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The first general principle that
Chomsky draws attention to is the interest of American economic
adventure into ‘open societies’ which allows free movement
of capital and complete exploitation of labour. Economic and
political control of these societies is possible only if there
is full control over the material and human resources with
exploitation by the corporate sector in full connivance with the
local agencies of power. And all this is taken up with the
rhetoric of initiating or promoting democratic rule in these
societies. Democracy, it must be realised, according to its
American definition, is the power of the elites in
decision-making and control of economic resources. The aim,
therefore, is to "guarantee the freedom to rob and to
exploit."
These
manipulations are part of American "annexationist
plans." The cry is for world security; and war is to avert
any danger to humanity. But finally the motive is clear: an
"open access for everyone, as long as its own economic
power is so overwhelming (with latent military force at hand if
things go wrong) that US corporations are well-placed to win the
competition’. Don’t we know that free trade was always the
false rationalising behind imperial designs for dominance. This
is a historical fact.
The challenge to
the mainstream corporate media, the propaganda offensive, and
the psychological war comes from the creative aspect behind
individualistic usage of language that can be independent of
stimulus or manipulation. This innovative use of language is
subject to social conditioning with an ideological underpinning,
but any thinking and politically conscious individual aware of
the question of freedom can imaginatively deconstruct social
texts in a radical manner, by, as Chomsky suggests, going to the
root of the problem in a scientifically logical analysis.
Controlled and
coerced by authority and media, the individual either accepts
the message blindly and unthinkingly, or reacts creatively and
critically because he understands dominance, a view that
Descartes maintains throughout his writings. The cognitive
system is at work all the time, recollecting, reformulating,
contextualising and recontextualising so as to not take things
for granted.
Interestingly,
Chomsky is one such individual who has put his theory into
practice by constantly critiquing the systems of exploitation
around the world. He refers to the notion of ‘the Fifth
Freedom" (the freedom to rob and exploit), the other four
being freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want,
and Freedom from Fear. These freedoms are meant to gain public
approval "for crusades in defense of the Fifth Freedom, the
one that really matters."
What is
interesting in Chomsky’s lectures is the argument that America
has always stood for anti-imperialism, but the ‘open society’
policy has indicated how duplicitous it has been in using a
so-called "democratic" policy to subdue or show the
door to nation after nation.
As Chomsky writes,
‘The US conception of "open access" is marvelously
expressed in a State Department memorandum of April 1944 called
"Petroleum Policy of the United States," dealing with
primary resource. There must be equal access for US companies
everywhere, the memorandum explained, but no equal access for
others.’ On the face of it, it is an "open door"
policy, but there is a blatant emphasis on the absolute position
of the rights of the US corporates and the protection of
existing concessions enjoyed by it. In the assertion of this
absolute position, the idea of free competition becomes
absolutely redundant. This practice is clear in the case of
Japan that became an enemy as soon as it asserted its right of
having a "co-prosperity zone" or when the client
regime of Marcos in the Philippines turned renegade and began to
have its own economic ambitions.
As Chomsky goes on
to explain, the main enemy of this kind of one-sided policy is
the "indigenous people" who are always of the opinion
that all national resources belong to their benefit. These
"enemies of stability" have to be constantly worked
upon. The anti-communist stance is to discipline nations so as
to bring them under an overall system of world order run by the
US. A fully controlled global environment to suit the foreign
policy of the US will not permit the communists who Chomsky
defines as who attempt to use their resources for their own
purpose, thus interfering with the right to rob and to
exploit."
And to put an end
to such ‘communists’ it is important to construct an
ideological system that tactfully uses the media, the education
system, and the political institutions to make sure that the
population both in the exploited area and at home remains ‘passive,
ignorant and apathetic,’ thereby serving the interests of the
dominate class.
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