I don’t expect much from politicians, corporate tycoons, the presidents of prestigious universities, billionaire philanthropists, celebrities, royalty or oligarchs.
I agree that Chris really rushed to judgement here. If there were pictures of Chomsky with young girls, or if his name was on island flight logs, I'd tend to agree with Hedges that the denials were probably lies, but so far I haven't seen anything that damning. It's unclear how many people knew that Epstein's plane was sometimes called the Lolita Express. I also find it plausible that Epstein was a very good liar and could have concealed his darker side from Chomsky.
He was convicted but by Chomsky's wife's telling the conviction was not published news until much later. So to me, it still remains plausible he did not know.
I find it fascinating that people with sharp minds like Chomsky would have been so easily deluded by Epstein. It doesn’t require a deep intellect to understand that your friend was publicly convicted of soliciting *a child* for prostitution. Somehow, all these celebrities, did not know how to conduct a simple Google search to do a background check on Epstein, to protect their own reputations if nothing else. The truth is more likely that they simply did not care. Dazzled by Epstein and his lifestyle, they were quite happy to look the other way. Chomsky even denied to the media that he had a friendship with Epstein before the files were released. And this is the problem. *Everyone looked at the other way* while hundreds of minors, young girls, paraded around by Epstein and shown in so many photographs in the company of what should be responsible, caring adults, were being abused and having their lives ruined despite there being so much evidence of this hiding in plain sight.
Well I think there is schollarly intelligence, and there is interpersonal intelligence. From Chomsky's wife's telling, Chomsky was overflowing with the former, and quite lacking in the later. I have no reason to dispute that description and it would make Chomsky easy prey for savy predators like Epstein.
Also, do you check everyone you meet against a sex offender list before associating with them? Yes, obviously in hindsight would have been prudent for Chomsky to do this, but I'm not going to accuse him of anything until there is more definitive proof that he would have known, and not simply been an gullible and aloof intellectual.
Jeff Bezos's wife immediately "registered" upon her first and last meeting with Epstein that he was a dark force.slime bag. That you hold Chomsky so intuition -free of this man's basic nature "dark" even "evil" , the man beseeching need of advice to deal with his reputation as a sex criminal no less, reveals how unconscious a person can be when his desire nature functions to "blank" out what his instincts are telling him. Many young girls on earth are so terrified of telling their own mothers that uncle put his hand down her under pants last night that they pretend nothing happened, so he does it and more invasively night after night -when visiting cause beloved "uncle" would never do a thing like that! Clarissa Pinkola Estes use of the Bluebeard story to teach women to use their instincts to gain the "hooded eyes of the watcher" (i.e. hawk) is a powerful antidote to naive bedazzlement. (Women Who Run With the Wolves).
Chomsky was traveling with a CONVICTED pedophile MANY times. Enabling and giving him credibility. Chomsky may not have raped young girls however he helped him! Only a fool would be seen with Epstein on his island so many times.
If you have ever known a child who was raped you would never write anything like this.
As far as I can tell with a quick internet search, there is no evidence Chomsky ever travelled to the island on the jet or was in the presence of Epstein with underage girls. If there was such evidence, yes I would jump on the accusation bandwagon along with the rest of you, but until that time I will reserve judgement.
I never levelled any accusation that chomsky was ever on the island or mingling with underage girls, perhaps your comment should be directed to someone who did. The discussion has been mainly about Chomskys' association with Epstein, although the question then arises as to where that plane was going.
Maybe to Las Vegas for a flutter on the pokies or the roulette wheel. By the way, you shouldn't believe every thing you read, hear or see on the internet.
The hyenas are out smelling blood. The man made one single mistake in his whole long life. And even his friends are out there to feed on it. While Chomsky isn’t even dead yet. Shame on you Chris Hedges! What was the need to hurry up with this crappy piece? So you are good at virtue signalling too, huh? You are perfect.
Come on, do your homework. Chomsky was slithering and sliding with Epstein possibly to get money but possibly because he liked it. The email t revealed in all it's ugliness.
Your comment is seriously ugly, Kate. UGGGLLYY. He was "slithering"? At the end of his highly successful career, Noam needed money? Do you know that when he was involved with the antiwar movement, being already a father, he and his wife (the real one) decided that she was going back to school to get her degree so in case he was arrested and jailed (and this was a serious threat then) she would work to support their daughter. He didn’t quit his activities to avoid the imprisonment. So this a "slithering," greedy man? Shame on you all, blood suckers. Shame on Chris Hedges!
Sometimes we refuse to see what is right before our eyes. Noam is human after all and capable of serious misjudgment as his wife points out. My choice of words might not suit your view and I am fine with that but don’t mistake my revulsion for anyone who associated with Epstein more than once for black of knowledge of the said person. I know all about Noam, the good, the bad and the ugly. But you are welcome to your own views.
I would encourage a little critical thinking rather than outsourcing it to people you trust. I have high regard for Mr Hedges as well, but he is not perfect or infallable.
I defer to Mr. Hedges in areas where he has more experience and knowledge, gleaned from his years as a journalist, e.g., how tyrannies fall, how democracies erode and collapse. But I don't outsource my critical thinking to him. Look, if Chomsky's help was requested in order to polish Epstein's image after he was convicted of trafficking children for sex, how could Chomsky not have known that JE was, indeed, pimping out little kids?
Well I think you are right it does look bad, but I've done some digging on the matter and the Guardian did what appears to be some decent reporting on the most recent email release. After just reading Hedges' reporting it was not entirely clear to me what Chomsky might have known and when (do better Mr. Hedges!).
The help request for the conviction occured in 2019, very late in the relationship (this is the same year Epstein died mysteriously in prison). Chomsky, from his own words, appears to be dismissive of all women's accusations, which is certainly a character flaw. From the Guardian:
"The ensuing text was signed “Noam” and read: “I’ve watched the horrible way you are being treated in the press and public. It’s painful to say but I think the best way to proceed is to ignore it.” The text attributed to Chomsky said he had grappled with “tons of hysterical accusations of all sorts”. “I pay no attention, unless I’m approached for a comment on a specific matter. It’s a nuisance, but it’s the best way.” Citing “a hysteria that has developed about abuse of women”, the text continued, “It’s best I think not to react unless directly questioned, particularly in the current mood – which, I presume, will fade away, even if not in time to prevent much torture and distress.”"
The "current mood" and "hysteria" he refers to is likely the #metoo movement, where often times accusations alone were enough to ruin reputations.
Probably the most damning thing I have read is Chomsky made mention of "fantasizing about the Caribbean island", which definitely is not a good look. How much did he know about the island when he said this I wonder?
Hedges needs to give a formal apology and correct his mistake! Chomsky was NOT seduced by Epstein!!! Chomsky, the ARCH intellectual enemy of Western imperialism and Zionist Israel was TARGETED and tricked by Epstein!!!
Epstein was an agent of Israel.
People much closer to Chomsky than Hedges, have noted how Epstein went so far as to obviously plant emails allegedly written by Chomsky.
Chris Hedges, just like Chomsky, is being tricked by Epstein whose manipulations, even after his death, continue to defame and undermine the anti-Imperialst, anti-Zionist movement FROM WITHIN !!!
Chomsky was NOT seduced by Epstein!!! Chomsky, the ARCH intellectual enemy of Western imperialism and Zionist Israel was TARGETED and tricked by Epstein!!!
Epstein was an agent of Israel.
People much closer to Chomsky than Hedges, have noted how Epstein went so far as to obviously plant emails allegedly written by Chomsky.
Chris Hedges, just like Chomsky, is being tricked by Epstein whose manipulations, even after his death, continue to defame and undermine the anti-Imperialst, anti-Zionist movement FROM WITHIN !!!
EXPOSING ISRAEL and The West for the genocidal racist imperialists that they have always been !!!
Epstein manipulatively " befriended" Chomsky in order to discredit Chomsky's Tomb of incredible anti-imperialist work that Exposed Israeli/US violent imperialism.
And thanks to the gullibility of not only Chomsky, but all of us ! Epstein has succeeded !!!
Yes, Chomsky was stupid to blindly believe that Epstein was being wrongly accused: That it was a #metoo hysteria.
BUT CHOMSKY WOULD BE CORRECT in blaming #me too hysteria for the political take down of Graham Platner, for one example, who was accused and condemned WITHOUT a fair trial, very suspiciously by predominantly Zionist journalists .
(Note that Taking women's allegations seriously is crucial - But Taking anyone's allegations as a guilty verdict is wrong! Moreover, Democrat politicians who have funneled money for the rape and murder of countless Palestinian women at the hands of the Israeli, Are currently being reelected in the primaries - such as Pat Ryan among many others !!!!)
"I know and have long admired Noam. He is, arguably, our greatest and most principled intellectual. I can assure you he is not as passive or gullible as his wife claims. He knew about Epstein’s abuse of children. They all knew. And like others in the Epstein orbit, he did not care."
I completely agree.
"Never meet your heroes."
-Marcel Proust
"The line between good and evil passes right through every human heart."
In this case if your hero is either a pedophile or living through a pedophile you should know the only possible answer. Shame on all things Chomsky related.
I guess you don’t comprehend the above quotations. Intelligent people won’t fall into your mental cul-de-sac. Like many geniuses before him, Noam Chomsky was a flawed human being. Nonetheless, his intellectual work will stand on its own for generations. Why should it not?
Mr. Goldstein, I am not defending Chomsky, if he really is guilty of anything worthy of the word "guilt." But I do ask myself: How many of those who are so quick to degrade Chomsky and say "Shame on all things Chomsky related," have actually read his brilliant work on linguistics and its relationship to the nature of being human? I read his work years ago. I do not agree with him on his most important analysis of language because I come from the school of Symbolic Interactionism.
Chomsky said all human beings are speaking the same language. Language exists sui generis. There is only one language and we all use different versions of it. The implication is that we all share the same linguistically created reality. I disagree. I go along with the linguists Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf who said different languages create different realities.
This is referred to as the "Sapir/Whorf hypothesis." But I harbor doubts about my own position. Chomsky could be correct. I could be wrong.
Furthermore, Chomsky spent decades as a political gadfly, railing against the abuses of the wealthy and powerful. Chomsky is America's Bertrand Russell, who was imprisoned in 1918 for his outspoken opposition against war with Germany. It was only the first amendment which repeatedly kept Chomsky out of an American prison. England has no equivalent to a first amendment.
I recognize the brilliance of Chomsky's contributions. It is a sin to throw out the baby with the wash water.
Gerald you said that Chomsky claimed that: " there is only one language and we all use different versions of it. The implication is that we all share the same linguistically created reality."
This is not Chomsky’s theory at all. He postulates about the structures of the brain that code the most general algorithms of human language. Then, when they child is born, it relies on these INHERITED codes to decipher the specifics of the speech of its particular tribe. Exceptionally quickly and well. There is nothing about the reality, only the language. Chomsky never claimed that the reality is inherited, only that a human being possesses certain inherited "nature" but the reality is socially constructed.
Ms. Cohen thank you for your thoughtful response. I do not disagree that reality is socially constructed. I am a symbolic interactionist. I heard Chomsky pronounce one of his favorite allegories: "Just as a fish is born with gills to take oxygen from water and mammals are born with lungs to take oxygen from air; it is reasonable to believe humans are born with the ability to use language." I do not argue with this. Look at Helen Keller. If he had stuck with Keller's experience as his allegory, I would be more inclined to his view on linguistic behavior. And be more doubtful of my own.
I typed out a lengthy response to your comment. But I accidentally hit the wrong button on my laptop and poof.....all my efforts disappeared into the ether. Sorry. It is late and I am 83. The only good thing about being old is that it is a good excuse for mistakes.
I shall make one comment: on the evolution of intelligence.
There is a reason fish are less intelligent than land mammals and cetaceans. Our brain uses more energy than any other organ by far. About 20% at rest and up to 80% when we are active. 20% of the gas in our atmosphere is air and all available for us to metabolize and oxidize our nutrient fuels. The available oxygen in water is about 3 parts per million. This is why fish are dumb.
