Chomsky: Hegemony book is very good. Has anyone else read it? It changes

[rainy]

my thoughts about the Dems being able to really effect lasting change that will better the world. Maybe they will make some Americans' lives better but our government will continue to attack other countries for the benefit of multinational corporations that need to control the market through cheap labor and natural resources.

[Cleita]

1. Yes, I have read it and I felt the same way.

I have had the opportunity, in South America, to see first hand exactly what we do. We need to change our whole foreign policy from the bottom up, however, I don't think it will happen until the rest of the world forces us to do so. Until we start seeing ourselves as part of a family of nations and not the dominant bully who has a right to go in and take everything we want for ourselves, we won't change.

[Sequoia]

2. Chomsky make be good but I'd fall asleed in his class since

his voice is dull and droaning and says um and uh too much.

[jimlup]

3. I use Chomsky as a sleep aide...

He is one of my hero's and I follow everything he writes with admiration but I honestly do use his books to help cure insomnia and it works.

[subsuelo]

4. Chomsky is utterly brilliant

Hegemony or Survival is just as good as the others -- he may be getting better in fact. His books of the 70s covered almost too many facts to back up his claims. Almost making it overkill. Now he just gets straight to the point, provides the one or two example he needs to make the case, and moves on. The one annoyance I have is that you often hear the same arguments or the same examples throughout his books and lectures. But still, I have learned to deal with that. (Besides, sometimes I need the same points drilled into my head again and again to be sure I've got it. Being untrained from years of propaganda simply takes time.)

But Chomsky's brilliance goes beyond just the points he's making. Plenty of people in the world understand what's going on. People see the lies and the propaganda and the powerful crushing the weak. I think Chomsky's complete mastery of language is what sets him apart from other commentators on world affairs. He uses words effectively, and with such pinpoint precision. So he doesn't waste anyone's time spelling something out that could be said in a few short words. I sometimes even find myself mentally exhausted after reading just 2 or 3 chapters of one of his books. There's so much rich information to be taken in all at once, that I will need to just put the book aside to really absorb what has just been read.

Check out his latest Interventions -- a collection of recent essays he has been writing for the New York Times Syndicate. That's right - the NYT! These articles were published world-wide, just not posted to the actual NYT itself. Ironic huh? He's good enough to be sold outside the U.S., but inside we are too close-minded intellectually to include his input.

[Mr Rabble]

5. Have a look at Necessar y Illusions.

I actually cant think of a single book of his that isnt amazing.

[raccoon]

6. I think his ideas are great but he's hard to read. nt

[The Call Up]

7. I read it and I agree with your sentiments

[truebrit71]

8. Yes. Very good book. Had to read it slowly and carefully to make sure I was "getting" it...

...His prose is so "dense" that you really must be focused when reading it...

I have a few others to read but needed to let my brain recuperate a little bit after Hegemony...