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Comment by tjrgergw | Hacker News Reader

Come on, Choamsky is the ultimate "america bad" man. He practically invented it.

"America bad" people are also "Russia not so bad" people. These are highly valuable people for Russia propaganda, of course. They're literal useful idiots.

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Seriously. I am actually quite a fan of Chomsky, but he is reflexively America bad. You always always have to take what he says with the massive pillar of salt that his default position on everything geopolitics/IA related is "America Bad".

Out of interest, why would you be a fan of a person who is that flawed? Don't you think that their other stuff could also have shortcuts and dishonesty in there?

I do not think there has been anybody ever who doesn't take such shortcuts in their thinking. (that includes me!) As such it isn't a useful criteria for deciding if I should be a fan. Some people do it a lot more than others, and so I will eventually stop listening to those people as I realize I cannot stand it, but it isn't an automatic deal breaker to see it.

A lot of academics are. It’s incredibly stupid and shows a blind spot.

Not really relevant to this tho, it’s a question of philosophy. His naïveté in foreign policy isn’t really relevant

I'm definitely "America bad", and have observed the Russian government as absolute trash. I am far from alone on this viewpoint.

Is he a moral relativist?

He is definitely not a "moral absolutist" in that he can avoid his own biases and habits. That too is a non-existent kind of individual / moral system that no one really is.

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