Editing Noam Chomsky (section)

==Political views==
{{Main|Political positions of Noam Chomsky}}
{{Quote box
 | width = 30em
 | quote = The second major area to which Chomsky has contributed—and surely the best known in terms of the number of people in his audience and the ease of understanding what he writes and says—is his work on sociopolitical analysis; political, social, and economic history; and critical assessment of current political circumstance. In Chomsky's view, although those in power might—and do—try to obscure their intentions and to defend their actions in ways that make them acceptable to citizens, it is easy for anyone who is willing to be critical and consider the facts to discern what they are up to.
 | source = —James McGilvray, 2014{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|p=12}}
}}
Chomsky is a prominent political dissident.{{efn|name=dissident}} His political views have changed little since his childhood,{{sfnm|1a1=Barsky|1y=1997|1p=95|2a1=McGilvray|2y=2014|2p=4}} when he was influenced by the emphasis on political activism that was ingrained in Jewish working-class tradition.{{sfn|Sperlich|2006|p=77}} He usually identifies as an [[anarcho-syndicalist]] or a [[libertarian socialist]].{{sfnm|1a1=Sperlich|1y=2006|1p=14|2a1=McGilvray|2y=2014|2pp=17, 158}} He views these positions not as precise political theories but as ideals that he thinks best meet human needs: liberty, community, and freedom of association.{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|p=17}} Unlike some other socialists, such as Marxists, Chomsky believes that politics lies outside the remit of science,{{sfnm|1a1=Sperlich|1y=2006|1p=74|2a1=McGilvray|2y=2014|2p=16}} but he still roots his ideas about an ideal society in empirical data and empirically justified theories.{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|p=222}}

In Chomsky's view, the truth about political realities is systematically distorted or suppressed by an elite [[corporatocracy]], which uses corporate media, advertising, and [[think tanks]] to promote its own propaganda. His work seeks to reveal such manipulations and the truth they obscure.{{sfnm|1a1=Sperlich|1y=2006|1p=8|2a1=McGilvray|2y=2014|2p=158}} Chomsky believes this web of falsehood can be broken by "common sense", critical thinking, and understanding the roles of self-interest and self-deception,{{sfnm|1a1=Sperlich|1y=2006|1p=74|2a1=McGilvray|2y=2014|2pp=12–13}} and that intellectuals abdicate their moral responsibility to tell the truth about the world in fear of losing prestige and funding.{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|p=159}} He argues that, as such an intellectual, it is his duty to use his [[social privilege]], resources, and training to aid popular democracy movements in their struggles.{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|p=161}}

Although he has participated in [[direct action]] demonstrations—joining protests, being arrested, organizing groups—Chomsky's primary political outlet is education, i.e., free public lessons.{{sfn|Sperlich|2006|p=71}} He is a longtime member of the [[Industrial Workers of the World]] international union,<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Edgley |first1=Alison |title=Noam Chomsky |date=2016 |language=en |isbn=978-1-137-32021-6 |publisher=Springer |page=42 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s3oYDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA42 |access-date=February 12, 2023 |archive-date=February 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230212183620/https://books.google.com/books?id=s3oYDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA42 |url-status=live }}</ref> as was his father.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |editor-last1=Goldman |editor-first1=Jan |title=Chomsky, Noam |date=2014 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bjeaBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA87 |language=en |isbn=978-1-61069-511-4 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |encyclopedia=The War on Terror Encyclopedia: From the Rise of Al-Qaeda to 9/11 and Beyond |page=87 |access-date=February 12, 2023 |archive-date=February 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230212183619/https://books.google.com/books?id=bjeaBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA87 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===United States foreign policy===
[[File:Noam Chomsky WSF - 2003.jpg|thumb|Chomsky at the 2003 [[World Social Forum]], a convention for counter-hegemonic globalization, in [[Porto Alegre]]]]
Chomsky has been a prominent critic of "[[American imperialism]]",{{sfn|Milne|2009}} but is not a pacifist, believing [[World War II]] was justified as America's last defensive war.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Atkins |first1=Stephen E. |title=The 9/11 Encyclopedia |date=June 2, 2011 |language=en |isbn=978-1-59884-922-6 |edition=2nd |publisher=ABC-CLIO |chapter=Chomsky, Noam |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=c06pxjS6z3AC&pg=PA108 108] }}</ref> He believes that [[foreign policy of the United States|U.S. foreign policy]]'s basic principle is the establishment of "open societies" that are economically and politically controlled by the U.S. and where U.S.-based businesses can prosper.{{sfn|Sperlich|2006|p=92}} He argues that the U.S. seeks to suppress any movements within these countries that are not compliant with U.S. interests and to ensure that U.S.-friendly governments are placed in power.{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|p=159}} When discussing current events, he emphasizes their place within a wider historical perspective.{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|p=160}} He believes that official, sanctioned historical accounts of U.S. and British extraterritorial operations have consistently whitewashed these nations' actions in order to present them as having benevolent motives in either spreading democracy or, in older instances, spreading Christianity; by criticizing these accounts, he seeks to correct them.{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|p=13}} Prominent examples he regularly cites are the actions of the British Empire in India and Africa and U.S. actions in Vietnam, the Philippines, Latin America, and the Middle East.{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|p=13}}

