I remember talking to, 40 years ago, one of the leading people in the government who was involved in arms control, pressing for arms control measures, dรฉtente, and so on. He's very high up, and we were talking about whether arms control could succeed. And only partially as a joke he said, "Well it might succeed if the high tech industry makes more profit from arms control than it can make from weapons-related research and production. If we get to that tipping point maybe arms control will work." He was partially joking but there's a truth that lies behind it.
Noam ChomskyDestruction of the environment is not only rational; it's exactly what you're taught to do in college.
Noam ChomskyThe United States is a violent military state. It's been involved in military action all over the place.
Noam ChomskyTechnology is usually fairly neutral. Itโs like a hammer, which can be used to build a house or to destroy someoneโs home. The hammer doesnโt care. It is almost always up to us to determine whether the technology is good or bad.
Noam ChomskyIt's kind of interesting and sick that the intellectual culture called the 1960s, "time of troubles," a dangerous period in which a lot of harm was done to the society. And the reason is because we were civilized and that's dangerous. That increased the commitment to democracy, to rights and so on, and this left people much less obedient.
Noam Chomsky