"Power Systems" by Noam Chomsky and David Barsamian

"The prospects are not auspicious because of the general feeling you described before that there is nothing we can do.  As long as people sit by passively and let things happen to them, the dynamics of the system will drive it in a certain direction - and that direction is toward self-destruction.  I don't think it's hard to show."

This book is a series of interviews with Noam Chomsky, celebrated writer and linguist.  The subject of these interviews is power systems and how they give shape to the modern world.

It's short, so I can't fault it overmuch.  I agree with about 80% of what Chomsky concludes on a multitude of issues, and I came away from this book with a respect for his wide-ranging intellect.  I just wish the co-writer, David Barsamian, would have argued the point a bit more.  It is fine to say something like "the citizens of the US exist in a condition of mental slavery," but where are the proofs to fortify this claim?  Where is the evidence?  Had Mr. Barsamian pushed for this kind of evidence, a more compelling case might have been made for Mr. Chomsky's description of US foreign and domestic policy.

It would be a great thing to get Noam Chomsky into a room full of economists, more specifically the economists interviewed for the "I.O.U.S.A" book I read last week.  I would love to be a fly on the wall for that conversation.