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intellectual-moral-disillusionment
The emotional and ethical conflict experienced by intellectuals who must argue against injustice without losing their humanity or becoming complicit in technical rationalizations of violence.
1 chapter across 1 book
American Power and the New Mandarins (1969)Noam Chomsky
Pages 1–23
The chapter critiques the liberal American administration's escalation of the Vietnam War and the complicity of intellectuals who supported it for pragmatic reasons, highlighting a historical pattern of U.S. military interventions in Asia. It reflects on the moral and intellectual disillusionment faced by activists and intellectuals opposing the war, emphasizing the emotional toll of engaging in technical debates about atrocities and the hope for cultural and political renewal through malcontentedness and youth awakening.