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Person

Noam Chomsky

Born:

December 7, 1928
Nationality:

American

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Noam Chomsky is an American linguistics professor best known for his radical-left politics. Chomsky has been described as “the most prolific radical critic of U.S. foreign policy” and “among the most influential left wing intellectual opponents of the U.S. military action.” 1

Chomsky self-identifies as a libertarian socialist but is often called an anarcho-syndicalist. He is highly critical of the American government and society, which he characterizes as authoritarian and oppressive, particularly in its foreign policy. Chomsky has been criticized for alleged bias against the West in his political analyses, with critics focusing on his dismissive treatment of refugee reports alleging atrocities perpetrated by the communist Cambodian Khmer Rouge regime in the late 1970s. 2

Early Life

Noam Chomsky was born on December 7, 1928, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Jewish immigrant parents. His father, William Chomsky, was a Hebrew scholar and Ashkenazi Jew from Ukraine, while his mother, Elsie Simonofsky Chomsky, was from Belarus. 3

Chomsky became interested in far-left politics at an early age. At 10, Chomsky wrote an editorial on the rise of fascism in Europe for the newspaper of his progressive school. A few years later, Chomsky declared the anarcho-syndicalist government of Barcelona described by George Orwell in Homage to Catalonia as his ideal government. By that time, he had begun to turn away from Marxism and toward left-anarchism, though he also espoused Zionism. Many of Chomsky’s views came from his uncle, a communist who operated a newsstand in New York City and had long political discussions with customers. Another major influence was an obscure intellectual group called the Marlenites (a portmanteau of Marx and Lenin) who claimed World War II was fundamentally driven by a desire of American and European elites to crush the European proletariat. 4 5

Career

In 1945, Noam Chomsky began attending the University of Pennsylvania where he became interested in linguistics. Through his mentor, Chomsky began attending Avukah, an intellectual discussion group for Jewish leftists who opposed establishing an ethno-nationalist state (like the later Israel) in favor of a multi-national socialist state based around kibbutzim. Chomsky earned a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree, and Ph.D. from UPenn in linguistics-related fields. Afterward, Chomsky began teaching at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he rose to prominence as one of the preeminent linguistics academics in the United States. Chomsky has remained in academia for well over 50 years as both a professor of linguistics and outspoken political pundit. 6 7

Linguistics

Noam Chomsky has been called the “father of modern linguistics,” and has been credited with overturning the dominant behavioral linguistic paradigm. His core contributions to the field are his theories of “generative grammar,” which proposed that humans possess an innate language faculty enabling the production and comprehension of infinite sentences, as well as his concept of “universal grammar,” which claims that all languages share a common structure. Chomsky’s work introduced transformational grammar and the distinction between surface and deep structure, profoundly influencing the field’s understanding of language generation and processing. 8

Political Views

Noam Chomsky has described himself as a “libertarian socialist,” which is “a variety of anarchism” in which the means of production are “owned and managed in a democratic fashion.” Other scholars have described this philosophy as “anarcho-syndicalism,” which is an offshoot of traditional Marxism. In Marxism, the workers own the means of production through the government, but in anarcho-syndicalism, workers own the individual business entities that employ them: “That means democratic control of communities, of workplaces, of federal structures, built on systems of voluntary association, spreading internationally.” 9 10

In an interview, Chomsky described his ideal political system as:

A kind of voluntary socialism, that is, as libertarian socialist or anarcho-syndicalist or communist anarchist, in the tradition of, say, Bakunin and Kropotkin and others. They had in mind a highly organized form of society, but a society that was organized on the basis of organic units, organic communities. And generally, they meant by that the workplace and the neighborhood, and from those two basic units there could derive through federal arrangements a highly integrated kind of social organization which might be national or even international in scope. And these decisions could be made over a substantial range, but by delegates who are always part of the organic community from which they come, to which they return, and in which, in fact, they live. 11