Sorry I lost my original message.
Perhaps another day when I can fire up more axons and dendrites in my central nervous system.
Hitting the wrong key and losing it all is common for me as well. And I'm only 74!
I'm also very aware that human beings are not perfect--100% not perfect here, for sure! One of my fave examples is Mstislav Rostropovich, one of the greatest cellists who ever lived. One of my teachers, Jacqueline du Pre, told me that he had raped her when she was sixteen. One of my colleagues in Piatigorsky's class, Mischa Maisky, said that Rostropovich gave him a permanent "loan" so that he could buy his cello. I still think of Rostropovich as one of the world's greatest cellists. That is not diminished by what he did to so many of his female students. I thank my lucky stars that I was not one of them, though!
Thank you for writing back. I am sorry you lost the previous part.
If you use MS Word or similar writing programs, have it set on continuous saving mode, this way you will never lose your work. Furthermore, you can always restore everything you accidentally lost by hitting the Return or Back arrow. In any case, a really good program, like MS Word, will always ask you if you really wish to destroy your work before you hit the wrong key. You can also buy a little Cloud space and never worry about losing any of what you wrote.
I'd like to share with you my response to Hedges attack:
"I am shocked, Minister Hedges by your lack of careful consideration and your unconscious hubris in launching accusatory assumptions of Chomsky's psychology that simply have no basis in either hard fact or in Chomsky's established profoundly compassionate reputation in outspokenly defending the oppressed, including women and children.
if you actually "know" Chomsky then you know that he is explicitly horrified by pornography and all manner of humiliation and degradation of women . If anyone wishes to really know Chomsky with respect to the treatment of women and children, then watch this video :
Why Minister Hedges, would you not offer Chomsky at least the basic constitutional right of INNOCENT UNTIL FOUND GUILTY by a FAIR RIGOROUS TRIAL ?
Your contradiction in lauding Chomsky as "arguably" our "greatest and most principled intellectual" while, in the same breath, you level at Chomsky the accusatory assumption that "he knew about Epstein's abuse of children" and that he "did not care" is BIZARRE. Mr. Hedges, what you say here simply does not make any sense AND it is harmful to everyone.
Most of the negative comments here sound as though the commenter never bothered to read the recent letter from Valeria OR read decided to dismiss the letter completely in favor of a lust for vengeful judgements with no basis in contextual fact. It reminds me of the very same kind of vengeful hatred that MAGA has been successfully infected by right-wing elite leadership.
After all the incredible dedication to protecting humanity and the planet that Chomsky has given us, to burn him at the stake like this is a shockingly unconscionable attack . "
Hi River, thank you for sending me the copy of your letter, I've never heard of this interview about pornography. BTW, Hedges is pressing on with his accusations. How sad. This is not a normal behaviour you’d expect from him, Hedges is a brilliant man himself, and very thoughtful. Something happened to his mind, I think. He admitted that he and his family all decided to get vaxxed. This maybe the mental problem he is experiencing as the result. Also, he is a dry alcoholic, perhaps he fell off the wagon again?
Want to share with you my response to Hedge's attack on Chomsky.
"I am shocked, Minister Hedges by your lack of careful consideration and your unconscious hubris in launching accusatory assumptions of Chomsky's psychology that simply have no basis in either hard fact or in Chomsky's established profoundly compassionate reputation in outspokenly defending the oppressed, including women and children.
Why Minister Hedges, would you not offer Chomsky at least the basic constitutional right of INNOCENT UNTIL FOUND GUILTY by a FAIR RIGOROUS TRIAL ?
Your bizarre contradiction in lauding Chomsky as "arguably" our "greatest and most principled intellectual" while, in the same breath, you level at Chomsky the accusatory assumption that "he knew about Epstein's abuse of children" and that he "did not care". Mr. Hedges, what you say here simply does not make any sense AND it is harmful to everyone.
Most of the negative comments here sound as though the commenter never bothered to read the recent letter from Valeria OR read decided to dismiss the letter completely in favor of a lust for vengeful judgements with no basis in contextual fact. It reminds me of the very same kind of vengeful hatred that MAGA has been successfully infected by right-wing elite leadership.
After all the incredible dedication to protecting humanity and the planet that Chomsky has given us, to burn him at the stake like this is a shockingly unconscionable attack . "
I will never enable a PEDOPHILE like Chomsky. All things Chomsky are dead to me. I will burn his books. You can ask my Sister how she feels about PEDOPHILES. He didn't steal money from his Mother, he enabled a Pedophile and had a close personal relationship calling him his best friend.
Do not forget to cast certain very important spells as well, just burning the books is not enough. You must perform the purifying rituals, to cast off the devils. Also, check in with the local fire department authorities and, while at it, make sure all your meds are in good supply.
Great idea. I don't need medications though, I'm in great mental and physical health. I don't hand out with pedophiles so I don't have to worry about devils.
People I know personally in my space do not approve of child rape.
When my Sister at the age of 12 was raped by a friends father, the courts did little or nothing to punish the child rapist. He went on to rape a number of other young girls until someone stopped him.
You should speak to my Sister, maybe you might have some understanding.
I am so so sorry to hear this. Every woman in my family has been raped. The youngest was 16 by two men. Chris Hedges essay here is deeply wrong. He does not "know" Chomsky . Chomsky was deceived by Epstein and a number of the emails show clear signs that they were not writtne by him but by someone else (perhaps Epstein) who had in mind to destroy him. Lolita was NOT
painted on to the plane so many did not know of the name. etc. read Valerias letter. and read my response to Hedges below. Chomsky was an outspokent defender of women.
I'd like to share with you my response to Hedges attack:
"I am shocked, Minister Hedges by your lack of careful consideration and your unconscious hubris in launching accusatory assumptions of Chomsky's psychology that simply have no basis in either hard fact or in Chomsky's established profoundly compassionate reputation in outspokenly defending the oppressed, including women and children.
Why Minister Hedges, would you not offer Chomsky at least the basic constitutional right of INNOCENT UNTIL FOUND GUILTY by a FAIR RIGOROUS TRIAL ?
Your bizarre contradiction in lauding Chomsky as "arguably" our "greatest and most principled intellectual" while, in the same breath, you level at Chomsky the accusatory assumption that "he knew about Epstein's abuse of children" and that he "did not care". Mr. Hedges, what you say here simply does not make any sense AND it is harmful to everyone.
Most of the negative comments here sound as though the commenter never bothered to read the recent letter from Valeria OR read decided to dismiss the letter completely in favor of a lust for vengeful judgements with no basis in contextual fact. It reminds me of the very same kind of vengeful hatred that MAGA has been successfully infected by right-wing elite leadership.
After all the incredible dedication to protecting humanity and the planet that Chomsky has given us, to burn him at the stake like this is a shockingly unconscionable attack . "
However extremely illogical unless you believe Chomsky was a MORON. Best friends, and that's Chomsky saying that. Chomsky either raped these children or enabled the rape. You can delude yourself if you like. Then of course you would be enabling child rape.
Hedges contradiction in lauding Chomsky as "arguably" our "greatest and most principled intellectual" while, in the same breath, you level at Chomsky the accusatory assumption that "he knew about Epstein's abuse of children" and that he "did not care" is BIZARRE. Mr. Hedges, what you say here simply does not make any sense AND it is harmful to everyone.
IF you actually "know" Chomsky then you know that he is explicitly horrified by pornography and all manner of humiliation and degradation of women . If anyone wishes to really know Chomsky with respect to the treatment of women and children, then watch this video above.
Chomsky committed only the same crime as we all have in blindly trusting a wealthy elite. Just as Hedges is blindly allowing himself to be manipulated by the right-wing ruling class who are sitting back laughing right now as he smears the greatest intellectual enemy of Zionism and the Imperial elite who ever walked the earth.
Or maybe Hedges "knows" what he is doing .... after all he, just like Chomsky, should know better .... and so therefore it would stand to say the Hedges is being "seduced" by the right-wing into doing their dirty work for them and "does not care" rapt as he is with the pleasure of the mob mentality as he froths at the mouth in sanctimonious ministerial ire and brimstone condemnation.
You claim: "Chomsky committed only the same crime as we all have in blindly trusting a wealthy elite. "
While you quoted the first sentence of CH's statement, you omitted the second.
"He is, arguably, our greatest and most principled intellectual. I can assure you he is not as passive or gullible as his wife claims."
Apparently you disagree with CH that Chomsky was neither passive nor gullible. Fine, whatever. I don't know Chomsky other than through some of his work on Linguistics, Manufactured Consent, and some other videos/interviews. I don't know CH either except through similar avenues (books, podcasts, youtube, this substack).
On balance, I think CH nailed it. You disagree. Fine, whatever. But it seems quite a stretch to portray CH: "rapt as he is with the pleasure of the mob mentality as he froths at the mouth in sanctimonious ministerial ire and brimstone condemnation."
So, once again on balance, I'm going to conclude you are not someone whose opinion carries much weight with me.
And, notice how all the focus on Chomsky has led almost everyone I know to jump from -- "Where are the Epstein files on Trump" to the seduction of power that lured in Chomsky. You have to marvel at how clever they are in releasing just the files that will not only take the focus away from Trump but get lefties to spend more time on Chomsky that getting to the truth about Trump. I'm sure Bannon is laughing.....
Until we are willing to see that nearly all of our representatives—left and right—have owners, we will never come together as Americans. Scapegoating one party while absolving the other only keeps us divided and compliant.
Chris lays this out clearly in America: The Farewell Tour: both parties participated in the long dismantling of the country—economically, morally, and ecologically. No side holds clean hands. Even now, the devastation in Gaza shows how hollow partisan moral claims are when power and money are involved.
This endless cycle of outrage and blame feels like a parlor game while the natural world collapses around us. We argue, posture, and opinionate as the planet enters a sixth mass extinction. Bees are vanishing. Ecosystems are unraveling. Life itself is under assault.
Perhaps that is the greatest distraction of all. While we fight over narratives, what sustains us is disappearing. If we can’t lift our eyes to see that shared reality, then yes—we are being played. And worse, we are playing along.
I can never understand why Americans consider a choice between the Republicams and the Democrats to be a choice between 'right' and 'left'. In most of the world - it is more - right; and right of right.
You are so RIGHT! no choice — there’s no moral ambiguity here. Genocide is genocide, regardless of sides. Applause for BB when Biden was ruling ... standing ovations for trillions to Israel. The U.S. military plays a central role in this game, deeply shaped by lobbying interests and the war economy. If you want to understand what’s happening, follow the money. Not the colors. Not identity politics.
Yes Ms. Scott we are fiddling while Rome burns. Perhaps it would be a good idea for more of us to reread THE PRINCE by Niccolo Machiavelli written in 1613 while under house arrest. His work is now recognized as the tipping point for the social studies. Everything before Machiavelli is normative ideology. What came after him is political science.
While we are at it we might also reread SILENT SPRING by Rachel Carson in 1962 and THE LIMITS TO GROWTH published in 1972. A century from now those two volumes will be placed in the same category intellectually with THE PRINCE, a tipping point for Sapiens.
Absolutely — I appreciate your reading suggestions. Revisiting The Prince highlights how Machiavelli recast politics as a study of power divorced from moral constraint, a move that liberal thought has long regarded with caution, (if you haven't read: Fortune Is a River: Leonardo da Vinci and Niccolò Machiavelli’s Magnificent Dream to Change the Course of Florentine History - I highly recommend it) and YES! to rereading Silent Spring and The Limits to Growth highlights similar tipping points for environmental thought. As an environmental educator and filmmaker, I’ve cited Silent Spring in many of my Substacks — Rachel Carson is truly my savior. These works continue to challenge and inspire us to rethink our role in the world. My latest on MONSANTO' S surveillance crimes and silencing journalists: https://open.substack.com/pub/carolynmaryscott/p/monsanto-ran-an-intelligence-operation?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
Wow Ms. Scott your stuff on Monsanto was not only an eye opener, it also took me back to my grad school days at Iowa State University. I was on research teams doing work for Monsanto which was paid for by both tax payers and Monsanto. Our research was called "adoption-diffusion" studies. I complained about it and dragged my feet. But not for any of the reasons found in the reading you cited. That stuff was not happening then.
