Noam Chomksy - Thought Control In A Democratic Society

“Case by case, we find that conformity is the easy way, and the path to privilege and prestige; dissidence carries personal costs that may be severe, even in a society that lacks such means of control as death squads, psychiatric prisons, or extermination camps. The very structure of the media is designed to induce conformity to established doctrine. In a three-minute stretch between commercials, or in seven hundred words, it is impossible to present unfamiliar thoughts or surprising conclusions with the argument and evidence required to afford them some credibility. Regurgitation of welcome pieties faces no such problem.”

-Noam Chomsky, Necessary Illusions

In this interview, which was undertaken as source material for the incredible and highly recommended documentary Manufacturing Consent, Professor Noam Chomsky describes how the structure of the corporate media - its financial interests, its links to Washington's agenda, and its framing of issues - serves as a form of 'thought control in a democratic society'. Chomsky's critique of the media builds from the fact that media misleads its viewers primarily by omission rather than by outright deceit; it is not that the views presented are obviously false (although they often are) it is more the case that a debate on an issue will be staged between two people who appear to represent the 'entire spectrum' when in reality the Left is absent entirely.

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The original video can be found here, my thanks to Non-Corporate News for providing and maintaining this recording which first aired in 1990.

As always these talks are syndicated for educational and nonprofit purposes in accordance with Fair Use. They are produced ad-free, because I listen to my own stuff on here and like you, I hate ads.

These recordings have been remastered for clarity, ease of listening, and concision and have been downmixed to mono so that they are lighter and easier to stream, wherever you are. This particular recording was especially rough, and if you listen to the original video and this audio, you will easily see how much work has gone into cleaning it up.

Furthermore my historical and philosophical writing, which is also entirely free is available at my blog, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Hemlock⁠⁠⁠⁠, on Substack.

The music of the intro and outro (Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major) is licensed under non-commercial attribution, and can be ⁠⁠⁠⁠found here⁠⁠⁠⁠ and has been remixed by me.

Enjoy.