Chomsky on superbowl

[ellenrr]

The prolific author, media critic and liberal activist and commentator is quoted in his 1992 book “Manufacturing Consent” saying that sports are part of a propagandist “indoctrination system” meant to distract “Joe Six Pack” from “things that matter.”

“The purpose of those media is just to dull people’s brains,” he said. “This is an oversimplification, but for the 80 percent or whatever they are, the main thing is to divert them. To get them to watch National Football League.”

“t’s a way of building up irrational attitudes of submission to authority, and group cohesion behind leadership elements — in fact, it’s training in irrational jingoism,” Chomsky wrote. “That’s also a feature of competitive sports. I think if you look closely at these things, I think, typically, they do have functions, and that’s why energy is devoted to supporting them and creating a basis for them and advertisers are willing to pay for them and so on.”

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2013/11/13/broncos-lineman-cites-noam-chomsky-as-a-reason-for-quitting-nfl/#ixzz2sFrg8Jnx

[Fumesucker]

1. Chomsky's just an uber nerd who hates jocks

Someone will be saying that seriously here in a few moments, the very definition of ad hominem.

[msanthrope]

2. Tucker Carlson's winger rag quoting Chomsky? Wow..the far right and the far left

seldom come together so stupidly.....

[Enrique]

5. it's actually John Moffitt that quoted Chomsky

and yes the DC is a winger rag but this story is fascinating and I think it should have been picked up by more outlets.

[Renew Deal]

9. It's done to make the left look bad

[SidDithers]

12. +1...nt

Sid

[Fumesucker]

22. It's far easier to forgive someone for being wrong than it is for being right

The major reason Chomsky raises so many hackles and makes the left "look bad".

[sabrina 1]

28. It's a good article. A Bronco's lineman came to the realization that risking his health for money

and jingoism etc wasn't worth it so he gave up the money and has decided to spend more time with his little daughter and his family.

He has been reading Chomsky and the Dalai Lama, seems like he's smart enough not to become a commodity for big business. I noticed how many Corps were promoters of the SB last night btw.

Did it occur to you that your comment demonstrates what Chomsky was saying very clearly? Just wondering if you got it, it actually made me laugh to see such a perfect example of the point he made.

It looks like Moffit is a very smart guy. The comment section is very interesting also. Some desperately defensive of their 'team' while others actually get Chomsky's point.

[LanternWaste]

33. I remember a history book quoting Stalin. Wow! Academics and Stalmists seldom come together so rarel

I remember a history book quoting Stalin. Wow! Academics and Stalmists seldom come together so rarely...?

[Adrahil]

3. I ain't saying he's wrong, but....

... FFS, we can't go around being worried about "things that matter" all the time. Some times people want to enjoy some food and drink with some friends... Nothing wrong with that. Perhaps the only entertainment we should enjoy is singing worker's anthems?

Meh, sometimes I think folks need to to turn it down to 6 or so for a bit. And this comes form someone with no interest in sports at all. Except bowling. I love to go bowling.

[Shankapotomus]

14. But why one activity and not another

Why don't we all gather around the TV as a nation to watch an annual science lecture rather than a violent sporting event?

Maybe because our national entertainment preferences are stuck on stupid?

[Brickbat]

26. Do other nations do that?

[Shankapotomus]

55. There are lectures that occur annually in probably every nation

Here's an annual lecture: http://www.nelsonmandela.org/content/page/annual-lecture

Are they celebrated to the extent the way a violent sport is celebrated? No. And that's the whole problem.

[FrodosPet]

29. Different Strokes For Different Folks!

[OKNancy]

4. It's only Rock and Roll... but I like it

A life with out diversions, be it sports, music, art, dance is what dulls the brain.

[HappyMe]

6. Good grief!

Last edited Mon Feb 3, 2014, 09:36 AM - Edit history (1)

I think going through life without any fun isn't much of a life at all.

[el_bryanto]

41. But see if you weren't having any fun you'd be inspired to over through the oppressive

capitalist state.

Or so the argument goes.

Bryant

[HappyMe]

43. Ah, now I see where I'm wrong!

I'll try harder to be angry, sour and generally crabby more. Or not.

Yours in complete bitterness,
HM

[Renew Deal]

7. Who cares?

Chomsky's point is that we should all live in misery lamenting the cruel world. There are lots of people with this point of view and too many of them are on the left.

[JonLP24]

20. I've heard of Chomsky a lot

but I don't know anything about it. I'm guessing he is someone that is paid to give his opinion? If that is the case, this sample has me wondering why but then again, Beck, O'Reilly, and countless other loons are paid well to give their opinion so it shouldn't surprise me.

