My Family Does Not Know Who Noam Chomsky Is

I saw a movie the other day and there was a scene in it that caught my attention. A very unconventional family celebrated the birthday of Noam Chomsky. One of the kids got really mad at the father for celebrating it.

He said he wanted to celebrate Christmas like all other children. His father’s response was firm: Would you rather celebrate a fake magic elf or the birthday of a man who fights for human rights and understanding?

The poor child could not think of anything to back up his desire to celebrate Christmas. This scene grabbed my attention, not only because it discredits the faith of millions of people, but also because no one I watched the movie with knew who Noam Chomsky was. One of them even said, “ Who is Noam Chomsky? “.

Contribution to linguistics

Noam Chomsky is a prominent linguist, philosopher, activist and political analyst. He is associated with the most radical and critical political currents in the United States. However, he may be best known for his work in linguistics. He developed a theory of language learning that people have written hundreds of pages about.

Chomsky suggested that from the moment we are born,  our brains have an innate ability to learn and use language almost instinctively. Many agree with him even today, and it shattered all previous theories that said language could only come through learning.

His theory assumed that there are universal grammatical principles for all languages. This explained how all children can learn to speak so quickly. It also explained why almost all children go through the same phases when learning a language and making the same mistakes.

Noam Chomsky – political activist

Some people think of Chomsky as the most important intellectual of our time. This is in part because of his work as an activist. Chomsky sees himself as an anarchist, especially in the tradition of anarcho-syndicalism, and he is a strong supporter of civil disobedience. An example Chomsky uses to explain his positive attitude towards activism is this:

Imagine walking down a street at night. Suddenly you see someone hitting another seriously on the other side of the street. Without thinking about it, you head towards the pedestrian crossing to get over and help the victim. But the light is red. What would you do?

Crossing the street too red is illegal. This means that if you cross it, you are breaking the law. On the other hand, if you do not cross it and wait for the green light to come on, it may be too late for the victim.

The point of the story is that it can sometimes be a good thing to break the law. Going outside the law can be positive as long as we do it for a good moral cause. Here was the reason to help the other person. Chomsky believes that the illegality that governments adopt does not always agree with what people actually see as illegal.

Defender of human rights

In response to the Vietnam War, Chomsky began on a path criticizing the lack of democracy in countries like the United States. He has always defended the lack of symmetry between public opinion and the decisions politicians make. He supports the use of grassroots movements to pressure political forces and create real change.

Although he also sees himself as a Zionist, Chomsky has also sharply criticized Israel. But he still supports the kibbutz lifestyle as a social alternative. He has been one of the biggest defenders of boycotting Israel, a movement driven by BDS (Boycott, Divest and Sanction).

The movement is trying to put political and economic pressure on Israel to end its occupations.

The media and manipulation of the public

He also argues that everyone should participate in politics. Not just professionals such as journalists, intellectuals or politicians. One of his most important contributions here has been his analysis of the media. Here are some of his conclusions:

• The media turns our attention away from the important issues.

• The media will give us an unacceptable way of doing things, a little at a time, so we will accept it without fuss.
• They want to help people accept an unpopular decision by making it seem “painful but necessary”. That way, they get a public acceptance that they can use later.
• They play on the emotional factor of short-circuiting people’s rational analysis and critical thinking.
• They spread the belief that it is fashionable to be stupid and uncultivated.
  

Now that you’ve learned a little more about Noam Chomsky, and if you think it’s important to celebrate his birthday, mark December 7th in the calendar. As Chomsky said: