Chomsky - Blog Posts

On this day, 7 December 1928, Avram Noam Chomsky, legendary activist, linguist and author was born to a Jewish immigrant family in Philadelphia. Chomsky came to prominence as an activist as an outspoken critic of the Vietnam war, for which he was arrested several times and placed on President Richard Nixon’s official list of enemies. He has since become one of the world’s leading critics of US foreign-policy, and one of the most cited scholars alive. Politically Chomsky usually identifies with currents including libertarian socialism and anarchism, stating: “I was attracted to anarchism as a young teenager, as soon I began to think about the world beyond a pretty narrow range, and haven’t seen much reason to revise those early attitudes since.” And despite dark times, Chomsky believes that we have to face our challenges with optimism: “Optimism is a strategy for making a better future. Because unless you believe that the future can be better, it’s unlikely you will step up and take responsibility for making it so. If you assume that there’s no hope, you guarantee that there will be no hope. If you assume that there is an instinct for freedom, there are opportunities to change things, there’s a chance you may contribute to making a better world. The choice is yours.” Yesterday, WCH was very happy to host the launch of Chomsky’s new book with author James Kelman, Between Thought and Expression Lies a Lifetime: Why Ideas Matter. You can get it, along with our book for which Chomsky contributed the foreword, in our online store: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/collections/all/noam-chomsky https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1871057279746080/?type=3