Well, you said “how good and refreshing it felt to stumble upon and read a Chomsky book […] and get the confirmation there were Americans who saw through their establishment’s propaganda and disagreed…”, and one of the first LRC articles I come across referencing him is one chastising him for basically doing the exact opposite.
You don’t find that at least a little funny? I kind of do.
Surely you’re not suggesting that is the Academy Award-Winning ghostwriter?
Surely you’re not suggesting that the credited writer and star of the film’s friend, neighbor, and as far as I can tell intellectual idol just happened to find his way into the script coincidentally.
Oh, he’s suggesting, and don’t call him Shirley.
a) I didn’t.
b) He started it.
@John James
Because “some Marxian historian – Pete Garrison, probably” is a direct quote. Hence the quotes.
I would also suggest people read Saul Alinksy’s “Rules for Radicals”. Does that mean I think it’s the “right fucking book”? 
I’m not that concerned which books/authors were mentioned in a movie of which I feel is trying to hit a broader perspective. My favorite quote being:
I was thinking about this movie recently. The prevailing wisdom in screenwriting is to make the hero character fundamentally yourself. If you analyse the Will Hunting character in that light, it tells you something about Matt Damon. He went to Harvard (English) IRL. Apparently he fantasizes about being a misunderstood genius and being able to use that to credibly peddle his political message.
I also feel compelled to say as someone that was an actual math “genius” (which in truth means little) in school IRL that I always feel insulted by stories about such people. After thinking about it I now easily see why this movie was a hit and why Matt Damon became popular. It strokes the ego of anyone that shares his trite observations and sentiments about the world and inane behaviour. Here is a 2 minute video that is far more entertaining than that whole movie and helps to realize how bad it is and what kind of person likes it (hint: not math geeks). The character is comically absurd and that absurdity packed into endless subliminal messages is what the script is ultimately about.
I haven’t read People’s History but can find no fault with this:
here we go again.
yes caley. We get it. You won some awards and got good grades. we’re all very impressed. Exactly how many more times are you going to remind us of this?
That video was not a fraction (see what I did there) as entertaining as the film. So they pretended a relatively easy problem was really hard. In a movie. I guess we better call Scotland Yard.