Power and Terror: Noam Chomsky in our Times
This is my first movie for the Singapore Film Fest (I gave Chihwaseon a miss after discovering that tickets cost SGD 21.80!). Power and Terror is not so much a movie, but a documentary about Noam Chomsky and his views. For those of you who are not already in the know, Noam Chomsky is a linguist professor from MIT. He is also a political activist who is famous for his criticism of US foreign policy. The documentary consists of interviews with Noam Chomsky and excerpts from the lectures he gave at the University of California, Berkeley.
Before, I start, I'd like to emphasize that I am neither pro- nor anti-American. Foreign policy problems rarely ever have simple solutions, although more often than not, there is a strong tendency for the layman to oversimplify issues in searching for an answer. I am more interested however, in gaining an understanding of the American political mind on an intellectual level, and to study its potential consequences on the world, whether political, economical, or cultural.
Despite his reputation (some have called him anti-American), he does not outrightly condemn the US. He merely states that imperialist powers tend to behave in a similar fashion, since the British Empire (he had a few sharp words for W. Churchill). Most countries in the world will oppress any other country or its peoples, if it is within its capability to do so. Thus it comes as no surprise that the US, currently the most powerful country in the world, is also in the business of causing misery to other nations.
Although he describes the Sept 11th attacks as a great tragedy, it is a historic event not because of the scale of the attacks, but "only because of who the victims are". Terrorism, he explains, is any form of atrocity committed against a civilian population, and not just the civilian population of a superpower. It is for this reason that he ridicules the phrase, "War on Terrorism", as he ponders the number of corpses the US has left in South East Asia, Africa, Latin America and other parts of the world. "The only way to stop terror, is to stop participating in it", says Chomsky. It is interesting to note however, that the "War on Terrorism" has become a catchy phrase that legitimizes major offensives by the US in various parts of the world. Many other world governments have similar used the Sept 11th attacks as a cover to pursue their own agendas.
Unfortunately, at the end of the day, he does not recommend solutions except to say that the US should sincerely inquire the grievances that many other peoples have against it. Nevertheless, I recommend this documentary to everyone. You may not agree with everything he says, but it certainly helps one obtain a different perspective of the forces that shape our world.
This is my first movie for the Singapore Film Fest (I gave Chihwaseon a miss after discovering that tickets cost SGD 21.80!). Power and Terror is not so much a movie, but a documentary about Noam Chomsky and his views. For those of you who are not already in the know, Noam Chomsky is a linguist professor from MIT. He is also a political activist who is famous for his criticism of US foreign policy. The documentary consists of interviews with Noam Chomsky and excerpts from the lectures he gave at the University of California, Berkeley.
Before, I start, I'd like to emphasize that I am neither pro- nor anti-American. Foreign policy problems rarely ever have simple solutions, although more often than not, there is a strong tendency for the layman to oversimplify issues in searching for an answer. I am more interested however, in gaining an understanding of the American political mind on an intellectual level, and to study its potential consequences on the world, whether political, economical, or cultural.
Despite his reputation (some have called him anti-American), he does not outrightly condemn the US. He merely states that imperialist powers tend to behave in a similar fashion, since the British Empire (he had a few sharp words for W. Churchill). Most countries in the world will oppress any other country or its peoples, if it is within its capability to do so. Thus it comes as no surprise that the US, currently the most powerful country in the world, is also in the business of causing misery to other nations.
Although he describes the Sept 11th attacks as a great tragedy, it is a historic event not because of the scale of the attacks, but "only because of who the victims are". Terrorism, he explains, is any form of atrocity committed against a civilian population, and not just the civilian population of a superpower. It is for this reason that he ridicules the phrase, "War on Terrorism", as he ponders the number of corpses the US has left in South East Asia, Africa, Latin America and other parts of the world. "The only way to stop terror, is to stop participating in it", says Chomsky. It is interesting to note however, that the "War on Terrorism" has become a catchy phrase that legitimizes major offensives by the US in various parts of the world. Many other world governments have similar used the Sept 11th attacks as a cover to pursue their own agendas.
Unfortunately, at the end of the day, he does not recommend solutions except to say that the US should sincerely inquire the grievances that many other peoples have against it. Nevertheless, I recommend this documentary to everyone. You may not agree with everything he says, but it certainly helps one obtain a different perspective of the forces that shape our world.
