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If Chomsky isn't CIA, he might as well be, as is the case for anyone who says "America bad but USSR worse!"
Chomsky is also the worst public speaker I have ever seen. Zizek at least is entertaining when he talks.
Also, one of my professors once told us she was CIA. This was fifteen years ago when I was still a lib. She was absolutely unhinged and one of the worst teachers I've ever had.
I've told this story before on hexbear, but I saw him in person about fifteen years ago. He came to a packed auditorium and droned on about god knows what for an hour or two. I fell asleep, sitting on a metal chair among tons of people, multiple times, something I've never pulled off since. It was also blazing hot with body heat. During the Q&A, someone dared to ask a question like: "okay, everything is bad, what are we supposed to do about it?" and Chomsky was unable to answer.
Actual communists like Parenti or Huey Newton are far more exciting and charismatic when they speak, probably since they are actually advocating for radical change. As we all know, Chomsky's take is: everything sucks, that's why you have to :vote:.
It's just wild to me he can have so many brilliant observations then come to the most surrendered stance on everything. I can only hope he wants his readers to come to their own conclusions that he wouldn't be allowed to exist in this system without capitulating to the liberal framework.
Part of his brilliance is knowing how far he could go without getting the heart attack gun
His content is good. It's his delivery that's lacking. Parenti slams the podium in righteous indignation and makes me want to tear up for the little guy and Chomsky makes me fall asleep.
It's not that Chomsky is CIA---I’m sure he believes everything he's saying. But what I’m saying is that if he believed that the Soviet Union was good, he wouldn’t be sitting where he is sitting.
The contrast between Chomsky's and Parenti's speaking ability is remarkable.
Criticize America, but maintain that the USSR is worse: no problem for your career.
Criticize America and say that maybe the USSR wasn't so bad: no career for you!
Criticize America, say that maybe the USSR wasn't so bad, and start organizing and arming workers: you're dead!
He called Lenin a right deviationist. Also, brace yourself, but this article he wrote is full of cringe:
https://chomsky.info/1986____/
Reminder that Chomsky once travelled to Austria to defend a holocaust denier in a court case.
I'm no fan of Zizek either, I'm just saying.
Here link, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faurisson_affair
did you actually watch the video? He's not supporting capitalism, he's criticizing the pathetic state of the left in America and Europe. We have no program, no discipline, no unity, no organization and no imagination anymore. When by miracles chance we take power somewhere, he gives the example of SYRIZA in Greece, we immediately are forced to sell out because we have not prepared alternatives since we lack the organization. Ie: no viable alternative to unbridled capitalism.
Also this video is six fucking years old and the left hasn't come much further. Remember the dumbass "CHAZ" American leftists tried to make that fell apart in like 2 days? I'm glad that shit has been memory holed. And he's CIA why exactly? Because he doesn't think you are so cool, radical, and subversive for being leftist?
Remember the dumbass “CHAZ” American leftists tried to make that fell apart in like 2 days?
I mostly agree, although instead I'd point to the DSA being unable to excise anti-worker AOC; Bernie gifting his movement to Biden; BLM, #MeToo and FightForFifteen cannibalized by liberalism, etc.
Plenty of big failures to eat shit about before one direct action by the only people willing to try anything, even if it was sort of dumb.
You're right, I admit at the time I was pretty excited they were giving it a try, but its failure just obviously revealed we have a lot of work left to do. CHAZ was trying to skip to last the step, but at least it showed is definitely revolutionary energy in this country if we could only channel it effectively.
The US left needs to break out from under the democratic party somehow to get anywhere imo. But we don't even have a clear "left" yet, besides a couple succdems like AOC. I just hope something coalesces together soon, because we are heading for common ruin at this rate.
don’t even have a clear “left” yet,
This is the source of my nihilism about this entire topic. I agree with Zizek so far as to think the academic system he is part of is another of these failures. As far as I've ever seen Zizek's real-world audience is people who enjoy TikToks of a him eating hotdogs while Chomsky's is now NPR liberals who nod along and then spend all day posting about Bernie Bros..
