Chomsky has been very influential, I think.  One example I would cite is East
Timor.  Chomsky played an important role in getting the word out on Timor
starting in the early 80's, I believe.  By the late 1980's early 1990's, there
was substantial political pressure that caused Congress to take the position
that US arms were not to be used against the Timorese.  Although this mandate
probably was ignored to a large degree, it surely had an effect, and created a
nice backdrap and education to the American media, military, and politicians,
that when things got bad over the last few years, the U.S. policy makers were
pretty much forced to take the position that the Indonesians were doing bad
things (although, the U.S. was still reluctant to do anything about it).  And it
was not just Chomsky, of course, but several people, like Amy Goodman and Allen
Nair--who were, as Chomsky says is the right approach, extremely critical of the
U.S. role in the whole sordid affair since the 60's--who ended up making a big
difference.  If they had simply been critical of the Indonesians, they probably
would not have had the impact that the did in fact have.   Christian.




Dan Koenig <[log in to unmask]> on 02/28/2000 09:56:28 PM

Please respond to "The philosophy, work & influences of Noam Chomsky"
      <[log in to unmask]>

To:   [log in to unmask]
cc:    (bcc: Christian Taylor)

Subject:  Re: [CHOMSKY] The US Great Satan



Permit me to jump in, Issodos.  Chomsky encourages people to read media
critically
and not to swallow swill.  He has influenced me and many others that I know.  I
constantly run into university students who have been influenced by him.  They
organize and/or collaborate in protests such as at WTO in Seattle or APEC in
Vancouver (to cite some recent examples), as well as boycotting sweatshops such
as
Nike or killers like Nestle (baby formula), the American complicity in the
genocide of Mayans in Guatemala, the School of the Americas and so much more.  I
think that Chomsky's influence (and that of people like him) has been
extraordinary.  Examples are contributing to the ending of the Indochinese war
and
the demise of Nixon's presidency, mobilizing boycotts of companies such as Nike
or
Nestle, and deflecting/minimizing  current murderous embargos and target
practice
or sales demos for  new military toys, and so forth.  Certainly, many are
unconcerned with social justice and are uninfluenced by Chomsky, while others
will
have honest disagreements about what constitutes social justice.  But I do know
many, myself included, who have been influenced by him and who have participated
and  continue to participate in boycotts and coalition building to oppose social
injustice.  We haven't always been successful, let alone completely successful,.
and we won't be in the future.  However, I think that it is a severe misreading
of
recent and current history  to conclude that he has had no influence in
contributing to altering the trajectory of events.  Can I prove that?  No, I can
only say that he has influenced me to change my behaviours and that I, in turn,
have influenced others to do the same -- and I think that we have been effective
in creating change.  BTW check out Nike's relative stock price and sales figures
for the last few years as an example.   Dan

"Issodhos @aol.com" wrote:

> In a message dated 2/28/00 6:31:16 PM Eastern Standard Time,
> [log in to unmask] writes:
>
> >  So why does
> >  Chomsky vilify the U.S.  He says it is because that is where is is from,
> > where
> >  he is a citizen, where he votes, and where he is capable of making the
> > biggest
> >  difference in the terrible behavior of governments.  In other words, we can
> >  justifiably criticize the Soviets, Iraq, etc. until we are blue in the
> face.
> >  But where we are likely to have the most influence, not to mention
> > obligation,
> >  is curtailing the bad things our own country does. christian.
>
>     And what difference do you think he has made, Christian?
> Yours,
> Issodhos