Chomsky on Anarchism.pdf - Zine Library

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CHOMSKY ON ANARCHISM budgetcu(ting and tax CUtS, that the current Republican proposals that are sail ing through Congress benefit the rich and harm the general population, and so on. Intellectuals may teli a different story, bur it's not all that difficult to find our the facts. To a point anarchist ideas have been vindicated by the colhpse of the Soviet Union (the predictions of Bakunin have proven to be correct). Do you think that anarchists should take heart from this general development and from the perceptiveness of Bakunins analysis? Should anarchists look to the period ahead with greater confidence in their ideas and history? I think (at least hope) that the answer is implicit in (he above. I think the current era has ominoLLs portent-and signs of great hope. Which result enSLLes depends on what we make of the opportunities. Lastly, Noam, a different sort of question. We have a pint of Guinness on order for you here. When are YOlt going to come and drink it? Keep the c.;uinness ready. 1 hope it won't be too long. Less jocularly, I'd be there tomorrow, if we could. We (my wife came along with me, unusual for these constant trips) had a marvelous time in Ireland, and would love to come back. Why don't we? Won't bore you with the sordid details, bur demands are extraordinary, and mounting-a reflection of the conditions I've been trying to describe. 18. This interview was conducted in May 1995 by Kevin Doyle fo r Red r:!r Black RevoLution: A Magazine ofLibertarian Communism, No. 2 0995-1996), and published in Noam <strong>Chomsky</strong>, Language and Politics, expanded ed., edired by C. P. Otero (Oakland: AK Press, 2004), pp. 775-85.
EIGHT GOALS AND VISIONS (1996) In referring to goals and visions, I have in mind a practical rather than a very principled distinction. As is usual in human affairs, it is the pracricai perspective that matters most. Such theoretical understanding as we have is far too thin (0 carry much weighr. By visions, I mean rhe conception of a fmure sociecy (hat animates what we actually do, a society in which a decent human being might want to live. By goals, I mean the choices and tasks that are within reach, that we will pursue one way or another guided by a vision that may be distant and hazy. HO An animating vision must rest on some conceprion of human naUlre, of what's good for people, of their needs and rights, of the aspects of their nature that should be nunured, encouraged and permined ro flourish for their benefit and that of others. The concept of human nature that underlies our visions is usually tacit and inchoate, bur it is always there, perhaps implicitly, whether one chooses to leave things as they are and cultivate one's own garden, or ro work fo r small changes, or fo r revolmionary ones. This much, at least, is true of people who regard themselves as moral agents, not monsters-who care abom the effects of what they do or fail to do. On all such maners, our knowledge and understanding are shallow; as in vinually every area of human life, we proceed on the basis of inruirion and experience, hopes and fears. Goals involve hard choices with very serious human consequences. We adopt them on the basis of imperfect evidence and limited understanding, and though our visions can and should be a guide, they are at best a very partial one. They are not clear, nor are they stable, at least for people who care about the consequences of their acts. Sensible people will look forward to a clearer articulation of their animating visions and to the critical evaluation of them in the light of reason and experience. So far, the substance is pretty meager, and there are no signs of any change in that state of affairs. Slogans are easy, but nor very hel pflll when real choices have (Q be made. GOALS VERSUS VISIONS Goals and visions can appear to be in conflict, and often are. There's no contradiction in that, as I think we all know from ordinary experience. Let me take my own case, to illustrate what I have in mind.
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CHOMSKY ON ANRRCHISM SELECTED AND E
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CHOMSKY ON ANARCHISM PREFACE 5 INTR
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OBJECTIVITY AND LIBERAL SCHOLARSHIP
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THREE NOTES ON ANARCHISM (1970) U8
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THE RElEVANCE OF ANARCHO-SYNDICALIS
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