Noam Chomsky on Democracy
born 1928 United States
← All quotes by Noam Chomsky
5 quotes
Because they don't teach the truth about the world, schools have to rely on beating students over the head with propaganda about democracy.
The more there is a need to talk about the ideals of democracy, the less democratic the system usually is.
Propaganda is to a democracy what the bludgeon is to a totalitarian state.
Voters should consider them, but without illusions about the political parties, and with the recognition that consistenly over the centuries, progressive legislation and social welfare have been won by popular struggles, not gifts from above.
A study of the inter-American system published by the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London concluded that, while the US pays lip service to democracy, the real commitment is to "private, capitalist enterprise." When the rights of investors are threatened, democracy has to go; if these rights are safeguarded, killers and torturers will do just fine.