An article on American Decline by Noam Chomsky is on the al Jazeera website. Noam Chomsky is a man described by the New York Times as the most important intellectual alive. I recommend you guys read it, it's fascinating stuff. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/02/2012215773268827.html
There's a ton of flaws in his logic. Mainly because he's trying to redraw history to suit his theories, rather than the other way around. He said that the US entered a "conscious self-inflicted decline" since 1970. *faceplam* Not to mention he says how the US "lost" China and that we thought it was, by right, ours. *facepalm* He says that our invasions in Indochina were "a call for genocide that is rare in the historical record". *facepalm* He's a Linguist, not a Historian, not an Economist, not a Political Scientist. He's a fucking Linguist. Stop pretending like a Linguist is the best option to talk to about Geopolitics.
First of all the ad-hominems are unnecessary. Secondly, would you care to provide arguments to the contrary? Rather than *facepalm*? How was he incorrect with his assessment of China?
It's long and complex to pick apart every argument in a massive article. And boring. Because the US didn't want to get involved in China. We wanted to send a bit of aid (food/medical supplies) and hoped the USSR would do the same. Instead, the USSR poured resources into helping the Communists as best they could. The US may have been disappointed, but you can't think of it as the US losing China. Rather, you should think of it as the USSR taking it for themselves.
There comes a time when every once in awhile Karakoran makes a good point. This is one of those times.
The thing I hate most about Karakoran's post is the sheer ignorance in the final paragraph. That he's just a linguist. If he actually spent time checking the bullshit he's spouting he would soon find that Chomsky is certainly qualified to be talking about power systems.
eh, he spoke at my school last week about education reform. I called my dad to tell him about it and he's like "you saw who? The linguist?". The point being he's certainly an intelligent man, but he likes to spout off about things from time to time. There's nothing wrong with this, and he's still an intelligent guy trying to analyze things critically. However, he isn't anywhere near as qualified in politics as he is in linguistics and people tend to forget that. He hasn't done any serious academic study of most of the things he talks about, so while his opinion is valuable, it shouldn't really be taken as gospel. Also he is in no means the preeminent intellectual of our time, for shame NY times, for shame.
It's pointless to spend forever talking about Chomsky's ideas when there are plenty of more qualified people out there. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuomintang The US President didn't even like the KMT.
----------------- Kara- why did you link a wikipedia page? Especially one which still contradicts your point: and you still didn't contradict my point. And even if the President didn't like the KMT, realpolitik meant they were preferred over the CPC.
He's a man who has been standing against the status quo for decades and he embodies the very definition of an intellectual. He is a fantastic scholar who routinely presents information that the corporate media doesn't. He could be on television and in the newspapers all the time if he fell in to line, but he has withstood the pressure to conform and could debate anyone on politics and win. I've yet to see a debate where Chomsky lost, an interview where he was shown up, and at the end of it all he says that we should not listen to him. We should check the facts for ourselves.
Im not saying he is wrong, he is clearly right in alot of aspects (although there is many places one can disagree with him) but the fact remains with my post. you clearly like the guy with an admirable passion as every single one of your post in the latest time frame have been about him. I would also assume he has been beaten in a debate or two, unless your god you will lose a debate.
I didn't say you said he was wrong (smiley face)! Yes I like him a lot because he has been right every time I've double-checked facts. And if you find a video of him losing a debate I'd love to see it! I've seen a few and he has won each one. (I like Norman Finkelstein as well although he possibly has the slowest lecturing speed ever)
