The Silent Number

Posted: 2010-02-08

I got Reddit to set up an interview with Noam Chomsky, prolific linguist, cognitive scientist, philosopher, activist, and modern day anarchist thinker. The man is a genius, and really knows his politics. He'll be answering the top ten questions submitted by users in a video interview, so feel free to ask him anything, or vote on existing questions you'd like to hear answered. here's my question: 

What are some of your criticisms of today's Anarchist movement? How to be as effective as possible is something many anarchists overlook and you are perhaps the most prolific voice on this topic so your thoughts would be very influential.

Being an anarchist is very fulfilling for people, and most seem to get lost in self-fulfilling work. Many spend their time learning all they can only to get lost in philosophizing and not take any real action, and there are also many others who are very active but, as helpful as their services are to the community, don't really enlighten any new minds.

In addition, there is the ethical dilemma of living in a capitalist system. Is it better for an anarchist live the way they believe everyone should, even though in this case it makes it harder to convince other people to do so, or to temporarily compromise some ideals in order to reach out to more people? It is easy for anarchists to spend most of their time avoiding capitalism in as many aspects of their life as possible.

Perhaps we just need more Noam Chomsky's in the world. Any advice for those who aspire to be more like you is appreciated! Thank you so much for taking the time to answer our questions, and you're always welcome in the Reddit community if you ever want to join us