FUBAR!

Under the current U. S. policies, a nuclear exchange is inevitable.
-- Noam Chomsky



I stated my intention to publish a blog entry titled "FUBAR", and this is it. The title is the same as the middle episode of the Ken Burns documentary "The War", which I reviewed in my last entry. I assume you know the acronym -- F(bleep)ed Up Beyond All Recognition -- and its assimilation into the everyday slang. It is also, far too accurately, an assessment of the world today. Not entirely, from my point of view, since I'm determined to remain an optimist. The final letter of the acronym stands for Recognition, not Redemption. The key is Recognition. Even though everything's been muddied and F(bleep)ed Up, I believe Recognition is still possible, if we just try.

This blog has been invaluable as a sort of story line for my semi-retirement. To the casual observer, I know it may be difficult to see much of a pattern, but it's there. I left the Microsoft development cycle grind a little over 7 months ago because (1) I could, and (2) I have a medical condition. My plan for this time was partially dictated by my physical limitations, but I looked forward to extensive reading and zazen in a peacefully contemplative environment. As I have begun learning to appreciate the simple pleasures, the world outside has stood in stark contrast to the satisfactions I enjoyed, so I've been studying our world intensely and, of course, blogging about it.

At Microsoft, one of my biggest thrills has been seeing the actual thought processes of truly brilliant minds. As for myself, I have my moments, but with regard to pure technical intelligence and skills, I've been known more for effort than technical brilliance. I was privileged to be part of the Windows Vista development cycle virtually from the outset, and I was constantly exposed to individuals with the capacity for lightning analysis, uncanny abilities to anticipate and prepare for a dizzying array of contingencies, and just more or less shed light on the actualization of real genius in the modern world. And I'm not exaggerating. So, I've had quite an extraordinary education about the utilization of our faculties, and that constantly inspires me to apply myself now with some of the rigors and discipline of Windows development to which I've been exposed.

I'm old enough to "get" the importance of trying to have a fairly balanced view of things, and there is certainly a connection between the Zen traditions and the ancient symbols of Yin and Yang. I know a blog that begins with pictures of nuclear mushrooms doesn't bode well for the hope of a balanced perspective, but, as I mentioned earlier, this blog is a kind of narrative. This entry represents the effect of my having reached a certain stage, but the story itself is a longer one, with more balancing effects over time.

When I indicated my intention to write FUBAR!, the stated goal was to try and put into words anything I've left unsaid. Thinking about that, I realized that meant I should try to give a voice to some of the unspoken subtext and vague fears, hopefully without simply being shrill and alarmist, but with at least some real skill at assessing the landscape. Fortunately, we have no shortage of brilliant minds today who are attempting to do just that, and I have tried in these entries to provide the most relevant possible snapshots of these attempts, with modest success. But for all the brilliance of authors and journalists such as Paul Krugman and Naomi Klein, and even my hero Howard Zinn, I remained uncertain what I might say.

Perhaps I'm learning a bit about how to let things happen when they're ready, but I think I've always had some instincts in that regard. I appear to be ready to hear what Professor Noam Chomsky has to say about this world, and I believe those are the very words I'd been searching for.

The following is a transliteration of a portion of a radio interview of Chomsky by the BBC in January 2006, titled "The Biggest Challenges Facing Humankind":

Chomsky: Well I think there are two major challenges which are actually so serious that they literally endanger survival of the species. The worst of them, which is unfortunately rarely discussed, is the threat of nuclear war which has been high for a long time and is now increasing. It’s not alarmist when someone like Robert McNamara writes an article called “Apocalypse soon,” or when leading strategic analysts in the most conservative journals talk of the “appreciable risk of ultimate doom.” Primarily driven by what’s called the transformation of military in the United States, the vast increase in offensive military capacity, including steps towards militarization of space which every analyst understands, is leading potential adversaries to increase their own offensive military capacities. The Russians have done so very substantially since the Bush administration came in, the Chinese are now doing it. And all of these systems are increasingly being placed on automated response system, hair-trigger alert, that’s called “Accidents waiting to happen” in strategic analysis literature. We know our own systems fail constantly and are averted by human intervention which has only a few minutes of time, and the systems of the adversaries are much less sophisticated, much more likely to cause an accidental missile strike. Those dangers are going up very high and talk about ultimate doom and apocalypse is now not alarmist. In fact at a lower level, US intelligence analysts estimate the probability of a dirty nuclear bomb attack in the US in the next ten years is about 50%. That’s not a massive nuclear attack but enough to change the course of history dramatically, maybe end up in nuclear war. These are the things that are right at the edge. Instead of doing something about them, we’re going in the opposite direction.

