--- title: "For Chomsky, the world is divided into oppressor and oppressed. Ameri… — Noam Chomsky Quote #240 | QuotesBy.net" description: "For Chomsky, the world is divided into oppressor and oppressed. America, the prime oppressor, can do no right, while the sins of those categorized as… — a quote by Noam Chomsky." image: "https://quotesby.net/wp-content/themes/quotesby-editorial/assets/og-default.png" --- > # For Chomsky, the world is divided into oppressor and oppressed. America, the prime oppressor, can do no right, while the sins of those categorized as oppressed receive scant mention. Because he deems American foreign policy inherently violent and expansionist, he is unconcerned with the motives behind particular policies, or the ethics of particular individuals in government. And since he considers the United States the leading terrorist state, little distinguishes American air strikes in Serbia undertaken at night with high-precision weaponry from World Trade Center attacks timed to maximize the number of office workers who have just sat down with their morning coffee. --Samantha Power, January 4, 2003 \[221\] [Noam Chomsky](https://quotesby.net/Noam-Chomsky)\#240 [Criticism](https://quotesby.net/Noam-Chomsky/criticism/)[Foreign policy](https://quotesby.net/Noam-Chomsky/foreign-policy/)[Morality](https://quotesby.net/Noam-Chomsky/morality/)[Geopolitics](https://quotesby.net/Noam-Chomsky/geopolitics/)[Bias](https://quotesby.net/Noam-Chomsky/bias/) [WhatsApp (opens in a new tab)](https://wa.me/?text=%E2%80%9CFor%20Chomsky%2C%20the%20world%20is%20divided%20into%20oppressor%20and%20oppressed.%20America%2C%20the%20prime%20oppressor%2C%20can%20do%20no%20right%2C%20while%20the%20sins%20of%20those%20categorized%20as%20oppressed%20receive%20scant%20mention.%20Because%20he%20deems%20American%20foreign%20policy%20inherently%20violent%20and%20expansionist%2C%20he%20is%20unconcerned%20with%20the%20motives%20behind%20particular%20policies%2C%20or%20the%20ethics%20of%20particular%20individuals%20in%20government.%20And%20since%20he%20considers%20the%20United%20States%20the%20leading%20terrorist%20state%2C%20little%20distinguishes%20American%20air%20strikes%20in%20Serbia%20undertaken%20at%20night%20with%20high-precision%20weaponry%20from%20World%20Trade%20Center%20attacks%20timed%20to%20maximize%20the%20number%20of%20office%20workers%20who%20have%20just%20sat%20down%20with%20their%20morning%20coffee.%20--Samantha%20Power%2C%20January%204%2C%202003%20%5B221%5D%E2%80%9D%20%E2%80%94%20Noam%20Chomsky%20https%3A%2F%2Fquotesby.net%2FNoam-Chomsky%2F240%2F)[X (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=%E2%80%9CFor%20Chomsky%2C%20the%20world%20is%20divided%20into%20oppressor%20and%20oppressed.%20America%2C%20the%20prime%20oppressor%2C%20can%20do%20no%20right%2C%20while%20the%20sins%20of%20those%20categorized%20as%20oppressed%20receive%20scant%20mention.%20Because%20he%20deems%20American%20foreign%20policy%20inherently%20violent%20and%20expansionist%2C%20he%20is%20unconcerned%20with%20the%20motives%20behind%20particular%20policies%2C%20or%20the%20ethics%20of%20particular%20individuals%20in%20government.%20And%20since%20he%20considers%20the%20United%20States%20the%20leading%20terrorist%20state%2C%20little%20distinguishes%20American%20air%20strikes%20in%20Serbia%20undertaken%20at%20night%20with%20high-precision%20weaponry%20from%20World%20Trade%20Center%20attacks%20timed%20to%20maximize%20the%20number%20of%20office%20workers%20who%20have%20just%20sat%20down%20with%20their%20morning%20coffee.%20--Samantha%20Power%2C%20January%204%2C%202003%20%5B221%5D%E2%80%9D%20%E2%80%94%20Noam%20Chomsky&url=https%3A%2F%2Fquotesby.net%2FNoam-Chomsky%2F240%2F)[Facebook (opens in a new tab)](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fquotesby.net%2FNoam-Chomsky%2F240%2F) ## About this quote What does it mean?The author argues that Chomsky views the world in binary terms of oppressor and oppressed, excusing sins of the latter while condemning all US actions.In plain termsChomsky sees the US as inherently bad and ignores faults of its enemies.What can you take from it?Binary moral frameworks can obscure complex political realities. ### Where it applies - political critique - foreign policy analysis ### Putting it to work - examine motives behind policies - avoid binary thinking ### Questions to consider - Can binary frameworks ever serve political critique? - How do we evaluate state violence fairly? ### Another view The quote simplifies Chomsky's actual arguments to fit a critique. ## More from Noam Chomsky 1. > What we hear in Europe or elsewhere in the world, despite CNN and my son watches CNN every morning, is President Bush saying that the United States is the grea… [Permalink to quote \#239](https://quotesby.net/Noam-Chomsky/239/ "Permalink to quote 239") 2. > I'm not a pacifist. And I am not one of those people, like Noam Chomsky, with whom I have agreed on some points, I don't agree on this point, who believes that… [Permalink to quote \#241](https://quotesby.net/Noam-Chomsky/241/ "Permalink to quote 241") 3. > He defended Faurrison. He championed the Khmer Rouge. His condemnations of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are one hundred percent one-sided, based on the (ob… [Permalink to quote \#238](https://quotesby.net/Noam-Chomsky/238/ "Permalink to quote 238") ## Related quotes 1. > It's a brutal book; it ought to be burnt by the common hangman. Smiles was the arch-Philistine, and his book the apotheosis of respectability, gigmanity, and s… [Samuel Smiles](https://quotesby.net/Samuel-Smiles)[Samuel Smiles quote \#10](https://quotesby.net/Samuel-Smiles/10/ "Permalink to quote 10") 2. > All the sparrows on the rooftops are crying about the fact that the most imperialist nation that is supporting the colonial regime in the colonies is the Unite… [Nikita Khrushchev](https://quotesby.net/Nikita-Khrushchev)[Nikita Khrushchev quote \#29](https://quotesby.net/Nikita-Khrushchev/29/ "Permalink to quote 29") 3. > Nobody doubts that the Russians committed aggression, that Saddam Hussein committed aggression. We attribute to them rational goals, maybe they wanted to contr… [Noam Chomsky](https://quotesby.net/Noam-Chomsky)[Noam Chomsky quote \#126](https://quotesby.net/Noam-Chomsky/126/ "Permalink to quote 126") ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Quotation", "text": "For Chomsky, the world is divided into oppressor and oppressed. America, the prime oppressor, can do no right, while the sins of those categorized as oppressed receive scant mention. Because he deems American foreign policy inherently violent and expansionist, he is unconcerned with the motives behind particular policies, or the ethics of particular individuals in government. And since he considers the United States the leading terrorist state, little distinguishes American air strikes in Serbia undertaken at night with high-precision weaponry from World Trade Center attacks timed to maximize the number of office workers who have just sat down with their morning coffee. --Samantha Power, January 4, 2003 [221]", "url": "https://quotesby.net/Noam-Chomsky/240/", "spokenByCharacter": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Noam Chomsky" } } { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://quotesby.net/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Authors", "item": "https://quotesby.net/authors/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Noam Chomsky", "item": "https://quotesby.net/Noam-Chomsky" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Quote #240", "item": "https://quotesby.net/Noam-Chomsky/240/" } ] } ```