Chomsky's political work has centered heavily on criticizing the actions of the United States.{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|p=160}} He has said he focuses on the U.S. because the country has militarily and economically dominated the world during his lifetime and because its [[liberal democracy|liberal democratic]] electoral system allows the citizenry to influence government policy.{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|pp=14, 160}} His hope is that, by spreading awareness of the impact U.S. foreign policies have on the populations affected by them, he can sway the populations of the U.S. and other countries into opposing the policies.{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|p=13}} He urges people to criticize their governments' motivations, decisions, and actions, to accept responsibility for their own thoughts and actions, and to apply the same standards to others as to themselves.{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|p=18}}

Chomsky has been critical of U.S. involvement in the [[Israeli–Palestinian conflict]], arguing that it has consistently blocked a peaceful settlement.{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|p=159}} He also criticizes the U.S.'s close ties with Saudi Arabia and involvement in [[Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen]], highlighting that Saudi Arabia has "one of the most grotesque human rights records in the world".{{sfn|''Democracy Now!''|2016}}

Chomsky called the [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine|Russian invasion of Ukraine]] a criminal act of aggression and noted that [[War crimes in the Russian invasion of Ukraine|Russia was committing major war crimes]] in the country. He considered support for Ukraine's self-defense legitimate and said Ukraine should be given enough military aid to defend itself, but not enough to cause "an escalation".<ref name=scahill>{{cite news |date=April 14, 2022 |title=Noam Chomsky and Jeremy Scahill on the Russia-Ukraine War, the Media, Propaganda, and Accountability |work=The Intercept |url=https://theintercept.com/2022/04/14/russia-ukraine-noam-chomsky-jeremy-scahill/ |access-date=June 4, 2022 |archive-date=June 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220604093657/https://theintercept.com/2022/04/14/russia-ukraine-noam-chomsky-jeremy-scahill/ |url-status=live }}</ref> His criticism of the war focused on the United States.<ref name=scahill/> He alleged that the U.S. rejected any compromise with Russia and that this might have provoked the invasion.<ref name=scahill/> According to Chomsky, the U.S. was arming Ukraine only to weaken Russia, and Ukrainian requests for heavy weaponry were untrue "Western propaganda", despite Ukraine's President [[Volodymyr Zelenskyy]] repeatedly asking for them.<ref>{{cite news |title=Noam Chomsky Says Ukraine Desire for Heavy Weapons Is 'Western Propaganda' |url=https://www.newsweek.com/noam-chomsky-says-ukraine-desire-heavy-weapons-western-propaganda-1706473 |work=[[Newsweek]] |date=May 13, 2022}}</ref> More than a year into the invasion, Chomsky argued that Russia was waging the war "more humanely" than the U.S. did the [[2003 invasion of Iraq|invasion of Iraq]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Vock |first1=Ido |title=Noam Chomsky: Russia is fighting more humanely than the US did in Iraq |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/the-weekend-interview/2023/04/noam-chomsky-interview-ukraine-free-actor-united-states-determines |website=[[The New Statesman]] |date=April 29, 2023 |access-date=July 23, 2023 |archive-date=June 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230610182617/https://www.newstatesman.com/the-weekend-interview/2023/04/noam-chomsky-interview-ukraine-free-actor-united-states-determines |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Capitalism and socialism===
In his youth, Chomsky developed a dislike of [[capitalism]] and the pursuit of material wealth.{{sfn|Sperlich|2006|p=15}} At the same time, he developed a disdain for [[authoritarian socialism]], as represented by the [[Marxist–Leninist]] policies of the Soviet Union.{{sfnm|1a1=Barsky|1y=1997|1p=168|2a1=Sperlich|2y=2006|2p=16}} Rather than accepting the common view among U.S. economists that a spectrum exists between total state ownership of the economy and total private ownership, he instead suggests that a spectrum should be understood between total democratic control of the economy and total autocratic control (whether state or private).{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|pp=164–165}} He argues that Western capitalist countries are not really democratic,{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|p=169}} because, in his view, a truly democratic society is one in which all persons have a say in public economic policy.{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|p=170}} He has stated his opposition to [[ruling elites]], among them institutions like the [[IMF]], [[World Bank]], and [[GATT]] (precursor to the [[WTO]]).{{sfn|Barsky|1997|p=211}}

