An essential guide to understanding power

Spanning 10 years of discussions, debates and activism ‘Understanding Power’ is a written account of a series of talks given by Noam Chomsky, looking at such wide-ranging topics as the pacifying effect of spectator sports to religious fanaticism.

Structured throughout in a question and answer format, the book exposes the various ways in which powerful elites exploit the general population and how the various institutions – such as universities, the media and corporations – are complicit in the process.

Chomsky’s ability to retain and analyse copious amounts of statistics, facts and scholarly work are brought to the fore, as he systematically reveals what he sees as the true intentions and reasons behind the actions of the powerful.

When talking about the media and their framing of words and actions Chomsky is at his most insightful and convincing as his work on the ‘propaganda model shows. Twenty years later and many of his observations about the media still hold true: ‘just take the “peace process”, which we hear all the time. The phrase “peace process” has a dictionary meaning, it means “process leading to peace.” But that’s not the way it’s used in the media. The term “peace process” is used in the media to refer to whatever the United States happens to be doing at the moment.’ Chomsky then goes on to list some of the occasions when the United States has opposed a peace process but finds that these were never reported.

Not many escape his critical eye, from Marxism – ‘if you set up the idea of Marxism, you’ve already abandoned rationality’ to Neo-liberalism – ‘doesn’t have any more validity than it had in the early nineteenth century.’

As for a different way of living, Chomsky’s proposals are much more abstract. He describes the form of libertarian socialism practised in Barcelona in the late 1930's as ‘about as high a level as human beings have reached in trying to reach libertarian principles, which In my view are the right ones.’ Repeatedly Chomsky returns to the need for organised resistance to counter the damaging effect of all forms of undemocratic power, calling for the readers to empower themselves.

This book is essential reading for those who want to develop a critical mind and the ability to subvert the propaganda spewed froth by those in power.

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