America’s Going Rogue

Noam Chomsky's latest piece on 'American Exceptionalism'. It is largely a tirade on the Republican Establishment specifcally but the entire Establishment as a whole.

inthesetimes.org...

There is still a Republican organization, but it long ago abandoned any pretense of being a normal parliamentary party. Conservative commentator Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute and Thomas Mann of the Brookings Institution describe today's Republicans as “a radical insurgency—ideologically extreme, scornful of facts and compromise, and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition”: a serious danger to the society.

He talks, not only about current time but the recent past as well:

A few months into the Bush administration, Robert Jervis, then president of the American Political Science Association, warned that “In the eyes of much of the world, in fact, the prime rogue state today is the United States.” Both Huntington and Jervis warned that such a course is unwise. The consequences for the U.S. could be harmful.

Then goes on to some consequences:

Rejection of international obligations “has grown so entrenched,” Kaye writes, “that foreign governments no longer expect Washington's ratification or its full participation in the institutions treaties create. The world is moving on; laws get made elsewhere, with limited (if any) American involvement.”

And recapitulates the 'Ugly American' :

While not new, the practice has indeed become more entrenched in recent years, along with quiet acceptance at home of the doctrine that the U.S. has every right to act as a rogue state.

Then after examples of the above, he brings us to the intent of the Declaration of Independence:

When the U.S. gained independence, it sought to join the international community of the day. That is why the Declaration of Independence opens by expressing concern for the “decent respect to the opinions of mankind.”

I have never understood how human being's could justify being exempt from the rules, the law whether it be in school, at home, in sport, in groups and associations.

All we have, is our word and if our word is meaningless so are we. All the legal maneuvering aside, it comes down to our word, the spirit of our word.

Communiction is difficult enough as it is without having to divine the veracity of another's word.

"White man speaks with forked tongue" has never been more true. It's the thanks we get from electing lawyers who are trained to lie, cheat and steal as long as they win. The laws are written by people who only see the 'letter of the law' rather then the 'spirit of the law'.

FyreByrd

"White man speaks with forked tongue" has never been more true. It's the thanks we get from electing lawyers who are trained to lie, cheat and steal as long as they win. The laws are written by people who only see the 'letter of the law' rather then the 'spirit of the law'.

I could not agree with you more. Especially the last two sentences.

reply to post by FyreByrd

All we have, is our word and if our word is meaningless so are we. All the legal maneuvering aside, it comes down to our word, the spirit of our word.

That's most profound thing I have read here in some time.
Our word defines who we are. We must never forget for one
second of utterance, that sound is recorded in the universe
by vibration. Well said.

SnF

randyvs
reply to post by FyreByrd

 

All we have, is our word and if our word is meaningless so are we. All the legal maneuvering aside, it comes down to our word, the spirit of our word.

That's most profound thing I have read here in some time.
Our word defines who we are. We must never forget for one
second of utterance, that sound is recorded in the universe
by vibration. Well said.

SnF

edit on 9-11-2013 by randyvs because: (no reason given)

Yes I agree.

In the immortal words of Tony Montana "All I have is my balls and my word, and I dont break them for nobody"

Chomsky is a blazing liberal trying to maintain the façade of centrist. Every chance he gets he pokes and prods Republicans and decries the state of the Union as if the Democrats had no power at all. He mentions a "recent incident" but fails to connect the Obama administration to it. Whatever, I don't listen to the man myself. He's no Howard Zinn.

But you OP have put a jewel of true wisdom before us with your quote:

All we have, is our word and if our word is meaningless so are we.

All the legal maneuvering aside, it comes down to our word, the spirit of our word.

Communication is difficult enough as it is without having to divine the veracity of another's word.

So many of our troubles stem from this simple fact. Truth is no longer valued for it's own sake. It's used for convenience and it seems our entire world is constructed of lies these days.
Why? Because it pays. We reward success with money and success often depends upon lying. Lawyers, politicians and actors are our highest paid members of society. All pretend to be someone other than themselves. Even the names of big laws passed are blatant lies - the PATRIOT Act, Help America Vote Act, Affordable Care Act. All do the precise opposite of what they claim.

Our interpersonal relationships are suffering too from the plague of casual lies. We often do it without even thinking about it to avoid conflict or blow ourselves up in front of others. Use of the internet provides ample opportunity for those learning to lie. This creates a dual self - an online personality in addition to the real life personality.

