Blog 5 - Chomsky v. Marx

Noam Chomsky’s idea of a “Propaganda Model” shares many similarities with Karl Marx’s views of the economy in his Communist Manifesto. One of the key similarities is the idea that those in charge are supported by a very large amount of people upon which they build. The media very heavily relies on its ability to control its audience. It controls what they see, how they are entertained, what information they are given, how they react, and often as a result, what they think. The media constantly seeks to increase and expand its influence over society, and at the same time, it is reliant on those people. Without their support and following, the media can’t exist. The same is true of the bourgeoisie. Without the proletariat, it can’t exist. The bourgeoisie sets a value on everything the proletariat makes and owns. It is also always looking to expand its markets and expand its control over the proletariat. However, it also needs the proletariat to exist. Without the work they do, the bourgeoisie’s power would crumble.

Another key similarity is the fact that both Chomsky and Marx speak of the media and the bourgeiosie’s desire to change the world to fit their standard and needs. As stated previously, the media seeks to extend its influence and control on everyone and everything. This also means that it wants everything to fit its ideas, which would lead to increasingly more and more homogenous societies in terms of thought and information. In a similar way, the bourgeoisie seeks to expand its markets and dominate in its own lands and abroad too. This would homogenize the markets and values of things. This is further evidence of what Youngblood mentioned in his article. Homogenization is entropy.