Noam Chomsky - Turning the Tide U.S. intervention in

The Challenge Ahead
2.3 Turning the Tide
Classics in Politics: Turning the Tide Noam Chomsky
383
Such features of the contemporary world and our own society leave
ample openings for those concerned to alleviate current suffering or to
prepare the ground for substantive social change. Such efforts are
perhaps more feasible today than they were in earlier years. The
“conservative” mood among elites reflects an understanding of such
potential, and its temporary successes should not blind us to the basic
weaknesses of the “conservative” program. Even in these years of
coordinated elite campaigns and chaos and disorientation among
dissident forces there have been some real achievements and some
‘‘near misses’’ where a little more work could have made a large
difference. The US wars in Central America are bad enough, but could
be worse, as they were in Indochina. The congressional vote on aid to
the contras in June 1985 was not a “sure thing.” Had it gone differently,
the Administration would have found more devious means to pursue its
war against Nicaragua but the dynamics would have changed
considerably, with effects in Honduras and Costa Rica and a chance for
a peaceful settlement. The scandalous tolerance of the far worse USbacked
atrocities in El Salvador was not inevitable, but rather reflects
the failings of people who could have done far more to awaken the
public to them. How many of us can reflect with pride and equanimity
on what we have done in this case and many others?
Indoctrination is undoubtedly effective, particularly among the
educated part of the population, but the system of thought control is
based on principles that are flimsy and dishonest and it can collapse
very quickly, as happened during the Vietnam war with consequences
that persist today. As mentioned earlier, those who labor to rescue the
fact that 2+2= 4 from the commissars who insist that 2+2= 7 when it