---
title: "3 Commodity Quotes By Noam Chomsky"
description: "3 Commodity quotes by Noam Chomsky. Plus more from Noam Chomsky and more Commodity sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e7/noam-chomsky-42_free-market_humboldt-did-not-foresee-the-consequence_169989.jpg"
---

> [“Humboldt did not foresee the consequences of the commodity character of labor, the doctrine (in Polanyi’s words) that “it is not for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/humboldt-did-not-foresee-the-consequences-of-the-commodity-character/)

[Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e7/noam-chomsky-42_free-market_humboldt-did-not-foresee-the-consequence_169989.jpg)

> [The elections are run by the same guys who sell toothpaste. They show you an image of a sports hero, or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-elections-are-run-by-the-same-guys-who-sell-toothpaste-they-show/)

[Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d99/noam-chomsky-42_car_the-elections-are-run-by-the-same-guys-w_516299.jpg)

> [ You can read it in history books now, but they often suppress the fact that the U.S. government tolerated \[Nazi\]. It's really… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/you-can-read-it-in-history-books-now-but-they-often-suppress-the-fact/)

[Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b5/noam-chomsky-42_book_you-can-read-it-in-history-books-now-but_2812980.jpg)

## Other authors on Commodity

## More by Noam Chomsky

> [The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-costs-of-the-bush-obama-wars-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-are-now/)

[Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/)

> [If you believe in democracy, why shouldn't you know what the government is doing?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/if-you-believe-in-democracy-why-shouldn-t-you-know-what-the/)

[Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/)

> [It’s a shameful moment for U.S. media when it insists on being subservient to the grotesque propaganda agencies of a violent, aggressive state.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/it-s-a-shameful-moment-for-u-s-media-when-it-insists-on-being/)

[Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/)

> [There are questions as to whether it should even exist. Who should corporations be responsive to, the management of a corporation? Theoretically they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/there-are-questions-as-to-whether-it-should-even-exist-who-should/)

[Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/)

> [Governments regard their own citizens as their main enemy, and they have to be - protect themselves. That's why you have state secret laws.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/governments-regard-their-own-citizens-as-their-main-enemy-and-they/)

[Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/)

> [I don't join the New Atheists. So, for example, I wouldn't have the arrogance to lecture some mother who hopes to see her dying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/i-don-t-join-the-new-atheists-so-for-example-i-wouldn-t-have-the/)

[Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/)

> [The first thing you ought to do is verify what I present. Just because I say it doesn't make it true. So check it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-first-thing-you-ought-to-do-is-verify-what-i-present-just-because/)

[Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/)

> [ I wrote an article about the marine landing \[in Haiti\] right away, but barely mentioned the oil, because my article would come out two… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/i-wrote-an-article-about-the-marine-landing-in-haiti-right-away-but/)

[Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/)

> [American society is now remarkably atomized. Political organizations have collapsed. In fact, it seems like even bowling leagues are collapsing. The left has a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/american-society-is-now-remarkably-atomized-political-organizations/)

[Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/)

> [Discovery is the ability to be puzzled by simple things. Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/discovery-is-the-ability-to-be-puzzled-by-simple-things-noam-chomsky/)

[Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/)

> [There's an interesting book about that called The Third Reich and the Ivory Tower, written by Stephen H. Norwood. It has a long discussion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/there-s-an-interesting-book-about-that-called-the-third-reich-and-the/)

[Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/)

> [This is class war on an international scale, and power is in the hands of those who control the international economic system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/this-is-class-war-on-an-international-scale-and-power-is-in-the-hands/)

[Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/)

> [There are big, extremely irrational parts of the society, and they have now been mobilized politically by the Republican establishment, hoping that these people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/there-are-big-extremely-irrational-parts-of-the-society-and-they-have/)

[Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/)

> [There's plenty to criticize about the mass media, but they are the source of regular information about a wide range of topics. You can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/there-s-plenty-to-criticize-about-the-mass-media-but-they-are-the/)

[Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/)

> [The 50,000 Korean mercenaries we had in Vietnam were professional killers and just massacred people outright. And the American army did plenty of that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-50-000-korean-mercenaries-we-had-in-vietnam-were-professional/)

[Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "ItemList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commodity/noam-chomsky/#itemlist",
            "name": "3 Commodity Quotes By Noam Chomsky",
            "numberOfItems": 3,
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“Humboldt did not foresee the consequences of the commodity character of labor, the doctrine (in Polanyi’s words) that “it is not for the commodity to decide where it should be offered for sale, to what purpose it should be used, at what price it should be allowed to change hands, and in what manner it should be consumed or destroyed.” But the commodity, in this case, is a human life, and social protection was therefore a minimal necessity to constrain the irrational and destructive workings of the classical free market.”",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Noam Chomsky"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/humboldt-did-not-foresee-the-consequences-of-the-commodity-character/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e7/noam-chomsky-42_free-market_humboldt-did-not-foresee-the-consequence_169989.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e7/noam-chomsky-42_free-market_humboldt-did-not-foresee-the-consequence_169989.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e7/noam-chomsky-42_free-market_humboldt-did-not-foresee-the-consequence_169989.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“Humboldt did not foresee the consequences of the commodity character of labor, the doctrine (in Polanyi’s…” — Noam Chomsky",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "The elections are run by the same guys who sell toothpaste. They show you an image of a sports hero, or a sexy model, or a car going up a sheer cliff or something, which has nothing to do with the commodity, but it's intended to delude you into picking this one rather than another one.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Noam Chomsky"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-elections-are-run-by-the-same-guys-who-sell-toothpaste-they-show/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d99/noam-chomsky-42_car_the-elections-are-run-by-the-same-guys-w_516299.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d99/noam-chomsky-42_car_the-elections-are-run-by-the-same-guys-w_516299.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d99/noam-chomsky-42_car_the-elections-are-run-by-the-same-guys-w_516299.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“The elections are run by the same guys who sell toothpaste. They show you an image of a sports hero, or a…” — Noam Chomsky",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "You can read it in history books now, but they often suppress the fact that the U.S. government tolerated [Nazi]. It's really remarkable because they claim that [Franklin] Roosevelt was impeded by the Neutrality Act. On the other hand, he bitterly condemned a Mexican businessman for sending several guns to the Republic. If you look back, oil was the one commodity that [Francisco] Franco could not receive from the Germans and the Italians, so that was quite significant.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Noam Chomsky"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/you-can-read-it-in-history-books-now-but-they-often-suppress-the-fact/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b5/noam-chomsky-42_book_you-can-read-it-in-history-books-now-but_2812980.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b5/noam-chomsky-42_book_you-can-read-it-in-history-books-now-but_2812980.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b5/noam-chomsky-42_book_you-can-read-it-in-history-books-now-but_2812980.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“You can read it in history books now, but they often suppress the fact that the U.S. government tolerated…” — Noam Chomsky",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "CollectionPage",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commodity/noam-chomsky/#webpage",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commodity/noam-chomsky/",
            "name": "Commodity Quotes by Noam Chomsky",
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "mainEntity": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commodity/noam-chomsky/#itemlist"
            },
            "primaryImageOfPage": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e7/noam-chomsky-42_free-market_humboldt-did-not-foresee-the-consequence_169989.jpg"
            },
            "description": "3 Commodity quotes by Noam Chomsky. Plus more from Noam Chomsky and more Commodity sayings from other authors.",
            "breadcrumb": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commodity/noam-chomsky/#breadcrumb"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commodity/noam-chomsky/#breadcrumb",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Topics",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Commodity",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commodity/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 5,
                    "name": "Noam Chomsky",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commodity/noam-chomsky/"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```