The Common Good

The Common Good, Noam Chomsky, Odonian Press, 1998

Here is a new group of interviews with "arguably the most important intellectual alive" (New York Times) conducted by David Barsamian. The subjects run the gamut, from the aerospace industry to the Zapatistas.

According to Chomsky, America is a business-run, huckster society whose primary value is deceit. A major purpose of military procurement and production is to subsidize private corporations. In other parts of the world, politicians don't have to fight over who is tougher on crime, they just figure out what to do about it. German industry has been treating America like a Third World country, with our low wages, poor benefits and states competing against each other to bribe foreign firms to relocate. The US has publicly agreed with the position that the annexation of East Jerusalem by Israel was illegal, but privately has given Israel permission to do what it wants.

For most people, the words "new Noam Chomsky" are enough to get them to buy this book. For everyone else, this book is short, easy to read, fascinating, and highly recommended.