Street roots., June 22, 2012, Image 1

2012
Influential
political thinker
Noam Chomsky's
new book
'Occupy' offers a
vivid portrait of
the global
Occupy
movement and
a guide to
intelligent
activism.
BY SETH KERSHNER
S T R E E T N E W S S E R V IC E
oam Chomsky’s new book, “Occupy,”
published as part of the Occupied Media
Pamphlet Series, lays out many arguments
first articulated at student meetings and in front of
gatherings of Occupy Wall Street (OWS) activists.
Professor Chomsky’s interest in Occupy is
consistent with his support of previous grassroots
movements for change and stems from some of his
better-known views on American culture and
politics. He has said that “it’s only when people get
together that they become dangerous” because
then “they begin to enter that arena where they
don’t belong, namely influencing public affairs.”
Hence the usefulness of what is known as “the
entertainment industry” for those who don’t wish
to relinquish their hold on power. Television (“You
are alone watching the tube. That is very
advantageous for the control of people”) and sports
(“a way of building up irrational attitudes of
submission to authority”) are both useful as they
succeed in keeping people isolated and outside of
the political arena. It is because they overcome
these strategies of alienation and estrangement
that movements like Occupy Wall Street will always
be opposed by police wielding pepper spray and
tear gas.
N
Seth Kershner: You’re listed as a New York
Times syndicated columnist - ironic, considering
your history of leveling criticism at the Times. How
long have you held this distinction?
Noam Chomsky: I was invited by the editor,
who seems to operate more or less independently
of the journal. I don’t know the details. The op-eds
distributed by the syndicate, though distributed
here, don’t appear in the New York Time, or in the
U.S. press generally (except for In These Times,
occasionally some other small newspaper, or
websites). The book “Interventions” is a collection
of them (updated), and another collection is
appearing.
protested, and the victims defended. But we should
all realize that the best defense against repression
is to carry the struggle forward. That’s the task in
hand.
S.K.: But what do you think is the best way to
carry the struggle forward? Some Occupy groups have
hinted that - come springtime - they’ll set up new
encampments in city
centers and get back to
S.K.: We’ve all seen the
doing the very visible
video of police pepper­
kinds of actions that they
spraying protesters, but
"We sh©»l«t a ll realize that the
few know that City of
best defense against repression Is began last October. Are
traditional community
London police recently
to
carry
the
struggle
forward,
organizing efforts (e.g.,
listed the OWS activists
coalition-building with
That*® the lash la hand,"
among “terroristgroups”
labor) not being fully
like al-Qaeda of Pakistan
exploited by the OWS
in an advisory notice.
movement?
According to the New York
Times, the police operation to clear Zuccotti Park was
N.C.: I don’t regard my own tactical advice as
preceded by weeks of counterterrorism training. And
very significant. For example, if asked I would have
Michael Greenberg writes in the New York Review of
opposed the Occupy tactic, assuming that it
Books about how a police satellite truck was for weeks
wouldn’t work, and I’d have been spectacularly
parked in front of the apartment building where one
wrong.
of the “core organizers” for OWS lived; the police were
It was never in doubt that the authorities would
“apparently monitoring people who came in to see
act to terminate the occupations .. but we should
her.”
all realize that the best defense against repression
is to carry the struggle forward.
N.C.: It was never in doubt that the authorities
For what it’s worth, my guess is that this
would act to terminate the occupations. The only
particular tactic has probably outlived its
question was when and how. It appeared to be a
usefulness, at least as playing a central role in the
nationally coordinated effort, implemented in
movement, and that it is necessary to reach out to
different ways throughout the country. As for the
engage much broader constituencies, with careful
effect, it depends how the OWS movements and
their supporters respond. Of course, the
See CHOMSKY page 3
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