{"id":13389,"date":"2023-07-13T15:24:52","date_gmt":"2023-07-13T05:24:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rationalemagazine.com\/?p=13389"},"modified":"2023-07-13T15:27:28","modified_gmt":"2023-07-13T05:27:28","slug":"chomskys-take-on-the-challenges-of-our-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rationalemagazine.com\/index.php\/2023\/07\/13\/chomskys-take-on-the-challenges-of-our-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Chomsky&#8217;s take on the challenges of our time"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mp_wrapper\">\n  <div class=\"mepr-unauthorized-excerpt\">\n    <p>In Noam Chomsky\u2019s new hard-hitting book, his position is always clear, incisive and challenging.\u00a0\nIllegitimate Authority: Facing the Challenges of Our Time, co-authored with C. J. Polychroniou, covers the governance of the United States and its foreign policy, the war in Ukraine, and the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. There are also brief comments about other matters, such as the current political situation in Egypt.\u00a0\nChomsky\u2019s account of American politics goes right back to the beginning. John Jay, the first justice of the Supreme Court, declared that those who own the country should govern it. According to Chomsky, they have, and they do.\nAmerica, he argues, is a plutocracy. There is only one party in America, he contends, and that is the business party.\u00a0 This party has two factions \u2013 the Republican Party, which is run for the ultra-rich in finance and the leadership of large corporations, and the Democratic Party, which is run for the benefit of affluent professionals.\nProperly speaking, he maintains, the Republican Party is no longer a party, even apart from Trump. It is \"a radical insurgency, ideologically extreme, scornful of facts and compromises and dismissive of its political opposition.\" Its aim is to prevent the Democratic Party from governing.\nThe latter no longer represents the working class, believes Chomsky. Although President Biden did what he could to lift its\u00a0 economic fortunes, in this he was largely thwarted by the Senate under the leadership of Mitch McConn...<\/p>\n  <\/div>\n  <div class=\"mepr-unauthorized-message\">\n    <hr style=\"width: 100%;max-width: 1000px !important;height: 5px;border-width: 0;color: red;background-color: red\" \/>\n<div style=\"text-align: center\">\n<h3><em>You're part way through this article. Want to keep reading?<\/em><\/h3>\n<h4><em>Only members of the Rationalist Society of Australia can read our Premium articles.\u00a0<\/em><\/h4>\n<h3 style=\"height: 20px\"><span style=\"color: #c83200\"><em><a style=\"color: #c83200\" href=\"https:\/\/rationalist.com.au\/membership\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Become a member today.<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/h3>\n<h4><em>Already a member? 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