Who Rules the World
- Apr 10, 2018
- 3 min read
How I came across this book: Recommendation from a friend
Favorite Line from the book:
Historical amnesia is a dangerous phenomenon not only because it undermines moral and intellectual integrity but also it lays the groundwork for crimes that still lay ahead.
Racism in our literary culture has been a rank obscenity. It has been much easier to eradicate polio than this horrifying plague, which regularly becomes more virulent in times of economic distress.
Magna Carta is under threat! Freedom of liberty is under threat! Freedom of speech is under threat! In reality, all these principles of human spirit and liberties have been under threat for centuries. Now it is under threat from the imperialistic powers who are wearing a mask of democracy. These imperialistic states represent themselves as the flag bearers of democracy, but in reality, they are trading with dictators behind closed doors. No one is better than Noam Chomsky in lifting this mask of hypocrisy and exposing the reality. We have all heard, ‘less than 1% of the population rules the rest 99%’ or ‘rich continues to get rich, while the poor continue to get poorer.’ I have to come across a better skeptic than Chomsky who puts data on all these theories and opens the door to the secret world of the powerful. ‘Who rules the world’ is like one of the novels by Frederick Forsyth, except all the fiction has been replaced by facts. The sad part is – truth hurts more than fiction. Chomsky has an amazing grasp of history, and he can connect all parts of modern history to the contemporary period, economics, international policies, and human values. If I have to use two words to describe this book, then it would be – POWERFUL & CHILLING!
India/Pakistan, Israel/Palestine, US/Russia, US/Korea, Cuban missile crisis aftermath, British Empire and the colonies, middle-east, Latin & Caribbean countries in the shadow of the US, indigenous population and their roles in climate change, rising cost of education to manipulate democracy, recurrent global financial crash – think of any current hot topic and Chomsky has discussed it in his book in less than 300 pages. It was like reading a fast-paced newspaper, which has covered the last hundred years of our society. He is a master in co-relating all the situations to the current climate. And, that climate is not looking good! More than four trillion dollars have been spent in the US/Iraq war alone over the last two decades. Imagine if that money would have been given to cancer societies or NASA for R&D – we would have cured cancer, or we would have already become inter-planetary without waiting for Musk’s big dreams.
In a recent experiment conducted by a psychologist, few players were asked to play Monopoly while they were closely observed. Half the players were randomly chosen to start the game with a lead – they were given more cards and money before the game started. As the game progressed, these players began making profits very quickly because of their unfair advantage. By the middle of the game, the non-verbal and verbal attitude of these players started to change – they sat with their chest broad, they were thumping the dice on the board to make an arrogant gesture, and they were talking to their friends rudely. All these players were interviewed after the game – none of them agreed that they were lucky and had an unfair advantage. They were just purely good and had better business skills, which transformed into their game. Of Course! This book does not talk about Monopoly but it talks about the same human psychology of unfair advantage and power which transcends into our society and nations.
Why should you read this book? The rich and the powerful cannot see beyond themselves. In the process, they are hurting the planet and have placed human species under grave threat. The two imminent threats which rise above all are a nuclear war and climate change. You can decide why you should read this book but for me this book has set the stage for my next two books – ‘Collapse’ by Jared Diamond and ‘Hot Flat, and Crowded’ by Thomas Friedman. The rich and the powerful who support the war will continue with their empty rhetoric that it is easy to argue about an utopian world in a book or a blog, but LIFE does not work that way. Society knows that there will be no LIFE if we continue on this path. In the words of Davos Seaworth from the pen-ultimate season of ‘Game of Thrones’: “If we don't put aside our enmities and band together, we will die. And then it does not matter whose skeleton sits on the Iron Throne.”
Comments