[CBGLuthier]

8. He is right and it is amazing how well it works.

Plenty of proof available right here.

Fuck the cause we got us some football. Wooheee.

[Eleanors38]

15. In GD, our "causes" are Bieber, Woody & Mia, Coke,

and any number of cats.

[HappyMe]

24. The same could be said for movies,

concerts, theater, fiction, golf, tennis, soccer....

[sir pball]

31. What, are you incapable of paying attention to more than one thing at once?

Or do you just live for "the cause" every single waking moment of your life? No hobbies, recreations, or distractions whatsoever? I can't imagine how intellectually and emotionally tiresome that must get.

(I didn't watch the game, BTW)

[Blanks]

40. You're right...

I like entertainment, but the amount of attention our society pays to football is pitiful. I watched the game, it isn't the game itself that's 'bad' it's that our entire society is worked into a frenzy for weeks building up to it - and if we aren't, there's something wrong with us. It's just one game that isn't significantly different than hundreds of other games in the preceding weeks and months (in this case - not even as good).

It isn't just football either. All of the other 'entertainment' is just recycled and/or redundant too.

Once upon a time, Grimm, Dracula - all shit that's been around for literally centuries and is supposed to pass for adult entertainment at a time when people are losing their houses and jobs.

There is something wrong with us.

[sabrina 1]

60. It's not the sport itself, it's the taking over of the sport by Corporations including the MIC

that Chomsky AND the Dalia Lama are speaking about.

Last night watching the Super Bowl, a SPORT, we had to endure every three minutes in the first quarter, multiple ads, (what was going on with the actual game while we had to watch ads? I have no idea) including 'support the troops' jingoism.

It's not even subtle anymore. BOA, the MIC, all are now involved in this 'sport'. Chomsky and the Dalai Lama are not condemning the sport, they are condemning using the sport to promote the agenda of Corporate and MIC interests. Do we really need to be subjected to 'support the troops' (when we know THEY don't) propaganda, when tuning in to watch a GAME?

Moffit, the Broncos linesman sees the scam and has chose to opt out, which no doubt will cost him millions. I admire him, as I admired another football hero, Pat Tiller, who saw the scam for what it was and chose to say 'no' to all that money and go for what is really important in this world.

Both, btw, read Chomsky. And both were smart enough to 'get' what he was trying to say.

[LWolf]

10. It's easy to dismiss this idea

unless one looks at how closely political parties resemble NFL teams and their fans.

[woo me with science]

36. +1

[leftstreet]

42. +1

[DireStrike]

61. Ouch

shots fired, call the burn unit, etc.

[SidDithers]

11. Daily Caller?...

Who cares what Tucker Carlson thinks if Chomsky?

Sid

[sabrina 1]

30. A Bronco's lineman has given up a lucrative career. Why? Because he's smart.

He has decided not to risk his health for money and spend more time with his daughter and family.

He's been reading Chompsky and the Dalai Lama and agrees with them about the points they regarding jingoism and submitting oneself to authority etc.

Did you realize your comment totally demonstrates the point made by Chomsky and the Dalai Lama?

Just wondering .....

Great comment section there also. Some surprisingly intelligent comments regarding 'getting' Moffit's decision to be independent of big business rather than risk his own well-being.

[SidDithers]

54. ...

For someone who thinks themself so politically astute, it's amazing how often you completely miss the point.

Carlson's website is using Chomsky's comments and Moffitt's decision to attack the left.

Sid

[sabrina 1]

62. No, this is someone who no longer falls for the 'them' V 'us' garbage. Like Pat Tillman, another

football player who initially bought into the jingoism and the scam, Moffit is SMART. Both ended up looking for something to confirm their own sense that 'something is wrong here' and ended up reading those Leftie 'intellectual writes', like the Dalai Lama and Chomsky among others'.

It's stunning how some people totally don't get it.

The comments attached to that article demonstrate how much further along the way we are to the American people refusing to be divided by the propaganda of division and towards UNITING against the Corporate powers that up to now, have taken over this country. But not for very long now that the public is more and more aware of the scam.

Kudos to Moffitt and Tillman among others who after all, were not as 'stupid' as the morons who have been stealing this country's treasures, lives, finances etc and who will have enormous influence over others who have not yet awakened to the scam.

It was a good article and the comment sections demonstrates that the American people are not as easily influenced as those morons who have been stealing and hoarding our tax dollars, thought.

Thank YOU Pat Tillman and Moffitt for taking a stand against the worst scam that has been perpetrated against this country for decades.