Self assessment time: are you who you claim to be online? Have you written about doing or having things you never had? I would hazard a guess that all of us have at least stretched the truth to make ourselves look better online. I can't say that I haven't even though it wasn't anything major. A lie is still a lie and everyone we tell takes away from our credibility.

Perhaps it's because we engage in it to some degree ourselves that we allow those in charge to continue in their ways lest we face the hypocrisy within ourselves. To make a better world we must start by telling the truth - to ourselves and to each other. Then to demand it of those who would lead us. Lies breed fear, hate, contempt and confusion - all of which we could live without.

reply to post by FyreByrd


When I was a bit younger i used to DJ with vinyl. I once had a white label that was a recording of many of his anti-war, anti establishment lectures. It blended well with some other tracks that were political in nature. Idk i always liked Chomsky although he can sometimes be a hard read he is insightful and free thinking.

Asktheanimals

Perhaps it's because we engage in it to some degree ourselves that we allow those in charge to continue in their ways lest we face the hypocrisy within ourselves. To make a better world we must start by telling the truth - to ourselves and to each other. Then to demand it of those who would lead us. Lies breed fear, hate, contempt and confusion - all of which we could live without.

Although i can't say I'm infallible or that I haven't lied, i can genuinely say that anything i have shared on here i have shared or would be willing to say to anyone face to face. I am me and I usually speak from the heart.

Rosinitiate

Asktheanimals

Perhaps it's because we engage in it to some degree ourselves that we allow those in charge to continue in their ways lest we face the hypocrisy within ourselves. To make a better world we must start by telling the truth - to ourselves and to each other. Then to demand it of those who would lead us. Lies breed fear, hate, contempt and confusion - all of which we could live without.

Although i can't say I'm infallible or that I haven't lied, i can genuinely say that anything i have shared on here i have shared or would be willing to say to anyone face to face. I am me and I usually speak from the heart.

A sentiment I agree with entirely. I base my life on being honest, speaking my mind, being honourable and maintaining my integrity so that when Im on my death bed, I can look back and say Im proud of what I have achieved. I didnt f*ck anybody over to get ahead.
I have friends that ask my opinion simply because they know they will get an honest answer, even if they dont like it.

We have problems. The direction of our Economy tactics is risky and some conservative concerns are necessary. This cannot be blamed on conservatives totally. The problem is that we have gone too fast in a liberal direction in the financial sector without respect for conservative policies. Our Economy is a run away train.

I liked the old days when a businessman made a small factory or store and employed local people to work. Then came the corporations who bought out these small factories and shut them down, creating big factories and reaping profits to pay the execs big wages and stock options. Now many of these big corporations execs found they could make more profits with less headaches by buying from other countries, shipping our nations money outside of our country. This policy was accepted by the Liberals quickly, figuring everyone could have service oriented jobs. Conservatives looked at history and did not initially like this but over time it seemed to be working fine. Now tshtf to speak, there is not enough work for our people, these service oriented jobs are being replaced by computers. The Liberals actions caused the decline in the stability of our Economy and the conservatives went along with it because it seemed to be working.

Now to blame the situation we are in on the conservative Republicans is a mistake, that will not fix the problem we have. We need to build more jobs where people can work, not service oriented jobs. Not only do we owe China a big chunk of change, they have accumulated a lot of money from our buying from them. I have nothing against China or it's citizens, it was the people running our country that let this happen who are to blame. Both parties are responsible.

Arguing will do nothing. We need to get small businesses rolling again. We need to get businesses that supply between six and two hundred jobs to locals going again. People have to understand also that it is better to have a job where there is fair management and decent pay than working to a big company where you become a number. Sure we need some big companies, but not companies who are just buying from China and selling it to us creating very little jobs for the money changing hands. I would rather buy less toys made in America instead of a pile of toys made in China. I would rather support my fellow citizen working in a local business than someone I do not know and will never meet.

Lets fix this economy and the people of this country, not get polarized and point our fingers at someone else. It is up to us to show them the right direction. We have to support a person who takes personal financial risk to create jobs in the community if they are honest and responsible. They need to have a good healthy prospectus of the business though. How do we support them, buy their products if they are good even if they are reasonably higher than the imported product. Support our own people not people we do not know.