Chomsky highlights that, since the 1970s, [[Wealth inequality in the United States|the U.S. has become increasingly economically unequal]] as a result of the repeal of various financial regulations and the unilateral rescinding of the [[Bretton Woods financial control agreement]] by the U.S.{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|p=14}} He characterizes the U.S. as a ''de facto'' [[one-party state]], viewing both the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] and [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] as manifestations of a single "Business Party" controlled by corporate and financial interests.{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|pp=14–15}} Chomsky highlights that, within Western capitalist liberal democracies, at least 80% of the population has no control over economic decisions, which are instead in the hands of a management class and ultimately controlled by a small, wealthy elite.{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|p=15}}

Noting the entrenchment of such an economic system, Chomsky believes that change is possible through the organized cooperation of large numbers of people who understand the problem and know how they want to reorganize the economy more equitably.{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|p=15}} Acknowledging that corporate domination of media and government stifles any significant change to this system, he sees reason for optimism in historical examples such as the social rejection of slavery as immoral, the advances in women's rights, and the forcing of government to justify invasions.{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|p=14}} He views violent revolution to overthrow a government as a last resort to be avoided if possible, citing the example of historical revolutions where the population's welfare has worsened as a result of upheaval.{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|p=15}}

Chomsky sees libertarian socialist and anarcho-syndicalist ideas as the descendants of the [[classical liberal]] ideas of the [[Age of Enlightenment]],{{sfnm|1a1=Sperlich|1y=2006|1p=89|2a1=McGilvray|2y=2014|2p=189}} arguing that his ideological position revolves around "nourishing the libertarian and creative character of the human being".{{sfn|Barsky|1997|p=95}} He envisions an anarcho-syndicalist future with direct worker control of the [[means of production]] and government by [[workers' council]]s, who would select temporary and revocable representatives to meet together at general assemblies.{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|p=199}} The point of this self-governance is to make each citizen, in [[Thomas Jefferson]]'s words, "a direct participator in the government of affairs".{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|p=210}} He believes that there will be no need for political parties.{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|p=200}} By controlling their productive life, he believes that individuals can gain job satisfaction and a sense of fulfillment and purpose.{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|pp=197, 202}} He argues that unpleasant and unpopular jobs could be fully automated, specially remunerated, or communally shared.{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|pp=201–202}}

===Israeli–Palestinian conflict===
Chomsky has written prolifically about the [[Israeli–Palestinian conflict]], aiming to raise public awareness of it.{{sfn|Gendzier|2017|p=314}} A [[labor Zionist]] who later became what is today considered an [[Anti-Zionism|anti-Zionist]], Chomsky has criticized the [[Israeli settlements]] in the [[Israeli-occupied territories|Israeli-occupied]] [[West Bank]], which he likens to a [[settler colony]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4rpHEAAAQBAJ|title=A New World in Our Hearts: In Conversation with Michael Albert|author=Noam Chomsky|page=59|publisher=PM Press|year=2022|isbn=9781629638928 }}</ref> He has said that the 1947 [[United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine]] was a bad decision, but given the [[realpolitik]] of the situation, he has also considered a [[two-state solution]] on the condition that the nation-states exist on equal terms.{{sfnm|1a1=Sperlich|1y=2006|1p=97|2a1=McGilvray|2y=2014|2p=159}}

