There is no plausible theory under which the record of the Pentagon Papers can be interpreted as relating to the national defense.
Noam ChomskyRead
State propaganda, when supported by the educated classes and when no deviation is permitted from it, can have a big effect. It was a lesson learned by Hitler and many others, and it has been pursued to this day.
Interpretation
What this quote means
State propaganda can significantly influence society, especially when endorsed by intellectual elites and enforced without deviation.
Noam Chomsky's quote highlights the powerful impact of state propaganda on public perception and behavior, particularly when it is backed by the educated elite who shape societal narratives. The historical examples of Hitler and similar figures illustrate how such propaganda mechanisms can be used to manipulate the masses, enforcing a singular viewpoint while suppressing dissent. This warning remains relevant in contemporary society, urging vigilance against the unchallenged acceptance of dominant narratives.
Themes
PropagandaInfluenceStateEducationControl
In practice
Example use cases
In a public lecture about the role of media in shaping perceptions.
More from Noam Chomsky
All quotes →The 'free-floating intellectual' may occupy himself with problems because of their inherent interest and importance, perhaps to little effect.
Noam ChomskyRead
If you're teaching today what you were teaching five years ago, either the field is dead or you are.
Noam ChomskyRead
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.
Noam ChomskyRead
The Republican Party has become overwhelmingly so extreme that it's hardly a traditional political party anymore.
Noam ChomskyRead
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.
Noam ChomskyRead
Similar quotes
Just as primitive man believed himself to stand face to face with demons and believed that could he but know their names he would become their master, so is contemporary man faced by this incomprehensible, which disorders his calculations.
Karl JaspersRead
Freedom is not the permission to do what you like. It's the power to do what you ought.
Os GuinnessRead
Without our fully realizing it, flowers would become for us an expression in form of that which is most high, most sacred, and ultimately formless within ourselves. Flowers, more fleeting, more ethereal, and more delicate than the plants out of which they emerged, would become like messengers from another realm, like a bridge between the world of physical forms and the formless.
Eckhart TolleRead
Our problems are man-made, therefore they may be solved by man
John F. KennedyRead
Whoever has no house now, will never have one. Whoever is alone will stay alone, will sit, read, write long letters through the evening, and wander on the boulevards, up and down, restlessly, while dry leaves are blowing.
Rainer Maria RilkeRead
There is no truth except the truth that exists within you. Everything else is what someone is telling you.
Neale Donald WalschRead