And fyi, I really don't care who publishes the story so you are wasting your time trying to save us poor, ignorant Americans from reading material YOU deem inappropriate. You can't do it, we will continue to choose our own sources because contrary to your opinion of us, we are way smarter than the foreign opinion of Americans who you appear to believe, need censors to help us with our reading choices.

THANK YOU PAT TILLMAN, MOFFIT, CHOMSKY and the DALAI LAMA and thanks to those who keep us informed of these issues.

[L0oniX]

48. "Who cares what Tucker Carlson thinks of Chomsky?" wow we agree ...it's a miracle I tell ya.

[SidDithers]

49. IMO, this is right wingers putting up a "Look!! Lefties hate football!!" article...

They're throwing raw meat to their mouth-breathing followers.

Sid

[jakeXT]

13. Panem et circensis... /nt

[ananda]

16. Exactly right as usual.

Chomsky has a great heart and mind.

[TreasonousBastard]

17. Oh, fuck Chomsky. It's been 2,000 years since...

Bread and Circuses ran the Roman Empire into decline and he just gets it in 1992?

Outlaw soccer and basketball while we're at it.

[truebrit71]

35. George Orwell said something similar about football in the UK...

...and I think they're BOTH right...

[LiberalEsto]

18. Opiate of the masses

Now watch this shiny coin swing back and forth...back and forth...back and forth...

[JonLP24]

19. The reason why there is energy devoted to supporting them is because there is a demand for them

The reason why advertisers are willing to pay for them is because there a lot of potential consumers. Not sure what he means exactly but everyone has hobbies. If it isn't the NFL it's something else.

on edit - The idea that the reason why there are sports because of some nefarious intention is crazy. People interested in making some money organized some teams signed players and sold tickets. Who runs this "indoctrinated system" and why do they worry about creating sports leagues when they would be created without them?

[sabrina 1]

32. I don't believe the point was that people shouldn't be interested in sports.

I believe the Bronco lineman, Moffitt who has been reading Chomsky and the Dalai Lama, according to the article, agreed with the points they have made, which are not that 'sports are evil'.

Maybe more like USING or MISUSING people's interest in sports, (have you noticed the corporate control of professional football eg) to promote faux patriotism, rather than just enjoy the game for the sake of the game.

Moffitt has decided to give up all that money because he isn't willing to be part of all the hype and risk his own health or participate in the jingoism because he cares more about other more important things.

It's refreshing to learn that a professional football player is putting his money where his mouth is and actually thinking about what is really important in life. In his case, his five year old daughter and the rest of his family, AND his and their future.

[JonLP24]

37. I have no issue with the player's choice

He has his health and family to think about, I applaud him for his choice.

I just had issue with how Chomsky put what he said the way he said it. As far as all the spectacles surrounding it I ignore it but if it was turning people away from the game they'd stop it in a heart beat.

[sabrina 1]

39. I watched the Super Bowl last night. I saw more ads in the first quarter than

football. I saw jingoism, military promotion, big Corporations and Banks, BOA eg, participating through ads etc. There were so many distractions from the game itself, I think we counted an ad every three minutes in the first quarter at least eg, that it was hard to stay interested.

And then I remember going to football games that were just about the game. College games where there were no ads or promotions or reminders that we are 'at war' etc etc.

I do not believe that Chomsky or the Dalai Lama are talking about sports, I believe they are talking about the hi-jacking of sports for huge profits and for promoting a lot of what I saw last night and not so subliminally either.

Flag waving, jingoism, HUGE obscene amounts of money takes away from the 'sport' aspect of a game like football. It is all so commercial now that it's hard to wade through the money and get to the game.

I give great credit to anyone who can walk away from all the money based on having more important things on his mind.

Even more for taking the time to read and think and apply that thinking to his own and his family's lives.

[JonLP24]

47. Do you mean commercial ads or ad banners in the stadium?

NFL/Networks accepting large amounts of money from companies to show an ad don't bother me. I prefer the game to be a business if people are pouring large amounts of money into it like with anything.

I actually have big problems with the NFL and other North American Sports leagues as well as the NCAA business practices. The NFL and its owners excercising their leverage over cities for large subsidies is very sickening. They do it because they can and cities/counties/states with budget deficits end up making cuts, cutting jobs such as firemen, etc. so they can pay the bill for 30 years when the owner will likely come back in 10-15 years saying the stadium is obsolete and seek renovations sooner than that. Profiting off taxpayers is a really sick aspect of their business.

