax matrix of relationships to fit their greedy motivations, while simultaneously challenging their authority by insisting that they must be held accountable to the consequences of their explicit actions within this structure of authority. Crazy notion, eh?
This award is a hierarchical assignment, obviously something Chomsky doesn’t believe in. If his fervent supporters and lobbyists would recognize this perspective and his core point about intellectuals using (completely paraphrasing from “Understanding Power“) “big words to explain concepts in confusing ways just to remain intellectuals,” maybe they’d be better equip to challenge more hierarchical structures in our quickly changing world.
This highly oxymoronic intellectual stratosphere should be reserved for Christopher Hitchens and the ilk.
Tags: activism, Christopher Hitchens, linguistics, Noam Chomsky, politics, poll.
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Chomsky is a true patriot and deserves the accolades…in spite of his discomfort.
Chomsky deserves more MSM airtime to spread his perspective to the world. Trophies are for chumps.
In America attention is reserved for the “popular.”
He has now been deemed popular by some (odd) standard and will now get more attention. Maybe now Zach will move out of the pool house…
This award won’t give him any more reach than he currently has. Who’s Zach?
Sean, have you ever actually read anything by Chomsky?
Yes, but not nearly enough for my appetite.
Understanding Power is the one Chomsky collection of lectures that I’ve completed cover to cover, and that was within the last six-months. I was a very average, lazy American media consumer up until about five years ago, so Chomsky’s nonexistent face-time in the MSM pretty much limited my exposure. A friend of mine sampled Chomsky’s lectures in a bunch of his music back in 96′, but I was too busy doing my corporate thing to truly stop and take notice. Life is funny like that…
I’m currently in the midst of Filtering the News, a collection of essays on Chomsky and Herman’s Propaganda Model. Do you have any Chomsky suggestions?
The problem with Chomsky is that no one really reads him. I mean really reads him. His transformational model of language is a fun game, but is full of holes. Alas, too few of us have the time or the mental rigor to dig deeply enough to see that what he says about language is like Derrida on the beach- he abstracts his theory of language and loses the subject- you and me.
That being said, I’m grateful that Chomsky’s political rants are being read by designers like yourself. He does stand up, unlike most other American so-called intellectuals.
When you get a chance, you may want to read:
THE OLD CHOMSKY::
- On Language: Chomsky’s Classic Works Language and Responsibility and Reflections on Language in One Volume
and
THE NEW CHOMSKY::
- Understanding Power: The Indispensable Chomsky
Good luck!
sorry about that- I meant-
Media Control: The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda
Understanding Power is probably Chomsky’s most accessible work- and I’m glad you read it.
Pretend for a moment that my review of Derrida’s work ended in 1991 (in undergrad). What do you mean by, “Alas, too few of us have the time or the mental rigor to dig deeply enough to see that what he says about language is like Derrida on the beach- he abstracts his theory of language and loses the subject- you and me.”
“Who’s Zach?” Zack de la Rocha - the ultimate Chomsky groupie.
Ahh.. I didn’t get the reference. Zach needs to perform a corporate takeover of Audioslave.
>>Zach needs to perform a corporate takeover of Audioslave.
No way. It’s a losing proposition. He needs to highjack the Black Eyed Peas.
HA! That would be like an angry, bumping, United Colors of Benneton, Super Bowl halftime show.
hehe… i like girls
hey andy, i think you might have commented on the wrong browser window. haha.