Understanding Power

The Indispensable Chomsky

By: Noam Chomsky, John Schoeffel - editor, Peter R. Mitchell - editor

Narrated by: Robin Bloodworth

Length: 22 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

A major new collection from "arguably the most important intellectual alive" (The New York Times). Noam Chomsky is universally accepted as one of the preeminent public intellectuals of the modern era. Over the past thirty years, broadly diverse audiences have gathered to attend his sold-out lectures. Now, in Understanding Power, Peter Mitchell and John Schoeffel have assembled the best of Chomsky's recent talks on the past, present, and future of the politics of power.

In a series of enlightening and wide-ranging discussions, all published here for the first time, Chomsky radically reinterprets the events of the past three decades, covering topics from foreign policy during Vietnam to the decline of welfare under the Clinton administration. And as he elucidates the connection between America's imperialistic foreign policy and the decline of domestic social services, Chomsky also discerns the necessary steps to take toward social change. With an eye to political activism and the media's role in popular struggle, as well as U.S. foreign and domestic policy, Understanding Power offers a sweeping critique of the world around us and is definitive Chomsky. Characterized by Chomsky's accessible and informative style, this is the ideal book for those new to his work as well as for those who have been listening for years.

©2002 Noam Chomsky, Peter Rounds Mitchell, and John Schoeffel (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Current times demand you get this into your head.

I'm not what you would consider a member of the left, actually I'm a capitalist entrepreneur. But the ideas and concepts in this book are universal, fundamental and are necesary if you wish to understand how the modern world works and the true forces tha shape our lives.ostl6, if you want to make a change for thr better it's necesary to understand what change looks like in the long timeframes we humans need to make real lasting change.

I don't agree with some of the ideas he presents but they are microscopic and of little importance in comparison to the scope of the information in this book, but that's just an opinion.

The best thing is to read this now, almost 30 years later. Chomsky got most of it right as you will learn if you listen to this completely. he basically predicts our current state.

By the way, I have had this book for 10 years in print and never had made the time to read. so yeah, thanks Audible.

Chomsky

Fantastic book. Well organized and narrated. Essential for all, especially anarchists. Chomsky is like a political and economic encyclopedia. Don't make the mistake of idolizing him, think for yourself and go organize!

Understanding Power: good material badly presented

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend it, but with major caveats. Chomsky is a brilliant thinker with an array of facts at his command that goes far beyond "impressive": "staggering" is more like it. He both knows about and has thought about an extraordinary range of issues. And this is part of the difficulty in listening to this book. The material seems to have been organized in a haphazard, or at least bizarre, way: a given chapter might include material on abortion, the Korean War, various conspiracy theories, and Wall Street capitalists. The next chapter might include some of these as well, along with a bunch of others. The material is certainly not organized chronologically, which would have had its own value in seeing the development of Chomsky's thoughts. The chapter titles are of no help here, nor are the "section" titles -- I'm not sure what else to call them -- phrases inserted between chunks of material. They feel like the editor/producer telling me what the next part is "actually" about; this is not a big drawback, but could have been done much better.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Understanding Power?

The book left me with diametrically opposed feelings - the need to take action, to find something that one can do, set next to the feeling of the enormous difficulty of making anything actually happen. These thoughts are echoed over and over by the people -- often serious activists themselves -- who attended these talks and whose questions structure the material. Then again, perhaps that is the result that Chomsky was striving for.

What didn’t you like about Robin Bloodworth’s performance?

The reading itself isn't bad, but there are some choices (which may or may not have been Bloodworth's) that really, and I mean really, get in the way of making this a more enjoyable experience. One is simply how Noam Chomsky's first name is pronounced. I have always heard "Noam" pronounced to rhyme with "Rome" or (what I think is more correct) just as it is spelled, as having almost two syllables: think of saying "Noah" but with an "m" on the end. In the various editors notes that occur through the recording, this is the way Bloodworth says it. All good. But whenever a questioner says "Noam" -- most of the material consists of Chomsky's responses to questions, so this happens a lot --it is pronounced, utterly inexplicably, to rhyme with "Nam" just as in "Vietnam". The first time I thought he was just repeating what the person asking the question actually said. But it's done every single time, and I would bet anything this didn't happen in the actual events. And it's irritating every single time. Such an easy thing to get right, and he knows the right way to say it, so why?? Still, this is less offensive that something it really must have been in Bloodworth's control. Questions are asked, as one would imagine, by both men and women. Bloodworth says at the outset that he will identify the questioners by gender, apparently thinking this makes it easier to follow the material. It doesn't, in my opinion, but it's no big deal. Or not at least till you hear how he does this. When a man asks a question, Bloodworth's voice drops in pitch and becomes rather more harsh, sometimes almost gruff. Even more noticeably, when he's relating a woman's question, his voice gets very distinctly higher in pitch and softer, in some cases actually breathy. He delivers, in other words, the quintessential stereotypes of men's and women's speech and, in my opinion, it verges on outright sexism. It certainly gets in the way of paying attention to the content of the questions. Considering what the book is about, one is only left to wonder what Chomsky would think listening to this.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

This book should not be listened to in one sitting, even if it were short enough to do so as a practical matter. There is too much to think about on each of the many topics covered, not only as to what Chomsky is saying, but how his narrative fits in with (or rather contrasts with) what you've heard and read before. Most of the thinking should be "if I'm so moved and/or disturbed by what I've just heard, what could I or should I do about this?"

A must read!

This is a book that everyone needs to read. The sound quality was good as well.

Incredible audiobook!

This audiobook covers so much great materials worth listening to. Just give it a try.

terrifying, with a hint of optimism

He makes sense of things that I previously thought to be senseless. Quite informative and useful to dispel propaganda.

Powerful and Illuminating.

Essential listening for anyone that feels disaffected by the political system. Completely worth your time.

Beginner Guide for Politics

Brilliant! Educational! Holistic review of systems of power from a disident viewpoint.
Everything that should concern an average person about how the world works with great narration.

Great

Now i finally understand how it work.

Book have also many new things, about i never hear before.

Narration good.

The very definition of thought provoking

If you want an introduction into Chomsky's philosophy, this is a great place to start. Lots of subjects covered, lots of ideas to inspire and start thinking about. Not to mention great advice for getting your friends involved in the cause.