I like the Chinese people I have met, they were very nice people. I eat at a Chinese restaurant and talk to the people working there. They use mostly foods grown and sold in America. They boost the jobs here. They are living here and spending their money here, I think that is acceptable. I understand that China is looking to keep their people working and this is ok. We can still buy parts from them and still create jobs putting things together. Putting something together does not mean putting an adapter on the product or attaching a sticker. It means that at least a half of the labor to assemble it is done here.

Is anyone old enough to remember when the hardware stores put their stuff together. They supplied more jobs than the Big chain home improvement stores do. These big stores employ about half of what the smaller stores that they caused to close or lower employment because of lost sales did. So now we have to spend three hours putting something together with instructions created by someone who does not realize that we do not think like them and can't comprehend the way they instruct us.

rickymouse
So now we have to spend three hours putting something together with instructions created by someone who does not realize that we do not think like them and can't comprehend the way they instruct us.

I see you bought the O'Sullivan computer desk too.

You make some good points about liberals selling off the economy (Clinton/NAFTA/GATT) but when the conservatives saw all the profits to be made they jumped in too.
I try to buy local when possible and buy from the independent stores and restaurants rather than the chains.
Oddly appropriate name: Chain Stores
Buying our way in to slavery.

reply to post by FyreByrd


torture. something that was once the antithesis of freedom and what America stood for.

Foreign interests owning American homes and renting them back to our own people? (property mgmt. co.s)

we have lived in Bizarro for over a decade now.

reply to post by Asktheanimals


Eh, I would say that Chomsky is not a fan of Obama at all and honestly, he does sling out jabs at the Democrats as well simply by calling them Republicans, which is absolutely true since The Third Way was adopted by the Democratic party. Another swipe at the Democratic party is that they have long been considered the "people party". Chomsky tears that image down by saying, "no, they are all the business party". There is no longer any people party, no matter how much either side of the aisle tries to pretend there is.

Anyways, check this video out. Only a minute long and he has a number of slaps against Obama.
www.theblogmocracy.com...

reply to post by Asktheanimals


I never even thought about the chain store name. It does seem appropriate.

You are right, when the concept started to seem like it would work, the conservatives hopped aboard the rollercoaster. Or should I call it a steamroller. They neglected their job of dampening the liberals and this made it worse. It's a big mess now. If I am to blame the conservatives it would be because they did not moderate this liberal activity.

reply to post by OneManArmy

In the immortal words of Tony Montana "All I have is my balls and my word, and I dont break them for nobody"

I love that !

I think it's also worth noting that the Native American Indians didn't even
have a word for lying. The could only describe it as speaking with the tongue
of a serpent. They are amazing people.

reply to post by Asktheanimals


You are way off base with Chomsky. He is not a Liberal and is as eagerly outspoken against liberalism as he is conservatism. Chomsky is a Leftist, a true Leftist not this nonsense FOX and the rest of the echo chamber brainwash people into thinking what Leftist actually means. He's a Libertarian Socialist.

Every chance he gets he pokes and prods Republicans and decries the state of the Union as if the Democrats had no power at all.

Every chance he gets he pokes and prods Republicans and Democrats and decries the State of the Union because the people have little power and don't exercise even that much of it.

Noam Chomsky, Gatekeeper ~

WTF RLY

James Corbett Report

signalfire
Noam Chomsky, Gatekeeper ~

WTF RLY

James Corbett Report

I watched the first video and to be honest and not to come across as a Chomsky yes man; I was a little disappointed in his choice of words, belittling even, but he states clearly he has zero opinion on building 7. Of course he goes on to say that he doesn't think it was the Bush Administration that did it, and loosely and to a point I agree. I think Bush himself was oblivious to many certain realities.

So he gets 5 points on double speak. He is a linguistics professor after all.

Not sure how this discussion got soooooo off topic.

"American Exceptionalism" anyone???

reply to post by Asktheanimals


No kidding. If I had a chance to say something directly to Noam Chomsky, it would be shut the h*** up chumpsky, you useful idiot. The fact that any Democrat is completely absent from the article is where it loses all creditability. Obama is just as bad as Bush, if not worse, whether liberals want to believe it or keep on denying it. Both we're shoddy presidents, well below par considering what our country was built upon.

Everyone enjoys their partisan mudslinging and finger pointing as if it's "their team" they are defending as if it's the political NFL.
It's sickening and pathetic that people haven't moved past this by yet and ignore the fact that we're being played by both sides now.

reply to post by kx12x


You will find in the original article that democrats are not absent. I just did not include quotes that refered to them. "American Exceptionalism" is a bi-partisan enterprise.