Chomsky characterizes capitalism as inherently authoritarian, fascist, and conducive to oppression. In his view, profit-motivated entities tend to place profit above other concerns such as altruism and human rights, and thus governments in capitalist countries will inevitably be subsumed by corporate interests. 12

Chomsky has been highly critical of Western governments and society, especially the United States. He has described the American system as totalitarian, imperialist, and racist. He considers both the Democratic and Republican Parties to be pro-capitalist, anti-leftist, and united in their “contempt for democracy,” though he has called the Democratic Party the “lesser evil.” 13 14 15

Politically, Chomsky is best known for his anti-interventionist foreign policy views. He has condemned just about every military intervention of the United States in the 20th century, including the Vietnam War and Iraq War, as well as American support for foreign regimes. 16

Chomsky’s most influential political work is 1988’s Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media, which is co-authored by Edward Herman. The book analyzes the role of mass media in shaping public opinion and claims that the media systematically spreads disinformation to prop up capitalist regimes. Chomsky and Herman’s “propaganda model” outlines five filters through which news content is shaped: ownership, advertising, sourcing, flak, and ideology. According to the authors, these filters result in a media landscape that prioritizes the interests of capitalist elites while marginalizing dissenting voices and alternative viewpoints. 17

Chomsky has expressed contempt for other far-left political philosophies, including Leninism, which he has associated with Stalinism. According to Chomsky, Leninists cynically use the working class to attain power rather than truly representing the interests of the proletariat. 18

Chomsky considers himself an absolutist on free speech and blames both the American left and right for recent erosions in free speech norms. 19 Chomsky has extended this belief to supporting free speech for Holocaust deniers. 20

Endorsements

In 2004, Chomsky endorsed then-U.S. Senator John Kerry in the presidential election. 21

In 2016, Chomsky endorsed then-U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (D) over Donald Trump in the presidential election. 22

Also in 2016, Chomsky endorsed Mike Connolly’s campaign for the Massachusetts state legislature. 23

Chomsky has generally spoken positively about U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT), though Chomsky considers him a “a New Dealer” rather than a “socialist.” 24

In a 2022 interview, Chomsky spoke favorably of President Joe Biden: “Take Biden’s campaign positions. Farther to the left than any Democratic candidate in memory on things like climate. It’s far better than anything that preceded it.” However, Chomsky stated that “this is not support for Biden,” and that the positive attributes of President Biden’s platform were due to the influence of the left wing of the Democratic Party. 25

Controversies

Critics characterize Noam Chomsky’s political views as biased against the United States and the Western world. 26 For instance, Chomsky has been accused of covering up or downplaying human rights abuses perpetrated by left-wing regimes or regimes opposed to the United States. 27

Most notably, critics contend that Chomsky and his co-author Edward Herman denied the genocide in Cambodia perpetrated by the communist Khmer Rouge regime in the late 1970s. 28 Chomsky and Herman claimed that the U.S.-aligned media showcased Cambodian atrocities to raise public support for U.S. military intervention in Southeast Asia even though there was insufficient evidence to verify these human rights abuses. 29 30

Chomsky has been accused of denying or downplaying human rights abuses perpetrated by Bosnian Serbs and Serbia against Muslim Bosniaks during the Bosnian War in the mid-1990s. Chomsky has endorsed the work of writers who are skeptical of prevailing estimates of killings, and stated that the Srebrenica massacre, in which more than 8,000 Bosniaks were killed. 31 In an interview, Chomsky clarified that though he acknowledges that human rights abuses occurred, he believes that the Western media overstated them for foreign policy goals. In particular, he is skeptical of the use of the term “genocide,” which often conflates killings of highly variable scales. 32 33 In a 2011 correspondence with left-wing journalist George Monbiot, Chomsky characterized the Srebrenica massacre as “certainly a horror story and major crime” while arguing the term “genocide” more appropriately applied to other U.S. actions. 34

After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Chomsky gave a series of interviews in which he partially attributed the attacks to unjust foreign policy interventions from the U.S., which he characterized as “far more extreme terrorism.” 35 36

