Chomsky on Anarchism.pdf - Zine Library

OBJECTIVITY AND LIBERAL SCHOLARSHIP
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the instrument of selfconrrol-victory by means of the organizarional
weapon," setting lip a variety of self-help "functional liberation associations"
based on "associational discipline" coupled with "the right of freedom of discussion
and secret vote at association meetings," and generating "a sense of
community, first, by developing a pattern of political thought and behavior
appropriate to the social problems of the fUral Vietnamese village in the midst
of sharp social change and, second, by providing a basis for group action that
allowed the individual villager to see that his own efforts could have meaning
and effed' (obviously, a skilled and treacherous enemy). This was, of course,
prior to "the advent of massive American aid, and the GVN's strategic hamlet
program." With the American takeover of the war, the emphasis shifted to military
rather than political action, and ultimately, North Vietnamese involvemenr
and perhaps connol; "beginning in 1965, large numbers of regular army
troops from North Vietnam were senr inro South Vietnam."
In short, what we see is a contrast between the Dai Viet and VNQDD, represenring
South Vietnamese nationalism, and the NLF, an extrinsic alien force.
One must bear in mind that Sacks would undoubtedly accept Pike's factual
description as accurate, bm, like Pike, would regard it as demonstrating nothing,
since we are the ultimate arbiters of what COlints as "genuine Vietnamese
nationalism. "
An inreresting counrerpoim to Sacks' exposition of narionalist versus
Communist forccs is providcd in David Wurfcl's careful analysis, in the samc
issue of Asian Survey, of the "Saigon political elite." He argues that "this elite
has not substantially changed its character in the last few years" (i.e., since
1962), though there may be a few modifications: "Formerly, only among the
great landlords were there those who held significant amounts of both political
and economic power; grandiose corruption may have allowed others to
attain that distinction in recent years." Continuing, "the military men in pOSt­
Diem cabinets all served under Bao Dai and the French in a civil or military
capacity." Under the French, "those who felt most comfortable about entering
the civil service were those whose families were already part of the bureaucratic-intellectual
elite. By the early 1950's they saw radicalism, in the fo rm of the
Viet Minh, as a threat to their own position. The present political elite is the
legacy of these developments." Although, he observes, things might change,
"the South Vietnamese cabinets and perhaps most of the rest of the political
elite have been constituted by a highly westernized intelligenrsia. Though the
people of South Vietnam seem to be in a revolutionary mood, this elite is hardly
revolutionary." The NLF constitures a "counter-elite," less Westernized: of
the NLF Central Committee members, "only 3 out of 27 report studying in
France."
The problem of "restructuring governmenr" is further analyzed by Ithiel
Pool, along lines that parallel Sacks's contribution to this collection of "scholarly,
objective studies." He begins by formulating a general proposition: "I rule