MV
Noam Chomsky - Foundations of World Order: the UN, World Bank, IMF & Decl. Human Rights 1999
@ MIT Video Productions
12/07/18
Takeaways
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
We've just passed the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is one of the pillars of the world order established after World War II.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
The three foundational systems of world order established after World War II are the Human Rights Regime, the International Political Order articulated in the United Nations Charter, and the International Economic System, often referred to as the Bretton Woods System.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
The principles articulated in the foundational systems of world order were distasteful to elite elements who sought to dismantle or attenuate them.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
The conflicts over the principles of world order constitute a significant part of modern history, particularly post-Cold War history, and should be analyzed as such.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
The questions surrounding world order are not abstract; they involve real issues of life, death, suffering, and despair.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
The voices that dominate discussions about world order are typically those of the rich and powerful, while the voices of the marginalized and oppressed are often silenced or ignored.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
The G7 meetings, which involve the seven richest industrial countries, receive extensive media coverage, while the G15 meetings, involving major developing countries, are largely ignored by the national press.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
The G15 meeting highlighted that the United States and Britain are unwilling to engage in dialogue with the developing world, which is often forced to make concessions that benefit the rich.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
The true nature of globalization is that the North, represented by the G7, seeks maximum benefits while the South is only entitled to a limited margin of development.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
The G15 plea for orderly engagement with Western investors is rejected by the North, which prioritizes its own interests over equitable dialogue.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
The current form of globalization has resulted in economic failure for the majority, with a decline in the share of economic product going to working people.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
The economic model being globalized reflects a structure where a small sector of extremely wealthy individuals exists alongside a large population struggling between survival and suffering.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
The United States and Britain exemplify a model of extreme wealth disparity, which is now being globalized, affecting societies worldwide.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
The concept of worker insecurity is used to explain the health of the economy, but it does not correlate with the well-being of the majority of people.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
The fairy tale economy benefits the wealthy while the majority of the population experiences stagnation or decline in their economic status.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
The current economic recovery is unusual because it has left most of the population behind, with real wages significantly lower than they were decades ago.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
The media often ignores the voices of the marginalized, focusing instead on the narratives of the powerful, which shapes public perception and discourse.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
The United States has a separate standard for major Muslim states, particularly Indonesia, which is the largest Muslim state, compared to its approach in the Middle East.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
On May 20, 1998, Secretary of State Albright called for Indonesian President Suharto to resign and facilitate a democratic transition, which occurred shortly after.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
From 1965 until 1998, Suharto was considered "our kind of guy" by the Clinton administration, despite his regime's record of massacres and human rights abuses.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
The Clinton administration suspended its review of Indonesia's labor practices while praising the country for aligning with international standards, all while supporting Suharto's regime.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
In December 1998, Albright stated that the Iraqi people would benefit from a government that truly represented them, indicating a shift in U.S. foreign policy towards democracy in both Iraq and Indonesia.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
The U.S. supported Saddam Hussein for years, but after he lost control and failed to follow IMF orders, he was deemed no longer useful, leading to calls for a democratic transition.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
The U.S. interventions in Indonesia and other countries often led to atrocities and the destruction of democratic foundations, driven by the goal of maintaining control over resources and political power.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
The U.S. bombing in December 1998 violated the UN Charter and international law, as it did not seek Security Council authorization, reflecting a disregard for international norms.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
The U.S. position is that it cannot submit to international law or the UN Charter, as it is viewed as a rogue state that prioritizes its own interests over global governance.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights integrates civil, political, socioeconomic, and solidarity rights, emphasizing that all rights are fundamental and cannot be relegated to secondary status based on cultural relativism. At the end of the Second World War, values expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were deeply entrenched in anti-fascist movements across Europe, which disturbed US elites aiming to create a different world order.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was dismissed by some as a "collection of pious phrases" and as "a letter to Santa Claus" by Jeane Kirkpatrick, Reagan's UN ambassador, who criticized its socioeconomic provisions.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
The US alone vetoed the right to development, which closely parallels the socioeconomic provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, effectively rejecting these ideals.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
The US has significantly violated both civil and political provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as highlighted in recent Amnesty International reports.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
Two pillars of world order have been effectively demolished, serving only as ideological weapons, yet people should still defend and fight for these ideals, as they are not the end of the road.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
To advocate for these ideals in the United States, one must first liberate themselves from prevailing doctrines and be willing to subject them to empirical verification.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
Deregulation of finance was understood to harm the global economy, as financial markets are volatile and governed by panics, manias, and crashes, leading to economic disasters.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
Deregulation of capital is seen as a weapon against democracy and socioeconomic rights, which is why capital controls were part of the Bretton Woods System.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
The current debate among G7 countries about keeping currencies within a narrow band reflects a struggle between maintaining economic stability and US interests in controlling fiscal policies.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
If capital flows are unregulated, they can create a 'virtual senate' of concentrated financial capital that imposes decisions on governments through the threat of capital flight, undermining democracy.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
The dismantling of the Bretton Woods System since the 1970s has led to economic slowdown and increased inequality, contrasting sharply with the previous Golden Age of Post-War Capitalism.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
East Asia experienced an unprecedented economic miracle by disregarding the prescriptions of international financial institutions, unlike other regions that followed the Washington Consensus.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
The existence of public schools promotes solidarity and care for others, which contradicts the ideological system that prioritizes individual maximization of fabricated wants.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
The privatization of public services, including education, is part of a broader trend to undermine solidarity and mutual support in society, reflecting a shift towards maximizing individual wants over communal values.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
The US military aid to Colombia, a country plagued by violence and political turmoil, is part of a broader strategy that includes fighting a drug war, which often exacerbates the situation rather than alleviating it.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
The drug problem is fundamentally a US issue, as the country is a major producer of synthetic drugs, and the financial flows from drug trafficking largely go through US banks. Additionally, the criminalization of marijuana lacks substantial medical evidence to justify it, and the American Medical Association has never supported its criminalization.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
In the 1980s, substance use declined among educated people while remaining steady or increasing among poorer populations, highlighting a class divide in drug use.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
The United States is unique among industrialized nations for not collecting statistics on class, which is an ideological decision that obscures the relationship between class and substance use.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
The drug war was declared around the time when drug use among educated people began to decline, indicating a political motive behind the war on drugs targeting minorities.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
The criminalization of drug use serves as a tool for social control, targeting marginalized populations while instilling fear in the broader society.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
Crime in the United States is politically constructed and differs from other industrialized nations primarily due to gun violence, which is exacerbated by the country's gun culture.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
Fear of crime in the U.S. is manufactured by politicians, who debate over who can be tougher on crime rather than addressing it as a societal issue.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
The U.S. has seen a dramatic increase in incarceration rates since the 1980s, largely due to the war on drugs and harsh sentencing for victimless crimes.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
The U.S. supports military actions in Colombia while simultaneously driving local populations towards drug production, creating a cycle of violence and repression.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
The World Bank and IMF have acknowledged their mistakes in Indonesia, admitting they overlooked corruption while praising the country's economic policies.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
Free trade cannot exist without the free movement of labor; without it, the concept of free trade is largely a fraud and an ideological weapon.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
The crisis in Kosovo is prioritized by the West because it threatens the interests of powerful nations, unlike the ongoing violence in Angola, which is largely ignored.
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Noam Chomsky
12/07/18
@ MIT Video Productions
To effectively track and understand global issues, collective efforts and community engagement are essential, as individuals alone cannot achieve significant insights.