Letters from Lexington: Reflections on Propaganda

by Noam Chomsky

In a collection of letters written to Lies Of Our Times Magazine, Noam Chomsky outlines the role of the media in justifying US Government and corporate actions. The letters, written between 1990 and 1993, examine media coverage of events and issues ranging from the Middle East “peace process”, the US invasion of Panama, the Gulf War, the UN, the Soviet Union, terrorism and democracy to the coup in Haiti.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Essays, Philosophy, Journalism

167 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Avram Noam Chomsky is an American professor and public intellectual known for his work in linguistics, political activism, and social criticism. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a major figure in analytic philosophy and one of the founders of the field of cognitive science. He is a laureate professor of linguistics at the University of Arizona and an institute professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Among the most cited living authors, Chomsky has written more than 150 books on topics such as linguistics, war, and politics. In addition to his work in linguistics, since the 1960s Chomsky has been an influential voice on the American left as a consistent critic of U.S. foreign policy, contemporary capitalism, and corporate influence on political institutions and the media.
Born to Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants (his father was William Chomsky) in Philadelphia, Chomsky developed an early interest in anarchism from alternative bookstores in New York City. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania. During his postgraduate work in the Harvard Society of Fellows, Chomsky developed the theory of transformational grammar for which he earned his doctorate in 1955. That year he began teaching at MIT, and in 1957 emerged as a significant figure in linguistics with his landmark work Syntactic Structures, which played a major role in remodeling the study of language. From 1958 to 1959 Chomsky was a National Science Foundation fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study. He created or co-created the universal grammar theory, the generative grammar theory, the Chomsky hierarchy, and the minimalist program. Chomsky also played a pivotal role in the decline of linguistic behaviorism, and was particularly critical of the work of B.F. Skinner.
An outspoken opponent of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, which he saw as an act of American imperialism, in 1967 Chomsky rose to national attention for his anti-war essay "The Responsibility of Intellectuals". Becoming associated with the New Left, he was arrested multiple times for his activism and placed on President Richard M. Nixon's list of political opponents. While expanding his work in linguistics over subsequent decades, he also became involved in the linguistics wars. In collaboration with Edward S. Herman, Chomsky later articulated the propaganda model of media criticism in Manufacturing Consent, and worked to expose the Indonesian occupation of East Timor. His defense of unconditional freedom of speech, including that of Holocaust denial, generated significant controversy in the Faurisson affair of the 1980s. Chomsky's commentary on the Cambodian genocide and the Bosnian genocide also generated controversy. Since retiring from active teaching at MIT, he has continued his vocal political activism, including opposing the 2003 invasion of Iraq and supporting the Occupy movement. An anti-Zionist, Chomsky considers Israel's treatment of Palestinians to be worse than South African–style apartheid, and criticizes U.S. support for Israel.
Chomsky is widely recognized as having helped to spark the cognitive revolution in the human sciences, contributing to the development of a new cognitivistic framework for the study of language and the mind. Chomsky remains a leading critic of U.S. foreign policy, contemporary capitalism, U.S. involvement and Israel's role in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and mass media. Chomsky and his ideas are highly influential in the anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist movements. Since 2017, he has been Agnese Helms Haury Chair in the Agnese Nelms Haury Program in Environment and Social Justice at the University of Arizona.

Reviews

[Paolo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Il libro raccoglie una serie di lettere che il Nostro ha scritto sul finire degli anni Novanta. Il titolo è ingannevole, i testi non sono una riflessione precisa dei meccanismi di propaganda universale ma si riferiscono a precisi episodi della storia americana moderna. Qua è là si trovano spunti interessanti che però non vengono analizzati completamente ma immersi in una filippica su quanto l'America abbia sbagliato le sue strategie geopolitiche. Suppongo che la mia aspettativa sia stata tradita dal titolo dell'edizione italiana che promette un testo sui meccanismi di propaganda, sull'utilizzo dei media per distrarre la massa dalle questioni importanti, sulla democrazia come scatola vuota in preda agli interessi delle gigantesche industrie private che sono più influenti e potenti degli stati.

[Edward Fenner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though it is getting quite old, there are still many relevant take-aways from this book. Many things have changed, of course, but much has remained unchanged. In terms of warnings and cautions, Chomsky's prognostications are prophetic here in the early 21st Century.

[Abbey S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5. Very repetitive, and I'm not well-informed enough to detect all of his sarcasm -- I didn't grow up with 90s world events going on around me lol. But he Made Some Points with "UN = US" and "The PC Thought Police."

[Matthias · Rating 2 out of 5]

“When you’re young, you look at television and think, There’s a conspiracy. The networks have conspired to dumb us down. But when you get a little older, you realize that’s not true. The networks
are in business to give people exactly what they want. That’s a far more depressing thought. Conspiracy is optimistic! You can shoot the bastards! We can have a revolution! But the networks are really in business to give people what they want. It’s the truth.”

- Steve Jobs

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reacting to propaganda...with facts, snide remarks, and cynicism. Perhaps entirely appropriate cynicism, and certainly very articulate, but these letters felt a bit didactic. Here is soapbox preaching designed to shake you awake, but I found it to be a bit repetitive.