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General Category => Off the Record => Topic started by: jimmy olsen on April 14, 2010, 10:54:32 PM

Title: Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
Post by: jimmy olsen on April 14, 2010, 10:54:32 PM
Oh Noes! Beck's Brownshirts will get me!!111

http://www.progressive.org/wx041210.html
QuoteChomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
By Matthew Rothschild, April 12, 2010

Noam Chomsky, the leading leftwing intellectual, warned last week that fascism may be coming to the United States.

"I'm just old enough to have heard a number of Hitler's speeches on the radio," he said, "and I have a memory of the texture and the tone of the cheering mobs, and I have the dread sense of the dark clouds of fascism gathering" here at home.

Chomsky was speaking to more than 1,000 people at the Orpheum Theatre in Madison, Wisconsin, where he received the University of Wisconsin's A.E. Havens Center's award for lifetime contribution to critical scholarship.

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"The level of anger and fear is like nothing I can compare in my lifetime," he said.

He cited a statistic from a recent poll showing that half the unaffiliated voters say the average tea party member is closer to them than anyone else.

"Ridiculing the tea party shenanigans is a serious error," Chomsky said.

Their attitudes "are understandable," he said. "For over 30 years, real incomes have stagnated or declined. This is in large part the consequence of the decision in the 1970s to financialize the economy."

There is class resentment, he noted. "The bankers, who are primarily responsible for the crisis, are now reveling in record bonuses while official unemployment is around 10 percent and unemployment in the manufacturing sector is at Depression-era levels," he said.

And Obama is linked to the bankers, Chomsky explained.

"The financial industry preferred Obama to McCain," he said. "They expected to be rewarded and they were. Then Obama began to criticize greedy bankers and proposed measures to regulate them. And the punishment for this was very swift: They were going to shift their money to the Republicans. So Obama said bankers are "fine guys" and assured the business world: 'I, like most of the American people, don't begrudge people success or wealth. That is part of the free-market system.'

People see that and are not happy about it."

He said "the colossal toll of the institutional crimes of state capitalism" is what is fueling "the indignation and rage of those cast aside."

"People want some answers," Chomsky said. "They are hearing answers from only one place: Fox, talk radio, and Sarah Palin."

Chomsky invoked Germany during the Weimar Republic, and drew a parallel between it and the United States. "The Weimar Republic was the peak of Western civilization and was regarded as a model of democracy," he said.

And he stressed how quickly things deteriorated there.

"In 1928 the Nazis had less than 2 percent of the vote," he said. "Two years later, millions supported them. The public got tired of the incessant wrangling, and the service to the powerful, and the failure of those in power to deal with their grievances."

He said the German people were susceptible to appeals about "the greatness of the nation, and defending it against threats, and carrying out the will of eternal providence."

When farmers, the petit bourgeoisie, and Christian organizations joined forces with the Nazis, "the center very quickly collapsed," Chomsky said.

No analogy is perfect, he said, but the echoes of fascism are "reverberating" today, he said.

"These are lessons to keep in mind."

Matthew Rothschild is the editor of The Progressive magazine.
Title: Re: Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
Post by: Jaron on April 14, 2010, 10:56:32 PM
What is funny is you actually consider yourself in a right winger. Only two groups are allowed in the right wing: White people and their house niggers. Which are you?
Title: Re: Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
Post by: Eddie Teach on April 14, 2010, 11:06:13 PM
Unnerving.
Title: Re: Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
Post by: citizen k on April 14, 2010, 11:11:57 PM
Chomsky, Rothschild ... :Joos :tinfoil:

Title: Re: Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
Post by: Kleves on April 14, 2010, 11:54:02 PM
Quote"The Weimar Republic was the peak of Western civilization and was regarded as a model of democracy," he said.
:yeahright:
Title: Re: Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
Post by: Jaron on April 14, 2010, 11:55:27 PM
That is an alarming statement..
Title: Re: Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
Post by: JonasSalk on April 14, 2010, 11:57:35 PM
No need to fear, just like his pal Zinn he'll be dead soon and irrelevant as ever.
Title: Re: Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
Post by: Razgovory on April 15, 2010, 12:04:54 AM
Who's Zinn?
Title: Re: Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
Post by: garbon on April 15, 2010, 12:05:22 AM
Fuck Chomsky. That is all.
Title: Re: Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
Post by: Jaron on April 15, 2010, 12:09:28 AM
Quote from: Razgovory on April 15, 2010, 12:04:54 AM
Who's Zinn?

