There is no plausible theory under which the record of the Pentagon Papers can be interpreted as relating to the national defense.
The first democratic revolution was England in the 1640s.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Noam Chomsky highlights the significance of England's democratic revolution in the 1640s as a pivotal moment in political history.
In this quote, Noam Chomsky draws attention to the first major democratic revolution that occurred in England during the 1640s, emphasizing its role in shaping modern democracy. This period was marked by significant political upheaval, including the English Civil War, which ultimately led to the establishment of parliamentary sovereignty and the questioning of monarchy, laying the groundwork for democratic principles that would influence future revolutions worldwide.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture on political theory, one might reference Chomsky's insight to discuss the foundations of democracy.
More from Noam Chomsky
All quotes βThe '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.
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The Great War differed from all ancient wars in the immense power of the combatants and their fearful agencies of destruction, and from all modern wars in the utter ruthlessness with which it was fought.
There are two kinds of man: the ones who make history and the ones who endure it.
The Great Migration can get forgotten if we don't pay attention or bear witness to it. It's part of my personal history and the history of millions of African Americans who left those oppressive conditions for better lives in the North. It's important to put that on the page.
They didn't incarcerate the Japanese-Americans in Hawaii. That's the place that was bombed. But the Japanese-American population was about 45 percent of the island of Hawaii. And if they extracted those Japanese-Americans, the economy would have collapsed. But on the mainland, we were thinly spread out up and down the West Coast.
Black history is a series of missing chapters from British history. I'm trying to put those bits back in.
The very notion of Great Britain's 'greatness' is bound up with empire. Euro-scepticism and Little Englander nationalism could hardly survive if people understood whose sugar flowed through English blood and rotted English teeth.