It took me a sec to realize what this was referencing but LMFAO good meme
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodian_genocide_denial#Chomsky_and_Herman
slowly discarding the concept of "heroes" because no one is right all the time
I would settle with Chomsky being right at least like 70% of the time regarding past socialist projects or marxism
i agree but i have bad news for you, this is like stalin/xi/mao/kim meme central
Except for me I'm always right. I can be your hero, comrade.
When you're technically right in all the wrong ways.
(Speaking of his claims that anti-communist propaganda tends to obfuscate the effects of US imperialism on death rates in revolutionary countries)
Sucks that he only extended that reasoning to the wrong one and not the right ones.
Yeah, he could so easily have stopped at " the death counts being thrown around all come from the state dept (or embassy in an unofficial capacity iirc) and yet academic are citing it as fact. The toll was correct, but not at the time the claim was made, and that speaks to a genuine problem of just letting western "sources' say a thing, sometimes not even something planned out by the CIA or anything, and just run with it.
But nope he had to go farther than that, double down, and handle it all in the worst manner he could
https://www.mekong.net/cambodia/chomsky.htm
Chomsky and Herman attempt to downplay the significance of child labor by claiming that "vocational training" for twelve-year-old children is "not generally regarded as an atrocity in a poor peasant society." The argument is a waste of ink. No amount of scholarly doublespeak can conceal the fact that child slavery is not "vocational training."
At this point, faced with Professor Chomsky's repeated and apparently wilful failure to grasp the simple points I was making or answer the simple questions I was asking, I almost lost the will to live.
"And as a huge fan of Noam Chomsky, I almost did too."
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/noam-chomsky-george-monbiot_b_1544407
Without having read into it at all (sorry I'm lazy) there are SOME limited situations where child work isn't the end of the world. Luna Oi goes over this when talking about her experience in Vietnam, where she helped her family on their farm, much like almost all children in her village. She stresses that she NEVER missed school for farming, her mother would never have allowed it.
I'm not making a contrarian claim to defend Chomsky whatsoever - from my limited knowledge of the Khmer Rouge, Luna's situation in Vietnam is a completely different story. My point is more that sometimes, children helping out with non-alienating labor, such as farming, can be a good thing that teaches them life skills. It's touchy though, and kind of a risky path to take - something I think would only be possible in a society that has embraced solidarity like Vietnam (NOT the US.)
If you were too lazy to read, be aware that the Khmer Rouge implemented policies deliberately designed to break the allegiance of children to their parents, siblings, other relatives. Chomsky and Herman defended, deflected, and did their best to handwave this away.
Yeah I shamefully read a bit after I posted the comment. Horrible stuff. Also the use of child soldiers is one of the most disgusting thing anyone could ever do.
That meme with Pol Pot telling Chomsky he'd do the Praxis, Chomsky do the theory was 100%