He is already forgotten and irrelevant!  :yuk:
Title: Re: Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
Post by: Razgovory on April 15, 2010, 01:43:24 AM
Quote from: Jaron on April 15, 2010, 12:09:28 AM
Quote from: Razgovory on April 15, 2010, 12:04:54 AM
Who's Zinn?

He is already forgotten and irrelevant!  :yuk:

The wages of Zinn is death.
Title: Re: Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
Post by: MadImmortalMan on April 15, 2010, 02:07:46 AM
He's an interesting guy in my opinion. He's got such a different outlook on things that he has the effect of showing you the same things you look at every day from odd and bizarre angles. That's a good thing, even if he's outrageously wrong. I like how he credits class struggle and popular uprising against the rich for the Tea Parties' popularity as though it were a proletariat revolution against the rampant capitalism of Obama.  :P
Title: Re: Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
Post by: CountDeMoney on April 15, 2010, 05:23:45 AM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on April 14, 2010, 10:54:32 PM
Noam Chomsky, the leading leftwing intellectual,

That's incorrect.  Everybody knows its The Minsky Moment.
Title: Re: Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
Post by: Admiral Yi on April 15, 2010, 07:02:16 AM
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on April 15, 2010, 02:07:46 AM
I like how he credits class struggle and popular uprising against the rich for the Tea Parties' popularity as though it were a proletariat revolution against the rampant capitalism of Obama.  :P
And yet his fear is for a Fascist takeover, rather than a Communist one.

I don't think Chomsky applied his usually razor-sharp intellect to this question.
Title: Re: Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
Post by: Warspite on April 15, 2010, 07:18:43 AM
Chomsky is very useful because the moment someone starts spouting his waffle, I can immediately disregard any thoughts or opinions they might have.
Title: Re: Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
Post by: Neil on April 15, 2010, 08:12:40 AM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on April 15, 2010, 07:02:16 AM
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on April 15, 2010, 02:07:46 AM
I like how he credits class struggle and popular uprising against the rich for the Tea Parties' popularity as though it were a proletariat revolution against the rampant capitalism of Obama.  :P
And yet his fear is for a Fascist takeover, rather than a Communist one.

I don't think Chomsky applied his usually razor-sharp intellect to this question.
It's not like fascists don't use similar rhetoric.  Both fascism and communism are anti-elite.
Title: Re: Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
Post by: Fireblade on April 15, 2010, 08:55:24 AM
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.motifake.com%2Fimage%2Fdemotivational-poster%2F0810%2Ffascism-sarah-palin-flag-fascist-cross-republican-demotivational-poster-1224893113.jpg&hash=b2d68c5bb16cdd4ec34fdc801fc89f945f3383c3)
Title: Re: Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
Post by: Queequeg on April 15, 2010, 08:58:04 AM
Wow, amazing that he'd be able to predict the rise of Fascism 85  years before the march on Rome. 
Title: Re: Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
Post by: grumbler on April 15, 2010, 08:58:57 AM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on April 14, 2010, 10:54:32 PM

QuoteChomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
By Matthew Rothschild, April 12, 2010

Noam Chomsky, the leading leftwing intellectual, warned last week that fascism may be coming to the United States.

"I'm just old enough to have heard a number of Hitler's speeches on the radio," he said, "and I have a memory of the texture and the tone of the cheering mobs, and I have the dread sense of the dark clouds of fascism gathering" here at home...

"The level of anger and fear is like nothing I can compare in my lifetime," he said.

