Blog #5: The Masters' Attack on Solidarity

      In the fifth principle of Requiem for the American Dream, entitled “Attack Solidarity,” Noam Chomsky claims that, from “the point of view of the masters, you’re only supposed to care about yourself, not about others” (65). Chomsky’s use of “masters” refers to his previously introduced idea that the wealthy are practically the “masters of mankind,” politically and economically. In this fifth principle, Chomsky claims that wealthy politicians—who have all the power in our government—are trying to push the idea of solidarity out of our nation’s values. By providing evidence that the “masters” are erasing the sense of unity from our society by implementing government policies that makes “every man for himself,” Chomsky effectively supports his claim. And, not only does he provide sound evidence, he utilizes evidence that directly pertains to his main audience, the educated middle class, to add logic to his claim.

Chomsky uses precedent—or refers to a pervious situation that can be compared to his situation—to describe how solidarity is being attacked with public education. Chomsky points out that during the nineteenth century, “the US was way in the lead in developing extensive mass public education at every level” (67). Despite that fact, “most of the funding for the state colleges comes from tuition, not the state” in more than half of the country. Because receiving a college education is so competitive and unaffordable, there is a sense of “everyman for himself” that every high school senior has felt when applying for college. Chomsky utilizes a piece of evidence that a majority of his audience, including our RWS class, can relate to. By using the problem of the public schooling systems not receiving enough funding, Chomsky makes it easy for his readers to understand his claim that unity is being “attacked.”  

Chomsky uses comparison and contrast to present another piece of evidence. He states that, when compared to other nations like Europe or Japan, America looks like its “falling apart.” Although America is considered the land of democracy and opportunity, we fall behind in terms of government and standards of living when compared to countless other countries. The “[i]nfrastructure has collapsed, health care is a total wreck, the educational system is being torn to shred, nothing works, and with incredible resources” (72). Chomsky points out that we are suffering such circumstances despite having “incredible resources.” By concluding a list of problems with this observation, Chomsky uses pathos to stir a new sense of anger in his audience. Listing the flaws within our society caused by unfair legislature provokes irritation within his audience, but these aren’t new problems. These issues are relatively common knowledge and we’ve come to accept them. Chomsky gives us a reason to not to blindly accept the problems in our society. He points out that everyone, besides the “masters,” shouldn’t have to suffer when our nation has access to a number of amazing resources.  

Chomsky seems logical throughout Principle #5 because he goes into depth on relatable and well-known issues. His claim that solidarity is slowly being removed from our society is rational and believable because all of his evidence is presented in a simple manner. He concludes by making his readers realize that these problems are only here because of the selfishness of the “masters.” By doing this, he makes readers reexamine the evidence he presented and urges them to question our nation’s current conditions.