In a 2020 interview, Chomsky suggested that then-President Donald Trump and the Republican Party were worse than Adolf Hitler given their skepticism of environmentalist policies to combat climate change: “Adolf Hitler was pretty hideous – [but] he wasn’t trying to destroy organised human society on earth.” When asked to clarify if Chomsky was referring to President Trump, he said: “That’s a very outrageous statement. And every time I say it, I preface it by saying, here’s an outrageous statement, but please ask yourself whether it’s true.” 37

References

  1.  Beachler, Donald. “How the West Missed the Horrors of Cambodia.” The Daily Beast. September 5, 2016. Updated April 13, 2017. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-the-west-missed-the-horrors-of-cambodia.
  2. Blackwell, Matthew. “Devastation and Denial: Cambodia and the Academic Left.” Quillette, June 20, 2024. https://quillette.com/2018/07/15/devastation-and-denial-cambodia-and-the-academic-left/.
  3. “Noam Chomsky.” Biography. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://www.biography.com/scholars-educators/noam-chomsky.
  4. “Noam Chomsky.” Biography. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://www.biography.com/scholars-educators/noam-chomsky.
  5. MacFarquhar, Larissa. “The Devil’s Accountant.” The New Yorker. March 23, 2003. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2003/03/31/the-devils-accountant
  6.   “Noam Chomsky.” Biography. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://www.biography.com/scholars-educators/noam-chomsky.
  7. MacFarquhar, Larissa. “The Devil’s Accountant.” The New Yorker. March 23, 2003. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2003/03/31/the-devils-accountant.
  8. Mouma, Lilia. “Who is Noam Chomsky, and What is His Contribution to Linguistics?” Mango Languages. October 26, 2022. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://mangolanguages.com/resources-articles/noam-chomsky-his-contribution-to-linguistics/.
  9. Candaele, Kelly. “Noam Chomsky Without Regrets: Interview With a Libertarian Socialist.” Capital and Main. April 9, 2021. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://capitalandmain.com/noam-chomsky-without-regrets-0409.
  10. Strauss, Steven. “The contradictions of Noam Chomsky.” Freedom Socialist Party. October 2008. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://socialism.com/fs-article/the-contradictions-of-noam-chomsky/.
  11. “Noam Chomsky: The Relevance of Anarcho-syndicalism Peter Jay Interview (1976).” YouTube. July 28, 2021. Accessed March 7, 2024.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoW1qdN3OL4.
  12. Brian, Paul. “What are Noam Chomsky’s political views?” Idea Pod. September 2, 2022. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://ideapod.com/noam-chomsky-political-views/.
  13. Candaele, Kelly. “Noam Chomsky Without Regrets: Interview With a Libertarian Socialist.” Capital and Main. April 9, 2021. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://capitalandmain.com/noam-chomsky-without-regrets-0409.
  14. “Imperial Ambitions Quotes.” Good Reads. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/188385-imperial-ambitions-conversations-on-the-post-9-11-world.
  15. Strauss, Steven. “The contradictions of Noam Chomsky.” Freedom Socialist Party. October 2008. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://socialism.com/fs-article/the-contradictions-of-noam-chomsky/
  16. Candaele, Kelly. “Noam Chomsky Without Regrets: Interview With a Libertarian Socialist.” Capital and Main. April 9, 2021. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://capitalandmain.com/noam-chomsky-without-regrets-0409.
  17.  “Manufacturing Consent.” Blinkist. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://www.blinkist.com/en/books/manufacturing-consent-en.
  18. Strauss, Steven. “The contradictions of Noam Chomsky.” Freedom Socialist Party. October 2008. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://socialism.com/fs-article/the-contradictions-of-noam-chomsky/.