My objection was based on my political beliefs about huge corporations in general. I was eventually thrown out of the research mill, lost my pay check and never took a degree from ISU. I subsequently went to Michigan State University for my PhD. Thank you for the info on Monsanto's Roundup. When I read something about the dangers of Roundup some years ago; I stopped using it in my garden and "adopted" the practice of pouring boiling water on the weeds.
Thank you for sharing this, Gerald. Your experience at Iowa State adds an important perspective—especially how corporate interests were already shaping publicly funded research through things like “adoption–diffusion” studies. Your objections, grounded in political principle rather than today’s well-documented harms, speak to a moral clarity that institutions often punish.
I’m sorry you paid such a price for resisting, but I’m glad you were able to continue your work at Michigan State and stay true to your convictions. And I appreciate the boiling-water approach to weeds—simple, effective, and far less toxic.
Thanks for reading so closely and for adding your voice to the conversation.
Gerald: Boiling water? Interesting. I have long observed that plants deprived of light will die. I use black plastic for that purpose and it really works well. I once got the ancillary thought that spray painting weed's leaves with black paint would do the same. No success! New leaves were growing too quickly.
I had an experience with Round Up. As you surmised, I was a professional cellist. I also had hibiscus with a white fly infestation and sprayed the poor bush with Round Up. My right hand became numb for a few days, which was frightening. I can't beliieve I still see it being sold as if it did some good. Besides killing.
I'd like to share with you my response to Hedges attack:
"I am shocked, Minister Hedges by your lack of careful consideration and your unconscious hubris in launching accusatory assumptions of Chomsky's psychology that simply have no basis in either hard fact or in Chomsky's established profoundly compassionate reputation in outspokenly defending the oppressed, including women and children.
Why Minister Hedges, would you not offer Chomsky at least the basic constitutional right of INNOCENT UNTIL FOUND GUILTY by a FAIR RIGOROUS TRIAL ?
Your bizarre contradiction in lauding Chomsky as "arguably" our "greatest and most principled intellectual" while, in the same breath, you level at Chomsky the accusatory assumption that "he knew about Epstein's abuse of children" and that he "did not care". Mr. Hedges, what you say here simply does not make any sense AND it is harmful to everyone.
Most of the negative comments here sound as though the commenter never bothered to read the recent letter from Valeria OR read decided to dismiss the letter completely in favor of a lust for vengeful judgements with no basis in contextual fact. It reminds me of the very same kind of vengeful hatred that MAGA has been successfully infected by right-wing elite leadership.
After all the incredible dedication to protecting humanity and the planet that Chomsky has given us, to burn him at the stake like this is a shockingly unconscionable attack . "
Good point. Back to distraction again. Except - as much as I my consciousnesd has grown from being exposed to Chomsky and his writings - my experience of being near the reified atmosphere of academics - is that they have their own perverness. For example - in an upper division anthropology course - to get an A - I would have had to feigned enjoyment of the lecherous prof. I, together with others, got him fired instead. However - I paid for it with my grade point average.
Yes. It seems there will be thousands of articles about everyone mentioned before we get to any serious discussion about how to ensure protection and justice for the survivors of the Epstein network.
The Epstein issue is not about Trump or Chomsky. This was a CIA/Mossad honey trap operation for the purpose of getting dirt on a bunch of rich & powerful people so they could be kept in line. I understand the deflection issue you're talking about and I agree, but this is much bigger than that.
If you see photos, taken by FBI, of the Epstein mansion in NYC, there is no way anyone will not recognize the sexual exploitations. Chomskys not only visited the place many times but also stayed there overnight. You may want to listen to Reason2Resist podcast. The host, Dimitri, has recently provided two episodes on Epstein files so far.
For me - I am not sure I trust the reporting re: Chomsky and Epstein. Even if it is true - it does not invalidate Chomsky's brilliant analysis or the fact through his writing he introduced us to anarchism and thorough critical analysis.
Sylvia: What do you think is the chance that Epstein was instructed to chat up Chomsky and dangle attractants in front of him (no girls, just money and reputation) in order to bring down the lion of the left, and now it's working as planned?
However - the 'scandal' dors not negate the accuracy of his analysis. What has me wondering ... is why all the focus on Chomsky? Why not so many others?
The wise capitalist, Charlie Munger, once said: Show me the incentives and I'll tell you the outcome. Individuals who travel in these elite circles do have a strong sense of entitlement. They have, after all, survived very competitive environments. The good news from all of this is it demonstrates the venal nature of the these so-called elites. They are just as susceptible to incentives as the average mere mortals.
I've read Chris Hedges for years now and appreciate his consistency. I see the world as grayer than Chris but there are still red lines. It is unfathomable to me why anyone would associate with Epstein once his behavior became known. I guess it is part and parcel to a belief in unaccountable entitlement. The irony of all this, is I suspect Trump, as venal as he is, may have been lucky and once he felt slighted by Epstein he kept his distance.
The Epstein files should be released in full and without redaction.
Have no idea what planet you are living on. Trump was in intimate contact with Epstein for a prolonged period. Numerous pictures of them with young girls. I won't repeat Trump's comments about the underage girls' "appropriateness."
Rick: About incentives... I once had a successful environmental company in Oakland and the politicians around the Berkeley City Council used me for a disreputable political purpose. They dangled very little, but I fell to their trap so easily I shrink now to think of how easy it was for them. It all went nowhere. But I am much less likely now to criticize another person for falling for incentives. I give Chomsky a pass.
I read Valéria Chomsky’s post yesterday and felt deeply disturbed by it for all the reasons you brought to light. Your piece pulled back a curtain on something I’ve sensed for a long time but couldn’t fully name.
For me, the rupture became painfully clear during Covid. Chomsky’s willingness to threaten or pressure people who chose not to participate in the state-backed Pfizer treatment—a company with a criminal record (a convicted serial felon) —was deeply unsettling. Someone I once admired for challenging state and corporate power suddenly appeared to align with it, rationalizing coercion in the name of public good. That shift left a lingering sense of moral dissonance I’ve struggled with for years.
Seeing your analysis alongside Valéria’s post makes it undeniable: proximity to elite power can corrode judgment, dull ethical instincts, and recast language meant for critique into a tool of compliance. Your writing helps put into words what I’ve felt but couldn’t fully articulate.
Chris, thank YOU—for your soul, for your truth-telling, for the work you do with inmates, and for holding up the true light of the divine in dark times. I follow you, as I would any great person—with humility, with gratitude, with love.
I’m not familiar with the case you mention, but perhaps in the face of a pandemic that was cutting down people by the hundreds of thousands weekly and was caused by a novel virus for which medical science had no tools for treating or preventing, Chomsky thought it was reasonable to compel people to submit to being vaccinated with a product that been been proven to be an effective preventative. It would have benefited society as a whole, while placing a temporary limit on personal freedom. I know that’s how I felt, as a retired critical care physician. Is that what you’re referring to?
Operation Warp Speed (the name alone should tell you how fast this was deployed), the COVID vaccines were rolled out faster than any previous vaccine in history, (as you probably know it takes 7 to 10 years to test vaccines). The fact that Pfizer did not want to release their studies on this treatment for 75 years, should tell you something. Please review those studies - it's critically important to understand what happened and who was harmed. The entire operation raises serious questions about long-term safety monitoring. I have close friends, PhDs at Stanford, who work with the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) database and review reported deaths and injuries across vaccines going back decades. Every Friday they get the report on deaths and injuries. They say the volume of reports following the COVID vaccines is unlike anything they’ve seen before. VAERS, which is a CDC/FDA vaccine safety surveillance system, is rarely discussed in depth publicly. The vaccine court is also not well known, but you can find information about Pfizer—as I mentioned, a company with prior felony convictions—from nonprofit databases that track injuries from medical treatments and drugs. Here is our governments VAERS database https://vaers.hhs.gov/
This is actually is the worst part of the tragic event that engulf the entire world. There were NO "hundreds of thousands" being "cut down weekly." This was not the deadly 1918 epidemic, it was a relatively mild-to-moderate upper respiratory tract infection, many also had some muscle involvement. People who were unnecessary put on ventilators and into the dangerous prolonged coma didn’t do so well. People who unwisely disrupted their fever with the over-the-counter anti-inflammatory meds got long-covid. Many severely obese died. Seniors were drugged and experimented on and separated from their families—many of them died (both of my parents among them, my mother being this brainwashed MD herself who refused to listen to me even though she knew that the homeopathic physicians that stellar records in ending epidemics.) The fear mongering was extreme. Presently, there is absolutely no public discussion nor investigations of any kind; as soon as the Ukraine war started—the pandemic ended.
You and others either have no idea or have suppressed knowledge of what was going on during the first one to two years of the pandemic. Let me remind you.
In the United States, hospitals were bursting beyond capacity with severely ill patients. People were dying in ERs and even on the street while waiting to get into ERs. Intensive Care Units were literally overwhelmed and ran out of ventilators for patients taking their last breaths. The death rate in hospitals was so high that portable morgues had to be set up outside. At the very same time, large numbers of health care workers fell victim to COVID. Tens of thousands of doctors, nurses, aids, pharmacists, clerical staff and others sacrificed themselves during those first two awful years.
Remember “flatten the curve?” It wasn’t just an empty slogan. It was all about relieving the immense strain on the health care system. It was also one of the main goals of the lockdown.
With regard to my claim that hundreds of thousands of people were dying weekly, I stand by it. Estimates of *total* mortality from COVID run as high as 1.7 million people in the United States alone. But remember, the pandemic was worldwide. In February 2021, the number of *daily* confirmed deaths in all countries was over 14,000. Total deaths (confirmed and unconfirmed) may have been as high as twice that number. Do the math.
Given this real-world story horror story, I have no time to hear about vaccine side effects. Yes, there are some bonafide adverse reactions (and many more imaginary ones), but in truth, the vast majority are relatively mild and temporary. And for those of you who are still reading, understand that the anti-vax movement is driven by ideology, not concerns for the health and well being of actual human beings. The true believers are unlikely to be moved by facts and reality. Their priorities are different.
Robert, I was there. I lived through the pandemic and the lockdowns. I haven’t forgotten anything as I was treated like a Jewess in the 1930s Berlin. I am a health care practitioner myself. In 2022, I had Covid too: a week of 39+ C fever. I also visited one central Toronto hospital's emerg because my BP went down to 80/50 and my mother and my daughter (both family physicians) screamed for me to get there. Most of what you have listed here about the hospitals bursting beyond capacity is not true. It is a part of the propaganda unleashed on us by the lying manipulative authorities and the press.
Robert, I am not talking about the vaccine's "side effects', this is a non-story. Every orthodox medicine's drug has what they call "side effects” as if one could determine which organ/tissues the drug works on and which it doesn’t. A fallacy. I was talking about putting people on ventilators and into prolonged coma—did you read that?
As for the data concerning the effectiveness of these brand-new drugs—we simply do not know because the US pharmacological industry is the most corrupt on the planet (more than the MIC). Besides, one does not vaccinate during an epidemic, it is a golden rule of immunology. Don't they teach it in medschool?
It is also not true about the thousands of healthcare workers dying from COVID. Do you have the list of their names? No.
Look, how quickly you slipped from listing this fabricated misinformation into the topic of ideology and systems of belief. And the labels. And the accusations that the vast numbers of common folk do not have any concerns “for the health and well being of actual human beings” (that’s actually nasty, a Class War in its finest.) Unfortunately, the fallout of these brutal authoritarian and—ultimately—senseless, irresponsible, and pseudoscientific policies, is that the masses of poorly educated American working-class people have stopped believing the authorities precisely because of all these lies. And this is where the true danger lies, especially in such a crazy country where there are more guns than people. It is, you, in fact, you who is an idealogue and you are PROJECTING your fears and your own deeply metabolized dogma onto others.
