enjoy!

Chomsky's contribution, in particular, covers the defamation industries, the targeting of Middle Eastern Studies Departments and Peace Studies, stopping unwanted truths from being revealed, the use of "the new Hitler" terminology, demonization as a conventional preliminary to aggression using the Iranian example, the conformist subservience to power, wars as "always defensive" by aggressors, the difference between totalitarian and "democratic" propaganda systems (note), the U.S. "ownership" of the world, the mode of "Let's bomb them with democracy", the conformity of the educated classes, and so on.

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note On the difference between totalitarian and "democratic" propaganda systems: The party line is openly declared in the former; in the latter it is not announced but rather insinuated or presupposed and then lively debate is encouraged within that framework, etc.. It is not articulated and therefore is protected from easy refutation. As Chomsky says, the party line in "democratic" societies becomes the precondition of "responsible" debate, i.e., debate that presupposes the insinuated, but unspoken, party line and which is, therefore, not really "debate" at all about fundamentals. The question is not, "Should we send tanks to Afghanistan?" but rather, "What sort of tanks should we send to Afghanistan?" or "How can the conditions of our troops be improved?" or "Is air conditioning necessary?" and other "responsible" sorts of debates ... It's Chomsky at his best here.

[ 16 October 2007: Message edited by: N.Beltov ]