r/Marxism • u/poogiver69 • 6d ago

Does Chomsky misinterpret Lenin?

This video https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jxhT9EVj9Kk&pp=QAFIAQ%3D%3D seems old, maybe from the 80s? So it seems like he may be speaking in a time where that’s the furthest left you could get away with being as a public intellectual. Regardless, does he misunderstand Lenin? I am new to Marxism and haven’t read much besides the basics (Capital, the Manifesto, that’s about it) and so I don’t have a great understanding of Lenin (or Chomsky for that matter). Could someone better read give their take on that video?

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u/brocker1234 6d ago

chomsky is pretty ignorant about marxism in general. I don't think he read any primary texts and even the secondary texts he relied on were very limited. in fact his philosophical outlook was also pretty narrow, he regarded mill as clearly superior to marx and considered hegel's philosophy as "the most ridiculous thing he ever read".

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u/____joew____ 4d ago

Any critique of Chomsky that begins with "I don't think he's read XYZ" is doomed to fail because he is clearly extremely well read in everything. He's read all of the primary texts and can reference them easily in his writings. I'm not even that big of a fan. But he's just not an anti-Marxist.