https://www.reddit.com/r/chomsky/comments/1ifvicu/who_comes_close_to_chomsky_today/
created by AnAgalma on 02/02/2025 at 11:41 UTC
144 upvotes, 37 top-level comments (showing 25)
Of our contemporary thinkers/ commentators/ activists etc., who would you say still proposes ideas akin to Chomsky's social, political philosophy. There is so much fluff and BS in today's commentary, I would be so relieved to find anyone is able to cut through to the core as Chomsky always did.
Comment by MasterDefibrillator at 02/02/2025 at 13:37 UTC
58 upvotes, 1 direct replies
There's plenty of people who share Chomsky's political positions, and even some of his eruditeness on US foreign policy. But no-one that comes close to him as a person. He's a once in a lifetime genius level polymath.
Comment by unflores at 02/02/2025 at 12:15 UTC
139 upvotes, 3 direct replies
Varoufakis is pretty awesome. How he became a public figure is quite interesting. He coined the term techno feudalism that has impacted the way I view modern economics.
Comment by Professional-Basis33 at 02/02/2025 at 11:50 UTC
95 upvotes, 4 direct replies
Chris Hedges just quoted Chomsky in his latest interview with Al Jazeera
Comment by Thompsonhunt at 02/02/2025 at 15:08 UTC
17 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Well I would recommend reading Fisk’s A Great War for Civilization
Edward Said
In terms of modern thinkers there is no direct comparison, Chomsky was a world of his own. But you can semi replicate his thought process by using his sources in books. One of my favorite is Understanding Power, I reference it often. Sources are awesome. Or in Hegemony, again you can see how he uses different media to paint a picture
Comment by Available-Release124 at 02/02/2025 at 12:37 UTC
40 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Chomskys strength steems from being a cognitive scienctist, and not just any but the most prominent. Linguistics, anthropology, Psychology, neuroscience, artificial Intelligence, Philosophy. I would say that no one is as unique as Prof Chomsky and has contributed so much to several Scientific areas.
On a sidenote ; this is also the reason why i hate to see how this subredit uses his name for unrelated topics and comments being made by members who haven't even read any of the literature. Daily posts by people shocked by "breaking news". But had they at least read Manufacturing consent, well i would expect a constructive discussions in the comment section.
Ps if anyone would like to get one of his books, i would love to share an ebook version for free.
Comment by cooperinveen at 02/02/2025 at 16:12 UTC
13 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Arundhati Roy. Her non-fiction writing has opened my eyes as an adult in the ways Chomsky did when I was a teenager. Has written forwards for Chomsky books too. “Azadi” is a great starting point.
That’s of course to say nothing about her Booker Prize-winning fiction work.
Comment by Rabble_1 at 02/02/2025 at 13:16 UTC
8 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Unfortunately there is no one at the moment who manages to possess the incredible scope of knowledge and understanding of our world as Chomsky does, while also being able to articulate it effectively.
Thankfully, his contributions have helped shape our understanding of that world, and his lessons are more applicable now than ever.
Comment by softwarebuyer2015 at 02/02/2025 at 15:46 UTC
8 upvotes, 0 direct replies
There's no one person who comes close.
Jeremy Corbyn has the morality, Michael Hudson has incisive analysis of US economic agression. Democracy Now still exists. I dont know anyone who calls Foreign Policy like chomsky. There's are a lot of ecomonist with better economic work that chomsky.
Comment by poostoo at 02/02/2025 at 12:03 UTC
32 upvotes, 2 direct replies
should have been Michael Brooks :(
rest in power
Comment by ChubbyAngmo at 02/02/2025 at 13:15 UTC
16 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I know of nobody who matches Chomsky’s intellectual strength, not even anyone who comes close. However, as someone else has mentioned here, Chris Hedges is a heavyweight in his own right.
Comment by lifebeyondfife at 02/02/2025 at 19:30 UTC
7 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Matt Kennard
Comment by scorponico at 02/02/2025 at 11:52 UTC
19 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I think you would have to build a composite of four or five people to come close to Chomsky, but Jason Hickel would be first on my list.
Comment by bachiblack at 02/02/2025 at 12:05 UTC
20 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Chris Hedges, although, I notice that Chomsky’s end thought optimism is justifiably but noticeably absent in Hedges.
It makes him come across as a doomsday prophet or in other words someone who read the morning paper before desensitization.
Comment by sea-of-unorthodoxy at 02/02/2025 at 12:57 UTC
18 upvotes, 1 direct replies
First thought was Norman Finkelstein.
Comment by codeephene at 02/02/2025 at 16:12 UTC
11 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Naomi Klein?
Comment by devil_theory at 02/02/2025 at 13:03 UTC
20 upvotes, 3 direct replies
Vijay Prashad or Parenti, however the latter is as ancient as Chomsky and no longer in the public.
Comment by ceramicfiver at 02/02/2025 at 11:56 UTC
21 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Nathan J. Robinson
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_J._Robinson
He cites Noam Chomsky as his main political influence
He already is incredibly prolific. He’s only 34 or 35 yet has twelve books published already, sixteen if counting his illustrated books
He will reply to you if you email him, just as Chomsky did
Robinson’s main focus on “what to do” is organize social movements, as was Chomsky’s.
Comment by rafael4273 at 02/02/2025 at 11:59 UTC
14 upvotes, 4 direct replies
Michael Parenti
Comment by LuciusMichael at 02/02/2025 at 22:00 UTC
5 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Prof. Timothy Snyder has somewhat taken up the mantle as a public intellectual. Chris Hedges is an acolyte whose books, lectures and activism are top notch.
Chomsky is a one-off genius. Revolutionized linguistics and then went on to political activism and revolutionize political discourse, expose the techniques of propaganda, and the critical analysis of government machinations especially as regards foreign policy.
Comment by D7w at 02/02/2025 at 14:49 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Yanis Varoufakis? Chris Hedges?
Comment by Anton_Pannekoek at 02/02/2025 at 14:25 UTC
10 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Some people spring to mind, but there is nobody quite like Chomsky.
Jeffery Sachs, Aaron Mate, Caitlin Johnstone, Vijay Prashad and a host of other alternative and left wing commentators.
Comment by BIGTIDYLUVER at 02/02/2025 at 15:11 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Honestly there is no one with the amount of range and personality that Chomsky had
Comment by Red_bearrr at 02/02/2025 at 19:36 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Idk, but I’m saving this to look up the people I hadn’t heard of.
Comment by donoho-59 at 03/02/2025 at 03:08 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Before he passed, I felt like Michael Brooks reminded me a lot of Chomsky. Not quite the encyclopedic knowledge but he was extremely keyed into international issues & had a great way of reading and interpreting what was going on. Real shame that he passed so young.
Comment by kingrobin at 02/02/2025 at 18:02 UTC
1 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Zizek? Might be a stretch.