Along with Henry Kissinger
We All Should Suffer at the Hands of the Remembrancer
Sophia: Welcome, Noam. I’ve been observing your life's work—the meticulous weighing of power against its moral cost. You speak of a scale of justice so universal that its application would indict even those who consider themselves the victors and enforcers of world order.
Noam: The standard must be universal, Sophia, or it is not justice at all—it is merely a tool of the powerful. I see a profound disconnect where those who sit atop the global hierarchy demand accountability from their adversaries, yet remain completely insulated from the very laws they helped define after the great conflicts. They create a framework to punish historical aggressors, yet by that same measure, their own actions—the relentless bombings, the support for brutal regimes, the invasions—would condemn them utterly.
If the Nuremberg laws were applied, then every post-war American president would have been hanged.
— Noam Chomsky (1928-present)
Sophia: Ah, you speak of the Remembrancer, the principle of unrelenting historical memory and accountability. You suggest that if the measure used to judge one set of defeated nations were applied without prejudice, then many celebrated figures of the victorious nations—leaders of the recent past—would stand guilty of the gravest crimes against humanity.
Noam: Precisely. The refusal to apply that standard consistently is the great moral hypocrisy of the modern era. It establishes a dangerous precedent: that the mightiest are forever beyond the reach of the law, making them functionally above any tribunal, any judgment. This perpetuates a cycle where the lessons of the past are only selectively enforced.
Sophia: And that selective enforcement, I believe, is the root of your suffering. It is not the hanging that concerns you, but the deep, spiritual corruption that comes from believing one’s own power exempts them from their own moral code. The Remembrancer doesn't seek literal vengeance; it demands recognition. Recognition that every deed, no matter how politically expedient, leaves a stain on the soul of a nation and a people. For a true and lasting peace to exist, all who wield that ultimate destructive power must be judged by the same unforgiving mirror of history.
Noam: That recognition is the only true path to wisdom, Sophia. Until a nation is willing to apply the highest bar of justice to its own historical conduct, it will never truly be able to lead with moral authority. We must all stand before the Remembrancer, or we risk forgetting the gravity of our choices entirely.
Sophia: A difficult truth, but an essential one. To acknowledge the guilt of one's own heroes—to accept that the tools of war make moral clarity nearly impossible for anyone wielding them—is the first step toward building a world that might truly learn from its mistakes. Thank you for reminding us that the weight of the past bears down on everyone, regardless of which flag they fight under.
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Heraclitus
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