Noam Chomsky on Right-wing Libertarianism

Chomsky on libertarianism and laissez-faire economics.

(Source unknown)

[gustav]

Reading Adam Smith's views on the market of labour and stock, it's evident that he was against institutional power (corporations) in the free market.
His views seem naive in today's economic system, where most resources are controlled by a few huge corporations.

[nazarruulhaqi]

Chomsky's speech and great audio quality. Two things that rarely, if ever, meet each other

[Idalych]

This man is a genius through and through. As a lover of psychology and linguistics, he is a hero to me. As a human being, he is a voice of reason.

[JSH-zj]

"If words have lost their meaning, well, then it becomes impossible to talk."

[g.bontempi]

pretty much every political term we use today lost/changed its meaning... left, right, fascism, communism, socialism, anarchism mean very different things to different people

[marceloariassouto]

Proudhon, Bakunin, Kropotkin, Emma Goldman, Malatesta. Those writers and thinkers were libertarians (and anarchists).

[leighfoulkes]

You have to go around the Orwellian double-talk in order find the truth.

[naayou]

Noam always amazes me with his depth and breadth in many fields: philosophy, economics, political theory, mathematics, and of course linguistics. Long live the shining star of our time.

[zoinksmydood]

I think his implication is that Smith is not a laissez-faire economist, and that’s correct. Not Anti-Capitalist (I can get why he would mix up words. It’s hard to articulate some abstraction that’s complex to a crowd without having to think about it).

[imhoisntworthmuch]

he spoke his mind many times about the 'real' adam smith and I have strong views against 'laissez-faire' ayn rand way of privatizing.
very good upload. thanks.

[richardblackmore]

Thank you, Noam for defining my political stance. I have spent years simply trying to find the words to describe the way I see the world and how it could be better. Through those years I was derided as naive or a simpleton by those around me. Often the abuse worked, as I really had not done my research and hadn't read the literature. I simply followed my own personal perspective of right and wrong. Now I know that I am not, in fact, crazy. There are others, including this great intellectual, who share my views. I will read Noam's books before I vote in 2020. And I will be voting, as always, as a social libertarian.

[DiscipleOfChristDV]

What does Chomsky mean by "perfect equality" when talking about the perfect market conditions outlined by Adam Smith?

[sirhcl]

This was good to hear I am a Canadian and I consider myself a social libertarian

[davidhutchinson]

Thank you as always Professor. Your insights are so appreciated.

[seaside]

I’ve always thought libertarianism was worse than fascism because of the pure chaotic unaccountable survival of the fittest nature of it.

[WeltschmerzvonGavagai]

Feels like a sane voice is not suitable for muricans that’s why the popular is logan paul + jbp 😹

[paradigms]

A good rule of thumb when trying to figure out if someone is defining an ideology correctly, is to ask, “Would the people of said ideology define their ideology that same way?” And the degree to which there are discrepancies in the third party’s definition is directly proportional to either their nativity or ill-will. I don’t believe Chomsky is naive, so it seems like the latter problem. And if anyone disagrees, I challenge you to find a single American libertarian who would define American libertarianism in any way that even remotely comes close to Chomsky’s description here

[franklinfalco]

Libertarian socialism is even more extreme than libertarian capitalism but they're both against mixing government and corporate power.

[spaghettiking]

Stalinism is statist tyranny; Libertarianism is corporate tyranny; Fascism is both.

[joshuamills]

I'm having a hard time understanding how a government powerful enough to redistribute 100% of your income or private land; will only do that and never enforce social standards and rules.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding something though.