You seem well educated, yet you are resistant to facts that don’t fit your chosen narrative. You may rightfully be described as “willfully ignorant.” What you call “fabricated misinformation” was published in dozens of peer-reviewed journals and was the work of thousands dedicated professionals. You also impugn the integrity of the entire medical and scientific publishing world. Can you imagine how many individuals would have to agree to participate in such a gigantic conspiracy. And yet, where are the legions of whistleblowers?
As for health care workers being sickened and killed by COVID, my sources were daily news reports and information coming from online medical conferences that I attended regularly. You see, these conferences were hosted by genuine experts in infectious diseases, virology, critical care medicine and public health. They were not mere dilettantes like yourself. Your rant about “pseudoscientific policies” exposes you as a fraud. If policy mistakes were made, they were the inevitable result of having to make recommendations regarding a novel virus. No one in the entire world had experience with this particular coronavirus. Scientists and policymakers were working in the dark and learning on the job. Can you not imagine the difficulty of such a task? No, I’ll bet you cannot, because you only work with complete knowledge of everything.
And don’t get me started about not vaccinating during an epidemic. That is the exact opposite of correct. And what exactly is your complaint about putting people on ventilators and into a pharmacologic coma. That is standard practice when patients can no longer breathe on their own. When was the last time you worked in an ICU?
Again, you are a dilettante and a fraud. The more you write, the more you expose yourself. I suggest that you STFU.
Were you personally "threatened" by Chomsky for refusing to vaccinate, Carolyn Mary Scott? Were you really pressured by him? You got happily vaxxed anyways, I’ll bet.
I was seriously offended at first when this man said that I have to be taken to an island and left there without food and water. I was offended for a week or so, we all lived thru the horrors of the lockdowns, weren't we? Then I listened to this recording again. I saw a VERY old man who was seriously scared. He trusted with his life to all those criminal medicos and Pharma kings because they were his people, they all went to the same schools and hung out in the same halls of the elite universities. They are all empiricists by traning. They believe scientific research, even when its fraudulent (like the medical research is). So this old man believed the fraudster Epstein the same way be believed the criminal charlatans pharmacists. Whether or not he offended me, changed NOTHING about his scholarship. His contribution to our understanding of the function of capitalism, imperialism, and colonialism are fundamental and will not change. Most of the hyenas here, hungry for the old man’s blood, never read any of his stuff, Americans do NOT read! We all know that about you. Now Chomsky got a major stroke quite possibly because his Big Pharma associates got him filled with their toxic drugs. He paid a price. Leave him alone, hyenas, please!
I appreciate your impulse to defend an important figure. Chomsky has long been at the top of my list of American intellectuals who exposed the corporate–war machine and the surveillance state. His earlier work—which I have read closely and still cite in my Substacks—remains intact and valuable.
That said, it’s essential to confront why Chomsky was, as Chris Hedges puts it, “seduced.” Hedges and Chomsky were close friends and, in my view, of similar moral and intellectual stature. Precisely for that reason, it is deeply troubling that Chomsky appears to have been compromised.
I’ve studied the Epstein case in depth, and Whitney Webb’s reporting is especially important here. What emerges is not merely an individual criminal, but a vast intelligence-linked blackmail operation involving child trafficking—hardly a new tactic, but devastating in its scope. The evidence that Epstein operated within Israeli intelligence and CIA networks makes Chomsky’s efforts to protect or minimize Epstein’s actions impossible to ignore.
Holding this contradiction is difficult: acknowledging Chomsky’s towering intellectual legacy while also reckoning with a serious moral failure. But sweeping it under the rug does a disservice not only to the victims, but to the very ethical standards Chomsky himself spent a lifetime demanding of power.
OK, fair. Thank you for your thoughtful reply, Carolyn. It is not so much the desire to defend Chomsky that motivates me, it is rather the horror I feel at this spectacle of public execution. Given half a chance, most of these online trolls would gladly see him being thrown into a river to watch if he could pass the witch test. Furthermore, being neither American nor Christian, and in view of both of these entities’ sordid, gory history, I detest their moralizing.
Here is a balanced review, in my opinion, by Novara Media:
He allowed himself to be seduced, turned a blind eye in exchange for perks that the ordinary people he supposedly argues for, would never have. There were many people who didn't know but whose instincts were high on the "ick" factor. The "Lolita Express"? Give me a break even the more illiterate among us knows what that means. If they didn't see anything that was sure a clue about where the guy's mind was.
I mean it's not like Lolita Express was printed on the side of the plane, is it not possible that Chomsky was unaware of this nickname? So many people are quick to rush to judgement without any hard proof.
I haven't taken the time to keep a tally....so this is a general impression. Women here in the comment section appear to be more "hip" aware of the perversity "the dark side" of beloved uncle's nature than men. "One in five women and one in seven men were victims of sexual abuse in childhood, reveals a study published in The Lancet, which analyzes ..." (tecscience.com) When I participated as part of a rape crisis team of professionals decades ago the statistic was 1 out of 4 women had been sexually abused as children. Then, women stereotypically, who reported they had been victims were attacked in court for "causing" the men to abuse them...."the short skirt" smear.
Ms. Sweet thank you for that expression "the short skirt smear." It aptly describes Sigmund Freud, who was far more popular in the U.S. than in Europe. Freud interviewed a number of women who came to him claiming their fathers sexually abused them. Freud refused to believe them so he invented that whole fiction about "subconscious" which all human beings have in their mind. And which they are not aware of. The subconscious controls our behavior according to Freud. But we are not capable of recognizing this. Do not ask how he became aware of its existence while the billions of other human beings could not recognize it.
Freud went so far as to claim that women are controlled by a subconscious thing he called the "oedipus complex" which created in women a desire to fornicate with their fathers. Wow! This is victim-blaming on a vast scale. Half the human species is female. Freud was psychotic in a dangerous way. It has always been difficult or me to understand how so many Americans could believe such harmful psychobabble.....Girls are still sex slaves in the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Incidentally, evidence which subsequently surfaced, demonstrated that Freud's female clients were telling the truth. Still we refuse to pay attention to the evil, immoral victim-blaming of girls, in academia and in the courts.
Short skirt! Heck - I was tolded I was a provocative 3 year old! How is a 3 yr old provocative - particularly when I was usually dressed in coveralls etc as I climbed trees, rode my bike and and likes to run a lot - not always paying aytention to where I was going.
Predators like Epstein are always recruiting, poking, making remarks to see how you react and gauging how much farther they can go. I always admired Mr. Chomsky but find it hard to believe that Epstein didn't lob a few his way to see and that Mr. Chomsky was entirely unaware of Epsteins proclivities although maybe not to the extent. I'm disappointed he continued contact after it was painfully clear the kind of person Epstein was.
Not only that, but you'd have to believe that Chomsky didn't have any more savvy friends who could take the Great Man aside and tell him that there may be a seamier side to this Epstein individual, that maybe this is not someone to get too chummy with.
When his wife says they didn't do enough checking, it leaves a space for people to ask the questions that Chomsky is now unable to answer. She said they visited the New York Mansion which is decorated in particularly sexualized style. (You can google the pictures of the mansion.)
I watched earlier an interview you sat for with Mark Lamont Hill and was quite worried, distraught is a better word, that you might be making excuses for "your friend" Noam. I am glad you put pen to paper on this matter to set my heart at ease.
It is essential to state the obvious, despite Noam's reputation. It was more than a mistake, a misapprehension or a bad call. He was no fool. He actively coached Epstein on how to rehabilitate his image. It appears Noam displayed zero concern about Epstein's past and continuing sexual predation or for the young disadvantaged women and girls whom he abused. Noam is complicit, at a minimum and the excuse making insults our intelligence.
Epstein, even with the extremely lenient deal that he received was still admitting to sexual trafficking of underage girls.
He was a sexual predator. This was known in 2008.
Every person referenced in the Epstein files chose to socialize with a sexual predator. That ought to be a very public stain on all of their reputations.
Chomsky's association with Epstein is such a disappointment.
Knowing you and Chomsky were friends, I’ve been thinking about you since the news came out. This kind of betrayal—for betrayal it is—leaves scars. I know, alas. Writing about it was the right thing to do, but damn, it must have hurt.
I too was totally disappointed when I read about Noam’s relationship with Epstein. I would have never thought of Noam associating with the power/ corruption and privilege class he so often talked about. It’s truly sad!
Did you read Valeria Chomsky's post? The automatic assumption on the part of many is that she and her husband knew about the "trafficking of children" by Epstein and then went ahead and associated with him anyway. I believe Valeria Chomsky. Why? Read what she wrote.
We do not really know much about this very weird marriage and this strange second wife of his. During his later speeches, she was always present behind the curtain and directed the hosts, who minded her instructions; when he switched to the online talks, she was always there, appearing to be in a bad mood. Valeria was the one, no doubt, who booked all these flights and dinners. Now, with Chomsky silenced, she is the one who gets to talk. Like Nietzsche’s sister.
This must have been hard to write Chris. And i appreciate your honesty.
Why are you lauding "his honesty"? All I saw was Hedges opinions and nothing of any proof of genuine knowledge.
You are embarrassing yourself dear
Chomsky's association with Epstein seems to be a documented fact, not a matter of opinion.
Absolutely!
I agree that Chris really rushed to judgement here. If there were pictures of Chomsky with young girls, or if his name was on island flight logs, I'd tend to agree with Hedges that the denials were probably lies, but so far I haven't seen anything that damning. It's unclear how many people knew that Epstein's plane was sometimes called the Lolita Express. I also find it plausible that Epstein was a very good liar and could have concealed his darker side from Chomsky.
That is sorry apologist language. if a convicted sex offender called and wanted to associate you, you should decline. Period.
Especially knowing your association with him gives him credibility.
Has any of very famous, uber rich, and sweet talking of these "offenders" ever approached you? Who are you to judge? In fact, you ARE you?
Right. I have no right to judge the famous men no matter what they do. Your mentality is from the stone age.
He was convicted but by Chomsky's wife's telling the conviction was not published news until much later. So to me, it still remains plausible he did not know.
I find it fascinating that people with sharp minds like Chomsky would have been so easily deluded by Epstein. It doesn’t require a deep intellect to understand that your friend was publicly convicted of soliciting *a child* for prostitution. Somehow, all these celebrities, did not know how to conduct a simple Google search to do a background check on Epstein, to protect their own reputations if nothing else. The truth is more likely that they simply did not care. Dazzled by Epstein and his lifestyle, they were quite happy to look the other way. Chomsky even denied to the media that he had a friendship with Epstein before the files were released. And this is the problem. *Everyone looked at the other way* while hundreds of minors, young girls, paraded around by Epstein and shown in so many photographs in the company of what should be responsible, caring adults, were being abused and having their lives ruined despite there being so much evidence of this hiding in plain sight.
Answer, the only answer, they knew and either participated or enjoyed knowing about it.
Well I think there is schollarly intelligence, and there is interpersonal intelligence. From Chomsky's wife's telling, Chomsky was overflowing with the former, and quite lacking in the later. I have no reason to dispute that description and it would make Chomsky easy prey for savy predators like Epstein.
Also, do you check everyone you meet against a sex offender list before associating with them? Yes, obviously in hindsight would have been prudent for Chomsky to do this, but I'm not going to accuse him of anything until there is more definitive proof that he would have known, and not simply been an gullible and aloof intellectual.
Who are you to judge????
Jeff Bezos's wife immediately "registered" upon her first and last meeting with Epstein that he was a dark force.slime bag. That you hold Chomsky so intuition -free of this man's basic nature "dark" even "evil" , the man beseeching need of advice to deal with his reputation as a sex criminal no less, reveals how unconscious a person can be when his desire nature functions to "blank" out what his instincts are telling him. Many young girls on earth are so terrified of telling their own mothers that uncle put his hand down her under pants last night that they pretend nothing happened, so he does it and more invasively night after night -when visiting cause beloved "uncle" would never do a thing like that! Clarissa Pinkola Estes use of the Bluebeard story to teach women to use their instincts to gain the "hooded eyes of the watcher" (i.e. hawk) is a powerful antidote to naive bedazzlement. (Women Who Run With the Wolves).