Chomsky has said that characterizing [[Israel and apartheid|Israel's treatment of the Palestinians as apartheid]], similar to the system that existed in South Africa, would be a "gift to Israel", as he has long held that "the [[Israeli occupied territories|Occupied Territories]] are much worse than South Africa".<ref name="MEM1">{{cite web|url=https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220627-chomsky-on-israeli-apartheid-celebrity-activists-bds-and-the-one-state-solution/|publisher=Middle East Monitor|access-date=December 15, 2023|date=June 27, 2022|work=Ramzy Baroud|title=Chomsky on Israeli apartheid, celebrity activists, BDS and the one-state solution|quote=Chomsky believes that calling Israeli policies towards the Palestinians “apartheid” is actually a “gift to Israel”; at least, if by apartheid one refers to South African-style apartheid. “I have held for a long time that the Occupied Territories are much worse than South Africa,” the professor explained.}}</ref><ref name="Democracy Now-2014">{{cite web|url=https://www.democracynow.org/2014/8/8/noam_chomsky_what_israel_is_doing|title=Noam Chomsky: Israel's Actions in Palestine are "Much Worse Than Apartheid" in South Africa|work=Democracy Now|access-date=December 15, 2023|date=August 8, 2014}}</ref> South Africa depended on its black population for labor, but Chomsky argues the same is not true of Israel, which in his view seeks to make the situation for Palestinians under its occupation unlivable, especially in the [[West Bank]] and the [[Gaza Strip]], where "atrocities" take place every day.<ref name="MEM1"/> He also argues that, unlike South Africa, Israel has not sought the international community's approval, but rather relies solely on U.S. support.<ref name="MEM1"/> Chomsky has said that the Israeli-led [[Blockade of the Gaza Strip|blockade]] of the [[Gaza Strip]] has turned it into a "concentration camp" and expressed fears similar to Israeli intellectual [[Yeshayahu Leibowitz]]'s 1990s warning that the continued occupation of the [[Palestinian territories]] could turn [[Israeli Jews]] into "Judeo-Nazis". Chomsky has said that Leibowitz's warning "was a direct reflection of the continued occupation, the humiliation of people, the degradation, and the terrorist attacks by the Israeli government".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/188255-181108-chomsky-to-i24news-judeo-nazi-tendencies-in-israel-a-product-of-occupation|title=Chomsky to i24NEWS: 'Judeo-Nazi tendencies in Israel a product of occupation'|work=i24news|access-date=December 15, 2023|date=November 14, 2018|quote=“[[Yeshayahu Leibowitz|Leibowitz]] warned that if the occupation continues, Israeli Jews are going to turn into what he called, Judeo-Nazis. It’s a pretty strong term to use in Israel. Most people couldn’t get away with that but he did. It will happen, he argued, simply by the dynamics of occupation,” Chomsky told i24NEWS. “If you have your jackboot on somebody’s neck, you have to find a way to justify it. So you blame the victims. Leibowitz’s warning was a direct reflection of the continued occupation, the humiliation of people, the degradation, and the terrorist attacks by the Israeli government. We have many historical examples of that. Europe has plenty of them. And I think that’s what you are seeing in Israel,” he explained.}}</ref> He has also called the U.S. a violent state that exports violence by supporting Israeli "atrocities" against the Palestinians and said that listening to American mainstream media, including [[CBS]], is like listening to "Israeli propaganda agencies".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://imemc.org/article/72694/|title=Noam Chomsky: Israeli Apartheid 'Much Worse' Than South Africa|work=IMEMC|date=August 20, 2015|access-date=December 15, 2023}}</ref>

Chomsky was denied entry to the [[West Bank]] in 2010 because of [[Political positions of Noam Chomsky#Views on Israel and Palestine|his criticisms of Israel]]. He had been invited to deliver a lecture at [[Bir Zeit University]] and was to meet with Palestinian Prime Minister [[Salam Fayyad]].{{sfn|Pilkington|2010}}{{sfn|Bronner|2010}}{{sfn|Al Jazeera|2010}}{{sfn|''Democracy Now!''|2010}} An [[Israeli Foreign Ministry]] spokesman later said that Chomsky was denied entry by mistake.{{sfn|Kalman|2014}}

