The general public are not even aware of major decisions that will determine their fate, hence are in no position to influence them
Noam ChomskyThere certainly are those who worship the state much as divinities are worshipped. Not just the state but even leaders.
Noam ChomskyHalf of the [USA] population, roughly, thinks the world was created a couple thousand years ago. Two thirds of the country is expecting the second coming of Christ. They've also had to turn to nativists. The gun culture in the United States, which is out of control, is party fueled by people who think 'we've got to have our guns to protect ourselves.'
Noam ChomskyThe United States invaded Iraq to gain control of one of the major sources of the world's energy.
Noam ChomskyLong before the technology revolution there was declassification of documents and I've spent quite a lot of time studying declassified internal documents and written a lot about them. In fact, anybody who's worked through the declassified record can see very clearly that the reason for classification is very rarely to protect the state or the society from enemies. Most of the time it is to protect the state from its citizens, so they don't know what the government is doing.
Noam Chomsky