Talk:Chalmers Johnson

Television Career

I remember watching Prof. Johnson regularly in the mid/late 1960s on a PBS show produced by KQED, Berkeley. The program was a roundtable called something like "world press review" and Chalmers Johnson was the China expert. Hope someone might document this. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.203.119.254 (talk) 07:31, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

Who wrote Blowback?

There seems to be some online confusion as to whether Blowback was written by Chalmers Johnson, or Christopher Simpson. Who wrote it? Roidroid 04:14, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

I believe there are two separate books, on by Chalmers Johnson and one by Christopher Simpson from much earlier, but someone should research this. The Print copy of Blowback I have is very specifically Johnson. (StarkeRealm 08:07, 14 October 2007 (UTC))

other

I recently discovered the works of Dr. Chalmers Johnson and find them fascinating. His last two books dealing with American militarism ring true with my experiences in other cultures. I have seen first hand the destructive power of jingoism in other countries and how easy it is for self serving and power hungry individuals to stoke its fire among the ill informed but well meaning populace. 'The Sorrows of Empire', Dr. Johnson's last book describes in great detail how that is being done here in this country. That has me concerned about the future of this great experiment called USA. Surely, there are other Americans out there on the Net who share my fears about the Republic? If yes, I would like to invite them to a honest discourse on current trends in our government and their future impacts on not just America, but the world at large. Thank you.68.156.178.113 14:42, 16 Jun 2005 (UTC)

"discussionesque" material

I removed the following "discussionesque" material from the article for being non-encyclpedic: [Some time between 1953 and 1955 Mr. Johnson served as a naval officer; according to the Prologue in his book "The Sorrows of Empire" he was released from active duty (RAD) in 1955. Question, did he possibly attend the Navy OCS at Newport, RI? I was a member of the first class. WR] http://cal.berkeley.edu]207.69.137.11 18:51, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

problematic changes

Per WP:BLP, I removed this:

Johnson made several outlandish statements during an appearance at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School in Berkeley, California on March 3rd, 2007. Among the falsehoods he promoted was a statement that military service was a requirement for citizenship during his time in service during the Korean War

and this:

and became a Marxist who advocates the overthrow of the US govt.

with an associated edit summary that he is "very frank" about his socialist views. Okay, but Marxism != Socialism or desire to overthrow the US government. I have no problem reinserting a neutral version of the above sentence, provided it follows the WP:ATT and WP:BLP guidelines. --Otheus 06:42, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

Thank you for removing that Otheus. Only in America is anyone who criticizes corporate state capitalism and a permanent military buildup decried as "commie" who wants to "overthrow the govt." Inoculatedcities 16:52, 7 April 2007 (UTC)

Only in America are those who attempt to tell the truth about the constant assault of the radical left on our rights, our nation and institutions routinely silenced and derided as you have done here. -- 67.79.14.6 03:49, 8 May 2007

As for the first quote, it's possible someone misconstrued him talking about the draft, which IIRC was still in effect at that time. As for the second quote, it's possible that he's talked about the destruction of the industrial military complex. But, that's not the same thing as trying to overthrow the government itself. (StarkeRealm 08:02, 14 October 2007 (UTC))

Edit by Nbauman

I removed the following paragraph awkwardly appended to the "Themes..." section.

Most Americans don't understand how America is perceived by the rest of the world, said Johnson. For example, Osama bin Laden gave three "rational" reasons for the attack on the World Trade Center: First, the presence of American troops in Saudi Arabia; second, Zionist expansion against the Palestinians; third, the death of half a million Iraqi children as a result of the American-led sanctions.

While Johnson has cited these reasons for anti-Americanism abroad, this section needs to be put into the context of the previous paragraph. One might as well pick any of a number of startling observations from his books and append them to the article. I'm not saying this paragraph isn't relevant to the "Themes..." section, it's just poorly written. Inoculatedcities 16:54, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

Historical Non-Fiction?

I suppose a "Non-Alien Native Speaker of English" might use the term "Historical Non-Fiction." But most people just say "History."

Johnson is not a historian; he is a political scientist. Also, it doesn't make much sense to associate him with any literary movement at all; he is a social scientist by training and output. "Writer" is really not the appropriate infobox to use for this article about him and his work. Pechmerle (talk) 07:56, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

Dismantling the Empire: America's Last Best Hope (American Empire Project)

Dismantling the Empire: America's Last Best Hope (American Empire Project)

Product Description The author of the bestselling Blowback Trilogy reflects on America's waning power in a masterful collection of essays

In his prophetic book Blowback, published before 9/11, Chalmers Johnson warned that our secret operations in Iraq and elsewhere around the globe would exact a price at home. Now, in a brilliant series of essays written over the last three years, Johnson measures that price and the resulting dangers America faces. Our reliance on Pentagon economics, a global empire of bases, and war without end is, he declares, nothing short of "a suicide option."

Dismantling the Empire explores the subjects for which Johnson is now famous, from the origins of blowback to Barack Obama's Afghanistan conundrum, including our inept spies, our bad behavior in other countries, our ill-fought wars, and our capitulation to a military that has taken ever more control of the federal budget. There is, he proposes, only one way out: President Obama must begin to dismantle the empire before the Pentagon dismantles the American Dream. If we do not learn from the fates of past empires, he suggests, our decline and fall are foreordained. This is Johnson at his best: delivering both a warning and an urgent prescription for a remedy.

About the Author Chalmers Johnson, president of the Japan Policy Research Institute, is the author of the bestselling books Blowback, The Sorrows of Empire, and Nemesis, which make up his Blowback Trilogy. He has written for the Los Angeles Times, the London Review of Books, Harper's Magazine, The Nation, and TomDispatch.com. He lives near San Diego, California.

Hardcover: 224 pages Publisher: Metropolitan Books (August 17, 2010) Language: English ISBN-10: 0805093036 ISBN-13: 978-0805093032

http://www.amazon.com/Dismantling-Empire-Americas-American-Project/dp/0805093036/antiwarbookstore