Power comes from the taboo, which is instituted first and foremost by religion, and secondarily exploited by government. Power does not simply come from punishment as Foucault indicates.

The instruments of power that Foucault is speaking of, are how we deconstruct and reconstitute the taboo. In academia students learn to be critical, but it stops short of amoral because academia exists in the framework of ethics rather than aesthetics (because ethics are bound by the limits of language, whereas aesthetics are holistic).

“In the beginning was the Word”—in language where our power begins (which is the primordial taboo, because language defines by what is not). For example, “Thou shall not Kill”, gave license for the arbiters of morality to kill en mass.

The ideal absolutes of human nature that Chomsky refers to, are not human nature but living nature. When we talk about humans we are referring to our lingual beings. The ideal natures he is referring to, such as love and creativity, are the fabric of life, but not unique to humans. What is unique and terrifying about humans is our ability to deny love and creativity.

Poetry, art, sex, fire, music—all modes to momentarily obliterate language.