NCAA bothers me because of the rule that you can't pay college athletes. Networks, coaches, everyone makes big money except for the people which are the reason they make so much money. The 'student-athlete' term was created when the NCAA lost a case in the 50's in Colorado where a judge ruled they had to pay workman's comp for an athletes injury. Plus they give 1-year scholarships for no other reason than to give the coach the freedom to cut him at season's end if he doesn't play well. Don't buy into the myth, the NCAA is a monopsonistic cartel that sees it as more profitable to compensate athletes with scholarships, stipends rather than compete for their services in the open market like they do for coaches.

I enjoy watching the game so much that I still support the product despite these business practices. They get away with it too because people don't look it as much as a business but if money is flowing in they should. No one would put up with it any other kind of business where the labor that makes it as possible is paid a very small portion of the profits, let alone a business that generates TWICE the revenue of the NFL.

Sorry you had me going but you had me look at why I still support the game against my better judgment.

[L0oniX]

46. Promoting faux patriotism could be an indication that there is a failing of an agenda.

I despise it.

[Cerridwen]

21. "Saying 'I'm not happy at all,' Broncos' John Moffitt quits NFL" (edited with ap title)

I decided to edit this and include the title of the ap article the dailycaller quoted out of context and used to reduce the message to a slam at the left.

A Denver Broncos lineman is quitting the NFL — and walking away from an additional $1 million he would have made if he’d stayed through the end of his contract next year — because he’d begun reading the works of liberal linguist Noam Chomsky and the Dalai Lama.

Guard John Moffitt called the Broncos from his home in Seattle last week and said he wouldn’t be back.

<snip>

“I just really thought about it and decided I’m not happy,” he told AP. “I’m not happy at all. And I think it’s really madness to risk your body, risk your well-being and risk your happiness for money.”

<snip>

“I don’t care about the Super Bowl,” he told AP. “I don’t need the Super Bowl experience. I played in great stadiums and I played against great players. And I had that experience and it’s enough.”

The article is about a player leaving the game, walking away from an additional $1 million.

He cited his reading of Chomsky and the Dalai Lama as having had influence on his decision.

The dailycaller focuses on Chomsky to attack the left. Nice. /sarcasm

The dailycaller also took the ap article which they used, out of context and zeroed in on a little sidebar paragraph completely avoiding the topic of a man who chose to leave rather than continue to put himself at risk.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — John Moffitt wasn't unhappy with a lack of playing time in Denver. He quit the NFL because he'd lost his love for the game and was tired of risking his health.

<snip>

Then he announced on Twitter that he was calling it a career, saying, "Football was fun but my head hurts-haha kidding roger goodell. I'm on to new things, thanks to everyone along the way!!!"

<snip>

"I'm not trying to be the poster boy for 'Oh, I thought I should leave because of concussions.' I'm just saying, it's a valid point," Moffitt said. "I love the game and I respect the game and everybody who plays it knows what they risk and I knew what I risked when I played, and I'm no longer willing to risk it."

{here's the paragraph the dailycaller, and subsequently you, focused on rather than the larger story}

Moffitt majored in sociology at Wisconsin and said his world view was really shaped over the last couple of years when he began studying the writings of the Dalai Lama and Noam Chomsky.

<snip>

Quite a different story than the one the dailycaller spun. Quite a different story and message than quoted in your OP.

I'm pretty sure the story from the ap might have been controversial enough to get quite a bit of feedback and debate. Of course, it wasn't a broadside against the left as it was in the dailycaller spin.

[LittleBlue]

23. No more so than movies or video games

Sports is entertainment. The ancient Romans didn't have such a huge variety of entertainment options. The NFL competes for that slice of the pie, it's not bread and circuses.

I don't think the political landscape would change without professional sports.

[Chorophyll]

25. Sometimes people just want to watch a football game.

It's not my thing, but I have lots of other frivolous pastimes. For example, I'm a feminist. But I'm also a comedy fan. You can imagine the problematic conundrums I face every day.

We're not saints; we're human beings. That's why the labor movement gave us weekends.

[liberal_at_heart]

27. There are those of us who can watch sports and still care about issues. Human beings need

distraction and fun. If all we did was pay attention to how crappy the world was, we would all be suicidal.

[sabrina 1]

34. Rec for Chomsky, the Dalai Lama and a Professional Football player who gets

what they were talking about.

[BlueStreak]

38. Dang. I thought Noam was going to critique the Seahawks' adjustment to depart from

their normal single high safety defense.

He is right, of course, that our politicians well understand that if they keep the guns, beer and football games flowing, they can do just about anything else they want to do and the general public will not ask any questions.

But really, today is not the time, buddy.

[Cerridwen]

44. Chomsky in context as presented in Manufacturing Consent (1992 interviews)

<snip>

QUESTION: When we talk about manufacturing of consent, whose consent is being manufactured?

