I won't pretend to know everything about you, James. I don't know your life inside and out. But from what I've gathered over the past few years of following your work it seems that you went straight from university to Japan to teach english and slowly developed independent journalism as your main profession and source of income. Like I said, I don't know you life but that is the general picture I have.
I get that Chomsky is a gatekeeper. There is no doubt about it. And while his refusal to approach certain topics is troubling, his contributions to philosophy cannot and should not simply be swept aside as you so often do. It astounds me that someone such as yourself who understands the intricate history of the formation of the modern social, political, and economic orthodoxy takes exception to Chomsky's ideas about wage slavery. I ask you, have you ever to decide between rent and food? Have you ever been employed in a position where you are totally replaceable? Have you ever worked more than one minimum wage service job and still lived paycheck to paycheck? Have you ever had your water shut off? Have you ever had to decide between soap and toilet paper?
Now you may have experienced the plight of a wage slave at some point in your life therefore your dismissal is not out of hand. But in the case that you have not, all I ask is that you take a long moment to contemplate the millions, perhaps billions, of people who were destined from birth to be wage slaves simply because they possess no marketable assets other than their labor and time before you scoff at the comparison between historical and contemporary forms of slavery.
Judging by your lighthearted dismissal, I wonder if you have even encountered the arguments, other than the four minute video you linked, comparing chattel slavery and wage slavery or owned labor and rented labour. I would expect you of all people to understand that the crook is more nefarious than the lash. Would you rather your master tell you he's your master or your friend?
"Because, you see, the fact that food, clothing, shelter, health care and the means of production don't magically rain from the sky into the lap of every person on the planet means that any attempt to exchange your skills and services with another in return for compensation is slavery. (No, this is not an analogy, it's LITERAL SLAVERY, guys!)"
This is one of the most ideologically driven straw mans I have ever seen you try to prop up and knock down.
exile.onthenile -
Usury (interest of any kind) is immoral.
Pragmatism is aversion to principle.
No valid philosophy can't be practiced to the nth degree.
The human life-form is not a comfort zone experience.
All statist positions are cowardice.
There is no future for men who don't man up.
Holding your words to these truths above reveals you appear to be seeking escape, while knowing there is no escape. You will gain no utility if James Corbett devolved to join you in your futile search for escape. Surely you've been down before and got back up. Get off your knees, death has no enemy.
Arise - Amebix
Well we've all heard the sermon seen The preachers or worshipped the stage Heard the new manifesto? It's all questions no solutions at all Well, you're out on your own now, always have been Just look at your friends Break the surface to daylight Strength will flow through our unity. There is a traitor in our midst And when we rise we will be betrayed They are the wolves in sheep's clothing Take the place at the back of the flock All this talk about freedom Will be tainted with blood (it's your life) Put this cross on your back child Tread the long weary trail to the top of the hill ARISE! GET OFF YOUR KNEES! There's some hard times coming down There's the smell of revolution on the wind Well, we're grinding down our axes Telling tales round the bonfire at night We will set out with a fire in our hearts When this darkness gives way to the dawn In the light we're united as one For the kingdom of heaven must be taken by storm! ARISE! GET OFF YOUR KNEES! STAND UP!
Woodchuck Pirate
aka Raymond J Raupers Jr USA
woodchuckpirate.com
Usury is immoral. (agreed)
Pragmatism is aversion to principle. (pragmatism or Pragmatism?)
No valid philosophy can't be practiced to the nth degree. (not sure what you mean here)
The human life-form is not a comfort zone experience. (agreed)
All statist positions are cowardice. (agreed)
There is no future for men who don't man up. (agreed)
None of these "truths" contradict anything I wrote.
exile.onthenile -
No valid philosophy can't be practiced to the nth degree. If a philosophy must be tempered by pragmatism then it is not a valid philosophy, it is sophistry.
Sophistry deserves base rejection. Does Chomsky have a valid philosophy? Ideological alignment with anarcho-syndicalism yields no valid philosophy. Alignment with libertarian socialism yields no valid philosophy.
Anarcho-syndicalism and libertarian socialism deserve base rejection. Those with no valid philosophy invoke sophistry to appeal for undeserved respect for what they posture as "nuanced" indifference to truth, often while petitioning statist initiation of aggression, simultaneously clinging to pragmatism (aversion to principle) as an entitlement construct.
Anarcho-capitalism or else, and you already have the "else". What you don't have is James Corbett, and I suspect you never will. The real question arising is why do you desire to have him?
Save yourself.
Woodchuck Pirate
aka Raymond J Raupers Jr USA
woodchuckpirate.com