In his 1983 book ''The Fateful Triangle'', Chomsky criticized the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]] for its "self-destructiveness" and "suicidal character" and disapproved of its programs of "armed struggle" and "erratic violence". He also criticized the Arab governments as not "decent".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Said |first1=Edward |title=Permission to narrate |url=https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v06/n03/edward-said/permission-to-narrate |journal=London Review of Books |access-date=January 18, 2024 |language=en |date=February 16, 1984|volume=06 |issue=3 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Said |first=Edward |date=1984 |title=Permission to Narrate |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2536688 |journal=Journal of Palestine Studies |volume=13 |issue=3 |pages=27–48 |doi=10.2307/2536688 |jstor=2536688 |issn=0377-919X}}</ref> Given what he has described as his very Jewish upbringing with deeply Zionist activist parents, Chomsky's views have drawn controversy and criticism. They are rooted in the [[kibbutz]]im and socialist binational cooperation.<ref>{{Citation |last=Rich |first=Melanie S. |chapter=10. Noam Chomsky: The Controversial Jew |title=Jews in Psychology and the Psychology of Judaism |date=December 16, 2008 |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.31826/9781463214845-012/html?lang=en |pages=77–84 |access-date=December 22, 2023 |publisher=Gorgias Press |language=en |doi=10.31826/9781463214845-012 |isbn=978-1-4632-1484-5}}</ref> In a 2014 interview on ''[[Democracy Now!]]'',  Chomsky said that the charter of [[Hamas]], which calls for Israel's destruction, "means practically nothing", having been created "by a small group of people under siege, under attack in 1988". He compared it to the electoral program of the [[Likud]] party, which, he said, "states explicitly that there can never be a Palestinian state west of the Jordan River. And they not only state it in their charter, that's a call for the destruction of Palestine, explicit call for it".<ref name="Democracy Now-2014" />

===Mass media and propaganda===
{{Main|Propaganda model}}
{{external media
 | video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?176809-1/depth-noam-chomskyt Chomsky on propaganda and the manufacturing of consent], June 1, 2003
}}
Chomsky's political writings have largely focused on ideology, [[social and political power]], mass media, and state policy.{{sfn|Rai|1995|p=20}} One of his best-known works, ''[[Manufacturing Consent]]'', dissects the media's role in reinforcing and acquiescing to state policies across the political spectrum while marginalizing contrary perspectives. Chomsky asserts that this version of censorship, by government-guided "free market" forces, is subtler and harder to undermine than was the equivalent propaganda system in the Soviet Union.{{sfn|Rai|1995|pp=37–38}} As he argues, the mainstream press is corporate-owned and thus reflects corporate priorities and interests.{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|p=179}} Acknowledging that many American journalists are dedicated and well-meaning, he argues that the mass media's choices of topics and issues, the unquestioned premises on which that coverage rests, and the range of opinions expressed are all constrained to reinforce the state's ideology:{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|p=178}} although mass media will criticize individual politicians and political parties, it will not undermine the wider state-corporate nexus of which it is a part.{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|p=189}} As evidence, he highlights that the U.S. mass media does not employ any socialist journalists or political commentators.{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|p=177}} He also points to examples of important news stories that the U.S. mainstream media has ignored because reporting on them would reflect badly upon the country, including the murder of Black Panther [[Fred Hampton]] with possible [[FBI]] involvement, the massacres in Nicaragua perpetrated by U.S.-funded [[Contras]], and the constant reporting on Israeli deaths without equivalent coverage of the far larger number of Palestinian deaths in that conflict.{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|pp=179–182}} To remedy this situation, Chomsky calls for grassroots democratic control and involvement of the media.{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|p=184}}

Chomsky considers most [[conspiracy theories]] fruitless, distracting substitutes for thinking about policy formation in an institutional framework, where individual manipulation is secondary to broader social imperatives.{{sfn|Rai|1995|p=70}} He separates his Propaganda Model from conspiracy in that he is describing institutions following their natural imperatives rather than collusive forces with secret controls.{{sfn|Rai|1995|p=[https://archive.org/details/chomskyspolitics00raim/page/42/mode/1up 42]}} Instead of supporting the educational system as an antidote, he believes that most education is counterproductive.{{sfn|Chomsky|1996|p=45}} Chomsky describes [[mass education]] as a system solely intended to turn farmers from independent producers into unthinking industrial employees.{{sfn|Chomsky|1996|p=45}}