Chomsky was traveling with a CONVICTED pedophile MANY times. Enabling and giving him credibility. Chomsky may not have raped young girls however he helped him! Only a fool would be seen with Epstein on his island so many times.
If you have ever known a child who was raped you would never write anything like this.
Is there evidence Chomsky visited the island?
Read what his wife said to Aaron Mate. Maybe the plane was going the the grocery store.
Just a big no to your analysis. HIs wife's detailing of their association is very damning no matter how many times she says they were sucked in.
The picture attached clearly shows Chomsky with Epstein on Epsteins' private jet ( I'm sure Epstein never used public transport ).
But still, you shouldn't believe your lying eyes.
As far as I can tell with a quick internet search, there is no evidence Chomsky ever travelled to the island on the jet or was in the presence of Epstein with underage girls. If there was such evidence, yes I would jump on the accusation bandwagon along with the rest of you, but until that time I will reserve judgement.
I never levelled any accusation that chomsky was ever on the island or mingling with underage girls, perhaps your comment should be directed to someone who did. The discussion has been mainly about Chomskys' association with Epstein, although the question then arises as to where that plane was going.
Maybe to Las Vegas for a flutter on the pokies or the roulette wheel. By the way, you shouldn't believe every thing you read, hear or see on the internet.
The hyenas are out smelling blood. The man made one single mistake in his whole long life. And even his friends are out there to feed on it. While Chomsky isn’t even dead yet. Shame on you Chris Hedges! What was the need to hurry up with this crappy piece? So you are good at virtue signalling too, huh? You are perfect.
It was more than once.
Come on, do your homework. Chomsky was slithering and sliding with Epstein possibly to get money but possibly because he liked it. The email t revealed in all it's ugliness.
Your comment is seriously ugly, Kate. UGGGLLYY. He was "slithering"? At the end of his highly successful career, Noam needed money? Do you know that when he was involved with the antiwar movement, being already a father, he and his wife (the real one) decided that she was going back to school to get her degree so in case he was arrested and jailed (and this was a serious threat then) she would work to support their daughter. He didn’t quit his activities to avoid the imprisonment. So this a "slithering," greedy man? Shame on you all, blood suckers. Shame on Chris Hedges!
Sometimes we refuse to see what is right before our eyes. Noam is human after all and capable of serious misjudgment as his wife points out. My choice of words might not suit your view and I am fine with that but don’t mistake my revulsion for anyone who associated with Epstein more than once for black of knowledge of the said person. I know all about Noam, the good, the bad and the ugly. But you are welcome to your own views.
Maybe a logic class can help you? Or a bit of reading.
A true friend will tell you the truth. I am honored to call Mr. Hedges friend, even though we've not met.
I would encourage a little critical thinking rather than outsourcing it to people you trust. I have high regard for Mr Hedges as well, but he is not perfect or infallable.
I defer to Mr. Hedges in areas where he has more experience and knowledge, gleaned from his years as a journalist, e.g., how tyrannies fall, how democracies erode and collapse. But I don't outsource my critical thinking to him. Look, if Chomsky's help was requested in order to polish Epstein's image after he was convicted of trafficking children for sex, how could Chomsky not have known that JE was, indeed, pimping out little kids?
Well I think you are right it does look bad, but I've done some digging on the matter and the Guardian did what appears to be some decent reporting on the most recent email release. After just reading Hedges' reporting it was not entirely clear to me what Chomsky might have known and when (do better Mr. Hedges!).
The help request for the conviction occured in 2019, very late in the relationship (this is the same year Epstein died mysteriously in prison). Chomsky, from his own words, appears to be dismissive of all women's accusations, which is certainly a character flaw. From the Guardian:
"The ensuing text was signed “Noam” and read: “I’ve watched the horrible way you are being treated in the press and public. It’s painful to say but I think the best way to proceed is to ignore it.” The text attributed to Chomsky said he had grappled with “tons of hysterical accusations of all sorts”. “I pay no attention, unless I’m approached for a comment on a specific matter. It’s a nuisance, but it’s the best way.” Citing “a hysteria that has developed about abuse of women”, the text continued, “It’s best I think not to react unless directly questioned, particularly in the current mood – which, I presume, will fade away, even if not in time to prevent much torture and distress.”"
The "current mood" and "hysteria" he refers to is likely the #metoo movement, where often times accusations alone were enough to ruin reputations.
Probably the most damning thing I have read is Chomsky made mention of "fantasizing about the Caribbean island", which definitely is not a good look. How much did he know about the island when he said this I wonder?
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/03/epstein-files-noam-chomsky
Hedges needs to give a formal apology and correct his mistake! Chomsky was NOT seduced by Epstein!!! Chomsky, the ARCH intellectual enemy of Western imperialism and Zionist Israel was TARGETED and tricked by Epstein!!!
Epstein was an agent of Israel.
People much closer to Chomsky than Hedges, have noted how Epstein went so far as to obviously plant emails allegedly written by Chomsky.
Chris Hedges, just like Chomsky, is being tricked by Epstein whose manipulations, even after his death, continue to defame and undermine the anti-Imperialst, anti-Zionist movement FROM WITHIN !!!
Chomsky was NOT seduced by Epstein!!! Chomsky, the ARCH intellectual enemy of Western imperialism and Zionist Israel was TARGETED and tricked by Epstein!!!
Epstein was an agent of Israel.
People much closer to Chomsky than Hedges, have noted how Epstein went so far as to obviously plant emails allegedly written by Chomsky.
Chris Hedges, just like Chomsky, is being tricked by Epstein whose manipulations, even after his death, continue to defame and undermine the anti-Imperialst, anti-Zionist movement FROM WITHIN !!!
Don't believe the hype!
Noam Chomsky was the MOST Powerful voice in
EXPOSING ISRAEL and The West for the genocidal racist imperialists that they have always been !!!
Epstein manipulatively " befriended" Chomsky in order to discredit Chomsky's Tomb of incredible anti-imperialist work that Exposed Israeli/US violent imperialism.
And thanks to the gullibility of not only Chomsky, but all of us ! Epstein has succeeded !!!
Yes, Chomsky was stupid to blindly believe that Epstein was being wrongly accused: That it was a #metoo hysteria.
BUT CHOMSKY WOULD BE CORRECT in blaming #me too hysteria for the political take down of Graham Platner, for one example, who was accused and condemned WITHOUT a fair trial, very suspiciously by predominantly Zionist journalists .
(Note that Taking women's allegations seriously is crucial - But Taking anyone's allegations as a guilty verdict is wrong! Moreover, Democrat politicians who have funneled money for the rape and murder of countless Palestinian women at the hands of the Israeli, Are currently being reelected in the primaries - such as Pat Ryan among many others !!!!)
There’s nothing honest about this !!! This is pure condescending, Not even researched slander
"I know and have long admired Noam. He is, arguably, our greatest and most principled intellectual. I can assure you he is not as passive or gullible as his wife claims. He knew about Epstein’s abuse of children. They all knew. And like others in the Epstein orbit, he did not care."
I completely agree.
"Never meet your heroes."
-Marcel Proust
"The line between good and evil passes right through every human heart."
-Alexander Solzhenitsyn
In this case if your hero is either a pedophile or living through a pedophile you should know the only possible answer. Shame on all things Chomsky related.
I guess you don’t comprehend the above quotations. Intelligent people won’t fall into your mental cul-de-sac. Like many geniuses before him, Noam Chomsky was a flawed human being. Nonetheless, his intellectual work will stand on its own for generations. Why should it not?
Mr. Goldstein, I am not defending Chomsky, if he really is guilty of anything worthy of the word "guilt." But I do ask myself: How many of those who are so quick to degrade Chomsky and say "Shame on all things Chomsky related," have actually read his brilliant work on linguistics and its relationship to the nature of being human? I read his work years ago. I do not agree with him on his most important analysis of language because I come from the school of Symbolic Interactionism.
Chomsky said all human beings are speaking the same language. Language exists sui generis. There is only one language and we all use different versions of it. The implication is that we all share the same linguistically created reality. I disagree. I go along with the linguists Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf who said different languages create different realities.
This is referred to as the "Sapir/Whorf hypothesis." But I harbor doubts about my own position. Chomsky could be correct. I could be wrong.
Furthermore, Chomsky spent decades as a political gadfly, railing against the abuses of the wealthy and powerful. Chomsky is America's Bertrand Russell, who was imprisoned in 1918 for his outspoken opposition against war with Germany. It was only the first amendment which repeatedly kept Chomsky out of an American prison. England has no equivalent to a first amendment.
I recognize the brilliance of Chomsky's contributions. It is a sin to throw out the baby with the wash water.
Gerald you said that Chomsky claimed that: " there is only one language and we all use different versions of it. The implication is that we all share the same linguistically created reality."
This is not Chomsky’s theory at all. He postulates about the structures of the brain that code the most general algorithms of human language. Then, when they child is born, it relies on these INHERITED codes to decipher the specifics of the speech of its particular tribe. Exceptionally quickly and well. There is nothing about the reality, only the language. Chomsky never claimed that the reality is inherited, only that a human being possesses certain inherited "nature" but the reality is socially constructed.
Ms. Cohen thank you for your thoughtful response. I do not disagree that reality is socially constructed. I am a symbolic interactionist. I heard Chomsky pronounce one of his favorite allegories: "Just as a fish is born with gills to take oxygen from water and mammals are born with lungs to take oxygen from air; it is reasonable to believe humans are born with the ability to use language." I do not argue with this. Look at Helen Keller. If he had stuck with Keller's experience as his allegory, I would be more inclined to his view on linguistic behavior. And be more doubtful of my own.
I typed out a lengthy response to your comment. But I accidentally hit the wrong button on my laptop and poof.....all my efforts disappeared into the ether. Sorry. It is late and I am 83. The only good thing about being old is that it is a good excuse for mistakes.
I shall make one comment: on the evolution of intelligence.
There is a reason fish are less intelligent than land mammals and cetaceans. Our brain uses more energy than any other organ by far. About 20% at rest and up to 80% when we are active. 20% of the gas in our atmosphere is air and all available for us to metabolize and oxidize our nutrient fuels. The available oxygen in water is about 3 parts per million. This is why fish are dumb.
Sorry I lost my original message.
Perhaps another day when I can fire up more axons and dendrites in my central nervous system.
Hitting the wrong key and losing it all is common for me as well. And I'm only 74!
I'm also very aware that human beings are not perfect--100% not perfect here, for sure! One of my fave examples is Mstislav Rostropovich, one of the greatest cellists who ever lived. One of my teachers, Jacqueline du Pre, told me that he had raped her when she was sixteen. One of my colleagues in Piatigorsky's class, Mischa Maisky, said that Rostropovich gave him a permanent "loan" so that he could buy his cello. I still think of Rostropovich as one of the world's greatest cellists. That is not diminished by what he did to so many of his female students. I thank my lucky stars that I was not one of them, though!
Now to fetch those truant dendrites!
Thank you for writing back. I am sorry you lost the previous part.
If you use MS Word or similar writing programs, have it set on continuous saving mode, this way you will never lose your work. Furthermore, you can always restore everything you accidentally lost by hitting the Return or Back arrow. In any case, a really good program, like MS Word, will always ask you if you really wish to destroy your work before you hit the wrong key. You can also buy a little Cloud space and never worry about losing any of what you wrote.
Hi Helen!
I'd like to share with you my response to Hedges attack:
"I am shocked, Minister Hedges by your lack of careful consideration and your unconscious hubris in launching accusatory assumptions of Chomsky's psychology that simply have no basis in either hard fact or in Chomsky's established profoundly compassionate reputation in outspokenly defending the oppressed, including women and children.
if you actually "know" Chomsky then you know that he is explicitly horrified by pornography and all manner of humiliation and degradation of women . If anyone wishes to really know Chomsky with respect to the treatment of women and children, then watch this video :
https://reason.com/2008/07/24/the-porn-loving-people-vs-noam/
Why Minister Hedges, would you not offer Chomsky at least the basic constitutional right of INNOCENT UNTIL FOUND GUILTY by a FAIR RIGOROUS TRIAL ?