CHOMSKY: To start with, there are two different groups, we can get into more detail, but at the first level of approximation, there's two targets for propaganda.

<big snip>

Now there are other media too whose basic social role is quite different: it's diversion. There's the real mass media-the kinds that are aimed at, you know, Joe Six Pack -- that kind. The purpose of those media is just to dull people's brains.

This is an oversimplification, but for the eighty percent or whatever they are, the main thing is to divert them. To get them to watch National Football League. And to worry about "Mother With Child With Six Heads," or whatever you pick up on the supermarket stands and so on. Or look at astrology. Or get involved in fundamentalist stuff or something or other. Just get them away. Get them away from things that matter. And for that it's important to reduce their capacity to think.

Take, say, sports -- that's another crucial example of the indoctrination system, in my view. For one thing because it -- you know, it offers people something to pay attention to that's of no importance. (audience laughs) That keeps them from worrying about -- (applause) keeps them from worrying about things that matter to their lives that they might have some idea of doing something about. And in fact it's striking to see the intelligence that's used by ordinary people in (discussions of) sports (as opposed to political and social issues]. I mean, you listen to radio stations where people call in -- they have the most exotic information (more laughter) and understanding about all kind of arcane issues. And the press undoubtedly does a lot with this.

You know, I remember in high school, already I was pretty old. I suddenly asked myself at one point, why do I care if my high school team wins the football game? (laughter) I mean, I don't know anybody on the team, you know? (audience roars) I mean, they have nothing to do with me, I mean, why I am cheering for my team? It doesn't mean any -- it doesn't make sense. But the point is, it does make sense: it's a way of building up irrational attitudes of submission to authority, and group cohesion behind leadership elements -- in fact, it's training in irrational jingoism. That's also a feature of competitive sports. I think if you look closely at these things, I think, typically, they do have functions, and that's why energy is devoted to supporting them and creating a basis for them and advertisers are willing to pay for them and so on.

(square brackets used in original replaced by parenthesis to keep from breaking formatting)

A nice anonymous blogger out there had this snippet of more of Chomsky discussing sports (from Understanding Power, p. 99-100)

In fact, I have the habit when I'm driving of turning on these radio call-in programs, and it's striking when you hear the ones about sports. They have these groups of sports reporters, or some kind of experts on a panel, and people call in and have discussions with them. First of all, the audience obviously is devoting an enormous amount of time to it all. But the more striking fact is, the callers have a tremendous amount of expertise, they have detailed knowledge of all kinds of things, they carry on these extremely complex discussions...

...And when you look at the structure of them, they seem like a kind of mathematics. It's as though people want to work out mathematical problems, and it they don't have calculus and arithmetic, they work them out with other structures...And what all these things look like is that people just want to use their intelligence somehow...

Well, in our society we have things that you might use your intelligence on, like politics, but people really can't get involved in them in a very serious way -- so what they do is put their minds to other things, such as sports. You're trained to be obedient; you don't have an interesting job; there's no work around for you that's creative; in the cultural environment you're a passive observer of usually pretty tawdry stuff...So what's left?

...And I suppose that's also one of the basic functions it serves society in general: it occupies the populations, and it keeps them from trying to get involved with things that really matter. In fact, I presume that's part of the reason why spectator sports are supported to the degree they are by the dominant institutions.

Noam Chomsky; Understanding Power, p. 99-100

(emphasis added)

If anyone has the book and can provide the full paragraphs for better context, it would be great if you could include them.

[L0oniX]

45. I love watching rich people toss a ball around.

[JEB]

51. Jingoism training.

[cilla4progress]

52. I agree, yet, notwithstanding Mr. Chomsky..

how about them 'Hawks! So proud of them here in the Pacific NW!!

[Dawson Leery]

53. He is right.

[Egalitarian Thug]

56. K&R Entertainment is our top priority, nothing else comes close.

[Octafish]

57. If my head's filled with NFL, it's not filled with income inequality...

...wars without end for profit and power...Welfare for Wall Street...Fukushima spewing who-knows-what into the environment...

Go Lions!

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

58. Some of us can walk and chew gum at the same time

Movies, music, sports, the arts can all be part of our lives as well as politics, the class system, finance, etc. etc.

The problem with guys like Chomsky is they have such a dim view of the intelligence of the average human, especially Americans, they really want to lower and set the bar themselves and focus on only "the important things" while the rest of us would like to challenge ourselves a bit more than that. Sorry, Noam.

[arely staircase]

59. note to self. take chomsky off invite list for super bowl party nt

[Arugula Latte]

63. You'll be sorry. He makes a pretty mean 7-layer dip.