The Julian Assange Show: Noam Chomsky & Tariq Ali

[onwardsand upwards]

3. Nice post!

How refreshing to see an interesting discussion, by these serious people, on these serious topics.

I was a little disappointed with some of Chomsky's and Ali's responses to some of Assange's questions. In particular, he asked two really key questions;

1. To what extent is a truly independent government justified in using repressive techniques, in order to preserve its independence? (He used Cuba as an example.)

2. Is “authoritarian capitalism” (ie fascism) more efficient than democracy (or anything else) and therefore destined to displace all other systems?

Sadly, neither Chomsky nor Ali seemed up to the task of answering these questions. They seemed to wander off on their own discussions about how special Cuba is, and how the US is only strong because of its military. That is, they seemed unable to get beyond the specific examples to discuss the principles that motivated Assange’s questions.

Interesting, though. I hope we see more!!!