Illegitimate Authority
Facing the Challenges of Our Time
by C.J Polychroniou
Do I need to tell you who Noam Chomsky is? I don’t, right? If you don’t know who he is, you’d best Google him and learn about the stuff he’s written and said. Whether you agree with his viewpoints or not, Chomsky is always worth reading and his perspective always worth considering on topics. He’s our lifetime’s Bertrand Russell: always eloquent, informed, and sharp. His noggin holds the kind of information that’s as valuable as a popsicle on a hot summer day. He’s always been a fanatic of social and political events, his brain is as spongy as ever, and he’s just a perfect example of what we can be if we made an effort to understand the world around us, instead of, say, watch movies or play video games.
The ship has probably sailed for any new books where Noam Chomsky is the sole author, but we all know the man could probably churn out a dozen more in as many years if he really wanted to. Instead, we’re left with “interview books” which are collections of interviews conducted with him and C.J Polychroniou who is a very eloquent and smart interviewer, giving context and perspective to the questions he asks Chomsky.
This is his most recent collection of interviews with Chomsky and luckily covers events as recently as the war in Ukraine. Topics range from the Trump and Biden administrations, climate change, international relations, and Russia and the Ukraine. Chomsky has a lot of very informative things to say about all of these, such as the lack of commitment from either administration to really spearhead programs to curb C02 emissions, the contrast between the US’s military approach and China’s infrastructural approach to swaying other countries, and the responsibility the US bears for the invasion of Ukraine and what the most reasonable, although unpleasant, solutions might be considering the situation in which the war is going.
Illegitimate Authority gets a little repetitive at times, like with presenting the cause for the Ukrainian invasion and directions in which it could go, but this book is still highly informative and thought-provoking. Highly recommended.
