In general, democratic decision-making in a capitalist democracy is severely limited by the very fact that the commercial, financial, and industrial systems?the central institutions of the society?are in law and in principle excluded from public control or participation, except in the indirect ways in which any system of authority, no matter how autocratic, must be responsive to the public will. The tendencies toward concentration of power just noted, and now commonly discussed, further underscore the fundamental incompatibility of democracy and capitalism, particularly in its modern centralized form. The reliance of this system on production for war with the ideological mobilization of the population that is required, the paranoid fears that must be induced if the system is to be viable, simply indicates the severity of the current American crisis?a world crisis, given American power.
In general, democratic decision-making in a capitalist democracy is severely limited by the very fact…
Noam Chomsky (born on December 7, 1928, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historical essayist, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a major figure in analytic philosophy and one of the founders of the field of cognitive science. He is a Laureate Professor of Linguistics at the University of Arizona and an Institute Professor Emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and is the author of more than 150 books. He has written and lectured widely on linguistics, philosophy, intellectual history, contemporary issues, and particularly international affairs and U.S. foreign policy. Chomsky has been a writer for Z projects since their earliest inception, and is a tireless supporter of our operations.