He listened to Hitler and yet Nazi Germany doesn't compare to today's level of anger and fear in the US?  :yeahright:
Title: Re: Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
Post by: grumbler on April 15, 2010, 09:02:13 AM
Quote from: Fireblade on April 15, 2010, 08:55:24 AM
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.motifake.com%2Fimage%2Fdemotivational-poster%2F0810%2Ffascism-sarah-palin-flag-fascist-cross-republican-demotivational-poster-1224893113.jpg&hash=b2d68c5bb16cdd4ec34fdc801fc89f945f3383c3)
One of two things is true:
(1) Lewis wrote this statement fifty years prior to his birth; or
(2) Those who created this demotivator, plus those who promulgate it, are clueless morons who lack reading skills.
Title: Re: Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
Post by: Josephus on April 15, 2010, 09:02:34 AM
? He should spend time on this forum and see how accurate his prediciton is.
Title: Re: Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
Post by: Martinus on April 15, 2010, 09:22:47 AM
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on April 15, 2010, 02:07:46 AM
He's an interesting guy in my opinion. He's got such a different outlook on things that he has the effect of showing you the same things you look at every day from odd and bizarre angles. That's a good thing, even if he's outrageously wrong. I like how he credits class struggle and popular uprising against the rich for the Tea Parties' popularity as though it were a proletariat revolution against the rampant capitalism of Obama.  :P

I don't think this is so off, actually. Class struggle doesn't need to mean socialism vs. capitalism necessarily, and the decision to bail out banks and Wall Street is perceived through the lens of rich vs. poor conflict by many people.
Title: Re: Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
Post by: Grey Fox on April 15, 2010, 09:40:40 AM
Quote from: grumbler on April 15, 2010, 09:02:13 AM
Quote from: Fireblade on April 15, 2010, 08:55:24 AM
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.motifake.com%2Fimage%2Fdemotivational-poster%2F0810%2Ffascism-sarah-palin-flag-fascist-cross-republican-demotivational-poster-1224893113.jpg&hash=b2d68c5bb16cdd4ec34fdc801fc89f945f3383c3)
One of two things is true:
(1) Lewis wrote this statement fifty years prior to his birth; or
(2) Those who created this demotivator, plus those who promulgate it, are clueless morons who lack reading skills.

That's because the date should be 1935 but even then a quick google search shows no proof that Lewis ever actually wrote/said that.
Title: Re: Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
Post by: Richard Hakluyt on April 15, 2010, 11:24:02 AM
Maybe he said it at 18.35 whilst downing a martini prior to having dinner  :hmm:
Title: Re: Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
Post by: The Brain on April 15, 2010, 12:17:05 PM
Chomsky is a spiteful retard.
Title: Re: Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
Post by: Josquius on April 15, 2010, 12:18:29 PM
Chomsky is a well known eejit outside of linguistics. Meh.
Title: Re: Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
Post by: Siege on April 15, 2010, 02:28:17 PM
Quote from: Jaron on April 14, 2010, 10:56:32 PM
What is funny is you actually consider yourself in a right winger. Only two groups are allowed in the right wing: White people and their house niggers. Which are you?

I'm not white and I am right winger. You fail at politics.

Title: Re: Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
Post by: MadImmortalMan on April 15, 2010, 02:31:46 PM
Quote from: Siege on April 15, 2010, 02:28:17 PM
Quote from: Jaron on April 14, 2010, 10:56:32 PM
What is funny is you actually consider yourself in a right winger. Only two groups are allowed in the right wing: White people and their house niggers. Which are you?

I'm not white and I am right winger. You fail at politics.


Liar. You're a socialist.
Title: Re: Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
Post by: Siege on April 15, 2010, 02:40:00 PM
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on April 15, 2010, 02:31:46 PM
Quote from: Siege on April 15, 2010, 02:28:17 PM
Quote from: Jaron on April 14, 2010, 10:56:32 PM
What is funny is you actually consider yourself in a right winger. Only two groups are allowed in the right wing: White people and their house niggers. Which are you?

I'm not white and I am right winger. You fail at politics.


Liar. You're a socialist.

No. Tribal-socialist, maybe. There is nothing farther on the Right than religious tribal-socialism.
Title: Re: Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
Post by: jimmy olsen on April 15, 2010, 05:24:49 PM
Quote from: grumbler on April 15, 2010, 08:58:57 AM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on April 14, 2010, 10:54:32 PM

QuoteChomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
By Matthew Rothschild, April 12, 2010

Noam Chomsky, the leading leftwing intellectual, warned last week that fascism may be coming to the United States.

