Propaganda and the Public Mind

Table of Contents

Introduction
1 Activist Victories
2 US to World: Get Out of the Way
3 For Reasons of State
4 East Timor on the Brink
5 The Meaning of Seattle
6 Liberating the Mind From Orthodoxies
7 Solidarity
Appendix Some Resources for Further Information

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Excerpt

From Chapter 2: “US to World: Get Out of the Way”

Barsamian: One of the advantages of leaving the United States is to be exposed to different media. I traveled to Thailand in January. The Nation is one of their two English-language newspapers. There was a very critical article by Suravit Jayanama titled, “Containing America in the Post-Cold War Era.” The article asked, “While Washington talks about containing Saddam Hussein, what about the need to contain a superpower that zealously acts to protect its own interests?”

Chomsky: That’s the attitude in much of the world, and with justice. When the world’s only superpower, which has essentially a monopoly of force, announces openly, We will use force and violence as we choose and if you don’t like it get out of the way, there’s a reason why that should frighten people. Incidentally, the reaction after the Gulf War was the same. It was described in the United States as a triumph of morality and courage. But if you look around the world, it was quite different. I reviewed as much as I could discover of world coverage, and people were very frightened. They said, These guys are out of control. Who are they going to attack next? There is no deterrent left. The United States will do as it pleases, and everybody else had better watch out...

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Praise

"In Propaganda and the Public Mind, we have unique insight into Noam Chomsky's decades of penetrating analyses...drawn together in one slender volume by a brilliant radio interviewer, David Barsamian.  They make clear that the new electronic media and their corporate culture ignore national boundaries and in that sense exceed in power individual nations of the world whose borders they so easily penetrate."
—Ben Bagdikian, author of The Media Monopoly

"To anyone who wonders if ideas, information, and activism can make a profound difference in the twenty-first century, I say: 'Read this book.'  Propaganda and the Public Mind challenges us to think more independently and more deeply about the human consequences of power and privilege.  It also minces no words about the grim results of illusion and inaction.  These discussions between Noam Chomsky and David Barsamian will inspire readers to explore wider possibilities.… What we do with it is up to us."
—Norman Solomon, author of The Habits of Highly Deceptive Media

Praise for Noam Chomsky

"An exploder of received truths."
—New York Times

"Noam Chomsky is one of the most significant challengers of unjust power and delusions; he goes against every assumption about American altruism and humanitarianis...

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