Chomsky on Anarchism.pdf - Zine Library

CHOMSKY ON ANARCHISM
In Europe, the situation is still more primitive. England has only limited
proteC[ion for freedom of speech, and even tolerates stich a disgrace as a law of
blasphemy. The reaction to the Salmon Rushdie affair, most dramatically on
the part of those who absurdly described themselves as "conservatives," was
particularly noteworthy.21 Doubtless many would agree with Conor Cruise
O'Brien, who, when Minister for Posts and Telegraphs in Ireland, amended the
Broadcasting Amhority Act to permit the Authority to refuse to broadcast any
matter that, in the judgment of the minister, "would tend to undermine the
authority of the state. " 12
We should also bear in mind that the right to freedom of speech in the
United States was not established by the First Amendment to the
COl1Sti(mion, but only through committed efforts over a long term by the
labor movement, the civil rights and anti-war movements of the 1960s, and
other popular forces. James Madison pointed out that a "parchment barrier"
will never suffice to prevent tyranny. Rights are not established by words, but
won and sustained by struggle.
It is also worth recalling that victories for freedom of speech are often won
in defense of the most depraved and horrendous views. The 1969 Supreme
Court decision was in defense of the Ku Klux Klan from prosecution after
meeting with hooded figures, guns, and a burning cross, calling for "burying
the nigger" and "sending the Jews back to Israel." With regard to freedom of
speech (here arc basically twO positions: you defend i( vigorously for views you
hate, or you reject it and prefer Stalinist/fascist standards. It is unfortunate that
it remains necessary to stress these simple truths. 23
The fears expressed by the men of best quality in the 17th century have
become a major theme of intellectual discourse, corporate practice, and the
academic social sciences. They were clearly expressed by the influential moralist
and foreign affairs adviser Reinhold Niebuhr, who was revered by George
Kennan, the Kennedy intellectuals, and many others. He wrote that "rationality
belongs to the cool observers" while the common person follows not reason
bur faith. The cool observers, he explained, must recognize "the stupidity of
the average man," and must provide the "necessary illusions" and the "emotionally
potent oversimplifications" that will keep the naive simpletons on
course. As in 1650, it remains necessary to protect the "lunatic or distracted
person," the ignorant rabble, from their own "depraved and corrupt" judgments,
just as one does nm allow a child to cross the street withom supervi­
Sion.
In accordance with the prevailing conceptions, there is no infringement on
democracy if a few corporations control the information system: in fact, that
is the essence of democracy. In the Annals of the American Academy of Political
and Social Science, the leading figure of the public relations industry, Edward
Bernays, explained that "the very essence of the democratic process" is "the
freedom to persuade and suggest," what he calls "the engineering of consent."
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