I'm not gonna stand by everything the guy ever said. But he is 97 years old for lord's sake. chomsky-yes-honey He was born just a decade after the fall of Tsarist Russia.

Nobody stays the same over 100 years. Chomsky's been getting noticeably more inconsistent in his actions and statements since like.. the year 2000, which is when basically all these criticisms are from.

I'm not saying 'ignore all old people', but I am saying people change enormously over half a century and we shouldn't judge them as if they are exactly the same person they were. To start picking apart the consistency of the ramblings or actions of a ninety-seven year old as if he's still an on-the-ball scholar just feels a bit unnecessary.

[–] ghost_of_faso3@lemmygrad.ml 9 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Nobody stays the same over 100 years. Chomsky’s been getting noticeably more inconsistent in his actions and statements since like… the year 2000, which is when basically all these criticisms are from.

Not really, people have been calling him out since the early 90s for hanging out with the head of the CIA and being a warhawk shitlib

[–] Soot@hexbear.net 3 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

Well, yes really, almost all the shared criticisms are of post-2000 events.

And I agree that stuff is bad. I'm not saying he is completely defensible pre-2000, but he was much more politically consistent then than now.

[–] ghost_of_faso3@lemmygrad.ml 5 points 5 months ago

I mean even before the 90s I could mention how most of his sociological output is just re framing already existing sociology in a manner that defangs its revolutionary potential - hes been ribbing on Steven Lukes and shit his entire career.