In minor ways, world opinion can serve as some kind of brake on full-scale utilization of the technology of terror and destruction. There has, as yet, been no use of nuclear weapons in Vietnam; and although rural populations are considered fair game for any sort of military attack, urban areas, where the butchery would be more evident to the outside world, are still relatively immune. Similarly, the use of gas attacks and chemical warfare has been extended only slowly, as habituation permits each gradual increment to pass unnoticed. But ultimately, the only effective brake can be popular revulsion on a mass scale in the United States itself. Consequently, the level of culture that can be achieved in the United States is a life-and-death matter for large masses of suffering humanity. This too is a fact that must color any discussion of contemporary American institutions.
In minor ways, world opinion can serve as some kind of brake on full-scale utilization of the technol…
Noam Chomsky (fèt 7 desanm 1928, nan Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) se yon lengwis Ameriken, filozòf, syantis kognitif, redaksyon istorik, kritik sosyal, ak aktivis politik. Pafwa yo rele "papa lengwistik modèn", Chomsky se tou yon gwo figi nan filozofi analitik ak youn nan fondatè yo nan domèn syans mantal. Li se yon pwofesè loreya nan lengwistik nan University of Arizona ak yon pwofesè emerit Enstiti nan Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), epi li se otè plis pase 150 liv. Li te ekri ak bay anpil konferans sou lengwistik, filozofi, istwa entelektyèl, pwoblèm kontanporen, ak patikilyèman zafè entènasyonal ak politik etranjè Etazini. Chomsky se yon ekriven pou pwojè Z depi premye kòmansman yo, epi li se yon sipòtè san pran souf nan operasyon nou yo.