Your contradiction in lauding Chomsky as "arguably" our "greatest and most principled intellectual" while, in the same breath, you level at Chomsky the accusatory assumption that "he knew about Epstein's abuse of children" and that he "did not care" is BIZARRE. Mr. Hedges, what you say here simply does not make any sense AND it is harmful to everyone.
Most of the negative comments here sound as though the commenter never bothered to read the recent letter from Valeria OR read decided to dismiss the letter completely in favor of a lust for vengeful judgements with no basis in contextual fact. It reminds me of the very same kind of vengeful hatred that MAGA has been successfully infected by right-wing elite leadership.
After all the incredible dedication to protecting humanity and the planet that Chomsky has given us, to burn him at the stake like this is a shockingly unconscionable attack . "
Hi River, thank you for sending me the copy of your letter, I've never heard of this interview about pornography. BTW, Hedges is pressing on with his accusations. How sad. This is not a normal behaviour you’d expect from him, Hedges is a brilliant man himself, and very thoughtful. Something happened to his mind, I think. He admitted that he and his family all decided to get vaxxed. This maybe the mental problem he is experiencing as the result. Also, he is a dry alcoholic, perhaps he fell off the wagon again?
Want to share with you my response to Hedge's attack on Chomsky.
"I am shocked, Minister Hedges by your lack of careful consideration and your unconscious hubris in launching accusatory assumptions of Chomsky's psychology that simply have no basis in either hard fact or in Chomsky's established profoundly compassionate reputation in outspokenly defending the oppressed, including women and children.
if you actually "know" Chomsky then you know that he is outspokenly horrified by pornography and all manner of humiliation and degradation of women . If anyone wishes to really know Chomsky with respect to the treatment of women and children, then watch this video : https://reason.com/2008/07/24/the-porn-loving-people-vs-noam/ https://reason.com/2008/07/24/the-porn-loving-people-vs-noam/#:~:text=Pornography%2C%20says%20the%20sage%20of,is%20about%20as%20convincing%20as
Why Minister Hedges, would you not offer Chomsky at least the basic constitutional right of INNOCENT UNTIL FOUND GUILTY by a FAIR RIGOROUS TRIAL ?
Your bizarre contradiction in lauding Chomsky as "arguably" our "greatest and most principled intellectual" while, in the same breath, you level at Chomsky the accusatory assumption that "he knew about Epstein's abuse of children" and that he "did not care". Mr. Hedges, what you say here simply does not make any sense AND it is harmful to everyone.
Most of the negative comments here sound as though the commenter never bothered to read the recent letter from Valeria OR read decided to dismiss the letter completely in favor of a lust for vengeful judgements with no basis in contextual fact. It reminds me of the very same kind of vengeful hatred that MAGA has been successfully infected by right-wing elite leadership.
After all the incredible dedication to protecting humanity and the planet that Chomsky has given us, to burn him at the stake like this is a shockingly unconscionable attack . "
I will never enable a PEDOPHILE like Chomsky. All things Chomsky are dead to me. I will burn his books. You can ask my Sister how she feels about PEDOPHILES. He didn't steal money from his Mother, he enabled a Pedophile and had a close personal relationship calling him his best friend.
Do not forget to cast certain very important spells as well, just burning the books is not enough. You must perform the purifying rituals, to cast off the devils. Also, check in with the local fire department authorities and, while at it, make sure all your meds are in good supply.
Great idea. I don't need medications though, I'm in great mental and physical health. I don't hand out with pedophiles so I don't have to worry about devils.
People I know personally in my space do not approve of child rape.
When my Sister at the age of 12 was raped by a friends father, the courts did little or nothing to punish the child rapist. He went on to rape a number of other young girls until someone stopped him.
You should speak to my Sister, maybe you might have some understanding.
I doubt it though.
I am so so sorry to hear this. Every woman in my family has been raped. The youngest was 16 by two men. Chris Hedges essay here is deeply wrong. He does not "know" Chomsky . Chomsky was deceived by Epstein and a number of the emails show clear signs that they were not writtne by him but by someone else (perhaps Epstein) who had in mind to destroy him. Lolita was NOT
painted on to the plane so many did not know of the name. etc. read Valerias letter. and read my response to Hedges below. Chomsky was an outspokent defender of women.
I'd like to share with you my response to Hedges attack:
"I am shocked, Minister Hedges by your lack of careful consideration and your unconscious hubris in launching accusatory assumptions of Chomsky's psychology that simply have no basis in either hard fact or in Chomsky's established profoundly compassionate reputation in outspokenly defending the oppressed, including women and children.
if you actually "know" Chomsky then you know that he is outspokenly horrified by pornography and all manner of humiliation and degradation of women . If anyone wishes to really know Chomsky with respect to the treatment of women and children, then watch this video : https://reason.com/2008/07/24/the-porn-loving-people-vs-noam/ https://reason.com/2008/07/24/the-porn-loving-people-vs-noam/#:~:text=Pornography%2C%20says%20the%20sage%20of,is%20about%20as%20convincing%20as
Why Minister Hedges, would you not offer Chomsky at least the basic constitutional right of INNOCENT UNTIL FOUND GUILTY by a FAIR RIGOROUS TRIAL ?
Your bizarre contradiction in lauding Chomsky as "arguably" our "greatest and most principled intellectual" while, in the same breath, you level at Chomsky the accusatory assumption that "he knew about Epstein's abuse of children" and that he "did not care". Mr. Hedges, what you say here simply does not make any sense AND it is harmful to everyone.
Most of the negative comments here sound as though the commenter never bothered to read the recent letter from Valeria OR read decided to dismiss the letter completely in favor of a lust for vengeful judgements with no basis in contextual fact. It reminds me of the very same kind of vengeful hatred that MAGA has been successfully infected by right-wing elite leadership.
After all the incredible dedication to protecting humanity and the planet that Chomsky has given us, to burn him at the stake like this is a shockingly unconscionable attack . "
Very very few girls and boys avoided being raped or molested. This is the world we live in. I don't need to speak to your sister about it.
nice one!
However extremely illogical unless you believe Chomsky was a MORON. Best friends, and that's Chomsky saying that. Chomsky either raped these children or enabled the rape. You can delude yourself if you like. Then of course you would be enabling child rape.
Hedges contradiction in lauding Chomsky as "arguably" our "greatest and most principled intellectual" while, in the same breath, you level at Chomsky the accusatory assumption that "he knew about Epstein's abuse of children" and that he "did not care" is BIZARRE. Mr. Hedges, what you say here simply does not make any sense AND it is harmful to everyone.
https://reason.com/2008/07/24/the-porn-loving-people-vs-noam/
IF you actually "know" Chomsky then you know that he is explicitly horrified by pornography and all manner of humiliation and degradation of women . If anyone wishes to really know Chomsky with respect to the treatment of women and children, then watch this video above.
Chomsky committed only the same crime as we all have in blindly trusting a wealthy elite. Just as Hedges is blindly allowing himself to be manipulated by the right-wing ruling class who are sitting back laughing right now as he smears the greatest intellectual enemy of Zionism and the Imperial elite who ever walked the earth.
Or maybe Hedges "knows" what he is doing .... after all he, just like Chomsky, should know better .... and so therefore it would stand to say the Hedges is being "seduced" by the right-wing into doing their dirty work for them and "does not care" rapt as he is with the pleasure of the mob mentality as he froths at the mouth in sanctimonious ministerial ire and brimstone condemnation.
You claim: "Chomsky committed only the same crime as we all have in blindly trusting a wealthy elite. "
While you quoted the first sentence of CH's statement, you omitted the second.
"He is, arguably, our greatest and most principled intellectual. I can assure you he is not as passive or gullible as his wife claims."
Apparently you disagree with CH that Chomsky was neither passive nor gullible. Fine, whatever. I don't know Chomsky other than through some of his work on Linguistics, Manufactured Consent, and some other videos/interviews. I don't know CH either except through similar avenues (books, podcasts, youtube, this substack).
On balance, I think CH nailed it. You disagree. Fine, whatever. But it seems quite a stretch to portray CH: "rapt as he is with the pleasure of the mob mentality as he froths at the mouth in sanctimonious ministerial ire and brimstone condemnation."
So, once again on balance, I'm going to conclude you are not someone whose opinion carries much weight with me.
And, notice how all the focus on Chomsky has led almost everyone I know to jump from -- "Where are the Epstein files on Trump" to the seduction of power that lured in Chomsky. You have to marvel at how clever they are in releasing just the files that will not only take the focus away from Trump but get lefties to spend more time on Chomsky that getting to the truth about Trump. I'm sure Bannon is laughing.....
Until we are willing to see that nearly all of our representatives—left and right—have owners, we will never come together as Americans. Scapegoating one party while absolving the other only keeps us divided and compliant.
Chris lays this out clearly in America: The Farewell Tour: both parties participated in the long dismantling of the country—economically, morally, and ecologically. No side holds clean hands. Even now, the devastation in Gaza shows how hollow partisan moral claims are when power and money are involved.
This endless cycle of outrage and blame feels like a parlor game while the natural world collapses around us. We argue, posture, and opinionate as the planet enters a sixth mass extinction. Bees are vanishing. Ecosystems are unraveling. Life itself is under assault.
Perhaps that is the greatest distraction of all. While we fight over narratives, what sustains us is disappearing. If we can’t lift our eyes to see that shared reality, then yes—we are being played. And worse, we are playing along.
I can never understand why Americans consider a choice between the Republicams and the Democrats to be a choice between 'right' and 'left'. In most of the world - it is more - right; and right of right.
You are so RIGHT! no choice — there’s no moral ambiguity here. Genocide is genocide, regardless of sides. Applause for BB when Biden was ruling ... standing ovations for trillions to Israel. The U.S. military plays a central role in this game, deeply shaped by lobbying interests and the war economy. If you want to understand what’s happening, follow the money. Not the colors. Not identity politics.
Thank you for lifting us up 🙏
Yes Ms. Scott we are fiddling while Rome burns. Perhaps it would be a good idea for more of us to reread THE PRINCE by Niccolo Machiavelli written in 1613 while under house arrest. His work is now recognized as the tipping point for the social studies. Everything before Machiavelli is normative ideology. What came after him is political science.
While we are at it we might also reread SILENT SPRING by Rachel Carson in 1962 and THE LIMITS TO GROWTH published in 1972. A century from now those two volumes will be placed in the same category intellectually with THE PRINCE, a tipping point for Sapiens.
Absolutely — I appreciate your reading suggestions. Revisiting The Prince highlights how Machiavelli recast politics as a study of power divorced from moral constraint, a move that liberal thought has long regarded with caution, (if you haven't read: Fortune Is a River: Leonardo da Vinci and Niccolò Machiavelli’s Magnificent Dream to Change the Course of Florentine History - I highly recommend it) and YES! to rereading Silent Spring and The Limits to Growth highlights similar tipping points for environmental thought. As an environmental educator and filmmaker, I’ve cited Silent Spring in many of my Substacks — Rachel Carson is truly my savior. These works continue to challenge and inspire us to rethink our role in the world. My latest on MONSANTO' S surveillance crimes and silencing journalists: https://open.substack.com/pub/carolynmaryscott/p/monsanto-ran-an-intelligence-operation?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
Wow Ms. Scott your stuff on Monsanto was not only an eye opener, it also took me back to my grad school days at Iowa State University. I was on research teams doing work for Monsanto which was paid for by both tax payers and Monsanto. Our research was called "adoption-diffusion" studies. I complained about it and dragged my feet. But not for any of the reasons found in the reading you cited. That stuff was not happening then.
My objection was based on my political beliefs about huge corporations in general. I was eventually thrown out of the research mill, lost my pay check and never took a degree from ISU. I subsequently went to Michigan State University for my PhD. Thank you for the info on Monsanto's Roundup. When I read something about the dangers of Roundup some years ago; I stopped using it in my garden and "adopted" the practice of pouring boiling water on the weeds.
