So, as he works on the minimalist program ­ conducting linguistic research that could lead us to a better understanding of the mind/brain ­ Chomsky is also participating in activist initiatives around the world that call into question the tyrannical and oppressive structures that limit individual freedom and creativity. All this is bolstered by fifty years of commitment to ideas that in both the linguistic and political domains have stood the test of time by remaining topical and applicable. Generations of scholars have been trained by Chomsky. The Chomskys' lives today are simple, comfortable, and filled with the rewards of passionate teaching and research, and of dedication to a consistent set of values.

I would like to leave the reader with one last picture of Noam Chomsky. It is 1990, and he sits in a pub in Govan (a suburb of Glasgow), surrounded by the participants of a Self-Determination and Power Event. These include social workers; literati ("Bohemian writers," Chomsky says, "mostly outcasts," the most famous of whom is Jim Kelman [31 Mar. 1995]); educationists ("radical critics of the educational system, like Derek Rodgers"); anarchists and libertarian socialists; and people variously describing themselves as "feminist therapist," "systems analyst," "anti-poll-tax activist," "mother/student," "prison governor," "retail manager," and "boatbuilder/writer." The event, accompanied by a wonderful pub photo, is covered by the Times Higher Education Supplement of 26 January 1990 under the headline: "Pubs, Power and the Scottish Psyche: Olga Wojtas Reports from Govan on a Conference on Self-Determination." The 330 participants of the event (many of whom [are] "unemployed working class, activists of one or another sort, those considered to be `riff-raff'" ­ 0the kind of people," Chomsky says, that "I like and take seriously" [31 Mar. 1995]), which has been organized by the magazines Scottish Child and Edinburgh Review and the Free University of Glasgow (not a university in the accepted sense of the term), are interested in self-determination and a guru named Noam Chomsky, self-described "scourge of United States policies and champion of the ordinary person." Chomsky gives keynote speeches on both days of the event. The fact that he has decided to attend at all mystifies both the press and the establishment.

Thus when an announcement came that I was going to be in Glasgow, I got a letter on very fancy letterhead from something called "the Scottish Foundation" inviting me to give a talk for them on Nicaragua. I of course agreed. Shortly after, I got another letter saying they'd just learned that I'd also be giving a talk organized by the free university, Kelman, and other scum, and they insisted that I cancel that invitation because they wouldn't tolerate the guilt by association. I don't recall whether I even bothered answering. (31 Mar. 1995)