Who is Jon Hochschartner and what is he on about? 

Seriously! And why does The Justice keep on publishing his letters?

By Aaron Klein ’26

Over the past year, Jon Hochschartner of Connecticut has written letters to the editors of The Justice no less than seventeen times. Pick up a paper any given week; it’s probably a solid bet to guess that one (if not both) of the letters to the editor are from Mr. Hochschartner. This struck me as strange? Why would Jon Hochschartner of Connecticut be writing every week to The Justice? Is Mr. Hochschartner a professor? No. Maybe a graduate student? Nope, not a grad student either.

Well, after some exhaustive research (fifteen minutes of google searches) I’ve come to the conclusion that Mr. Hochschartner has no obvious connection to Brandeis. Absolutely no connection at all. Instead, he’s just an individual who believes in a cause, and who is more than willing to send out his writing to newspapers across the country. In fairness, I’m not arguing that those who aren’t affiliated with Brandeis shouldn’t be able to write letters to The Justice. Needless to say, everyone should be able to submit their writing to newspapers. The Op-Ed section of newspapers can serve as a valuable outlet for diverse perspectives, a forum for public debates, and a space to critique and challenge the narrative of an outlet’s editorial page (Thank you Prof. von Mering for that one). However, outlets like The Justice also have a responsibility to present diverse and relevant perspectives to their readers, while also maintaining basic journalistic standards. Moreover, while OpEd pages usually offer writers broader freedom in their choice of topics, letters to the editor typically respond to articles or editorials previously published by the outlet. 

Part of my opposition to Mr. Hochschartner is the repetitive content of his pieces. Mr. Hochschartner’s favorite topic, his raison d’etre it seems, is expanding support for cultivated meat research. Of all the letters that Mr. Hochschartner has submitted to The Justice, every single one has mentioned his support for expanding cultivated meat research in some way or another. That is, he supports producing new proteins grown from livestock cells as a replacement for meat, which he views “as the most promising means of reducing nonhuman suffering and premature death.” In what can best be described as a relentless tsunami of ink since last September, Hochschartner has advanced the same monotonous points week in and week out. To be clear, I don’t really have any problem with Mr. Hochschartner making these points. Rather, I just can’t see how offering those perspectives again and again is valuable for The Justice’s readers.

Admittedly, it would be wrong to categorize Mr. Hochschartner’s letters as only think-pieces in support of cultivated meat research. He has also written to The Justice in opposition to the appointment of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy (because he doesn’t sufficiently back cultivated meat research) and in support of important causes, like mandated gender testing for all poultry embryos across the country. You know, so we can tell which chickens will be boys and which chickens will be girls, and then carry out massive national abortions of chicken fetuses based on their gender.

Silly as that may be, over the past couple months Mr. Hochschartner’s letters have gradually evolved from his typical manic but innocent enough championing of cultivated meat research, into a darker and more dangerous brand of political rhetoric that edges closer to incitement each week. For instance, in March of this year Hochschartner wrote a letter in favor of the immediate seizure of President Trump and Elon Musk’s private assets, and their repurposement to fund (you guessed it) … further cultivated meat research. In September, his tone darkened as he wrote a letter advocating for the abolishment of the senate, the packing of the supreme court, the elimination of the electoral college, and the reconstitution of the US government into a parliamentary system. Two weeks ago, The Justice published two of his letters. The first called for a national self-exile of all of those who have supported the current administration, so that they might avoid violent retribution. In the second letter, he questioned whether we might be in a time where “violence is becoming the only option remaining.” He continued, “we must stoke a revolutionary frenzy [to do] what is required to dislodge [the current administration] from power.” And last week, Mr. Hochschartner went so far as to suggest that Democratic governors  prepare their states to secede from the union. (In other news, Jon also seems to be a fan of both the New York Knicks and the Jonas Brothers so … do with that as you will.)

In writing this letter, I’ve come up with a few explanations as to why The Justice keeps on publishing this guy:

1.    Maybe “Klein: Unrelated” has not churned out enough satirical food review columns?

2.    Maybe there aren’t enough students left at Brandeis with strong opinions?

3.    Maybe the Forum email address isn’t working anymore?

4.   Or maybe since Gonny Nir graduated, Forum simply cannot find any more students to write dogmatic filler that cites Nietzsche twice and requires us all to google “what the hell is Hegel’s Dialectic?” (Although I will say that I now know what that means so … thank you Gonn[y]. You learn something new everyday.)

To be honest, I dislike the current administration just as much as the next Brandesian hoping to stay in good social graces with the rest of campus. Jokes aside, I really do find the administration’s actions on issues like immigration, tariffs, the military, and higher education dangerous and troubling. Additionally, I share Mr. Hochschartner profound concern over this administration’s pardoning of insurrectionists, prosecution of political enemies, and what can only be described as extreme public corruption. And hell, maybe I’d even be willing to stomach a rubbery and dry beyond burger occasionally if it meant doing a little bit more for the planet. But the more I’ve read Hochschartner, the more I’ve come to believe that the ideas he espouses have no business being printed every week in The Justice, even if that means that it’s harder for the Justice to fill their Forum pages.

Granted, there is a counterargument that goes something along the lines of: “Well Aaron, we’d love to publish other letters, but we just don’t receive any other letters to the editor? Would you have us leave the section blank?”

Yes! My answer is “Yes, of course! Leave it blank!” Given the choice between publishing an umteenth irrelevant letter on cultivated meat research, publishing a letter that suggests subtle approval, perhaps even full throated support for political violence, or having a photo editor insert a full page image of a kitten playing with a ball of yarn, the kitten might just be the right choice every time.

To conclude, I know I might not be a serious writer. It might even be a stretch to call me an unserious writer. Perhaps I’d be best described as just plainly unserious. But publishing Mr. Hochschartner’s cultivated meat agenda every week? Giving a consistent platform to a man whose letters don’t seem to respond to anything previously written, or have any relevant connection to Brandeis students? And printing letters that at a minimum tolerate, if not enthusiastically endorse, political violence and the utter dismantling of the US government? I can’t think of anything more unserious than that.