Someone recently told me they thought Noam Chomsky was not a credible scholar or source of information and lumped him in with other well known writers and scholars such as Norman Finkelstein and Edward Said. Obviously it's not enough to be a professor at one of the most prestigious universities in the world, and writing countless books on foreign policy, world events and issues we as a planet face isn't enough to impress this person in any way. I would never claim something so stupid. However, I will credit this person with one thing: knowing who Noam Chomsky is. I think this person might have read a page or two of one of Noam's countless essays, but I can't be sure this person even read the whole thing.

What I wish is that everyone knew who Noam Chomsky was, and further, I wish everyone would read his stuff. He is wonderful.

His latest book, Hopes and Prospects, covers some of the old familiar ground as well as new problems and ways of looking at them, all in the usual Chomsky style. That is to say, it's absent the mass-media, repeat-what-the-government-says-without-analysis-or-criticism (i.e. "take this press release and publish it"), propagandized version of events you get from corporate-sponsored and advertiser-directed editorial crap that is spewed from major media outlets.

People say he's anti-this or contra-that, all in an effort to paint him as being against *you* and your best interests. Nothing could be further from the truth. Strip away those labels and preconceptions that people hang around his neck in an effort to discredit truth and listen to what he is actually contending and saying. What you will find is that what Noam wants is a world that is better tomorrow for each and every person living in it today, without exception.

'Establishment' (and its blind and self-defeating agents) will of course disagree with me. In order to promote a position benefiting not me or you or our individual and collective best interests, establishment pushes forth lies, claims them as truth and then uses their vast power and wealth to make sure you believe them. When they are successful (and they always are) people end up supporting what is good for those with power and wealth only. They (the ones who pull our strings) will oversimplify issues so they can be put on a bumper sticker, while other issues they will over complicate to encourage you to stay out of the conversation.

Noam strips all the confusion away, describes events as those in power have documented them and shows you how the US is not only *not* fighting terrorism properly but actually promoting it. When you take their own version of what happens in the world and compare it to what they say, one thing is very clear: they are hypocrites. His evidence is so strong and credible, you discover a reality they don't want you to know.

I've given this 4 of 5 stars for two reasons. First, I listened to the audio version of the book I didn't connect with very well with the narrator. The other reason, and larger point, is that I'm quite familiar with Noam's current articles, interviews, speeches and such and not all of the essays in the book were new to me, and therefore, not as "mind-blowing" as the book might have been. Others not so familiar with his current writings I'm sure will find this book completely and fully mind-blowingly interesting.

This is an important book, one everyone should read, especially in light of the events of this week (i.e. Osama Bin Laden's death). If you hadn't heard of Noam Chomsky before, read this book. If you have heard of him but have yet to read anything of his, this is a good place to start, it's current and very relevant. At that point you and I can sit around a table together and discuss whether you think he's credible or not - at least then we'll be discussing things, a first step on the way to making life better for all of us, everywhere. ( )

Many who find Chomsky's books on current events too depressing may be pleasantly surprised by his latest offering.
Chomsky leaves no stone unturned in his 2010 book Hopes and Prospects. The "hopes" part of the title, as he not only indicates with the chronology of sections in the book, but also in recent lectures, refers to recent accomplishments made in the struggle for indigenous rights in South America. One example of this, as Chomsky points out, is the truly democratic elections that were held in Bolivia which named Evo Morales as the country's first indigenous president. With lazer-like precision Chomsky illuminates recent histories in Latin America that has sadly been already forgotten by some, or worse yet, never known. An example of this comes from his chapter "1989 and Beyond" in which Chomsky states:
"The fall of the Berlin wall was rightly celebrated in November of 2009, but there was virtually no mention of what had happened one week later in El Salvador, on November 16, 1989: the brutal assassination of six prominent Latin American intellectuals, Jesuit priests, along with their housekeeper Julia Elba and her daughter Celina, by the elite Atlacatl battalion, armed and trained by Washington. The battalion had just returned from a several-month refresher course at the JFK Special Warfare School at Fort Bragg, and a few days before the murders underwent a further training exercise run by U.S. Special Forces flown to El Salvador."
Meticulously footnoted, this book offers scholars and casual readers a challenging and authoritative account of current affairs in the context of history. ( )

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/13538196