Noam Chomsky on Academia, Jordan Peterson, The Left, Postmodernism, & Ali G

TIMESTAMPS BY: Irina Li

0:00:00 What are the traits in the left that have changed in the past century? What traits remained the same?
0:02:58 Chomsky’s opinion on identity politics
0:03:37 When does the left go too far? When does the right go too far?
0:06:31 Chomsky’s reminiscences of the anti-war resistance movement in 1960’s
0:07:54 Is the line between the right and the left blurring? Do the left and the right still exist?
0:09:30 Public and private Media in the US
0:10:03 The First Amendment and its interpretations
0:10:41 Privatization of Radio, Television, and the Internet
0:11:14 What is the difference between Chomsky’s anarchist beliefs and contemporary libertarianism?
0:12:49 Working for corporation as an extreme tyranny
0:13:54 Early Industrial Revolution: Wage labor is indistinguishable from slavery
0:14:30 Should a Holocaust denier have a freedom of speech?
0:15:36 Holocaust denial
0:16:54 Does Chomsky disagree with Jordan Peterson?
0:17:47 Do people get the governments they deserve?
0:18:11 Can the principle of bureaucratic affinity apply to educational institutions?
0:19:19 The last bastions of the relative freedom of expression of research
0:20:14 Do academics still maintain the status quo?
0:21:25 Prosecution of intellectuals
0:22:55 Does academia fit a propaganda model?
0:25:23 Should students not to go to universities?
0:26:28 Disadvantages of online education
0:27:49 Christian anarchist Ivan Illich and his popularity among social activists
0:28:34 Student activism and social movements
0:29:00 How academia lines up with the status quo and at the same time is on the forefront of social change
0:30:21 What is an anarcho-syndicalist’s take on education?
0:31:57 Would alternative platforms in education be neglected in public sphere?
0:32:43 Conversation with Michel Foucault and Ali G
0:34:49 Thoughts on Postmodernism
0:35:27 Chomsky’s daily routine

* * *

The conversation is between Curt Jaimungal (top left), Noam Chomsky (middle), and Peter Glinos (top right). [though this changes part way through the video]

Subtitles in Spanish by Filosofía en Castellano.

[Creatureofclay]

Why would you put Jordan Peterson in the title when literally all he said was that he didn’t know enough to talk about it.

[tomcartwright]

As far as “ the working class” both Democrat and Republican parties are the enemy.

[wyattsiefert]

He is transforming into Gandalf. He will live another four centuries, at least

[liberty-matrix]

"The Democratic Party abandoned the working class a generation ago." ~Noam Chomsky

[babasingh]

So painful to hear yet another group of youngsters ask Chomsky the same dumb questions

[Jimmyvideo]

"Let's interview Noam Chomsky!" "Should we do some research first?" "Nah"

[buteverybodycallsmegiorgio]

Right or wrong, I hope I get to Chomsky's age with his kind of mental agility.

[intelienglish]

Title: "Noam Chomsky on Jordan Peterson"
Chomsky: "I don't really pay him any attention"

[lsobrien]

I would recommend that the questioners get a better grasp of what the Left is. Same probably goes for the Right. It injects a childish naivety into the discussion that's distracting.

[TheRealFatmouse]

Which middle school newspaper wrote these questions?

[doublenegation]

Many of the comments on this video are utterly confused about what is left and right, and the prevalent stance of university faculty and students. First of all he's talking about universities as institutions, which are themselves right wing in operation. They are massively funded by private donors and corporations. Research programs are tailored to fit corporate markets and the demands of big tech/big data of virtual monopolies in the private sector. University departments that are either accessory to or in contradiction with the imperatives of private finance and the logic of capital have been steadily defunded, cut, and divested of seats within the councils of academic governing bodies. The pc identity culture among students is not the left. This is what happens to Liberalism as a philosophy when economic class and the deep history of epochal changes are theoretically marginalized in favour of the contingencies of personal individuality, affect, and identity as modes of analysis.

Chomsky has been around a long time and knows what the meaning of terms are, not what they've been manipulated to mean by the capitalist media machine. The left is pro-worker, anti-war, anti-racist, and environmentalist. It's a political stance against the elites of private industry who run the news, the wars, own enormous swaths of property and natural resources, the factories, the banks, and fund both political parties pretending to battle for office. It observes history and social transformation as a broad historical process intertwined with the growth of the economy and the technological forces of production. The center has been pushing right ever since the 70's, and most major parties in power throughout the world are either reactionary nationalist or neoliberal corporate parties. Neither of these options are left wing, as both are prey if not puppet to the interests of the transnational billionaire class.

Rub the sleep from your eyes, Chomsky has not only carefully observed the intergenerational transformation of the political landscape, but has documented it all in detail along the way. He has traced how the goal posts have continued to shift away from social democratic policy to the privatization of all utilities and the financialization of every aspect of daily life. He has analyzed both the market and the political mechanisms responsible for this shift, as well as the rules by which the media steeps us in the ideology of the ruling class. He is one of the final fading beacons of intellectual rigor, research, and truth in the public arena, and there isn't a single 'intellectual' alive today worth half the debt we owe to the work of this man's entire life.

[laura]

These interviewers are idiotic. As someone else has already commented, what a squandered opportunity. There is definitely a new reason to admire Chomsky: his seemingly infinite patience.

[robertgalindo]

That smackdown of Aristotle was something else.

'no I dont think people get the government's they deserve they get the government that systems of power impose on them. That's quite different.'

[johnmaisonneuve]

Prof. Chomsky has so much patience in answering questions, some of which come with a lot of presumptions that require correcting, explanations, to expose the falsehoods.

[kenjohnson]

These guys are only a notch or two above Ali G. As someone below pointed out: "a testament to Chomsky's generosity."

[smudger]

“Let’s get right into the questions”
Peter “oh yeah!”
“Peter you can mute your mic ok”
(Dies inside)
“Got it”

[Jordan-gdhq]

Please don’t waste his time like that ever again.

[schrire]

"I have only have two questions and they are super-quick: What are your thoughts on post-modernism?" In what universe is that a quick question?

[GarrettGDCMMA]

"make sure you clean your room" at the end COMPLETELY ruined the whole interview. You'd already referenced it once 2 minutes prior and the Professor CLEARLY didn't understand. Not to mention he had already stated that he didn't pay attention to Jordan Peterson. Silly.

[yellowburger]

"Clean up your room. It's more important than writing books." These fellas make Beavis and Butthead look like Umberto Eco.