We have seen our elected leaders make decisions that we would never have supported. We have seen them frame policies that we know are not in the best interests of the masses. And yet we have believed in the power of democracy and celebrated democracy for decades. However, Requiem for the American Dream shows you that this very tool has always been structured to keep the poser away from the people. With ten principles, Noam Chomsky charts the path America has takes in the last 300 odd years and how it has come to a position where the American Dream is becoming just that, a dream.
Noam Chomsky is Institute Professor (Emeritus) in the M.I.T. Department of Linguistics and Philosophy. His work is widely credited with having revolutionized the field of modern linguistics. Chomsky is the author of many best-selling books, including the New York Times bestseller Hegemony or Survival, Failed States, Imperial Ambitions, What We Say Goes, and Hopes and Prospects.
Requiem for the American Dream: The 10 Principles of Concentration of Wealth & Power
Author: Noam Chomsky
Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: Seven Stories Press (March 28, 2017)
ISBN-10: 1609807367, 978-1609807368
Requiem for the American Dream Reviews
From the time of Adam Smith to the decisions in the current century, the author shows the reader how Democracy was always skewed to benefit the rich and powerful. He quotes how James Madison always believed that real democracy was dangerous and his solution to protect the rich and powerful was to reduce democracy. He points out early on in the book how America deviated from the Aristotle’s solution to fix the flaws of democracy – reduce inequality. However, America chose to reduce democracy to keep it afloat.
It was only in snatches, like the activism of Martin Luther King Jr. and the general revolting sentiment in the 60s and 70s that America saw the masses make an effort to take back power into the hands of the majority.
He moves on to tell the reader, how this renewed activism of the 70s threatened those in authority and they used country’s economic policies to ensure that the majority remained dependent and subdued. Point by point, the author examines various essays, conference proceedings, and debates to indicate that the political class of the country has done everything across the century to ensure that the majority does not rise beyond a level where the elite are threatened. This he says is done by various means including by making the middle class poorer, dividing the masses, manufacturing false consent, and even engineering the election results.
In a crisp writing, the author has put forward the current state of democracy and increasing income inequality. Requiem of American Dream is a must-have book for Chomsky’s fans and an interesting read for anyone who dares to criticize and go against the general euphoria.
Chomsky’s Requiem for the American Dream Documentary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srdrW31xWPo