Winstanley In the 1600's, after the English civil war, there came about bands of people who aspired to live in rural egalitarianism, what we might recognise as socialism. These were common people, sowing common land, led by dissident protestant Gerrard Winstanley. It may have been unsuccessful at the time, but leaves a legacy, however little known, to inspire generations. I say we celebrate the diggers and their ideas...
...that we may work in righteousness, and lay the foundation of making the earth a common treasury for all, both rich and poor.
Chomsky & Co served to introduce me properly to the man who is, as the New York Times put it, arguably the greatest living intellectual. It turns out, as I had expected, that Noam Chomsky talks a lot of sense. One of the most galvanising sentiments, and I think it was put forward by Normand Baillargeon, was the notion that even if we as individuals are unsettled by what understand of the world, we are unlikely to do anything about it, because we are all sat in front of our television sets, in our own homes, alone. Without opportunity for discussion with our fellow man, our thoughts of unrest remain nebulous, unvocalised and perhaps even quashed by our own introvert selves. I propose, and I use a phrase of Chomsky's own coining, that we maintain intellectual self-defence, but only be careful not to allow our cynical mistrust to cost us valuable alliances.
I want to read some of Chomsky's politically focused books, but he has been such a prolific author I hardly know where to start! If any Chomsky fans are reading then do advise.
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