Aaaah, Noam Chomsky. Once I got over the incredible 80s-ness of the film, I found Chomsky’s thoughts in ‘Manufacturing Consent’ quite compelling – particularly his thoughts on propaganda. In the film Chomsky discusses how historically society was controlled in many aspects of people’s daily lives, but when personal freedom became more prevalent governments turned to propaganda to coerce people into thinking a certain way. He goes on to compare today’s media as propaganda and I couldn’t agree more. If you’ve read my blog at all you can probably tell that I struggle with media messages. I watch MTV and other equally useless crap and until I started taking this class, not once did I question the messages they were portraying. I think if Chomsky were to watch MTV today he would collapse. Actually, if he were to watch anything on television he would speechless. I find it incredible that so many years ago he was able to make so many intuitive and intelligent inferences about the media. I believe that we are currently part of the most media-saturated generation that has ever lived, so I find it comforting that people like Chomsky thought the way he did, but I’m also frustrated that more people don’t know about it. Media consciousness is so important and I think it’s far too often overlooked as a teaching tool.
**It has come to my attention that Chomsky is not actually dead… For some reason I wrote down in my notes from last class that Paul said he was. And so my post probably sounds pretty weird. My bad!!***
atnas said,
February 27, 2007 at 3:09 pm
Nice Post.
Though I find it a little odd in the way you keep speaking of Chomsky in the past-tense as if he is no longer with us. I’m sure he does watch the media and does think about the issues brought forth as much now as he has in the past. I just hope and presume that, for his sake, he does not waste his time thinking about the trivial matters of a subset of people that do not already comprehend the intricacies of a what I’m sure he would find to be kindergarten-like in nature.
The ways that people are maniupulated by television today are so blatatnt to even the viewer that they dismiss it and feel it is just a consequence of life. The truth being that we are truly being feed melodrama in order to keep us entertained, How much entertainment can we possibly need. Why aren’t we not rationing our consumption of entertainment as we do everything else.If we spent all day watching Tv would we then say “hey I think I need a Tv break, maybe I should go study a little”? The sad answer: NO!.
Why is doing what we supposedly wish to be doing with our time always seem to feel like it gets in the way of what we really want to do; Look at what other people, and fake people at that, are doing.
Like you I have also found this class to be eye-opening and am thankful I took it. The sad thing being that it took someone else to show me what I should have known all the time. Life is short. Why waste a second of it watching other people do things you could be doing yourself. Television is there to show nay tell you what you want and need. It your decision to choose between what you feel is important and what is not. I will hopefully spend more time on things that personaly effect my life rather than just peripherally entertain my senses.
Sorry for the long comment, but you definitely caught me during an epiphany and your post was a good one.
P.s. Keep reading Chomsky, he is still writing all the time. Failed States, though more politically driven than socially applicable, is still a good, if not comprehensive, read.
christian11 said,
February 27, 2007 at 3:22 pm
Last class I remember Paul saying that Chomsky should be taught to all students no matter what faculty. I agree with this completly, I feel sort of embarrased that I had not heard of Chomsky before this class because I really like his ideas. However I blame Mgt because i am in my 4th year and we have not been introduced to him. This I find funny because we now have all these ethical behavior classes in Mgt but they sort of seem like fake classes, introduced to satisfy someonelse. Chomsky would deffinetly bring some better ideas to mgt students.
charis07 said,
March 2, 2007 at 1:32 pm
I too had never heard of Chomsky before this class, and intend to read him in the future, especially Failed States, mentioned in the first comment to this blog.Great blog!