"I'm just old enough to have heard a number of Hitler's speeches on the radio," he said, "and I have a memory of the texture and the tone of the cheering mobs, and I have the dread sense of the dark clouds of fascism gathering" here at home...

"The level of anger and fear is like nothing I can compare in my lifetime," he said.

He listened to Hitler and yet Nazi Germany doesn't compare to today's level of anger and fear in the US?  :yeahright:
Surely he meant the level of anger and fear in the US in his lifetime, though even then he would be wrong.
Title: Re: Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
Post by: grumbler on April 15, 2010, 07:39:48 PM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on April 15, 2010, 05:24:49 PM
Quote from: grumbler on April 15, 2010, 08:58:57 AM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on April 14, 2010, 10:54:32 PM

QuoteChomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
By Matthew Rothschild, April 12, 2010

Noam Chomsky, the leading leftwing intellectual, warned last week that fascism may be coming to the United States.

"I'm just old enough to have heard a number of Hitler's speeches on the radio," he said, "and I have a memory of the texture and the tone of the cheering mobs, and I have the dread sense of the dark clouds of fascism gathering" here at home...

"The level of anger and fear is like nothing I can compare in my lifetime," he said.

He listened to Hitler and yet Nazi Germany doesn't compare to today's level of anger and fear in the US?  :yeahright:
Surely he meant the level of anger and fear in the US in his lifetime, though even then he would be wrong.
I think he meant today's level of anger and fear in the US.  He uses the present tense.
Title: Re: Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
Post by: BuddhaRhubarb on April 15, 2010, 08:16:47 PM
[ :tinfoil: ] Risk of Fascism? pfft if he was a real leftie He'd know that's already happened, the fascists are already running things...  [ / :tinfoil: ]

:p
Title: Re: Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
Post by: Razgovory on April 15, 2010, 08:44:43 PM
Quote from: grumbler on April 15, 2010, 09:02:13 AM

One of two things is true:
(1) Lewis wrote this statement fifty years prior to his birth; or
(2) Those who created this demotivator, plus those who promulgate it, are clueless morons who lack reading skills.
[/quote]

And if Sarah Palin is the rise of Fascism I'll eat my hat.  And I have a fairly good sized hat.
Title: Re: Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
Post by: Razgovory on April 15, 2010, 08:45:59 PM
And if I get the quoting right on this damn website I'll eat a smaller, paper hat.
Title: Re: Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
Post by: Admiral Yi on April 15, 2010, 08:48:58 PM
 :lol:
Title: Re: Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
Post by: Fireblade on April 15, 2010, 08:53:56 PM
Quote from: grumbler on April 15, 2010, 09:02:13 AM
Quote from: Fireblade on April 15, 2010, 08:55:24 AM
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.motifake.com%2Fimage%2Fdemotivational-poster%2F0810%2Ffascism-sarah-palin-flag-fascist-cross-republican-demotivational-poster-1224893113.jpg&hash=b2d68c5bb16cdd4ec34fdc801fc89f945f3383c3)
One of two things is true:
(1) Lewis wrote this statement fifty years prior to his birth; or
(2) Those who created this demotivator, plus those who promulgate it, are clueless morons who lack reading skills.

:homestar: ?
Title: Re: Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
Post by: FunkMonk on April 15, 2010, 09:30:11 PM
She's naked under that flag.
Title: Re: Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
Post by: Habsburg on April 15, 2010, 11:22:56 PM
Quote from: Neil on April 15, 2010, 08:12:40 AM

It's not like fascists don't use similar rhetoric.  Both fascism and communism are anti-elite.

So True.

(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Finlinethumb50.webshots.com%2F45041%2F2594206830101857556S600x600Q85.jpg&hash=8027f515d08860f77b3f1fe9613c9bf82b13d704)

:weep:
Title: Re: Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America
Post by: Eddie Teach on April 15, 2010, 11:31:24 PM
Quote from: FunkMonk on April 15, 2010, 09:30:11 PM
She's naked under that flag.

:perv: