In the words of Chomsky

We live in the same world and belong to the same species. Our experiences – both individually and collectively – are fundamentally similar despite our vast variety and differences, and despite our respective achievements and failures that separate us.

This is our common humanity of which we are aware but which more than ever has to become our common priority if we are to survive for much longer.

In such moments the wisdom of the great and the good as well as the folk sayings of the nameless humble provide a perspective in which appropriate answers to the eternal question of ‘What is to be done?’ become clearer. For an individual to be counted among such guides is to achieve the greatest honor of being a servant of mankind. There are very few individuals who deserve such esteem. One of them is Noam Chomsky.

To contain an ocean in a pitcher is considered to be the measure of profundity, wisdom and enlightenment. It transcends cleverness and wit. It communicates a Eureka-like realization of the simplicity behind all complexity and can only be the product of embracing humility, sincerity and sympathy. What has made a place in the hearts of millions for Chomsky – even more than his intellectual genius, encyclopedic learning and relentless pursuit of justice and fairness – has been his abiding concern to alleviate the plight of the wretched of the earth, and the time he is able to make for students and a whole range of ordinary people asking ordinary questions, including detailed written answers to their queries.

Now as he lies silent on his sick bed many of his admirers are collecting his best-known quotes. Some of my favorite political ones also apply to Pakistan.

In the following paragraphs, only the direct quotes of Chomsky are in quotation marks. Those that are not, are either summations of what he said or my comments relating to Pakistan.

We start with: “Question everything!”

Words of power systems do not mean what they say; they mean what is not said but must be understood. In capitalist economies “there is socialism for the rich and the market for the rest.” The Masters of the Universe have always followed what Adam Smith called the “Vile Maxim” of “all for us and nothing for the rest.”

America is the freest country in the world and has made great contributions to mankind. But it was founded on genocide, developed on theft and slavery, and has always been at war somewhere, and sometimes everywhere. It is the only country to have dropped an atomic bomb on an unarmed civilian population – twice.

In state capitalism, the individual is a commodity that only has market value, but no inherent value as a human being.

According to the US Supreme Court, money is free speech.

Over the past 50 years, $50 trillion has been transferred from the poorer 90 per cent of Americans to the richest one per cent.

“The current US policies towards China are outrageous.”

“The US Navy commissioned an assault vessel and named it the USS Fallujah in memory of one of the worst atrocities. People are still dying from weapons that were used with phosphorus and depleted uranium.”

“The invasion of Iraq was one of the worst crimes…See if you can find one sentence anywhere near the mainstream that says the invasion was a crime.”

“The Israeli Supreme Court is the only judicial body in the world that doesn’t recognize that there is an occupation [of] Palestinian territory. That’s been rejected by the World Court, the US government, the Red Cross. Everyone disagrees with Israel but its Supreme Court goes along with the government.”

(Perhaps Chomsky forgets that the Indian Supreme Court similarly does not acknowledge India’s ‘occupation’ of the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir. But he is human. He can make mistakes.)

“We shouldn’t be looking for heroes, we should be looking for good ideas.”

“If we don’t believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don’t believe in it at all.”

“The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum.” (As we do in Pakistan.)

For the powerful, “crimes are those that others commit.”

The powerful try to ensure that “education is a system of imposed ignorance.”

“It is the responsibility of intellectuals to speak the truth and expose the lies” of the powerful. (Just as ours do?)

“I think it only makes sense to seek out and identify structures of authority, hierarchy, and domination in every aspect of life, and to challenge them. Unless a justification for them can be given they are illegitimate.”

“It is not radical Islam that worries the US – it’s independence.”

“The whole point of good propaganda is to create a slogan that nobody is going to be against, and everybody is going to be for. Nobody knows what it means, because it means anything.” (Our daily newspapers and TV newscasts do this brilliantly.)

“How is it we have so much information, but know so little?” (Do our coopted public intellectuals and bureaucratic intelligentsia know more or less than they pretend?) “People with power understand exactly one thing: violence.” (That is why we the people are so discreet.)

“You never need an argument against the use of violence, you need an argument for it.” (Hence the need for media censorship.)

“Instead of citizens, neoliberal democracy produces consumers. Instead of communities it produces shopping malls. The net result is an atomized society of disengaged individuals who feel demoralized and socially powerless. It is the immediate and foremost enemy of genuine participatory democracy, not just in the US, but across the planet.”

“Do you train for passing tests or do you train for creative enquiry?” (In Pakistan, this is a no-brainer.)

“The Bible is probably the most genocidal book in the literary canon.” (Explains a lot about past and current international developments.)

“Responsibility I believe accrues through privilege.” (Unfortunately, budgets in Pakistan are not prepared accordingly. Our leaders are more practical than responsible.)

“Any dictator would admire the uniformity and obedience of the US media.” (Is Pakistani media an exception?)

“Changes and progress very rarely are gifts from above. They come out of struggles from below.” (IMF budgets from above, protests from below.)

“Resistance is feasible even for those who are not heroes by nature.”

“International affairs is very much run like the mafia. The godfather does not accept disobedience.” (Or ‘absolutely not’ as Imran Khan should know.)

Pakistan has produced internationally renowned scientists but has failed to develop a science-based education system and culture.

One big idea, without the support of thousands of mutually supporting steps taken by hundreds of thousands of ordinary people coordinated within voluntary movements, remains one big idea.

Chomsky has made us think – and given us reason to hope. His works provide an education to save the world.

The writer is a formerambassador to the US, India and China and head of UN missions in Iraq and Sudan. He can be reached at: ashrafjqazi@gmail.com