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offsite link North Korea Increases Aid to Russia, Mos... Tue Nov 19, 2024 12:29 | Marko Marjanovi?

offsite link Trump Assembles a War Cabinet Sat Nov 16, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi?

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Human Rights in Ireland
Promoting Human Rights in Ireland

Human Rights in Ireland >>

Lockdown Skeptics

The Daily Sceptic

offsite link News Round-Up Thu Dec 26, 2024 00:09 | Toby Young
A summary of the most interesting stories in the past 24 hours that challenge the prevailing orthodoxy about the ?climate emergency?, public health ?crises? and the supposed moral defects of Western civilisation.
The post News Round-Up appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link The Ginger Rogers Theory of Information Wed Dec 25, 2024 18:00 | Sallust
In the Daily Sceptic, Sallust draws our attention to the 'gynogenic climate change' hypothesis: that is is women who are principally to blame for global warming.
The post The Ginger Rogers Theory of Information appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Some Laws Relating to Speech Are Surprisingly Uplifting Wed Dec 25, 2024 16:00 | James Alexander
Politics professor James Alexander has compiled a compendium of amusing laws ? Murphy's Law, Parkinson's Law and Cole's Law (thinly sliced cabbage) ? to give you a break from making polite conversation with your relatives.
The post Some Laws Relating to Speech Are Surprisingly Uplifting appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Warm Keir Starmer Just Looked Out? Wed Dec 25, 2024 11:00 | Henry Goodall
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The post Warm Keir Starmer Just Looked Out… appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Declined: Chapter One Wed Dec 25, 2024 09:00 | M. Zermansky
Introducing Declined: a dystopian satire about the emergence of a social credit system in the U.K. that's going to be published in serial?form?in?the Daily Sceptic. Read episode one here.
The post Declined: Chapter One appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

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Voltaire Network
Voltaire, international edition

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?113 Fri Dec 20, 2024 10:42 | en

offsite link Pentagon could create a second Kurdish state Fri Dec 20, 2024 10:31 | en

offsite link How Washington and Ankara Changed the Regime in Damascus , by Thierry Meyssan Tue Dec 17, 2024 06:58 | en

offsite link Statement by President Bashar al-Assad on the Circumstances Leading to his Depar... Mon Dec 16, 2024 13:26 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?112 Fri Dec 13, 2024 15:34 | en

Voltaire Network >>

Noam Chomsky in Dublin: a youth perspective

category national | miscellaneous | other press author Tuesday November 24, 2009 16:35author by Kenny G Report this post to the editors

A review from young competition winner

Thanks to the SpunOut.ie team, myself and a friend found ourselves with a once in a lifetime opportunity. We had won a competition to see Noam Chomsky speak.

The night to see Chomsky came and we were not sure what to expect, having only Chomsky’s Youtube broadcasts as a rough guide. As soon as he begun speaking though, our imaginations started firing. We listened to a man who spoke about what our hearts had told us, but what the world around us had convinced us not to believe.

Professor Noam Chomsky is arguably the finest linguist in existence. He is also an outspoken writer, speaker and activist on political issues that touch people worldwide. He is highly critical of US foreign policy and is an advocate of grassroots movements. He has also spoken out about the (mis)use of power, with power held being illegitimate unless justified. As he spoke to the audience, I was struck at his lack of theatrical quality. His powerful presence was not due to a booming voice and plenty of hand gestures; he simply kept my attention by the quality of what he was actually saying, and the simplicity with which he said it.

Throughout the talk, he kept things relevant to the country in which he was speaking, illustrating an understanding of the fall of the Celtic Tiger and the problems with Northern Ireland's Good Friday Agreement. He emphasised the importance of grassroots action as a tool for change, keeping the atmosphere alive with positive examples of where grassroots action really did make a difference. I found his criticism of President Obama’s office intriguing, as he made a number of points on recent decisions that were scarcely focused on in worldwide media. He hammered home his opposition to the war in Iraq, pointing out that the Obama administration has created the biggest military budget in history.

I often find political speakers, well, actually hard to listen to, so intent are they on subscribing to and promoting a particular type of political dogma with disdain for those who “don’t get it”. I am used to political speakers having a solemn band of loyal supporters in the audience wildly cheering when they hear a point they like. Chomsky encourages none of this fervour! Different types of political thinking inspire his opinions and he prevents doom and gloom by giving lighthearted humour throughout his lectures. He finished this lecture on a positive note, by saying that we can all be agents of change.

I left the RDS reflecting on my own views of the world in which I live. Noam Chomsky confirmed my niggling thought that Ireland is in need of grassroots change. Not the kind that focuses on local communities congregating inside the Irish bastions of power: the church, the schools and the pub; but, the kind that poses a direct threat to the ‘greed is good’ mantra of the now gone Celtic Tiger.

I would someday like to see an Ireland committed to goals of inclusion, justice served to all, first class healthcare, equal opportunities, and the abolition of social problems caused by poverty that the Celtic Tiger ignored. With grassroots action, Noam Chomsky convinced me that these dreams could become a reality.

By: Annette Carter

Related Link: http://www.spunout.ie
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