Dear Mr Chomsky,

I was channel surfing on a lazy weekend when at high school and hit upon the Movie/Doco “Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Mass Media” on SBS TV in Australia. As I was watching I thought, “hey, man, that’s what I’m thinkin.” Although I have read now pretty much nearly everything that you have written my first impression remains the dominant one. You have the ability to articulate what I think most people know at a gut-intuitive level with the real trick being converting that common awareness to political dissidence.

You stand out, I think, mostly because intellectuals are fraudsters. I think that you have a real commitment to rationality and this is, in my experience, very rare. It is for this reason that I seek out your interviews and articles as events happen; not because I think you are always right, but because I know that you are at least honest and that what matters to you is what actually happens to real people.

At a personal level in email correspondence I have always been taken aback by the fact that you actually, like, reply. How many emails do you get? Mate, I reckon it must be in the many thousands per day. By contrast with other intellectuals you don’t even get a courtesy reply.

These are the reasons why I think you stand out and, despite misgivings about a personal tribute project like this that you might have, all the tributes you get are richly rewarded.

I wish you a happy birthday and you and your family a happy holiday season and a very happy new year.

Sincerely,
Marko Beljac
Melbourne, Australia.