The world-renowned linguist and dissident Noam Chomsky was discharged from a São Paulo hospital in Brazil last month as he continues to recover from a stroke last year that impacted his ability to speak. His wife, Valeria Wasserman Chomsky, told a Brazilian newspaper he still follows the news and raises his left arm in anger when he sees images of Israel’s war on Gaza. False reports that Chomsky had died went viral online in June. We speak with historian Vijay Prashad, who co-authored his latest book with Chomsky, The Withdrawal: Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and the Fragility of U.S. Power, and was able to visit him twice while in Brazil. He describes Chomsky as “a beloved friend, adviser, confidant, in some ways the one who helped explain what was happening in the world for decades.” When Prashad was with Chomsky, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva also stopped by.
    • jeffw@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      7·
      2 days ago

      I wouldn’t say heated with Putin but I do think he had some misguided conclusions about the invasion (honestly it’s been a while since I read his takes, but I remember being a bit confused and wondering if maybe he was losing his edge)

      • nevemsenki@lemmy.worldEnglish
        26·
        2 days ago

        According to Chomsky, Russia is acting with restraint and moderation. He compares Russia’s way of fighting with the US’s during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, arguing that large-scale destruction of infrastructure seen in that conflict “hasn’t happened in Ukraine”.

        https://www.newstatesman.com/the-weekend-interview/2023/04/noam-chomsky-interview-ukraine-free-actor-united-states-determines

        Seems very unambiguous to me.

        • jeffw@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
          112·
          2 days ago

          Oof, that’s a bit worse than I recalled. The article seems to be saying that he just views Ukraine as a pawn in a US-Russia or NATO-Russia war, which doesn’t seem fair. Some of his conclusions would be fair if it were just a US-Russia war but it just isn’t.

          • nevemsenki@lemmy.worldEnglish
            153·
            2 days ago

            The feeling I get is his opposition/hate of the western world leaves him no room for nuance. Ukraine is helped by the west to defend against Russia = Ukriane has to be wrongand Russia has to be right.

            Realising this also makes me question a lot about him, to be honest…

            • cmbabul@lemmy.worldEnglish
              71·
              2 days ago

              Not defending his points on Ukraine at all but Chomsky has a bit of Kissinger energy, he’s obviously not that evil since as far as I know he’s committed zero war crimes compared to the hundreds Henry committed, but he does seem to have the ability to shift his intellect to get behind whatever he believes is the best vector to achieve the ends he’s deemed necessary without any moral qualms.