Chomsky and 9/11 openness

[Charles Brown]

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Chomsky dismisses his critics as "commissars," saying he takes their put-
downs "for granted. It's been done throughout history. How were dissidents
treated in the Soviet Union? Let's look at the First World War. The first
thing that happened as the war opened was that 93 leading German
intellectuals issued a proclamation requesting that intellectuals all over
the world support Germany's noble war effort. On the Anglo-American side,
exactly the same thing happened. There were a couple of dissidents, like
(author and philosopher) Bertrand Russell and (Socialist presidential
candidate) Eugene Debs in the United States -- and, yes, they ended up in
jail."

^^^^^^^^

CB: And,  for a bit more complete historical picture,  the Bolsheviks, who upon taking state power issued a decree of peace and pulled Russia out of WWI as the first official act of state.  

Thank goodness for Noam today, though.

^^^^^^^

"It's not just me, incidentally," Chomsky said. "It's everybody. There's
probably been more openness and dissent now than at any time in modern
history. "

^^^^^^^

CB: Given the reactionary direction of substantive politics at the same time, this thereby demonstrates that the liberal democratic ideals of openness and dissent are necessary, but not sufficient for liberation struggle to free us from capitalism and imperialism.

But , still, sincerely, YOU GO NOAM !