“Why have them in some island in the Pacific? Well, the answer to that is clear, after all they're just a bunch of little brown people”

— Noam Chomsky

Talk at UC Berkeley on the massacres in Indonesia and East Timor, 1982; Republished at " Program Information: Chomsky on Indonesia and E. Timor, 1982 http://www.radio4all.net/index.php?op=program-info&program_id=11140" at radio4all.net, accessed May 23, 2014.
Quotes 1960s-1980s, 1980s
Context: There are significant strategic interests [in Oceania], and there's a lot of stuff going on that's important. Not just the United States. For example, France is doing some really vicious things there, in fact they're just wiping out islands because they want them for nuclear tests. And when the socialist government in France is asked, "Why to do this?", they say, "Well look, we have to have nuclear tests." Well, if you have to have nuclear tests, why not have them in southern France? [audience laughter] Why have them in some island in the Pacific? Well, the answer to that is clear, after all they're just a bunch of little brown people or something. But you can't say that exactly, especially if you're a socialist, so something else is said.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Why have them in some island in the Pacific? Well, the answer to that is clear, after all they're just a bunch of littl…" by Noam Chomsky?

Noam Chomsky 334

american linguist, philosopher and activist 1928

Related quotes

“But if they're so successful, why haven't parasites taken over the world? The answer is simple: they have. We just haven't noticed. That's because successful parasites don't kill us; they become part of us, making us perform all the work to keep them alive and help them reproduce…”

Daniel Suarez Daemon

Source: Daemon (2006), Chapter 31: Red Queen Hypothesis, Character: Sobol

“Why won't anyone ever answer my questions?"
"Because you never stop asking them and especially because you keep asking them even when it's clear that nobody knows the answers."
"Well, how do I know that they don't know the answer unless I ask?”

Orson Scott Card (1951) American science fiction novelist

Homecoming saga, The Memory Of Earth (1992)

“But when I talk to people who are Darwinists or evolutionists and say, 'Well, how did life begin' -- they're…they don't have an answer. I mean, they have an answer, but it's a BS answer. It's an answer that wouldn't make sense to a small child.”

Ben Stein (1944) actor, writer, commentator, lawyer, teacher, humorist

Youtube: Ben Stein on Glenn Beck's show about Intelligent Design, Ben Stein on Glenn Beck's show about Intelligent Design, 13 November 2007, 2008-04-18 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHbdMbSLfb4,

“I think they're an honest bunch. I wish them well. I hope they surprise and confound a few people. It’s good for the game in America if they do. If they can make a ripple or two, that pushes the game on again.”

Ian Darke (1950) British association football and boxing commentator

2010s, 2014, Voice of the Americans (2014)

“You imagine Pacific islands, the tropical nature of the place and the bright colour of the sands and beaches. It's all very grey and dull because of the ash that just blankets the entire land.”

Peeni Henare (1980) New Zealand politician

Tonga
Source: Peeni Henare (2022) cited in: " Tonga airport runway being cleared of ash as Australian planes ready to depart https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/20/tonga-airport-runway-being-cleared-of-ash-as-australian-planes-ready-to-depart" in The Guardian, 19 January 2022.