There is no plausible theory under which the record of the Pentagon Papers can be interpreted as relating to the national defense.
Noam ChomskyRead
Anarchists try to identify power structures. They urge those exercising power to justify themselves. This justification does not succeed most of the time.
Interpretation
Anarchists challenge the legitimacy of power and demand accountability from those in authority.
Noam Chomsky's quote highlights the role of anarchists in scrutinizing and questioning established power structures. It emphasizes that those with power often fail to provide adequate justification for their actions, which reflects a broader skepticism about authority and governance. The quote invites reflection on the nature of power and the responsibilities that come with it.
In practice
During a discussion on political theory, this quote can be used to illustrate the critique of government authority.
There is no plausible theory under which the record of the Pentagon Papers can be interpreted as relating to the national defense.
The 'free-floating intellectual' may occupy himself with problems because of their inherent interest and importance, perhaps to little effect.
If you're teaching today what you were teaching five years ago, either the field is dead or you are.
There are very few people who are going to look into the mirror and say, 'That person I see is a savage monster;' instead, they make up some construction that justifies what they do.
The Republican Party has become overwhelmingly so extreme that it's hardly a traditional political party anymore.
There is still much debate about whether torture has been effective in eliciting information - the assumption being, apparently, that if it is effective, then it may be justified.
Two races share today the soil of Canada. These people had not always been friends. But I hasten to say it. There is no longer any family here but the human family. It matters not the language people speak, or the altars at which they kneel.
...The men eyed her with the automatic mix of curiosity, lust, and aesthetic judgment they always gave young women, subject to object, the way you'd stare at an animal. She pretended not to notice. To remind them she was a person was too much effort. Objects bore no guilt.
Disgust with injustice may sharpen the desire for justice. Readers who donβt see this connection merely wish to be entertained, and I have neither skill nor desire to turn the agony of a people into entertainment.
Extreme positions are not succeeded by moderate ones, but by contrary extreme positions.
If life's journey be endless where is its goal? The answer is, it is everywhere. We are in a palace which has no end, but which we have reached. By exploring it and extending our relationship with it we are ever making it more and more our own.
The argument is made that naming God is never really naming God but only naming our understanding of God. To take our ideas of the divine and hold them as if they correspond to the reality of God is thus to construct a conceptual idol built from the materials of our mind.
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