In a communication with Noam Chomsky, I posed to him the following:
“Here is a question for you:
I will sit down, read the news, do my research and come to realize that what the media is telling us is often not the best course of action for the everyday man, but is in fact what is best for big business or the ultra-wealthy and may even be at the expense of the everyday man. I go out and interact with the public only to find most people’s opinion’s have been brought in line with the news message and few people are questioning if it’s really the right message. Far too often, I’m the odd man out with the “goofy” ideas. How do you deal with this? It gets tiring. Surely you’ve encountered something similar in your life. After too much of it, it makes me want to withdraw from having conversations with people, which is the exact opposite of what society needs from insightful people who are really trying to understand how the world works.”
To which Mr. Chomsky replied:
“What you describe is the normal experience, throughout history, of those who think for themselves and do not simply toe the line, the easy way. It is, for example, the experience of the scattered few who opposed US aggression in Vietnam when it was building up in the early 1960s, and faced not only isolation but abuse and often violence — until, years late, popular opinion began to change and the war was seen by many as the monstrosity it was. So yes, it gets tiring, but the right response, as throughout history, is to go on.”
I really appreciated his response and thought it would be fitting to share here where it might help someone else who reads it.
“So yes, it gets tiring, but the right response, as throughout history, is to go on.”
*This communication was reproduced here with kind permission from Mr. Chomsky
To read an article on how the media works, click here: Link
Upside Up Life 