Thanx for the info.
Thank you for sharing this, Gerald. Your experience at Iowa State adds an important perspective—especially how corporate interests were already shaping publicly funded research through things like “adoption–diffusion” studies. Your objections, grounded in political principle rather than today’s well-documented harms, speak to a moral clarity that institutions often punish.
I’m sorry you paid such a price for resisting, but I’m glad you were able to continue your work at Michigan State and stay true to your convictions. And I appreciate the boiling-water approach to weeds—simple, effective, and far less toxic.
Thanks for reading so closely and for adding your voice to the conversation.
Gerald: Boiling water? Interesting. I have long observed that plants deprived of light will die. I use black plastic for that purpose and it really works well. I once got the ancillary thought that spray painting weed's leaves with black paint would do the same. No success! New leaves were growing too quickly.
I had an experience with Round Up. As you surmised, I was a professional cellist. I also had hibiscus with a white fly infestation and sprayed the poor bush with Round Up. My right hand became numb for a few days, which was frightening. I can't beliieve I still see it being sold as if it did some good. Besides killing.
I'd like to share with you my response to Hedges attack:
"I am shocked, Minister Hedges by your lack of careful consideration and your unconscious hubris in launching accusatory assumptions of Chomsky's psychology that simply have no basis in either hard fact or in Chomsky's established profoundly compassionate reputation in outspokenly defending the oppressed, including women and children.
if you actually "know" Chomsky then you know that he is outspokenly horrified by pornography and all manner of humiliation and degradation of women . If anyone wishes to really know Chomsky with respect to the treatment of women and children, then watch this video : https://reason.com/2008/07/24/the-porn-loving-people-vs-noam/ https://reason.com/2008/07/24/the-porn-loving-people-vs-noam/#:~:text=Pornography%2C%20says%20the%20sage%20of,is%20about%20as%20convincing%20as
Why Minister Hedges, would you not offer Chomsky at least the basic constitutional right of INNOCENT UNTIL FOUND GUILTY by a FAIR RIGOROUS TRIAL ?
Your bizarre contradiction in lauding Chomsky as "arguably" our "greatest and most principled intellectual" while, in the same breath, you level at Chomsky the accusatory assumption that "he knew about Epstein's abuse of children" and that he "did not care". Mr. Hedges, what you say here simply does not make any sense AND it is harmful to everyone.
Most of the negative comments here sound as though the commenter never bothered to read the recent letter from Valeria OR read decided to dismiss the letter completely in favor of a lust for vengeful judgements with no basis in contextual fact. It reminds me of the very same kind of vengeful hatred that MAGA has been successfully infected by right-wing elite leadership.
After all the incredible dedication to protecting humanity and the planet that Chomsky has given us, to burn him at the stake like this is a shockingly unconscionable attack . "
Good point. Back to distraction again. Except - as much as I my consciousnesd has grown from being exposed to Chomsky and his writings - my experience of being near the reified atmosphere of academics - is that they have their own perverness. For example - in an upper division anthropology course - to get an A - I would have had to feigned enjoyment of the lecherous prof. I, together with others, got him fired instead. However - I paid for it with my grade point average.
Yes. It seems there will be thousands of articles about everyone mentioned before we get to any serious discussion about how to ensure protection and justice for the survivors of the Epstein network.
Or a few dozen people in prison for 20 yrs. or more.
Absolutely
The Epstein issue is not about Trump or Chomsky. This was a CIA/Mossad honey trap operation for the purpose of getting dirt on a bunch of rich & powerful people so they could be kept in line. I understand the deflection issue you're talking about and I agree, but this is much bigger than that.
So they can be kept in line for whose sake?
The rich & powerful as a group, who do you think. Even rich & powerful individuals will be taken down if they get out of line with the group.
Absolutely right!
Even if every one of the unreleased files implicated Trump in unspeakable acts, that doesn't excuse Chomsky.
Yes Ms. Kelly that is so obvious.
Yes, you are right. I was a Chomsky fan, had read several of his books. Now this scandal. Very disappointing.
He published over 114 books but you've read a few and thus you are a fan but you immediately agreed with Hedges post and are no longer a fan.
If you see photos, taken by FBI, of the Epstein mansion in NYC, there is no way anyone will not recognize the sexual exploitations. Chomskys not only visited the place many times but also stayed there overnight. You may want to listen to Reason2Resist podcast. The host, Dimitri, has recently provided two episodes on Epstein files so far.
Uhh, yes, if a major intellectual stoops to hang with a pedophile and fascist — pretty much cuts his currency. Wonder why it doesn't for you.
For me - I am not sure I trust the reporting re: Chomsky and Epstein. Even if it is true - it does not invalidate Chomsky's brilliant analysis or the fact through his writing he introduced us to anarchism and thorough critical analysis.
Because Chomsky either raped young girls or lived with knowing. You can't hide the logic he knew. Epstein a CONVICTED child rapist.
Sylvia: What do you think is the chance that Epstein was instructed to chat up Chomsky and dangle attractants in front of him (no girls, just money and reputation) in order to bring down the lion of the left, and now it's working as planned?
The word "fan" is applied to movie stars and football heroes--in America, for sure. One cannot be a "fan" of a philosopher.
However - the 'scandal' dors not negate the accuracy of his analysis. What has me wondering ... is why all the focus on Chomsky? Why not so many others?
The wise capitalist, Charlie Munger, once said: Show me the incentives and I'll tell you the outcome. Individuals who travel in these elite circles do have a strong sense of entitlement. They have, after all, survived very competitive environments. The good news from all of this is it demonstrates the venal nature of the these so-called elites. They are just as susceptible to incentives as the average mere mortals.
I've read Chris Hedges for years now and appreciate his consistency. I see the world as grayer than Chris but there are still red lines. It is unfathomable to me why anyone would associate with Epstein once his behavior became known. I guess it is part and parcel to a belief in unaccountable entitlement. The irony of all this, is I suspect Trump, as venal as he is, may have been lucky and once he felt slighted by Epstein he kept his distance.
The Epstein files should be released in full and without redaction.
Have no idea what planet you are living on. Trump was in intimate contact with Epstein for a prolonged period. Numerous pictures of them with young girls. I won't repeat Trump's comments about the underage girls' "appropriateness."
Rick: About incentives... I once had a successful environmental company in Oakland and the politicians around the Berkeley City Council used me for a disreputable political purpose. They dangled very little, but I fell to their trap so easily I shrink now to think of how easy it was for them. It all went nowhere. But I am much less likely now to criticize another person for falling for incentives. I give Chomsky a pass.
I read Valéria Chomsky’s post yesterday and felt deeply disturbed by it for all the reasons you brought to light. Your piece pulled back a curtain on something I’ve sensed for a long time but couldn’t fully name.
For me, the rupture became painfully clear during Covid. Chomsky’s willingness to threaten or pressure people who chose not to participate in the state-backed Pfizer treatment—a company with a criminal record (a convicted serial felon) —was deeply unsettling. Someone I once admired for challenging state and corporate power suddenly appeared to align with it, rationalizing coercion in the name of public good. That shift left a lingering sense of moral dissonance I’ve struggled with for years.
Seeing your analysis alongside Valéria’s post makes it undeniable: proximity to elite power can corrode judgment, dull ethical instincts, and recast language meant for critique into a tool of compliance. Your writing helps put into words what I’ve felt but couldn’t fully articulate.
Chris, thank YOU—for your soul, for your truth-telling, for the work you do with inmates, and for holding up the true light of the divine in dark times. I follow you, as I would any great person—with humility, with gratitude, with love.
I’m not familiar with the case you mention, but perhaps in the face of a pandemic that was cutting down people by the hundreds of thousands weekly and was caused by a novel virus for which medical science had no tools for treating or preventing, Chomsky thought it was reasonable to compel people to submit to being vaccinated with a product that been been proven to be an effective preventative. It would have benefited society as a whole, while placing a temporary limit on personal freedom. I know that’s how I felt, as a retired critical care physician. Is that what you’re referring to?
Operation Warp Speed (the name alone should tell you how fast this was deployed), the COVID vaccines were rolled out faster than any previous vaccine in history, (as you probably know it takes 7 to 10 years to test vaccines). The fact that Pfizer did not want to release their studies on this treatment for 75 years, should tell you something. Please review those studies - it's critically important to understand what happened and who was harmed. The entire operation raises serious questions about long-term safety monitoring. I have close friends, PhDs at Stanford, who work with the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) database and review reported deaths and injuries across vaccines going back decades. Every Friday they get the report on deaths and injuries. They say the volume of reports following the COVID vaccines is unlike anything they’ve seen before. VAERS, which is a CDC/FDA vaccine safety surveillance system, is rarely discussed in depth publicly. The vaccine court is also not well known, but you can find information about Pfizer—as I mentioned, a company with prior felony convictions—from nonprofit databases that track injuries from medical treatments and drugs. Here is our governments VAERS database https://vaers.hhs.gov/
This is actually is the worst part of the tragic event that engulf the entire world. There were NO "hundreds of thousands" being "cut down weekly." This was not the deadly 1918 epidemic, it was a relatively mild-to-moderate upper respiratory tract infection, many also had some muscle involvement. People who were unnecessary put on ventilators and into the dangerous prolonged coma didn’t do so well. People who unwisely disrupted their fever with the over-the-counter anti-inflammatory meds got long-covid. Many severely obese died. Seniors were drugged and experimented on and separated from their families—many of them died (both of my parents among them, my mother being this brainwashed MD herself who refused to listen to me even though she knew that the homeopathic physicians that stellar records in ending epidemics.) The fear mongering was extreme. Presently, there is absolutely no public discussion nor investigations of any kind; as soon as the Ukraine war started—the pandemic ended.
You and others either have no idea or have suppressed knowledge of what was going on during the first one to two years of the pandemic. Let me remind you.
In the United States, hospitals were bursting beyond capacity with severely ill patients. People were dying in ERs and even on the street while waiting to get into ERs. Intensive Care Units were literally overwhelmed and ran out of ventilators for patients taking their last breaths. The death rate in hospitals was so high that portable morgues had to be set up outside. At the very same time, large numbers of health care workers fell victim to COVID. Tens of thousands of doctors, nurses, aids, pharmacists, clerical staff and others sacrificed themselves during those first two awful years.
Remember “flatten the curve?” It wasn’t just an empty slogan. It was all about relieving the immense strain on the health care system. It was also one of the main goals of the lockdown.
With regard to my claim that hundreds of thousands of people were dying weekly, I stand by it. Estimates of *total* mortality from COVID run as high as 1.7 million people in the United States alone. But remember, the pandemic was worldwide. In February 2021, the number of *daily* confirmed deaths in all countries was over 14,000. Total deaths (confirmed and unconfirmed) may have been as high as twice that number. Do the math.
Given this real-world story horror story, I have no time to hear about vaccine side effects. Yes, there are some bonafide adverse reactions (and many more imaginary ones), but in truth, the vast majority are relatively mild and temporary. And for those of you who are still reading, understand that the anti-vax movement is driven by ideology, not concerns for the health and well being of actual human beings. The true believers are unlikely to be moved by facts and reality. Their priorities are different.
Robert, I was there. I lived through the pandemic and the lockdowns. I haven’t forgotten anything as I was treated like a Jewess in the 1930s Berlin. I am a health care practitioner myself. In 2022, I had Covid too: a week of 39+ C fever. I also visited one central Toronto hospital's emerg because my BP went down to 80/50 and my mother and my daughter (both family physicians) screamed for me to get there. Most of what you have listed here about the hospitals bursting beyond capacity is not true. It is a part of the propaganda unleashed on us by the lying manipulative authorities and the press.
Robert, I am not talking about the vaccine's "side effects', this is a non-story. Every orthodox medicine's drug has what they call "side effects” as if one could determine which organ/tissues the drug works on and which it doesn’t. A fallacy. I was talking about putting people on ventilators and into prolonged coma—did you read that?
