Cancel culture is
Did not exist Or effectively banned. But try telling that to Jeffrey Sachs, the globally respected economist who faced cancellation simply for telling the truth. To this day, he is shunned by the media that once sought his comments. When he strayed from the approved talking points, he was summarily banished. Banned, never to return.
To understand exactly why, we need to look back to September 26, 2022, when that bold act of war took place.
“The mainstream media has engaged in disinformation, concealed the truth, denied basic history and promoted a false narrative that the Ukraine war was ‘unprovoked.'”
On this day, the world was shaken by the disruption of the Nord Stream pipeline, a vital route for natural gas supplies from Russia to Europe. Amid the speculation, accusations and counter-accusations, one voice cut through the noise with a simple, yet controversial, observation:
Shortly after the attack, Sachs appeared on Bloomberg Live, and when asked who was responsible, the scholar boldly stated the obvious:
united states of america.
Biden’s boast
The allegations, based on a series of well-documented threats and policy statements, should have sparked serious debate. Instead, they effectively forced Sachs out of the mainstream media. His crime was not spreading falsehoods, but rather refusing to repeat the approved narrative.
Sachs simply connected the dots.
exchange On February 7, 2022, a reporter asked President Biden what would happen to Nord Stream 2 if Russia invaded Ukraine. Biden responded, “If Russia invades, Nord Stream 2 will no longer exist. We will end it.” When the reporter asked how he would achieve this, the president assured, “I promise you. We can make it happen.”
This appears to have been one of the promises Joe Biden actually kept.
“This isn’t the first time that leading US politicians have pledged to kill Nord Stream,” Sachs told me. “Many leading US politicians have vowed to block Nord Stream 2 from going live. Of course, investigative reporter Seymour Hersh, along with US intelligence sources, later explained exactly how the US blew up the pipeline.”
“It is not surprising,” the outspoken commentator added, “that European countries are acting foolishly and refusing to say anything intelligent on the issue. Their silence speaks volumes. It is really pathetic that they are avoiding the truth and avoiding the search for the truth.”
Exiled from the mainstream
Sachs’ truth-telling has led to him being alienated from the mainstream media. He was once a frequent commentator on outlets like MSNBC and CNN, but he quickly fell out of favor. Incredibly, CNN has refused to let Sachs appear on their show, but…
Jeffrey ToobinHe is known for his proactive, hands-on approach during Zoom calls. return.
“Fundamentally, the mainstream media has gone along with the official story, not just about Nord Stream 2, but about the Ukraine war in general, and they don’t want to hear from me or anyone who disagrees,” Sachs said. “They have disguised themselves, concealed the truth, denied basic history, and promoted the false idea that the Ukraine war was ‘unprovoked.'”
Sachs is not a Russia apologist. Rather, he argues that the war in Ukraine began with US involvement in the violent overthrow of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014. Yanukovych prioritized Ukraine’s neutrality over NATO membership, and the US and major European countries did not accept this stance. As a result, a coup was instigated, and Petro Poroshenko, a strong advocate of Ukraine’s NATO membership, became president.
Digging deeper
For those skeptical of US involvement in the toppling of Yanukovych, it is important to remember that over the past 60 years, the US, through the CIA, has been involved in numerous coups and regime changes around the world, especially during the Cold War. These actions were usually justified in the name of protecting US interests, promoting democracy, and countering the spread of Communism.
In 1953, the CIA orchestrated a coup to overthrow Iran’s democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh after he nationalized the British-controlled oil industry. The coup restored Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to power, who ruled as dictator until the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Similarly, in 1954, the CIA led Operation PBSUCCESS to oust Guatemala’s democratically elected President Jacobo Arbenz, who had initiated land reforms that threatened the interests of the U.S.-owned United Fruit Company. The coup led to decades of military rule and civil war.
After Congo’s independence from Belgium in 1960, the CIA played a key role in the overthrow and assassination of Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba, who was seen as a potential ally of the Soviet Union, which led to the rise of Mobutu Sese Seko, who established a dictatorship.
In 1973, the CIA backed a military coup that overthrew Chile’s democratically elected president, Salvador Allende, whose socialist policies and ties to the Soviet bloc alarmed the U.S. The coup installed General Augusto Pinochet as a brutal dictator.
In Indonesia, the CIA provided support and intelligence to the Indonesian military during the anti-communist purges that led to the overthrow of President Sukarno in 1965. The purges led to the massacre of as many as one million suspected communists and brought General Suharto to power. The United States also supported the coup that led to the assassination of South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem in 1963. Diem’s oppressive regime and lack of broad support complicated U.S. efforts in the Vietnam War; his removal was intended to stabilize the government but led to further unrest.
In the 1980s, the CIA funded and trained the Contra rebels who fought against the Sandinista government in Nicaragua. The Contras overthrew the US-backed Somoza dictatorship. This was part of a larger strategy to counter Soviet influence in Latin America. The list is long.
Not surprisingly, no mainstream media outlet is covering the idea that the US government was involved in the events of February 2014. The entanglement of mainstream media and government agencies is no secret. “The media is deeply intertwined with the US military-industrial complex and in particular with the US intelligence agencies. This has been very well documented for decades,” Sachs said.
He is, of course, right: The New York Times, for example, played a key role in spreading false stories about weapons of mass destruction and justifying the invasion of Iraq after 9/11 through government-sourced information. This symbiotic relationship ensures that dissenting voices like Sachs’ are systematically silenced.
Saxophone and violence
It’s worth noting that Sachs is not a disgruntled lunatic. His record is impeccable and speaks for itself. He has worked with governments around the world for decades. He understands better than anyone the complexities of governance and the motivations behind long-running conflicts. A trained macroeconomist, he is a Harvard graduate who previously advised governments in Latin America, Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union on the transition from Marxism-Leninism to market economies.
Despite being ostracized by the mainstream media, Sachs continues to work undaunted: “I research and promote practical solutions for economic development, environmental sustainability, social inclusion (such as ensuring every child has a good education), and to end and prevent war.” To do this work, he travels extensively; he was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, when he answered my questions. When he’s not advising governments in Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe, the 69-year-old teaches at Columbia University.
Regarding the future of the Ukrainian conflict, Sachs maintains a calm and realistic view: “The war will either end in negotiations based on Ukrainian neutrality, or Ukraine’s defeat on the battlefield, or, if the US continues to escalate and provokes Russian escalation, in a nuclear war. Ukrainian neutrality is the only path to peace and security for Ukraine,” he argues.
Will the powers that be heed his warning? The chances are slim to none.
Sachs’ cancellation is a reminder that speaking the truth in the land of the free can come at a great personal and professional cost — even in 2024, the United States is a country where speech is tightly controlled and dissent is quickly punished.
The word “courage” is often tossed around recklessly, like confetti at a pride parade. But Sachs is courageous. Remember, he works at Columbia University. Like many elite universities, Columbia is gripped by a kind of pathological progressivism, where dissent is neither sought nor tolerated. Anyone who deviates from a very particular script is met with vociferous opposition. Sachs’ banishment from the mainstream media is not just a personal loss, it is a societal loss: it deprives the public of an informed, critical perspective at a time when it is sorely needed.
