Chomsky as Compatible Left Exemplar

In this episode we're joined by Gabriel Rockhill to discuss his new book, Who Paid the Pipers of Western Marxism, which takes a fascinating dive into the world of anticommunist Marxism and the role that the CIA and other nefarious imperialist forces play in dividing and neutralizing the left. Gabriel Rockhill is a philosopher, cultural critic, and activist teaching Philosophy and Global Interdisciplinary Studies at Villanova University and he runs an educational nonprofit called the Critical Theory Workshop. He is the editor of multiple books, including Western Marxism: How it was Born, How it Died, How it can be Reborn, by the Italian Marxist Domenico Losurdo.

The conversation opens with an overview of Who Paid the Pipers of Western Marxism, orienting us towards Gabriel's analysis of bourgeois intellectual production and its role in perpetuating anticommunism among the left. We then bring in the Epstein files and discuss their relevance to our conversation before exploring what led to Gabriel writing about the intellectual world war and the process of putting this book together itself.

We then introduce the idea of intellectual warfare and the role that the intellectual world war plays in shaping our ideologies in the most insidious and pervasive ways. We explore why the US empire must control our minds in such a way in order to maintain its hegemony, and what this looks like in practice. Gabriel then tells us about the political economy of knowledge production and the role of the imperial professional-managerial class plays in intellectual production.

We then discuss real world examples of how the compatible left was used by the financial-state-intellectual complex in its global war against communism—from the Frankfurt School to Noam Chomsky and beyond. We end with a commemoration of a left figure who embodies the opposite of the compatible, anticommunist left: Michael Parenti.

Further resources:

• Who Paid the Pipers of Western Marxism, Gabriel Rockhill (Monthly Review Press)
• Critical Theory Workshop
• "Left-Wing" Communism: an Infantile Disorder, Vladimir Lenin

Related episodes:

• Western Marxism w/ Gabriel Rockhill
• Listen to our ongoing series on China (which includes an episode with Gabriel Rockhill)
• US Labor & Imperialism Pt. 1: the War Against Communism w/ Jeff Schuhrke
• US Labor & Imperialism Pt. 2: Zionism w/ Jeff Schuhrke (Palestine Pt. 16)
• [UNLOCKED] How Fascism Works (a Michael Parenti Reading)

Intermission music: "Song for Alicia" by Haley Heynderickx and Max García Conover

Upstream is entirely listener funded. No ads, no promotions, no grants—just Patreon subscriptions and listener donations. We couldn't keep this project going without your support. Subscribe to our Patreon for bi-weekly bonus episodes, access to our entire back catalog of Patreon episodes, and for Upstream stickers and bumper stickers at certain subscription tiers. Through your support you'll be helping us keep Upstream sustainable and helping to keep this whole project going—socialist political education podcasts are not easy to fund so thank you in advance for the crucial support. patreon.com/upstreampodcast

For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Instagram and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.