"The point of public relations slogans like 'support our troops' is that they don't mean anything... That's the whole point of good propaganda. You want to create a slogan that nobody's going to be against, and everybody's going to be for. Nobody knows what it means, because it doesn't mean anything. Its crucial value is that it diverts your attention from a question that does mean something: Do you support our policy? That's the one you're not allowed to talk about. "

Libertarian Socialists of the World, Unite!

Avram Noam Chomsky is a professor of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he has taught continuously for over 50 years. He is best known for his radical political views, including his indictment of United States foreign policy. Chomsky describes himself as a libertarian socialist.

After receiving his Ph.D in linguistics from the University of Pennsylvania, Chomsky began teaching at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1955. In 1961 was appointed full professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics (now the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy). He has been teaching at MIT continuously for over 50 years.

Chomsky was one of the leading opponents of the Vietnam War. Since then he has become well known for his political views, speaking on politics all over the world and writing many books. His criticism of US foreign policy and questioning of the legitimacy of American power have made him a controversial figure. He has argued that the American belief in liberty and justice for all is at odds with American support of repressive and dictatorial regimes around the world.

Contending that the U.S. mass media do not serve the public interest, Chomsky believes the media are essentially the propaganda arm of the U.S. government and U.S. corporations. He argues that the American media "manufactures consent" among the public.

Chomsky has received death threats because of his criticisms of U.S foreign policy. He was on a list of targets created by Theodore Kaczynski, better known as the Unabomber. While Kaczynski was at large, Chomsky had all of his mail checked for explosives.

As an MIT professor, Chomsky is credited with the creation of the theory of generative grammar, considered to be one of the most significant contributions to the field of theoretical linguistics made in the 20th century. He is also credited with the establishment of the Chomsky–Schutzenberger hierarchy, a classification of formal languages in terms of their generative power.

Chomsky travels frequently, giving lectures on politics. He says of his speaking style, "I'm a boring speaker and I like it that way. I doubt that people are attracted to whatever the persona is... people are interested in the issues, and they're interested in the issues because they are important."