=== Reactions of critics and counter-criticism: 1980s–present ===
In the 2004 book ''[[The Anti-Chomsky Reader]]'', [[Peter Collier (political author)|Peter Collier]] and [[David Horowitz]] accuse Chomsky of [[cherry picking|cherry-picking]] facts to suit his theories.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cook |first=Christopher R. |date=2009 |title=A Cold Eye Assessment of US Foreign Policy: It's the Policies, Stupid |journal=International Studies Review |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=601–608 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-2486.2009.00877.x |jstor=40389146 |quote=The common critique is that he is often selective about his facts to fit his theories (Collier and Horowitz 2004).|issn=1468-2486}}</ref> Horowitz has also criticized Chomsky's [[anti-Americanism]]:<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 26, 2001 |title=The sick mind of Noam Chomsky |url=https://www.salon.com/2001/09/26/treason_2/ |access-date=July 28, 2023 |website=Salon |language=en |archive-date=July 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230728210540/https://www.salon.com/2001/09/26/treason_2/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{Blockquote|text=For 40 years Noam Chomsky has turned out book after book, pamphlet after pamphlet and speech after speech with one message, and one message alone: America is the [[Great Satan]]; it is the fount of evil in the world. In Chomsky's demented universe, America is responsible not only for its own bad deeds, but for the bad deeds of others, including those of the terrorists who struck the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. In this attitude he is the medium for all those who now search the ruins of Manhattan not for the victims and the American dead, but for the "root causes" of the catastrophe that befell them.}}

For the [[Conservatism in the United States|conservative]] public policy [[think tank]] the [[Hoover Institution]], Peter Schweizer wrote in January 2006, "Chomsky favors the estate tax and massive income redistribution—just not the redistribution of his income." Schweizer criticized Chomsky for setting up an estate plan and protecting his own intellectual property as it relates to his published works, as well as the high speaking fees that Chomsky received on a regular basis, around $9,000–$12,000 per talk at that time.{{sfn|Schweizer|2006}}{{sfn|Lott|2006}}

Chomsky has been accused of treating socialist or communist regimes with credulity and examining capitalist regimes with greater scrutiny or criticism:{{sfn|Bauerlein|2005}}{{blockquote|Chomsky's analysis of U.S. actions plunged deep into dark U.S. machinations, but when traveling among the Communists he rested content with appearances. The countryside outside Hanoi, he reported in ''The New York Review of Books'', displayed "a high degree of democratic participation at the village and regional levels." But how could he tell? Chomsky did not speak Vietnamese, and so he depended on government translators, tour guides, and handlers for information. In [Communist] Vietnamese hands, the clear-eyed skepticism turned into willing credulousness.{{sfn|Bauerlein|2005}}}}According to [[Nikolas Kozloff]], writing for [[Al Jazeera English|''Al Jazeera'']] in September 2012, Chomsky "has drawn the world's attention to the various misdeeds of the US and its proxies around the world, and for that he deserves credit. Yet, in seeking to avoid controversy at all costs Chomsky has turned into something of an ideologue. Scour the Chomsky web site and you won't find significant discussion of Belarus or Latin America's flirtation with outside authoritarian leaders, for that matter."{{sfn|Kozloff|2012}}

Political activist [[George Monbiot]] has argued that "Part of the problem is that a kind of cult has developed around Noam Chomsky and [[John Pilger]], which cannot believe they could ever be wrong, and produces ever more elaborate conspiracy theories to justify their mistakes."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Katerji |first=Oz |date=November 24, 2017 |title=The West's Leftist 'Intellectuals' Who Traffic in Genocide Denial, From Srebrenica to Syria |language=en |work=Haaretz |url=https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2017-11-24/ty-article-opinion/the-wests-leftist-male-intellectuals-who-traffic-in-genocide-denial/0000017f-f346-d8a1-a5ff-f3cec4320000 |access-date=July 15, 2023 |archive-date=March 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315204708/https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2017-11-24/ty-article-opinion/the-wests-leftist-male-intellectuals-who-traffic-in-genocide-denial/0000017f-f346-d8a1-a5ff-f3cec4320000 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Anarchist and primitivist [[John Zerzan]] has accused Chomsky of not being a real anarchist, saying that he is instead "a liberal-leftist politically, and downright reactionary in his academic specialty, linguistic theory. Chomsky is also, by all accounts, a generous, sincere, tireless activist—which does not, unfortunately, ensure his thinking has liberatory value."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Zerzan |first=John |title=Who is Chomsky? |url=http://www.primitivism.com/chomsky.htm |website=Primitivism.com |access-date=July 28, 2023 |archive-date=February 21, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060221023457/http://www.primitivism.com/chomsky.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Defenders of Chomsky have countered that he has been censored or left out of public debate. Claims of this nature date to the [[Reagan era]]. Writing for ''[[The Washington Post]]'' in February 1988, [[Saul Landau]] wrote, "It is unhealthy that Chomsky's insights are excluded from the policy debate. His relentless prosecutorial prose, with a hint of Talmudic whine and the rationalist anarchism of Tom Paine, may reflect a justified frustration."{{sfn|Landau|1988}}