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Principles Quotes by Noam Chomsky

47 Principles quotes by Noam Chomsky

All Principles quotes Noam Chomsky’s page

Noam Chomsky argues that neoliberal principles are designed to undermine democracy. He explains that universal grammar consists of deep, restrictive rules that shape every human language. He also notes that victors rarely look at themselves or concede anything, while the defeated are often forced to do so.

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The basic principle, rarely violated, is that what conflicts with the requirements of power and privilege does not exist.

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If you claim to have a theory that deduces unexpected consequences from nontrivial principles, let's see it.

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To understand how people organize social systems, we have to discover the principles that we create to make some societies intelligible.

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“I do not feel that we should set up people as “models”; rather actions, thoughts, principles.”

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A basic principal of modern state capitalism is that costs and risks are socialized to the extent possible, while profit is privatized.

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The very design of neoliberal principles is a direct attack on democracy.

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Language is a process of free creation; its laws and principles are fixed, but the manner in which the principles of generation…

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It's a principle that anything our leaders do is for noble reasons. It may be mistaken, it may be ugly, but basically…

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In November 2007, the White House issued a Declaration of Principles demanding that U.S. forces must remain indefinitely in Iraq and committing…

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The U.S. - the idea that the U.S. has introduced and imposed principles of international law, that's hardly even a joke. The…

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A consistent anarchist must oppose private ownership of the means of production, and the wage-slavery which is a component of this system,…

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My speculation is that the U.S. does not want to establish the principle that it has to defer to some higher authority…

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I organized tax resistance in 1965, with a friend. I kept at it for about ten years. I don't see it as…

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Modern science and technology can relieve men of the necessity for specialized, imbecile labor. They may, in principle, provide the basis for…

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The Fourteenth Amendment, after the civil war, in principle brought former slaves into the category of persons, theoretically. But if you actually…

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Capitalism is based on the principle that everything has to be privately owned; it can't be held in common. There is even…

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The crime of liberation theology was that it takes the Gospels seriously. That's unacceptable. The Gospels are radical pacifist material, if you…

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In a capitalist system, there's a principle that if you invest, especially in a long-term risky investment, if something comes out of…

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Contemporary technology could be used to eliminate ownership and management of corporations. It could be used to provide - lets say Apple…

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You can imagine a different world in which a number of species developed with different genetically determined linguistic systems. It hasn't happened…

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A principle familiar to propagandists is that the doctrine to be instilled in the target audience should not be articulated: that would…

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They are involve in producing products and there are different kinds of people running them, but the principle is the same. A…

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There is a principle of human affairs that goes back millennia, which is that you don't look in the mirror. You can…

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The Bush Administration do have moral values. Their moral values are very explicit: shine the boots of the rich and the powerful,…

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The good news from the U.S. military survey of focus groups is that Iraqis do accept the Nuremberg principles. They understand that…

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The general principle is that the victors don't look at themselves or concede anything. The defeated typically have to, except when it's…

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If the principle is, "Let's not get lethal substances out to the public", the first one you'd go after is tobacco. The…

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The US does not observe the free-trade principles. Those are for the weak. So agribusiness is highly subsidized and pours product into…

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What I've called "the Mafia doctrine" in many publications: when the Godfather issues an edict, others must obey, or else. It's too…

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The basic principle is that the losers have to confess, not the victors. When they do it, it's a crime. When we…

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As for academics, I do not see why their responsibilities as moral agents should differ in principle from the responsibilities of others;…

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There are very deep and restrictive principles that determine the nature of human language and are rooted in the specific character of…

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In fact, by universal grammar I mean just that system of principles and structures that are the prerequisites for acquisition of language,…

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Under capitalism, we can't have democracy by definition. Capitalism is a system in which the central institutions of society are in principle…

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As the capacity to coerce declines, it is natural to turn to control of opinion as the basis for authority and domination…

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Of course all such conclusions about appropriate actions against the rich and powerful are based on a fundamental flaw: This is us,…

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The real world of American society is one which it is very misleading to call simply a democracy. Of course, it is…

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While I think in principle people should not have irrational beliefs, I should say that as a matter of fact, it is…

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Capitalism is a system in which the central institutions of society are, in principle, under autocratic control. Thus, a corporation or an…

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Thomas Jefferson, the leading Enlightenment figure in the United States, along with Benjamin Franklin, who took exactly the same view, argued that…

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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…

If you believe in democracy, why shouldn't you know what the government is doing?

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.

There are questions as to whether it should even exist. Who should corporations be responsive to, the management of a corporation? Theoretically they are…

Governments regard their own citizens as their main enemy, and they have to be - protect themselves. That's why you have state secret laws.…

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…

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…

I wrote an article about the marine landing [in Haiti] right away, but barely mentioned the oil, because my article would come out two…

American society is now remarkably atomized. Political organizations have collapsed. In fact, it seems like even bowling leagues are collapsing. The left has a…

Discovery is the ability to be puzzled by simple things. 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…

This is class war on an international scale, and power is in the hands of those who control the international economic system.

There are big, extremely irrational parts of the society, and they have now been mobilized politically by the Republican establishment, hoping that these people…

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…

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…