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    Assessing Chomsky From bad ideology to disgrace 📂 Archived Message

    Posted by Subhi on January 2, 2026, 5:49 pm

    I discovered Noam Chomsky’s books when I was in my twenties (during the late 1980s) and deeply admired him for decades. The only intellectual I ever admired more than Chomsky was Bertrand Russell, who I discovered at a much younger and more impressionable age.

    During the early 2000s, the internet was a shiny new thing, and I was thrilled to join the Znet Sustainer Forum. Forum members could interact directly with Chomsky and other leftist writers. It was one of the many ways Chomsky propped up alternative media, something he had done for decades. Before the internet, Z Magazine was one of the places where I found relief from the suffocating reactionary conformity of the corporate media. Sunday morning political talk shows were especially soul-crushing to watch. Every month I’d look forward to getting Z Magazine in the mail so I could 1) confirm that I wasn’t crazy for being disgusted with establishment news media 2) arm myself with facts and arguments. Needless to say, any alternative news magazine or radio show at the time that featured a contribution by Chomsky would get a big boost.

    I noticed that, unlike some writers in the Znet forum, Chomsky did not come off as an arrogant jerk. He was very approachable and generous with his time. Years later, I began interacting with him directly by email and, until about 2011, always agreed with his replies. Later, when we disagreed I never felt belittled or disrespected by him. On the contrary, he was very encouraging of my writing. I should note that a few of Chomsky’s friends, Ed Herman and John Pilger, with whom I never became disillusioned, were similarly pleasant and generous in responding to writers like me who had nothing approaching their stature.

    Early warning signs: Haiti
    I discovered Noam Chomsky’s books when I was in my twenties (during the late 1980s) and deeply admired him for decades. The only intellectual I ever admired more than Chomsky was Bertrand Russell, who I discovered at a much younger and more impressionable age.

    During the early 2000s, the internet was a shiny new thing, and I was thrilled to join the Znet Sustainer Forum. Forum members could interact directly with Chomsky and other leftist writers. It was one of the many ways Chomsky propped up alternative media, something he had done for decades. Before the internet, Z Magazine was one of the places where I found relief from the suffocating reactionary conformity of the corporate media. Sunday morning political talk shows were especially soul-crushing to watch. Every month I’d look forward to getting Z Magazine in the mail so I could 1) confirm that I wasn’t crazy for being disgusted with establishment news media 2) arm myself with facts and arguments. Needless to say, any alternative news magazine or radio show at the time that featured a contribution by Chomsky would get a big boost.

    I noticed that, unlike some writers in the Znet forum, Chomsky did not come off as an arrogant jerk. He was very approachable and generous with his time. Years later, I began interacting with him directly by email and, until about 2011, always agreed with his replies. Later, when we disagreed I never felt belittled or disrespected by him. On the contrary, he was very encouraging of my writing. I should note that a few of Chomsky’s friends, Ed Herman and John Pilger, with whom I never became disillusioned, were similarly pleasant and generous in responding to writers like me who had nothing approaching their stature.

    Early warning signs: Haiti
    During my time in the Znet forum in the early 2000s I recall Chomsky making a few negative remarks about former Haitian president Jean Bertrand Aristide while Aristide was serving his second term in office.

    Aristide’s first term was cut short in 1991 by a U.S.-backed military coup that Chomsky very strongly denounced. Bill Clinton, who Chomsky once referred to in the Znet forum as a “thug”, allowed Aristide to return to Haiti in 1994. Chomsky was scathing in describing the outrageous concessions Clinton had wrung from Aristide: forcing Aristide to accept impunity for the military that had spent three years murdering thousands of his supporters, forcing Aristide to accept that his three years in exile count as time served in office, and forcing Aristide to adopt neoliberal economic policies that were the opposite of Aristide’s winning campaign platform in 1990.

    https://joeemersberger.substack.com/p/assessing-chomsky

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