Machinations

I'm not a smart man... but I know what love is.
-- Forrest Gump

I am somewhat squeamish, but I steeled myself to keep from averting my eyes during the final scenes of Ken Burns' The War on PBS last Tuesday evening. I saw piles upon piles of corpses "stacked like cords of wood", as more than one witness had described. There's nothing quite like a 50-inch plasma display to maximize the impact of a video moment. All over the world, only a few short years ago, life had become a commodity of minimal value. As I switched off the TV and turned my attention to our modern world, I felt how deeply vulnerable we may be to the chance of its happening again.

The issue is ... whether we want to live in a free society or whether we want to live under what amounts to a form of self-imposed totalitarianism, with the bewildered herd marginalized, directed elsewhere, terrified, screaming patriotic slogans, fearing for their lives and admiring with awe the leader who saved them from destruction, while the educated masses goose-step on command and repeat the slogans they're supposed to repeat and the society deteriorates at home. We end up serving as a mercenary enforcer state, hoping that others are going to pay us to smash up the world. Those are the choices That's the choice that you have to face. The answer to those questions is very much in the hands of people like you and me.

-- Noam Chomsky, Media Control

Noam Chomsky was described in the New York Times as "arguably the most important intellectual alive." In September of 2006, Hugo Chavez displayed Chomsky's book Hegemony or Survival to world leaders at the United Nations, describing it as "an excellent book to help us understand what has been happening in the world throughout the 20th century." Of course, Chavez also expressed regret at not being able to meet with Chomsky before his death (Chomsky is very much alive), so one must reserve a degree of skepticism for Mr. Chavez' acumen. Osama bin Laden, in his video earlier this year, referred to Chomsky as "among the most capable of those from your side who speak to you on this topic." (Hey, with endorsements like that, who needs the Times Book Review?) Pat Tillman's mother, and Chomsky, have confirmed that a meeting had been arranged between Tillman and Chomsky on his return from Afghanistan. I suspect all, or at least the vast majority, regret that meeting did not take place.

I mention these references to highlight the really stunning impact this individual is having on the world. I have purchased three of his books -- Failed States, Hegemony or Survival, and The Chomsky Reader. I'm reading Failed States now, so I'm working backwards, I guess, but there's also so much material on the internet that it's somewhat slow progress. (Of course, there were the Ohio State and Cleveland Browns football games as well.) Chomsky is a complex man with complex thoughts, so I don't want to try and summarize him too quickly. But to underestimate his importance is to ignore the world.

What is the message that resonates so strongly with those who stand against U.S. foreign policies? If such a man as Osama bin Laden praises him, why should we even care? The ancient Greek philosopher Antisthines said "There are only two people who can tell you the truth about yourself - an enemy who has lost his temper, and a friend who loves you dearly." Osama bin Laden has unquestionably lost his temper, but I suspect Noam Chomsky loves us dearly. To this point, he appears to be telling us the truth, no matter how painful. We need to care, and I'm saying that Chomsky is only trying to warn us before it's too late.

If you've passed safely through the gauntlet of disinformation to appreciate that global warming is a fact, you also need to know that scientists are seeing that the process is occurring much faster than estimates had indicated. This crisis alone is more than sufficient to make us stop and take notice, but Chomsky elevates our awareness of the patterns of our overall behavior, and a much broader view of its causes and effects. The most critical problem of all is that we're heading in the wrong direction, and we're not slowing down, we're speeding up.

One of the "strongest" objections to Chomsky -- though not particularly strong, in my opinion -- is that the policies of the United States are infinitely preferable to the alternative, and ultimately result in humanitarian benefits over time. I would respond that the policies of the United States are infinitely less preferable than a revitalized policy founded principally on fundamental human rights. It represents a great lack of faith, to my mind, that we despair of making serious attempts to reform the destructive elements of the machineries of progress we've unleashed upon the world. I want to believe that we have far too much potential simply to ride on the runaway train and shout ahead with warnings.

It's not necessary to read Chomsky to get the feeling that the window of time for making adjustments may be closing, but it helps. The array of information he provides is available as a matter of public record, and the scrupulous methodology that has made him the most important linguistic scholar of our time is applied with vigor to these topics as well. It's not a matter of refuting his information, because he's simply repeating what is well known. The difference is his genius, and of course the enormous applied effort that is the real secret of genius, that allows him to broaden our view of events to include a much larger range of causes and effects, and perceive the underlying patterns. It's hard to imagine a more fitting toolset for understanding our world than a mastery of the basic elements of communication.

The problems of our world, when viewed in the historical and political contexts provided by such scholars as Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, can be overwhelming. Many of us have a growing fear that it may already be too late, so why even bother? I can't even comprehend that point of view, so I'll allow that to pass without further comment. I do believe that there's an excellent chance things are going to get much worse. I could have made that into a more comforting phrase such as "things are going to get much worse before they get better," but the truth is, by the very nature of our crises, it's more prudent to have placed the period to the sentence right where I put it. When concern about these issues is sufficient to have reached critical mass, there will be a response, of course, but it's increasingly likely our response will indeed have been too late.

So what should we do? I'm trying to do my part, in my small way. I really believe the most important thing is for us to simply recognize the problems. Many of us are not being very honest with ourselves, and you know who you are. Most of us are just trying to avoid being talked to like I'm doing now, and I probably can't blame you for that, there's a lot I'd rather be doing, as well. I think we should try to see "things as it is", as Shunryu Suzuki used to say. We should practice zazen and become less rigid, less dogmatic in our interactions, and waste far less time regretting the truth than in staying open to truth in every moment.

I really am very, very hopeful. With reservations.