I had heard of Noam Chomsky through various sources. NPR radio would occasionally throw his name into a conversation, now and again you might see his name in The New Yorker, or someone might mention him in a Rolling Stone article in hopes of making themselves sound more intelligent. Any way, my expectations were fairly wide open when I first listened to his lecture titled "An American Addiction," released on CD by Alternative Tentacles Records.

Chomsky begins by stating quite plainly that there is a direct correlation between countries having the worst human rights records and receiving U.S. arms and training. He tells his audience with a dry and self certain tone that this correlation is one that would be studied in the schools of any free country. A subtle jab at certain aspects of our culture that sets up the rest of the lecture full of these sarcastic and really very funny (although disturbing) digs at how truth and the truth presented are far from alignment and not always even overlapping.

It would seem easy enough to dismiss Chomsky’s political analysis as being tainted by an extreme left tendency. However, he never seems to purely politicize anything to the extent of a separation of parties. Instead he seems to perceive the American governing body as imperialistic and driven by bent motivation without targeting the liberal or the conservative ideology. It is a faulty vehicle no matter who is driving the car.

The major focus of the lecture deals with Columbia, and the U.S. policy in regards to the savage acts of terror and the military aid that is more or less directly responsible for a great deal of the bloodshed taking place. There are a great many facts presented in the lecture that I would almost garauntee will take most listeners completely by surpass. The argument that is presented to the American public in regards to Columbia is always directly focussed on the idea of narcotrafficking and it’s effect on the American population. Mr. Chomsky offers the listeners a few alternative views of the situation by detailing the current climate (political and economic) in Columbia, explaining the role of American aid in the country and drawing clear lines around the participating parties of the internal as well as the external struggles surrounding the entire issue.

It would be impractical as well as difficult for me to touch on every thread that Noam Chomsky manages to weave together into a well formulated essay on the negative derivatives that often develop as a direct result of American policy. However, I will state that his presentation delivers a blow that I am certain many proud red-blooded Americans would not be willing to take to heart; casting off Chomsky’s argument as one-sided propaganda while in the same breath defending the one-sided propaganda force-fed live-feed from the White House seven days a week on every American network station.

Perhaps the truth lies somewhere in the middle? Perhaps Chomsky is exactly right? He never really states an opinion, more or less simply presenting facts that he has gathered through various sources which he suggests the listeners check for themselves. This suggestion that we check his sources is when I begin to swallow hard. If the American policy makers are really contributing as a major factor throughout the world in terror and bloodshed for the sake of globalization and economic supremacy, than they certainly deserve a large deal of criticism and a share of the blame in regards to the condition of Columbia and other nations that came before and those nations sure to follow. However, if this is all happening directly under or noses and we continue to suck down TV dinners while gathering the truth via local news and that which is sponsored by the big business with everything to gain from a policy of destruction and atrocity, than we must share in the blame and acknowledge our responsibility. Sure its a hard pill to swallow. Even more reason to listen carefully and start checking sources, finding answers. Anything that can inspire action directed at discovering truth is worth the time and effort to find. Noam Chomsky is a skeptic with a dry tone and sarcastic wit. He is obviously a hard working researcher with interesting views and very well presented ideas about the condition of the globe as it circles around the money of America.

This lecture will make you wonder. This lecture will make you question the news anchor when he reports the foreign news through eyes the shade of the American flag. There are many tremendous things about the country that we live in, many freedoms and privileges that come with living here that do not exist in other parts of the world. All this being said (as it has been said with sickening frequency since America was targeted by terrorism), it is also important to at least possess the willingness to view American policy with a certain amount of empathy towards the foreign countries who live and all too often die as a result American foreign interest. Who is right? Who is wrong? What is really happening around the world while we buckle into our four-cylinder mini-van, drop our 2.5 kids off at school and head to the 9 to 5 that we regularly complain about over a dinner that makes us fat enough to need to run down to the corner news stand and by Cosmo just to read about the fascinating new way to lose up to thirty pounds in just ten days? Maybe it’s worth thinking about.

Matthew Meader