Skip to content

Management Quote by Noam Chomsky

“Yeah, in my opinion the heart of the problem is Marxism-Leninism itself―the very idea that a "vanguard party" can, or has any right to, or has any capacity to lead the stupid masses towards some future they're too dumb to understand for themselves. I think what it's going to lead them towards is…” quote by Noam Chomsky
Download Open image
““Yeah, in my opinion the heart of the problem is Marxism-Leninism itself―the very idea that a "vanguard party" can, or has any right to, or has any capacity to lead the stupid masses towards some future they're too dumb to understand for themselves. I think what it's going to lead them towards is "I rule you with a whip." Institutions of domination have a nice way of reproducing themselves―I think that's kind of like an obvious sociological truism. And actually, if you look back, that was in fact Bakunin's prediction half a century before―he said this was exactly what was going to happen. I mean, Bakunin was talking about the people around Marx, this was before Lenin was born, but his prediction was that the nature of the intelligentsia as a formation in modern industrial society is that they are going to try to become the social managers. Now, they're not going to become the social managers because they own capital, and they're not going to become the social managers because they've got a lot of guns. They are going to become the social managers because they can control, organize, and direct what's called "knowledge"―they have the skills to process information, and to mobilize support for decision-making, and so on and so forth. And Bakunin predicted that these people would fall into two categories. On the one hand, there would be the "left" intellectuals, who would try to rise to power on the backs of mass popular movements, and if they could gain power, they would then beat the people into submission and try to control them. On the other hand, if they found that they couldn't get power that way themselves, they would become the servants of what we would nowadays call "state-capitalism," though Bakunin didn't use the term. And either of these two categories of intellectuals, he said, would be "beating the people with the people's stick"―that is, they'd be presenting themselves as representatives of the people, so they'd be holding the people's stick, but they would be beating the people with it.””

Noam Chomsky

About This Quote

Source Speech: Interview on political theory, 2015

Marxist‑Leninist vanguard parties claim authority to lead masses, but they often become oppressive regimes that use knowledge to dominate.

In simple terms: Vanguard parties can become oppressive rulers using knowledge to control people.

Key Takeaway

Beware of elites who claim to represent the people.

Themes

politics power elitism

Mood

critical skeptical

Type

analytical political

When to use this quote

  • political movements
  • academic analysis
  • policy debates
  • activist organizing

Key Concepts

Marxism‑Leninism Bakunin state‑capitalism

Questions to Reflect On

  • How can societies ensure genuine democratic participation?
  • What safeguards prevent intellectuals from becoming authoritarian?
A Different Perspective

Such parties may also provide social services and mobilize collective action.

2.1 out of 5 (5 ratings)

More by Noam Chomsky

Explore all 2,129 Noam Chomsky quotes

More Management quotes

Browse all 8,379 Management quotes