"This is the sound of the “liberal-dissident” class, so insulated, so smug, that it cannot see the demon sitting right across the table from it, so long as the demon can talk about linguistics.

Look at what he praises! He says Epstein gave him a “most valuable experience”. Valuable for what? For learning about the “intricacies of the global financial system”. He doesn’t ask how Epstein got this “intimate knowledge”. He doesn’t ask who this financial system crushes. No, he’s just fascinated by the “arcane world of finance”. It’s an academic puzzle to him!

Epstein isn’t just a “friend”; he is a facilitator. He is the social secretary for the ruling class. Chomsky wants to talk about the Oslo agreements? Epstein picks up the phone and gets the Norwegian diplomat who ran them. He wants to meet a former Israeli Prime Minister, a man whose record he’s “studied”? Epstein arranges the meeting.

And they all sit around and have a “very fruitful discussion”.

Chomsky is flattered by the attention. He’s impressed by the “limitless curiosity” and “penetrating insights” of the man. He is so dazzled by the “provocative ideas” that he completely misses the material reality of the man’s actions.

It’s not that he didn’t know. It’s that, in the end, it didn’t matter to him. The “intellectual stimulation” was worth the price of admission. It’s a perfect, grotesque apologia for class power."

• @[email protected]

Quiet liberal