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The politics of power, foreign policy during the Vietnam war, decline of welfare under the Clinton administration, the Middle East crisis (pre 9-11), state-sponsered terror, the first Gulf War, grassroots activism, modern economics, "free trade" and many more.
This was the first major political science book I ever read and I have to say it really opened my eyes. Every book I have read since this one has echoed and confirmed Chomsky's views from this book and even helped to prove some of his more controversial ideas. The funny thing about his ideas though, are that they are not very far fetched. To the contrary, they are almost brutally elementary when presented with the facts behind the issue.
Many of my contractors raise issue with my use of facts stating that I am "extrapolating and misinterpreting" what the true facts are to make wild and implausible claims. I challenge anyone to prove that the US military did NOT commit mass murder in Indo-China. I also ask anyone to prove that Henry Kissinger did NOT know how US arms and international political support was sustaining and endorsing Indonesia's military occupation of East Timor resulting in the deaths of over 200,000 civilians.
Another argument placed against my beliefs is that there is no secret planning group that is running the United States. My first defense for that is to read the article by William Rivers Pitt in my politics section. There is no way anyone can counter his arguments placed on the table given the results of this administration.
This book will lead you through the majority of ways that the powerful elites stay in power as well as how they marginalize the public. Chomsky's main thoughts from Manufacturing Consent ring strongly throughout this book.
In a totalitarian society, the elites keep control of the public by holding a bludgeon above their heads. But in a democracy, the bludgeon has to be removed. In its place is a complex mass media system with ingrained filters that acts as a propaganda tool.
The above is a slight paraphrase so don't look for that exact text anywhere. Just reading through a selection of pages looking for a couple of quality quotes allowed me the chance to peruse some topics again. Each page is filled to the brim with social truths that just go unnoticed in our society. It is a true crime of ignorance to not read this book. If at the end you think it is total hogwash, then I await your anti-thesis and will gladly post it somewhere on the site. If you find that you cannot disprove the basic logic of the book, well, you will join the masses who have found this out already.
For those of you who haven't read Chomsky before, you may want to start off with a smaller book of his like 9-11. But if you want to learn a little bit of everything from one of the greatest intellectuals ever, get this book. You'll be glad you did.
(of 5)