Chomsky on Anarchism.pdf - Zine Library
Chomsky on Anarchism.pdf - Zine Library
Chomsky on Anarchism.pdf - Zine Library
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OBJECTIVITY AND LIBERAL SCHOLARSHIP<br />
same way, Lord Cornwallis understood the necessiry of "transferring the instimti<strong>on</strong>"<br />
of a squirearchy to India-as any reas<strong>on</strong>able pers<strong>on</strong> could see, this was<br />
the <strong>on</strong>ly civilized form of social organizati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
The "scholarly objectiviry" that Huntingt<strong>on</strong> lauds is further dem<strong>on</strong>strated<br />
in the c<strong>on</strong>tributi<strong>on</strong> by Milt<strong>on</strong> Sacks. entitled "Restructuring Government in<br />
South Vietnam." As Sacks perceives the siwati<strong>on</strong>, there are two forces in Somh<br />
Vietnam, the "nati<strong>on</strong>alists" and the "Communists." The "Communists" are<br />
the Vietminh and the NLF; am<strong>on</strong>g the "nati<strong>on</strong>alists," he menti<strong>on</strong>s specifically<br />
the VNQDD and the Dai Viet (and the military). The "nati<strong>on</strong>alists" have a<br />
few problems; fo r example, they "were manipulated by the French, by the<br />
Japanese, by the communists and latterly by the Americans," and "too many of<br />
South Viemam's leading generals fought with the French against the<br />
Vietnamese people. "25 Our problem is the weakness of the nati<strong>on</strong>alists,<br />
although there was some hope during General Khanh's government, "a most<br />
interesting effort because it was a genuine coaliti<strong>on</strong> of representatives of all the<br />
major political groups in South Vietnam." Curiously, this highly representative<br />
government was unable to accept or even to c<strong>on</strong>sider "a proposal for what<br />
appeared to be an authentic coaliti<strong>on</strong> government" coming from the Nati<strong>on</strong>al<br />
Liberati<strong>on</strong> Fr<strong>on</strong>t in mid-1964.2 6 According to Douglas Pike, the proposal<br />
could not be seriously c<strong>on</strong>sidered because n<strong>on</strong>e of the "n<strong>on</strong>-Communists" in<br />
South Vietnam, "with the possible excepti<strong>on</strong> of the Buddhists, thought them-<br />
24 selves equal in size and power to risk entering into a coaliti<strong>on</strong>, fearing that if<br />
they did the whale would swallow the minnow." Thus. he c<strong>on</strong>tinues. "coaliti<strong>on</strong><br />
government with a str<strong>on</strong>g NLF could not be sold within South Vietnam," even<br />
to the government which. as Sacks informs us. was "a genuine coaliti<strong>on</strong>" of "all<br />
the major political groups in South Vietnam." R.'lther, the GVN and its successors<br />
c<strong>on</strong>tinued to insist that the NLF show their sinceriry by withdrawing<br />
"their armed units and their poli6cal cadres from South Vietnamese territory"<br />
(March I, 1965).<br />
According to Sacks, "the problem which presents itself is to devise an instimti<strong>on</strong>al<br />
arrangement that will tend to counteract the factors and forces which<br />
are c<strong>on</strong>ducive to that instability" that now plagues Vietnamese political life.<br />
This problem. of course, is <strong>on</strong>e that presents itself to us. And, Sacks feels, it is<br />
well <strong>on</strong> its way to soluti<strong>on</strong>, with the new c<strong>on</strong>stituti<strong>on</strong> and the forthcoming<br />
(September 1967) electi<strong>on</strong>s, which "will provide spokesmen who claim legitimacy<br />
through popular mandate and speak with authoriry <strong>on</strong> the issues of war<br />
and peace for their c<strong>on</strong>stimency." Although this "free electi<strong>on</strong> ... will still leave<br />
unrepresented those who are fighting under the banner of the South Vietnam<br />
Nati<strong>on</strong>al Liberati<strong>on</strong> Fr<strong>on</strong>t and those whose candidates were not permitted to<br />
stand in the electi<strong>on</strong>s." we must, after all, understand that no instituti<strong>on</strong> in the<br />
real world can be perfect. The il1l.porrant thing, according to Sacks, is that for<br />
the first time since the fall of Diem, there will be electi<strong>on</strong>s that are not seen by<br />
the government in power simply "as a means of legitimating the power they