  19. Jaur, Wendy. “Noam Chomsky thinks the current threat to free speech in the US comes from the Right and the Left.” Idea Pod. June 17, 2023. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://ideapod.com/noam-chomsky-on-current-threat-to-free-speech-in-us/.
  20. Brull, Michael. “The boring truth about Chomsky: he does not support Pol Pot.” ABC News. June 30, 2011. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-07-01/brull—the-boring-truth-about-chomsky/2779086.
  21. Strauss, Steven. “The contradictions of Noam Chomsky.” Freedom Socialist Party. October 2008. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://socialism.com/fs-article/the-contradictions-of-noam-chomsky/.
  22.  McCaskill, Noland D. “Chomsky: I’d ‘absolutely’ vote for Hillary Clinton.” POLITICO. January 25, 2016. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://www.politico.com/story/2016/01/noam-chomsky-supports-hillary-clinton-218192.
  23. “Endorsed By Noam Chomsky.” Mike Connolly for State Representative. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://www.mikeconnolly.org/mike_connolly_endorsed_noam_chomsky.
  24. “Endorsed By Noam Chomsky.” Mike Connolly for State Representative. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://www.mikeconnolly.org/mike_connolly_endorsed_noam_chomsky.
  25. Giridharadas, Anand. “Noam Chomsky on Biden, progressives, and how we achieve real change.” The.Ink. December 7, 2022. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://the.ink/p/noam-chomsky-on-biden-progressives.
  26. Beachler, Donald. “How the West Missed the Horrors of Cambodia.” The Daily Beast. September 5, 2016. Updated April 13, 2017. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-the-west-missed-the-horrors-of-cambodia.
  27. Blackwell, Matthew. “Devastation and Denial: Cambodia and the Academic Left.” Quillette, June 20, 2024. https://quillette.com/2018/07/15/devastation-and-denial-cambodia-and-the-academic-left/.
  28. Blackwell, Matthew. “Devastation and Denial: Cambodia and the Academic Left.” Quillette, June 20, 2024. https://quillette.com/2018/07/15/devastation-and-denial-cambodia-and-the-academic-left/.
  29. Beachler, Donald. “How the West Missed the Horrors of Cambodia.” The Daily Beast. September 5, 2016. Updated April 13, 2017. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-the-west-missed-the-horrors-of-cambodia.
  30. Blackburn, Robin. “For and against Chomsky.” Prospect. November 20, 2005. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/essays/57043/for-and-against-chomsky.
  31. Diebert, Michael. “Why Noam Chomsky, Tariq Ali, Arundhati Roy and Their Co-Thinkers Should Apologise over Mladic and Srebrenica.” Workers’ Liberty, June 4, 2011. https://www.workersliberty.org/story/2011/06/04/why-noam-chomsky-tariq-ali-arundhati-roy-and-their-co-thinkers-should-apologise-ove
  32. Hoare, Marko Atilla. “Chomsky’s Genocidal Denial.” Congress of Bosniaks of North America. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://bosniak.org/2009/08/28/chomskys-genocidal-denial/.
  33. Jones, Adam. “Chomsky and Genocide.” Genocide Studies and Prevention. 2020. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/gsp/vol14/iss1/8/.
  34. “Correspondence with Noam Chomsky.” George Monbiot, May 21, 2012. https://www.monbiot.com/2012/05/21/2181/.
  35. Pozo, Michael. “9/11 by Noam Chomsky.” st. john’s university humanities review. 2001. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://facpub.stjohns.edu/~ganterg/sjureview/vol1-1/9-11.html.
  36. Windschuttle, Keith. “The hypocrisy of Noam Chomsky.” New Criterion. May 2003. Archived from the original March 29, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230329080227/https://newcriterion.com/issues/2003/5/the-hypocrisy-of-noam-chomsky.
  37. Buncombe, Andrew. “Trump’s denial of climate change represents worse threats to humanity than Hitler, says activist Noam Chomsky.” Independent. November 3, 2020. Accessed March 7, 2024. https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/trump-climate-change-noam-chomsky-book-interview-hitler-robert-pollin-b1374789.html.
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