Noam Chomsky is known as America's foremost linguist, but it is his political beliefs that have sparked the greatest controversy.
The roots of Chomsky's political views stem from the idea that creativity is an essential characteristic of human nature.
In a phone interview from his office at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he has pursued his studies in linguistics since 1955, Chomsky said he believes that the capitalist system in the United States violates this creativity.
Chomsky's work in the field of linguistics thirty years ago revolutionized the science and in the process transformed the field of psychology as well. He argued persuasively that language is an innate ability, unique to the human species, that behaviorist learning principles cannot account for. For his work in the field, Chomsky has been called the "Einstein of linguistics."
"First of all, skip the Einstein business, linguistics hasn't even had it's Galileo yet, let alone Einstein," Chomsky said.
Chomsky said what he does about the general critique of ideology has nothing to do with language.
Even though he has no proof of it, Chomsky said that a fundamental aspect of human nature is the desire, the right, to have the maximal opportunities for the realization of creativity. Chomsky said if you believe this, as he does, "then you can derive areas of moral and political conclusions from it."
"Capitalism is an extreme form of tyranny," Chomsky said. "It turns people into tools of production."
In a capitalistic system, Chomsky said, "you're supposed to obey. In fact, that's what the system is geared to, and since that's our dominant system, that affects the education system and the media and everything else." This type of system doesn't nourish creativity said Chomsky, "In fact, creativity is dangerous."
Claiming no originality with this idea, Chomsky said he believes in traditional libertarian socialism.
Chomsky claims he has been an activist since childhood. "When I got old enough to move around by myself, I would say ll or l2, I would travel to New York, which was about l00 miles away, and hang around anarchists offices and second-hand book stores where they were selling pamphlets about the Spanish Civil War," said Chomsky laughing.
Chomsky's political activism was in full swing during the Vietnam War years.
"Internally in this country people weren't worried, at least I wasn't worried, so much about what was going on inside the country in those days. I was worried about what was happening in Indochina where we were wiping the place out. But inside the country what was happening, was by the standards of American history, one of the best times," Chomsky said.
He credited that era with bringing about a revolutionary change over a whole wide range of social and cultural issues, such as racism, sexism, environmental destruction and the treatment of Native Americans, which he called "the original sin of American society."
The changes, Chomsky said, were "brought about by the mostly young people who were serious activists."
Commenting on the decline in activism by young people since the l960s, Chomsky said, "Put yourself in the position of a student. Say you are a junior in college. The expectation was: 'well I can take off a year and get involved in politics. Then I can come back and then I'll be fine. I'll get a job, and everything will be great.' And now, there's a contracting economy. You can't do it. You can't do it. People know that if they step out of line they're in trouble. There are Ph.D's in physics and math at M.I.T. that can't get jobs."
Chomsky spoke alarmingly of the existing political climate in the country today. "Now it is very ominous," he said. "Now we are moving to the state where you can really get the sense of potential fascism. And even the rich are worried," Chomsky said. "Take a look at the Wall Street Journal, they say Dole is now being out-flanked in Kansas by the Christian Right who have now taken over the Republican Party."
The nation experienced its worst terrorist act, the Oklahoma City bombing on April l9, a bombing which occurred in the heart of the Bible Belt, an anchor of the far right movement.
The New York Times reported on April 23 that "experts who follow right-wing extremists say that signs of mounting violence and anger on the far right have become increasingly obvious in recent years."
House Speaker Newt Gingrich has been quick to distance himself and the Republican Party from any connection with the far right views that may have precipitated the bombing.
Chomsky called the Republican Contract With America a fraud. "These guys are just crooks. It's very simple," Chomsky said. "They are working for rich people and trying to enrich rich people more. Period. Everything they are saying is a lie. Newt Gingrich is the biggest exponent of the welfare state in the country; his own district gets more federal subsidies than any suburban district in the country outside of the federal government itself."
The GOP Contract, which Chomsky says is not a true contract because a contract requires two parties in agreement, includes provisions to reduce federal welfare programs and cut taxes, provisions which are expected to increase an already widening gap between the rich and the poor in America today.
The United States has surpassed Britain to become the country with the highest level of income concentration in the world today. The wealthiest one percent of American households (those with a net worth of at least $2.3 million each) owns nearly 40 percent of the nation's wealth, and the top 20 percent (those with a net worth of $l80,000 or more) owns more than 80 percent.