European Tribune - Community, Politics & Progress.

Noam Chomsky in Cyprus

by Upstate NY
Thu May 18th, 2006 at 08:10:58 PM EST

http://www.cyprus-mail.com/news/main.php?id=25930&cat_id=1

I'm tempted to ask everyone if you feel that Noam Chomsky is a bloated, bombastic paranoid. Does he overstate the case? Or should we all be as cynical as he is?

(Naturally, I'm judging that this blog is nowhere near as cynical as Chomsky.)

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Noam Chomsky in Cyprus | 23 comments (23 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: Noam Chomsky in Cyprus (none / 0)

Could you please indicate any of the direct quotations from Chomsky that support your accusation of him being a "bloated, bombastic paranoid?"

I respectfully disagree -- on the contrary I found his positions both balanced and in many cases a lot less extreme than opinions voiced in dailykos or eurotrib.

Orthodoxy is not a religion.

by BalkanIdentity (balkanid _ at _ google.com) on Thu May 18th, 2006 at 10:16:28 PM EST

Re: Noam Chomsky in Cyprus (none / 0)

It's a question, not a statement.

by Upstate NY on Fri May 19th, 2006 at 10:16:30 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Noam Chomsky in Cyprus (none / 0)

Well then you have an answer.

Still, the framing of your "question" strongly implicates that you at least partially view him the way you described. So I think it is only fair to ask for examples that would at least support asking such a question.

Orthodoxy is not a religion.

by BalkanIdentity (balkanid _ at _ google.com) on Fri May 19th, 2006 at 09:39:12 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Noam Chomsky in Cyprus (none / 0)

There are other possibilities as well, not simply that I disagree with Chomsky.

Since you're asking me to come clean, I will. I agree with Chomsky. But it's also obvious to me that no one else in the US with his position or reputation shares or expresses this point of view in the mass media. Chomsky is one of the few that gets to talk about western oligarchies. As such, his voice--in terms of counterpoint--may seem bombastic.

by Upstate NY on Sun May 21st, 2006 at 12:04:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Noam Chomsky in Cyprus (none / 1)

(Naturally, I'm judging that this blog is nowhere near as cynical as Chomsky.)

An interesting judgement.

by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Fri May 19th, 2006 at 10:21:43 AM EST

Re: Noam Chomsky in Cyprus (none / 0)

Indeed.

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Mon May 22nd, 2006 at 03:54:35 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Noam Chomsky in Cyprus (none / 0)

He's 'merely' exposing the hypocrisy that passes for Western diplomacy these days.

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Fri May 19th, 2006 at 10:46:25 AM EST

Re: Noam Chomsky in Cyprus (none / 0)

what's so cynical about what he says?

typical projection...his message is stand up to the cynicism that allowed these empires to walk over the weak, and then congratulate themselves on their so-called noble aims.

if chomsky is a voice in the wilderness, it's because the truth is so hard to face, and so difficult to deny, simultaneously!

cog-diss at its finest.

if you want to trash chomsky, maybe you should look elsewhere for support.

or actually have something to offer, besides this sad effort...

what in his speech can you point to as being untrue?

insulting the messenger does not make his message untrue, it just betrays your inability to handle the message.

i wish chomsky all the best in his desire to pick up public opinion by the scruff of its neck and give it a good shake!

Peace is not the absence of war -- peace is the absence of fear. Ursula Franklin

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Sun May 21st, 2006 at 08:52:56 AM EST

Re: Noam Chomsky in Cyprus (none / 1)

Man, who peed in your cornflakes?

by Upstate NY on Sun May 21st, 2006 at 12:05:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Noam Chomsky in Cyprus (none / 0)

chomsky's enemies did!

peeing in my cornflakes ain't the problem....conspiring to trash the planet for the ill-gotten gain of a few uber-rich is.

Peace is not the absence of war -- peace is the absence of fear. Ursula Franklin

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Mon May 22nd, 2006 at 03:02:21 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Noam Chomsky in Cyprus (none / 0)

Err, yeah, but my post above in response to Balkan Identity clarified that I was asking a question, not making a statement. You know, playing devil's advocate.

I can't think of any other American other than Chomsky who can hold forth in such a manner on the international stge. Maybe Ramsey Clark, but no one really takes him seriously, and I'm not sure he's as much a critic as Chomsky is anyway.

by Upstate NY on Mon May 22nd, 2006 at 11:19:49 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Noam Chomsky in Cyprus (none / 0)

BTW, will you diary on the Cyprus elections?

