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the principles of truth & justice ....

the principles of truth & Justice .....

Chomsky, because he steps outside of every group and eschews all ideologies, has been crucial to American discourse for decades, from his work on the Vietnam War to his criticisms of the Obama administration. He stubbornly maintains his position as an iconoclast, one who distrusts power in any form.

"Most intellectuals have a self-understanding of themselves as the conscience of humanity," said the Middle East scholar Norman Finkelstein. "They revel in and admire someone like Vaclav Havel. Chomsky is contemptuous of Havel. Chomsky embraces the Julien Benda view of the world. There are two sets of principles. They are the principles of power and privilege and the principles of truth and justice. If you pursue truth and justice it will always mean a diminution of power and privilege. If you pursue power and privilege it will always be at the expense of truth and justice. Benda says that the credo of any true intellectual has to be, as Christ said, 'my kingdom is not of this world.' Chomsky exposes the pretenses of those who claim to be the bearers of truth and justice. He shows that in fact these intellectuals are the bearers of power and privilege and all the evil that attends it."

"I try to encourage people to think for themselves, to question standard assumptions," Chomsky said when asked about his goals. "Don't take assumptions for granted. Begin by taking a skeptical attitude toward anything that is conventional wisdom. Make it justify itself. It usually can't. Be willing to ask questions about what is taken for granted. Try to think things through for yourself. There is plenty of information. You have got to learn how to judge, evaluate and compare it with other things. You have to take some things on trust or you can't survive. But if there is something significant and important don't take it on trust. As soon as you read anything that is anonymous you should immediately distrust it. If you read in the newspapers that Iran is defying the international community, ask who is the international community? India is opposed to sanctions. China is opposed to sanctions. Brazil is opposed to sanctions. The Non-Aligned Movement is vigorously opposed to sanctions and has been for years. Who is the international community? It is Washington and anyone who happens to agree with it. You can figure that out, but you have to do work. It is the same on issue after issue."

Chomsky's courage to speak on behalf of those, such as the Palestinians, whose suffering is often minimized or ignored in mass culture, holds up the possibility of the moral life. And, perhaps even more than his scholarship, his example of intellectual and moral independence sustains all who defy the cant of the crowd to speak the truth.

"I cannot tell you how many people, myself included, and this is not hyperbole, whose lives were changed by him," said Finkelstein, who has been driven out of several university posts for his intellectual courage and independence. "Were it not for Chomsky I would have long ago succumbed. I was beaten and battered in my professional life. It was only the knowledge that one of the greatest minds in human history has faith in me that compensates for this constant, relentless and vicious battering. There are many people who are considered nonentities, the so-called little people of this world, who suddenly get an e-mail from Noam Chomsky. It breathes new life into you. Chomsky has stirred many, many people to realize a level of their potential that would forever been lost."

Facing the Threat from the Far Right, Noam Chomsky Says He 'Has Never Seen Anything Like This' | | AlterNet

 

 

 

 

The principle of truth and

The principle of truth and justice could be the foundation of law. Is it JUSTICE that creates law or iis it really Law that creates Justice? Ive known chomsky in field of linguistics but not on philosophy. Though for a fact that language is always interconnected to philosophy. Anyway, just to add something important that will challenge our mind to think deeeply.. The Obama Wall Street Address at Cooper Union College was meant for president Obama to further explain his stand point on the health bill that could be going to the Senate later this week or next. The bill has already passed the House of Representatives, and only has a little ways left on its way to becoming law. This reform bill has numerous good and questionable sides to it. All I ask is that before you get all hot headed and worked up over it, do your research. Really spend some unbiased time finding out exactly what this bill is about and the way it will impact your life; you may be amazed at what you discover.

Is Wisdom as frightening as Truth?

As a mildly educated person, I believe that all normal humans have the ability to think – reason – and be logical.  This may not resolve a “doubt” but it can certainly help.  I like what Chomsky has advised in this article, and I quote:….

"I try to encourage people to think for themselves, to question standard assumptions," Chomsky said when asked about his goals. "Don't take assumptions for granted. Begin by taking a skeptical attitude toward anything that is conventional wisdom. Make it justify itself. It usually can't. Be willing to ask questions about what is taken for granted. Try to think things through for yourself. There is plenty of information. You have got to learn how to judge, evaluate and compare it with other things. You have to take some things on trust or you can't survive. But if there is something significant and important don't take it on trust. As soon as you read anything that is anonymous you should immediately distrust it. If you read in the newspapers that Iran is defying the international community, ask who is the international community? India is opposed to sanctions. China is opposed to sanctions. Brazil is opposed to sanctions. The Non-Aligned Movement is vigorously opposed to sanctions and has been for years. Who is the international community? It is Washington and anyone who happens to agree with it. You can figure that out, but you have to do work. It is the same on issue after issue." (Brilliant)

Chomsky's courage to speak on behalf of those, such as the Palestinians, whose suffering is often minimized or ignored in mass culture, holds up the possibility of the moral life. And, perhaps even more than his scholarship, his example of intellectual and moral independence sustains all who defy the cant of the crowd to speak the truth.  End of quote.

COMMENT: IMHO, there is no real difference between the “freedom” of the press in Australia and that which exists in a Communist regime.  Neither “elect” the people who, because of their control of our information sources are the real “powers that be”.

The previous domination of a people with a heavily armed military was supposed to fade after WW I – but it was quickly replaced by the money power of the “free media”.  Making a business out of misinformation and maintaining that advantage with garbage that they even ask us to pay for.

We need more Chomskys and Finkelsteins because they at least have the advantage of being able to use their influence to question and debate the “sellable” business of the unrestrained media – the real government of any democracy.

God Bless Australia and all of those people who would allow us to have a say.  NE OUBLIE.