“The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum — even encourage the more critical and dissident views. That gives people the sense that there’s free thinking going on, while all the time the presuppositions of the system are being reinforced by the limits put on the range of the debate.”
—-Noam Chomsky.
Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky: Societal role
“Sports plays a societal role in engendering jingoist and chauvinist attitudes. They’re designed to organize a community to be committed to their gladiators.”
— Noam Chomsky.
Noam Chomsky: God is an imbecile
“Religion is based on the idea that God is an imbecile.”
— Noam Chomsky.
Noam Chomsky: Free speech
“Goebbels was in favor of free speech for views he liked. So was Stalin. If you’re really in favor of free speech, then you’re in favor of freedom of speech for precisely the views you despise. Otherwise, you’re not in favor of free speech.”
— Noam Chomsky.
Noam Chomsky: Changes and progress
“Changes and progress very rarely are gifts from above. They come out of struggles from below.”
—Noam Chomsky.
Noam Chomsky: System of debt
”Students who acquire large debts putting themselves through school are unlikely to think about changing society. When you trap people in a system of debt, they can’t afford the time to think. “
—Noam Chomsky, linguistics professor and political activist (b. 7 Dec 1928).
Noam Chomsky: Freedom of expression
”If we don’t believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don’t believe in it at all.”
—Noam Chomsky.