Re: Michael Tracey on Epstein and Chomsky

The Compact piece is utterly superb, and Chomsky only goes up in my estimation as a result of his complete immunity to the current hysteria. I've just dropped into BC again, and one thing that is noticeable is how little discussion there has been here about the Epstein media vortex, despite this having very nearly brought down the British PM Keir Starmer. Mandelson, of course, has been completely damned. Mandelson is not a person I like at all, so it is very annoying that his fall is due to something - his friendship with Epstein - which shouldn't be an issue. For those of us who are interested in current politics, our various media 'feeds' are likely to have been full of Epstein condemnation. For those on the Right it is proof of the pedophile networks that they've all along claimed to characterise the 'woke elite'. For those on the Left it is a window into the alleged corrupt world of the oligarchs. (And indeed there is reason to be opposed to the intersection of wealth and political power, but not because of Epstein.) It is a powerful reminder that we can never really feel fully part of any contemporary political movement; that we are forever at odds with the spirit of the age. At least, as someone more or less on the far left, I can look to Chomsky as someone on the left who is/was a voice of sanity, even as he is being repudiated by the timeservers. And I have to add that all this serves to illustrate the complete unreality of any notion of “activism”, particularly in the anglosphere. The “pedophile” has become the all-encompassing figure of evil, its amorphous definition ever-expanding. Only a massive cultural shift will change this, and we cannot expect any such shift in the anglosphere in our lifetimes. Activism in the present is equivalent to waving our arms around, trying to draw attention to the few areas of the internet that are as yet unpoliced by an establishment against which we have no defence whatever. The focus should be on survival, on enabling us to live sane and productive lives in the present, and keeping alive the knowledge of previous eras; not flinging ourselves, Lemminglike, off cliffs. At some point in the future the time will be propitious for the intrusion of reason into the political sphere, but almost certainly not until we ourselves have long been pushing up the daisies. But, returning to the Compact article, I am amazed that any media outlet can publish an essay like Michael Tracey's (everyone here should read it). I think I shall be paying more attention to Compact - if they can publish an essay like this, then maybe they are worth paying attention to. One thing we should not forget: Ghislaine Maxwell is currently serving a ridiculous twenty year sentence, essentially for nothing. Twenty long years in a prison, twenty years spitefully taken from her, and no one seems to care. We should care, even if no one else does. P.S. Just to get everything in one post, I read your post about Wuthering Heights with interest, and I mean to view it in due course. Definitely sounds interesting.