--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As long as each individual is facing the…" description: "\"As long as each individual is facing the television tube alone, formal freedom poses no threat to privilege\" — Noam Chomsky" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f5/noam-chomsky-42_formal_as-long-as-each-individual-is-facing-the_1030630.jpg" --- # As long as each individual is facing the television tube… ![“As long as each individual is facing the television tube alone, formal freedom poses no threat to privilege” quote by Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f5/noam-chomsky-42_formal_as-long-as-each-individual-is-facing-the_1030630.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f5/noam-chomsky-42_formal_as-long-as-each-individual-is-facing-the_1030630.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f5/noam-chomsky-42_formal_as-long-as-each-individual-is-facing-the_1030630.jpg) > “As long as each individual is facing the television tube alone, formal freedom poses no threat to privilege” [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. When people watch TV alone, they accept the status quo, so formal freedom doesn’t challenge existing privilege. **In simple terms:** Alone TV viewing reinforces privilege. Key Takeaway Recognize media’s role in shaping perception. Themes media power privilege individualism Mood critical reflective Type analytical political When to use this quote - home viewing - political activism - media literacy Key Concepts critical theory propaganda Questions to Reflect On - How does solitary media consumption affect political awareness? - Can shared viewing change power dynamics? A Different Perspective Ignores collective action possibilities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Formal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/formal/) [Formal Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/formal-freedom-2352190/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Freedom Poses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom-poses-2352191/) [Individual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Privilege](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/privilege/) [Television](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/television/) [Threat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/threat/) [Threat Privilege](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/threat-privilege-2352192/) [Tubes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tubes/) ## Related quotes > [There's kind of a hidden point which isn't being brought out, and that is that it is inconceivable that the U.S. would permit democracy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/there-s-kind-of-a-hidden-point-which-isn-t-being-brought-out-and-that/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [In Latin America, specialists and polling organisations have, for some time, observed that the extension of formal democracy was accompanied by an increasing disillusionment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/in-latin-america-specialists-and-polling-organisations-have-for-some/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [So yes in theory there is a kind of a formal democracy and in many ways these were achievements and an improvement over the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/so-yes-in-theory-there-is-a-kind-of-a-formal-democracy-and-in-many/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [The dominant propaganda systems have appropriated the term "globalization" to refer to the specific version of international economic integration that they favor, which privileges…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-dominant-propaganda-systems-have-appropriated-the-term/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Moral cowardice and intellectual corruption are the natural concomitants of unchallenged privilege.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/moral-cowardice-and-intellectual-corruption-are-the-natural/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Government may not redistribute private wealth or grant special privileges to any individual or group.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/government-may-not-redistribute-private-wealth-or-grant-special/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [The police can go to downtown Harlem and pick up a kid with a joint in the streets. 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Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-b-watson/) > [I know how to set an irrigation tube, and I helped with the harvest. I learned the law of the harvest without even knowing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheri-l-dew/i-know-how-to-set-an-irrigation-tube-and-i-helped-with-the-harvest-i/) [Sheri L. Dew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheri-l-dew/) > [I've gradually fooled myself into becoming a real painter... I really just like to sit in my air-conditioned Rome painting studio surrounded by Medieval…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-kostabi/i-ve-gradually-fooled-myself-into-becoming-a-real-painter-i-really/) [Mark Kostabi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-kostabi/) ## 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. 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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. 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There are no formal rules of design that can apply.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-winogrand/there-s-no-way-a-photograph-has-to-look-in-a-sense-there-are-no/) [Garry Winogrand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-winogrand/) > [“Mysteries are facts that haven't been formalized.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toba-beta/mysteries-are-facts-that-haven-t-been-formalized/) [Toba Beta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toba-beta/) > [You know, ballet might be too formal of a title for the type of dance I do, but I love to dance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-bridges/you-know-ballet-might-be-too-formal-of-a-title-for-the-type-of-dance/) [Jeff Bridges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-bridges/) > [The job of formal methods is to elucidate the assumptions upon which formal correctness depends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-hoare/the-job-of-formal-methods-is-to-elucidate-the-assumptions-upon-which/) [Tony Hoare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-hoare/) > [A formal manipulator in mathematics often experiences the discomforting feeling that his pencil surpasses him in intelligence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-formal-manipulator-in-mathematics-often-experiences-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [First, we want to establish the idea that a computer language is not just a way of getting a computer to perform operations but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-abelson/first-we-want-to-establish-the-idea-that-a-computer-language-is-not/) [Hal Abelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-abelson/) > [Since this was a formal undead gathering, there would be food—all kinds—drinks, dancing, and festivities, while those in power pondered whether or not to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeaniene-frost/since-this-was-a-formal-undead-gathering-there-would-be-food-all/) [Jeaniene Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeaniene-frost/) > [We see an ever-increasing move toward inter and trans- disciplinary attacks upon problems in the real world ... 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