Noam Chomsky and Michel Foucault

Via Aeon I came across this fascinating excerpt of a conversation held in 1971 between these two highly influential thinkers about social and political power structures and what we might seek to achieve through them.

From the Aeon description of the exchange:

In 1971, Noam Chomsky and Michel Foucault met at the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands for their first and only debate. Produced by the Dutch Broadcasting Foundation as a part of their International Philosophers Project, the programme featured discussions with eminent thinkers on the topic of ‘human nature and ideal society’. In recent years, their debate – the fourth and final of the series – has been somewhat overshadowed by events surrounding it. Namely, it’s rumoured that the programme’s host, the Dutch philosopher Fons Elders, paid Foucault for his appearance in hashish, and repeatedly encouraged him to put on a bright red wig to spice up the proceedings.

However, the debate itself – seen here excerpted and translated by the YouTube channel Philosophy Overdose – has appeal beyond the pleasures of watching the provocative Foucault spar with the professorial Chomsky. With the Vietnam War near its height, Chomsky and Foucault agree that contemporary power structures need to be attacked and dismantled. However, while Chomsky advocates for a system of ‘anarcho-syndicalism’ rooted in justice, sympathy and human creativity, Foucault argues that these concepts are products of the same bourgeois system that needs replacing. Probing age-old philosophical questions as well as the politics of the moment, the interview offers a revealing glimpse of the divergent styles, attitudes and outlooks of two enduringly influential thinkers.

The weird Marianne Williamson boomlet

When I was scanning the news headlines after the first night of the Democratic debate, I was surprised to see several mention Marianne Williamson as having done something noteworthy, apparently by saying that Donald Trump could not be defeated by wonky policy proposals because he can harness dark psychic forces or something. She had a similar moment after the first round of debates last month. Of course, since she eschews policy wonkiness in general and is apparently some kind of spiritual guru, this psychic forces terrain is something that she would relish campaigning on.
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The second Democratic debate

Once again, I did not have time to watch the second night of the Democratic primary debate. To be quite honest, there was really nobody on the stage last night that I was particularly interested in, except for Julian Castro whom I’d like to learn more about. The top three in the polls of Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and Cory Booker tend to leave me cold. I see them all as party establishment candidates, with Biden and Harris having very problematic records as well, while it is not clear exactly what Booker stands for. Booker strikes me as a charismatic, highly skilled and ambitious politician but one who will be too willing to accommodate powerful interests.
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Elizabeth Warren puts Chris Matthews in his place

After the debate, Chris Matthews of MSNBC kept badgering Elizabeth Warren about how much Medicare for All will raise taxes. That is the Republican talking point and the one pushed by the corporate mainstream media and the political establishment who are defenders of the private health insurance companies. Warren refused to accept his framing of the question and instead focused laser-like on the fact that she and Bernie Sanders have been emphasizing, that overall health care costs will go down and people will not go bankrupt or suffer serious financial hardship because of medical bills.

Mathews is a blowhard and a shill for corporate America.

This does not make sense to me

Yesterday we had another mass shooting in the US where a man went to a public food festival with an assault rifle and then opened fire indiscriminately, killing three people (including two children) and injuring 12 before being killed by security. The man had apparently referenced a white supremacist book on Facebook just before he went on his killing spree. This is just the latest in violence in the US that has been committed by people affiliated with white supremacists, who seem to be emboldened by Donald Trump’s coddling of them.
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How racist is America?

When something outrageous happens in the US, such as acts of mass murder or cruelty or racism, politicians and even members of the public tend to distance themselves from it by portraying them as irrational and inexplicable aberrations, commonly using the phraseology of “This is not who we are”. I have mentioned before how such a statement is deeply disingenuous. Given the long and deep history of racism, genocide, and violence in the US, to act as if such acts are contrary to wholesome values that have always been upheld cannot be justified. It would be better to say “This is not who we should be”, because rather than smugly adopting a mantle of righteousness, such a sentiment is at least aspirational and recognizes the need for improvement
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John Oliver on Boris Johnson

While we in the US are depressed at the thought of having such a blatantly racist president, let us spare a thought for our friends across the Atlantic in the UK who also have a nasty piece of work in their new prime minister Boris Johnson. The ‘special relationship’ between the US and the UK was always more of a meaningless slogan than reflecting a genuine reality, but it may be true for just these two unprincipled individuals who seem to be made for each other.

The one advantage that people in the UK have over us is that it is always possible that the government will collapse leading to new elections and a new prime minister, while we are stuck with this president at least until January 2021.

John Oliver delivers the bad news about Johnson. (Language advisory)

Trump doubles down on racism

Donald Trump has made it clear that his re-election campaign will be based on straight-up racist appeals. After telling four congresswomen of color to go back to where they came from, he then turned his fire on congressman Elijah Cummings and said that the city of Baltimore which is encompassed by the district he represents is ‘rat-infested’. Do I need to mention that the city is majority African-American?
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Film review: Hail Satan? (2019)

I recently watched this documentary on The Satanic Temple that I previewed earlier. It is an enjoyable film, informative and quite funny in parts, that looks at the origins of the group, what their aims are, and how they set about trying to achieve their goals. It seemed to have started out as a lark to troll religious conservatives, with stunts such as members dressed in what people think is appropriate Satanic dress holding a press conference on the steps of the Florida state capitol building to endorse right wing Florida governor Rick Scott, who clearly did not want their endorsement.
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Scam artists target conservatives for grifts

Donald Trump and his family have always been grifters, as should have been obvious to sentient being, and yet he managed to persuade large numbers of conservative voters that he should be president. So it should be no surprise that his presidency is just filled with grifters, from his family members to his cabinet members to other people in the administration. But his conservative base seems to be remaining devoted to him and because of that devotion, seem to be willing to overlook grifting or not even be aware that grifting is going on.
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