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Mon May 22nd, 2006 at 11:25:11 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Noam Chomsky in Cyprus (none / 0)

I'm loathe to do so since so much is unchanged. Essentially, nothing happened.

2006 = 2004.

But, as far as the Cyprus question goes, I can give a brief diary. I will.

Cheers.

by Upstate NY on Mon May 22nd, 2006 at 11:27:55 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Noam Chomsky in Cyprus (none / 0)

Could you at least include the results, with small party characterisations that make more sense of them than just left/right?

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Mon May 22nd, 2006 at 11:34:31 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Noam Chomsky in Cyprus (none / 1)

Yes, I tried to simplify it as much as possible without actually getting into the nitty gritty.

The problem with Cyprus: it is an immature political entity inasmuch as it compares to EU democracies. You have parties all over the political spectrum affiliating with one another. The party in power is a small fledgling party. The political system is very fractured. Parties break off from larger parties all the time. In a country of under a million people, having such a multitude of splinter parties is simply weird, and a strict reading of the vote by numbers will yield very little insight. That's why I chose to cut through the mess but only highlighting the most important factors.

Essentially, there's a struggle between DISY (pro Annan, pro USA, pro UK, very Right and Conservative) versus a coalition of AKEL-Communist (pro solution, anti-Annan, anti USA-UK) with DIKO (ambivalent with regard to solution, anti-Annan, at times in the past post USA, essentially a small party of political dinosaurs.

Strange bedfellows indeed. It really breaks down as pro-Annan/UK/USA and anti-Annan/anti-UK/USA.

by Upstate NY on Mon May 22nd, 2006 at 12:06:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Noam Chomsky in Cyprus (none / 0)

BTW, will you diary on the Montenegro referendum?

A vivid image of what should exist acts as a surrogate for reality. Pursuit of the image then prevents pursuit of the reality -- John K. Galbraith

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon May 22nd, 2006 at 11:26:48 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Noam Chomsky in Cyprus (none / 0)

?

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Mon May 22nd, 2006 at 11:32:55 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Noam Chomsky in Cyprus (none / 0)

Upstate NY is an expert on the Balkans, IIRC.

A vivid image of what should exist acts as a surrogate for reality. Pursuit of the image then prevents pursuit of the reality -- John K. Galbraith

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon May 22nd, 2006 at 11:34:51 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Noam Chomsky in Cyprus (none / 0)

Double-silly-me -- I thought the above is a reply to me...

So I second your question. But quick if possible, I'm soon off-line!

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Mon May 22nd, 2006 at 11:39:04 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Noam Chomsky in Cyprus (none / 0)

Oh, I missed your reply.

Why a double post? If you post a diary with just the map, I can edit in the text (not much - just the national total and the rules, and their relevance) - and then it will appear under your name, and deservedly so, as I'd consider the map more of a work than the text.

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Mon May 22nd, 2006 at 11:37:40 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Noam Chomsky in Cyprus (none / 1)

Hi Migeru. I read and studied extensively on the Balkans, especially that region, all during the 1990s, and perhaps until 2002. Since then, I can't speak to it since other life factors have intervened.

Perhaps my distance is more helpful however. I have been keeping up on the articles in the international press, less so those on the ground in each individual country. It seems obvious to me that Montenegro gains by sloughing off the stain and disrepute of Serbian ethnicity, even though--ironically--Milosevic was a Montenegrin and so were many of his top generals.

Frankly, it simply makes no sense, and it may very well go down as one of history's great ironies.

by Upstate NY on Mon May 22nd, 2006 at 12:10:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Noam Chomsky in Cyprus (none / 0)

We had a small discussion oh the Breakfast which you might want to skim.

A vivid image of what should exist acts as a surrogate for reality. Pursuit of the image then prevents pursuit of the reality -- John K. Galbraith

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon May 22nd, 2006 at 12:11:49 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Noam Chomsky in Cyprus (4.00 / 2)

Yes, I did it read it. I learned from it, which tells you a lot of my current expertise. I'm not sure that the Montenegrin example is one which will serve as an example for other smaller ethnic groups in Europe, since it's very easy to compartmentalize such votes for independence.

But it may trigger thinking in Kosovo, Sandjak, Slavonia, Bosnia.

by Upstate NY on Mon May 22nd, 2006 at 12:25:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Noam Chomsky in Cyprus | 23 comments (23 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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