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

The Challenge Ahead
Classics in Politics: Turning the Tide Noam Chomsky
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doctrines of the state religion—these are among the many reflections of
the enormous power of the Western system of fragmentation and
ideological control, and of our inability, so far, to combat it, except
sporadically.
US foreign and domestic policy has roots in institutional structures;
only in a limited way does it reflect the personal preferences and
commitments of particular individuals who happen to hold office. The
institutional structures fix these policies within certain bounds, leading
to ceaseless efforts to maintain or enlarge the Fifth Freedom, reliance on
the Pentagon system of state economic management, concerted
measures to limit democracy at home and destroy it in the
dependencies, a persistent assault on human rights and social justice,
construction of a vast system of social control and indoctrination. Within
the constraints of existing state institutions, policies will be determined
by people representing centers of concentrated power in the private
economy, people who, in their institutional roles, will not be swayed by
moral appeals but by the costs consequent upon the decisions they
make—not because they are “bad people,” but because that is what the
institutional roles demand; if current incumbents do not perform these
tasks, they will be removed in favor of others who will. The closer to the
centers of power one stands, the more these factors operate. Those who
are serious about inducing changes in public policy will therefore
consider ways to modify this calculus of costs.
For elite groups who control capital and investment decisions, the
means are direct, well-understood, and constantly pursued. The ordinary
citizen who is excluded from the private system of domination and
control can resort to other means. Those who own and manage the
society want a disciplined, apathetic and submissive public that will not
challenge their privilege and the orderly world in which it thrives. The
ordinary citizen need not grant them this gift. Enhancing the Crisis of