As for the data concerning the effectiveness of these brand-new drugs—we simply do not know because the US pharmacological industry is the most corrupt on the planet (more than the MIC). Besides, one does not vaccinate during an epidemic, it is a golden rule of immunology. Don't they teach it in medschool?
It is also not true about the thousands of healthcare workers dying from COVID. Do you have the list of their names? No.
Look, how quickly you slipped from listing this fabricated misinformation into the topic of ideology and systems of belief. And the labels. And the accusations that the vast numbers of common folk do not have any concerns “for the health and well being of actual human beings” (that’s actually nasty, a Class War in its finest.) Unfortunately, the fallout of these brutal authoritarian and—ultimately—senseless, irresponsible, and pseudoscientific policies, is that the masses of poorly educated American working-class people have stopped believing the authorities precisely because of all these lies. And this is where the true danger lies, especially in such a crazy country where there are more guns than people. It is, you, in fact, you who is an idealogue and you are PROJECTING your fears and your own deeply metabolized dogma onto others.
You seem well educated, yet you are resistant to facts that don’t fit your chosen narrative. You may rightfully be described as “willfully ignorant.” What you call “fabricated misinformation” was published in dozens of peer-reviewed journals and was the work of thousands dedicated professionals. You also impugn the integrity of the entire medical and scientific publishing world. Can you imagine how many individuals would have to agree to participate in such a gigantic conspiracy. And yet, where are the legions of whistleblowers?
As for health care workers being sickened and killed by COVID, my sources were daily news reports and information coming from online medical conferences that I attended regularly. You see, these conferences were hosted by genuine experts in infectious diseases, virology, critical care medicine and public health. They were not mere dilettantes like yourself. Your rant about “pseudoscientific policies” exposes you as a fraud. If policy mistakes were made, they were the inevitable result of having to make recommendations regarding a novel virus. No one in the entire world had experience with this particular coronavirus. Scientists and policymakers were working in the dark and learning on the job. Can you not imagine the difficulty of such a task? No, I’ll bet you cannot, because you only work with complete knowledge of everything.
And don’t get me started about not vaccinating during an epidemic. That is the exact opposite of correct. And what exactly is your complaint about putting people on ventilators and into a pharmacologic coma. That is standard practice when patients can no longer breathe on their own. When was the last time you worked in an ICU?
Again, you are a dilettante and a fraud. The more you write, the more you expose yourself. I suggest that you STFU.
Yes, Carolyn Mary Scott is referring to being very "painfully clear" that the 90 year old Chomsky was pressuring and threatening her to vaccinate.
Btw, no offence doctor, but the "product" was not at the time proven to be either effective in stopping the spread of the virus nor safe. :)))
Thank you Helen. I will take a look. I appreciate your desire to stop the hate that this world of ours seems to embrace so often.
Thank you for this.
Were you personally "threatened" by Chomsky for refusing to vaccinate, Carolyn Mary Scott? Were you really pressured by him? You got happily vaxxed anyways, I’ll bet.
I was seriously offended at first when this man said that I have to be taken to an island and left there without food and water. I was offended for a week or so, we all lived thru the horrors of the lockdowns, weren't we? Then I listened to this recording again. I saw a VERY old man who was seriously scared. He trusted with his life to all those criminal medicos and Pharma kings because they were his people, they all went to the same schools and hung out in the same halls of the elite universities. They are all empiricists by traning. They believe scientific research, even when its fraudulent (like the medical research is). So this old man believed the fraudster Epstein the same way be believed the criminal charlatans pharmacists. Whether or not he offended me, changed NOTHING about his scholarship. His contribution to our understanding of the function of capitalism, imperialism, and colonialism are fundamental and will not change. Most of the hyenas here, hungry for the old man’s blood, never read any of his stuff, Americans do NOT read! We all know that about you. Now Chomsky got a major stroke quite possibly because his Big Pharma associates got him filled with their toxic drugs. He paid a price. Leave him alone, hyenas, please!
I appreciate your impulse to defend an important figure. Chomsky has long been at the top of my list of American intellectuals who exposed the corporate–war machine and the surveillance state. His earlier work—which I have read closely and still cite in my Substacks—remains intact and valuable.
That said, it’s essential to confront why Chomsky was, as Chris Hedges puts it, “seduced.” Hedges and Chomsky were close friends and, in my view, of similar moral and intellectual stature. Precisely for that reason, it is deeply troubling that Chomsky appears to have been compromised.
I’ve studied the Epstein case in depth, and Whitney Webb’s reporting is especially important here. What emerges is not merely an individual criminal, but a vast intelligence-linked blackmail operation involving child trafficking—hardly a new tactic, but devastating in its scope. The evidence that Epstein operated within Israeli intelligence and CIA networks makes Chomsky’s efforts to protect or minimize Epstein’s actions impossible to ignore.
Holding this contradiction is difficult: acknowledging Chomsky’s towering intellectual legacy while also reckoning with a serious moral failure. But sweeping it under the rug does a disservice not only to the victims, but to the very ethical standards Chomsky himself spent a lifetime demanding of power.
OK, fair. Thank you for your thoughtful reply, Carolyn. It is not so much the desire to defend Chomsky that motivates me, it is rather the horror I feel at this spectacle of public execution. Given half a chance, most of these online trolls would gladly see him being thrown into a river to watch if he could pass the witch test. Furthermore, being neither American nor Christian, and in view of both of these entities’ sordid, gory history, I detest their moralizing.
Here is a balanced review, in my opinion, by Novara Media:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFvEajDgEcA
He allowed himself to be seduced, turned a blind eye in exchange for perks that the ordinary people he supposedly argues for, would never have. There were many people who didn't know but whose instincts were high on the "ick" factor. The "Lolita Express"? Give me a break even the more illiterate among us knows what that means. If they didn't see anything that was sure a clue about where the guy's mind was.
I mean it's not like Lolita Express was printed on the side of the plane, is it not possible that Chomsky was unaware of this nickname? So many people are quick to rush to judgement without any hard proof.
I haven't taken the time to keep a tally....so this is a general impression. Women here in the comment section appear to be more "hip" aware of the perversity "the dark side" of beloved uncle's nature than men. "One in five women and one in seven men were victims of sexual abuse in childhood, reveals a study published in The Lancet, which analyzes ..." (tecscience.com) When I participated as part of a rape crisis team of professionals decades ago the statistic was 1 out of 4 women had been sexually abused as children. Then, women stereotypically, who reported they had been victims were attacked in court for "causing" the men to abuse them...."the short skirt" smear.
Ms. Sweet thank you for that expression "the short skirt smear." It aptly describes Sigmund Freud, who was far more popular in the U.S. than in Europe. Freud interviewed a number of women who came to him claiming their fathers sexually abused them. Freud refused to believe them so he invented that whole fiction about "subconscious" which all human beings have in their mind. And which they are not aware of. The subconscious controls our behavior according to Freud. But we are not capable of recognizing this. Do not ask how he became aware of its existence while the billions of other human beings could not recognize it.
Freud went so far as to claim that women are controlled by a subconscious thing he called the "oedipus complex" which created in women a desire to fornicate with their fathers. Wow! This is victim-blaming on a vast scale. Half the human species is female. Freud was psychotic in a dangerous way. It has always been difficult or me to understand how so many Americans could believe such harmful psychobabble.....Girls are still sex slaves in the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Incidentally, evidence which subsequently surfaced, demonstrated that Freud's female clients were telling the truth. Still we refuse to pay attention to the evil, immoral victim-blaming of girls, in academia and in the courts.
Short skirt! Heck - I was tolded I was a provocative 3 year old! How is a 3 yr old provocative - particularly when I was usually dressed in coveralls etc as I climbed trees, rode my bike and and likes to run a lot - not always paying aytention to where I was going.
Predators like Epstein are always recruiting, poking, making remarks to see how you react and gauging how much farther they can go. I always admired Mr. Chomsky but find it hard to believe that Epstein didn't lob a few his way to see and that Mr. Chomsky was entirely unaware of Epsteins proclivities although maybe not to the extent. I'm disappointed he continued contact after it was painfully clear the kind of person Epstein was.
You would have to be a clueless very ignorant person not to know. Did you know?
Not only that, but you'd have to believe that Chomsky didn't have any more savvy friends who could take the Great Man aside and tell him that there may be a seamier side to this Epstein individual, that maybe this is not someone to get too chummy with.
Really?
When his wife says they didn't do enough checking, it leaves a space for people to ask the questions that Chomsky is now unable to answer. She said they visited the New York Mansion which is decorated in particularly sexualized style. (You can google the pictures of the mansion.)
Was it called that openly or just the repeat users or inner circle?
Katie Johnson alleges that, when she was a 13 year old child, she was tied to the four corners of a bed and raped, while onlookers ignored her screams for help. In 1994, the year this allegedly happened, the most requested Christmas gifts for 13 year old girls were Polly Pocket and Furby. Not sure why Ghislaine was transferred to a Texas dormitory style minimum security prison for white-collar criminals but, if Alvin Bragg convicts her in NY, she’ll be transferred to maximum security Bedford Hills. That’s where violent female sex offenders serve their time. https://katemanne.substack.com/p/the-actual-conspiracy-theory-surrounding. https://katemanne.substack.com/p/they-tried-to-bury-the-katie-johnson?r=2g4u&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/ghislaine-maxwell-transferred-to-minimum-security-prison-camp-in-texas.
I appreciate your allegiance to what’s right even if it must’ve been so hard for you to write this.
I watched earlier an interview you sat for with Mark Lamont Hill and was quite worried, distraught is a better word, that you might be making excuses for "your friend" Noam. I am glad you put pen to paper on this matter to set my heart at ease.
It is essential to state the obvious, despite Noam's reputation. It was more than a mistake, a misapprehension or a bad call. He was no fool. He actively coached Epstein on how to rehabilitate his image. It appears Noam displayed zero concern about Epstein's past and continuing sexual predation or for the young disadvantaged women and girls whom he abused. Noam is complicit, at a minimum and the excuse making insults our intelligence.
Thank you, again.
He made a choice to simply not ask didn’t he? Proof how ugly it can be to be a human intellectual and think you are immune from screwing up.
It was more than not asking. He was a convicted predator.
At least some of Epstein’s extracurricular activities were an open secret even before his first arrest.
Hell, *I* knew, and I don't exactly run in those circles.
Epstein, even with the extremely lenient deal that he received was still admitting to sexual trafficking of underage girls.
He was a sexual predator. This was known in 2008.
Every person referenced in the Epstein files chose to socialize with a sexual predator. That ought to be a very public stain on all of their reputations.
Chomsky's association with Epstein is such a disappointment.
No excuses, EVER.
We are here, the next if not final wave of peasant rebellion. We have no choice but to fight and win. ❤️🔥
Knowing you and Chomsky were friends, I’ve been thinking about you since the news came out. This kind of betrayal—for betrayal it is—leaves scars. I know, alas. Writing about it was the right thing to do, but damn, it must have hurt.
I too was totally disappointed when I read about Noam’s relationship with Epstein. I would have never thought of Noam associating with the power/ corruption and privilege class he so often talked about. It’s truly sad!
Did you read Valeria Chomsky's post? The automatic assumption on the part of many is that she and her husband knew about the "trafficking of children" by Epstein and then went ahead and associated with him anyway. I believe Valeria Chomsky. Why? Read what she wrote.
Her letter reads like one of an abused housewife who says her husband's beating her is really not that bad, that he had reasons.
Stupid multiply on the internet.
We do not really know much about this very weird marriage and this strange second wife of his. During his later speeches, she was always present behind the curtain and directed the hosts, who minded her instructions; when he switched to the online talks, she was always there, appearing to be in a bad mood. Valeria was the one, no doubt, who booked all these flights and dinners. Now, with Chomsky silenced, she is the one who gets to talk. Like Nietzsche’s sister.
If the Establishment is good at nothing else, it is very good at determining whom to buy off, whom to co-opt, whom to neutralize, whom to ignore.