Noam Chomsky has encountered a great deal of opposition for his forceful views, but I have spent much of my life studying brilliant minds, and Noam Chomsky possesses a laser beam quality of thinking I have rarely encountered, and that's saying something. He has the kind of thinking that blows my hair back when he speaks. I've seen so many brilliant people up close, both at Microsoft and in the theater districts of Manhattan, that I've also learned a bit about spotting the flaws in their brilliance, and I'm sure the same will be true for Mr. Chomsky as I continue to read and listen. But for all their flaws, let me tell you. When you have a chance to listen to genius, just drop whatever you were doing, and sit down. You're about to have your life enriched.

Here is a link to Noam Chomsky's primary web site, Chomsky.info, and two links to an extraordinary interview with both Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn on DemocracyNow! from April of this year:

• On Iraq, Vietnam, Activism and History


• On Alan Dershowitz and Norman Finkelstein

Chomsky rose to fame as a linguist, and has extended his reputation as a searing critic of the United States and its policies. His linguistic skills are always evident in his ability to extract the core of a given context and cling to it as a buffer against all attempts to shift the topic. With focus, discipline, and an inexhaustible range of information and specific examples, Chomsky offers a vision of today's world as defined by the imperialist tendencies of great powers, the most recent example of which is the United States. Lest you think we've merely descended into a world of esoteric phrases, there are some examples below that will touch on some of the implications. If you'll excuse a brief digression, perhaps I can establish a little more context.

Paul Krugman is a famous liberal columnist for The New York Times, and his new book, The Conscience of a Liberal, will be published later this month. He is also writing a blog by the same name. I highly recommend the blog, and hope Mr. Krugman won't mind if I include a small graph from the initial blog entry that I linked to above:

This chart represents the richest 10 percent of the American population over the past 90 years. It's a very striking representation of the fate of the middle class during that time, and might serve, at the very least, as incentive to seriously question the policies that have led to such effects on the majority of American citizens. It is completely reasonable to question why we should think that the chart above reflects the collective efforts and consensus will of the general public of this powerful nation. If one has the stomach for considering the possible darker implications, it might lead to paying more attention to some of our harshest critics.

The first video below is from an old TV show called The Firing Line in 1969. It records a brief encounter between the young Mr. Chomsky and William F. Buckley. I'm including it to allow you to experience political discourse on a rarefied level compared to most of what we see today, and to see Chomsky's powerful mind in action when pitted against one of the most eloquent conservatives of the information age:



Finally, this video is from an interview with Francine Stock of the BBC at London's St. Paul's Cathedral in December of 2002. It's "spiced up" with a little multimedia introduction that gives some sense of Chomsky's real impact on the world, though it's yet to be felt with full force in the country that's been the target of most of his criticism. As an added bonus, it's introduced by the playwright Harold Pinter, whose plays helped me explore our words and meanings in many challenging ways during the years I spent in the theater. (Note: This video may have some glitches. I'm keeping an eye on it.)



As I said, I'm determined to be an optimist. I have much to learn from the speeches and writings of Mr. Chomsky, but it's more than troubling to hear this man, to be able to recognize him as more than a cut above most of us in his abilities to perceive and examine the world, and to recognize ourselves in the mirror he shoves so rudely before our faces.

The image atop this blog entry is a warning. I have travelled this path in good faith, and have come now to stand trembling before my most eloquent accuser.

I do not have an answer.