A Moment When Heaven and Earth Flip

The question posed by distinguished Taiwanese historian of science and technology Professor Fu Daiwei (傅大為) when introducing Noam Chomsky's new book is powerful: "Is this world, this America, really what you thought it was?" He warns that the moment an ordinary reader opens this book, heaven and earth will instantly change color.

The book's subtitle is "How Does American Foreign Policy Threaten Our World?" Even a glance at the table of contents is provocative. Chapters like "Noble Goals and Mafia Logic," "9/11 and the Destruction of Afghanistan," "Iraq: The Crime of the Century," and "How Myths Are Manufactured" follow one after another.

For readers who have never heard of Chomsky and have never harbored a single doubt about America, this book will completely flip the image of the U.S. from an army of democratic justice to the vanguard of imperial invasion.

How Are Myths Manufactured?

Before explaining the book's content, Professor Fu first clarifies "why such a transformation of heaven and earth is possible." The core lies in a massive matrix of manufactured myths.

In his classic work Manufacturing Consent, co-written with Edward Herman, Chomsky detailed how mainstream American media manufactures only the consensus desired by government, military, and multinational corporations. Top-tier outlets like The New York Times and The Washington Post have spent 30-40 years day and night creating agreements close to falsehood and misguidance, pressuring and excluding conscientious journalists and Pulitzer Prize winners.

Hollywood: The Distortion Created by the Dream Factory

Another American myth-making factory is Hollywood. Professor Fu cites examples from The Green Berets and The Deer Hunter during the Vietnam War era to American Sniper from the Iraq War, and the recent Top Gun: Maverick, which rehearsed bombing Iranian nuclear facilities.

The subject matter of these films uniformly involves U.S. military invasion and bombing of Southeast Asia and the Islamic world. At the time, widespread anti-war and anti-American waves arose globally. Yet on Hollywood screens, only American military valor, camaraderie, post-return trauma, and even skepticism toward the U.S. government (even in progressive works like Born on the Fourth of July) remain.

As if other cultures and peoples don't exist, they circulate within an exclusively American narrative. Professor Fu quips that the script for Starship Troopers, which features fighting giant alien bugs, wouldn't be much different.

Even The Fifth Estate, which covered WikiLeaks, distorted Julian Assange while reinforcing Western mainstream violence and prejudice in espionage law prosecution.

How Is South Korea Affected? [AI Analysis]

The issues this book raises are directly relevant not only to Taiwan but to South Korea as well. South Korea is also a nation that consumes large quantities of mainstream American media and Hollywood content. Within the political framework of the ROK-U.S. alliance, perspectives that critically view American foreign policy have been relatively limited.

If, as Chomsky's analysis suggests, there are imperialist attributes underlying American foreign policy, South Korea, as an ally, is highly likely to bear part of those policies. Examples include the deployment of troops to Iraq and reconstruction support in Afghanistan.

Additionally, in South Korean society, reporting on North Korea and China tends to be excessively simplified into specific political frames. The "myth-manufacturing mechanism" presented in this book offers significant implications for South Korea's media environment as well.

Three Reasons to Read This Book

Professor Fu emphasizes three values this book possesses.

First, it dissects the reality of American foreign policy with evidence and context. It's not simple conspiracy theory but criticism based on historical facts and documents.

Second, it structurally analyzes how mainstream media and cultural industries manipulate public opinion and maintain myths.

Third, it provides readers an opportunity to fundamentally re-examine their worldview. The experience of heaven and earth changing color is uncomfortable, but it can be the first step toward approaching truth.

For Korean Readers [AI Analysis]

This book poses important questions to Korean readers as well. How critically do we understand America, our ally? While ROK-U.S. relations are essential for security and economics, this does not mean blind following.

Particularly amid recent U.S.-China conflict, the Russia-Ukraine war, and upheaval in Middle East situations, South Korea inevitably becomes directly or indirectly linked to American foreign policy lines. At such times, understanding the historical patterns and hidden aspects of American diplomacy is essential for cultivating South Korea's independent diplomatic judgment.

Chomsky's book doesn't provide all the answers. However, it will be a sufficiently powerful catalyst for beginning to ask questions.