Chris Hedges: Empire of Illusion

Well this is the most sober I have felt about USA's current situation. I think I will have to watch this video a few more times to grasp it all. I was amazed at how many "HUGE" topics I have often thought about were all enclosed in this one presentation. A side note, I really believe that the majority of the USA are more similar then the left and right have us to believe. Personally I believe this division has been another methodology of distraction and Big Corporations have embraced and nurtured their new little brother -- Big Government -- with their own weekly bouts of professional wrestling. I say this because if you leave out his comments about the Christian Right/Republican you find an agnostic conservatism. I was amazed at how verbatim everything he said from the disillusionment of the democratic party to the obvious hypocrisy of the Republican party 'increasing' big government that I having a rural conservative based American heritage agreed. I share this because I know Fora.tv has a tendency to be Left, and I just wanted to share some hope that maybe the middle is much bigger and warmer place than we are lead to believe. My brother asked me (a republican who just started teaching at a college) how come the Ivory tower tends to to be left when the right has so much more pragmatical thinking (e.g., letting the market work its way out, science over love, etc). I replied, "It's simply a schism. That the Ivory tower embraced science and "unfortunately" the republican part embraced religion (e.g., Evolutional theory vs. Creationism). It was a long silent moment and my agnostic brother with a Master in Engineering digested that all to simple, but very true statement. With that in mind and that we are a Christian Nation in that the majority of Americans define themselves as Christians even though many do not practice it; A REAL Crisis is the fuel of religion and I think Chris Hedges words should be headed in regards to the USA could easily become a fascist state... Heavy, and I'll come back to read the comments above. I just had to write this down while I could. Time for some silence...

trsh: Edward Bernays might as well have been on state welfare. He worked for corporations that gained power with the aid of government protectionism. He might as well have had an office in D.C. at some federal building. Taxpayers financed him.

trsh, Nice arguement, and refutation of mine.

@Mark Sulivan: "Cheech..." That was a rant if ever I saw one. You still seem to be floundering about unable to break out of "mirage-world" that the was created for You and Your likes in the 50's by Edward Bernays" (the goebbels of USA)and his "employers". Quite tragic to "see". Good luck with that.

Hedges is a classic, nihilistic, postmodern, post-Christian socialist, with the benefits of freedom as a citizen of the United States. His views are the same litany of anti-capitalist nonsense that communist and socialist strong men have used to tyrannize their people for a long time. I loved his line that some "expert" somewhere claimed that the methane emissions from the melting permafrost of Siberia could asphixiate the human race. That was beautiful. And let me guess, this "expert" says he can save us from this doom if we relinquish some of freedom, economic or otherwise, to he and his group. Western European socialist democracies have 10%+ unemployment rates during good times. They are importing a permanent underclass of backward, uneducated Muslims to help support their welfare states, since they are so decadent and reliant on the state, they are no longer having children. Unfortunately, it isn't working and many Scandanavian cities and cities throughout England and Europe are losing their way of life. Ask any citizen of Rotterdam, Malmo or the London or Paris suburbs about how their quality of life is, as night after night "disgruntled youths" (the P.C. euphemism for unemplyed Muslim immigrants) burn cars, intimidate people, deface Synagogues and threaten gays, while living in government housing, with government health care. Mankind cannot deliberately create a utopia. Nor is there "unfettered capitalism" in the United States. Our corporate tax rate is among the world's highest. Most of the Democrat Party run states are hostile to business through confiscatory tax rates and onerous regulations. Union demands for uncompetitive compensation packages, regardless of the profitability of the companies they worked for have sent manufacturing jobs elsewhere. An important note is that our manufacturing output has increased many fold because of increased productivity and automation. Fewer people can produce far more goods than was possible in the past. You do not suggest we suspend ways to make production more efficient, do you, Mr. Hedges? Jobs and corporations leave the United States because the American government's regulation and taxation does not treat capital well. Capital goes where it is treated well. Does Hedges suggest I voluntarily pay more for products simply so the assembly line guy or farmer can make a "living wage?" I am suffering a large loss in income during this economic downturn. My taxes are a huge burden as well. Since my relationship with businesses is voluntary, I can choose not to spend my money with them. Government confiscates my wealth through force. I get no slack cut from the government on taxes. No corporation can make me purchase their product or change my behavior. Government can and does. Which is more sinister? Mr. Hedges' 800 pound elephant in his room is GOVERNMENT, the source of more violence, evil, corruption and harm than any corporation could ever cause. "Corporations" are fictions. A corporation is just a group of people who pool their money to run a business and the people they hire to run the business to make it profitable so the owners earn a desireable return on their investment. If government stayed out of their businesses, businesses would have no reason to lobby. The real problem is GOVERNMENT corruption. Let the free market and its incentives, both positive and negative regulate the economy. A failed business, like G.M. should be allowed to fail. Obama bailed them out for one reason - he wants union votes. If G.M. went bankrupt, they would still operate. Bankruptcy is actually a very organized process that helps businesses reorganize and find a way back to profitability. If Wal-Mart, with its 2 MILLION employees worldwide was at risk of failing, would Obama lift a finger? I think not. As an aside, I would be interested to learn the unemployment rates in Hong Kong, the closest state to truly have "unfettered free markets." In summary, Hedges lives in a mysthical magical world of communist/socialist dogma. His arguement did not persuade me of anything except that we need to fight his ideology and the people that are trying to force it on America with all our might. Ther Michael Jackson narratives at the beginning and end of his screed were bizarre, deconstructionist nonsense. Amexpat, The often quoted statistic regarding American Passport holding is irrelevant. In Europe, travelling to a different country with a different language, customs and overall culture is simply a day's drive or a train ride away. For me to fly to Paris from my home in California is $1,000+ just for airfare and the crossing of time zones and the use of a day or two simply to get there. Americans travelk plenty within their own country and elsewhere. I live in a resort community in California and I see very few Europeans or Russians visiting here. Before 9/11, Americans travelled freely, withoput passport to Canada and Mexico. You quoting that is an arrogant attempt to make Americans look stupid or less sophisticated than Europeans.

why no download?

Quote: Originally Posted by ethorson Hedges, does not seem to lament the loss of American Empire, as much as he seems to dread what may take the place of Empire. He obviously wants America to follow northern Europe's example, but realizes that our very religious population will not move to a secular and socialistic solution without revolution. Hedges lambastes Obama as a traitor to the left and that disturbs me, because I never thought that Obama was a leftist. I believed he was a centrist who believes that he can make deals with corporations and change their predatory ways from within. I believe that Hedges hates corporations so much that it has clouded his vision of what they are and how you can simply change their actions. I don't mean to preach, but corporations are like armadillos. Hard shell on one side and all soft underneath. Attack them with laws and you have a hard time, educate their consumers and you have them at your feet, doing what you want. . This very mechanism of regulation is what makes Northern Europe viable with high standards of life quality. They resisted what we didn't, they prevented corporations from dominating public policy. We can't to what they have the option of doing; having a public debate to decide rational policies without the entire conversation and framing controlled entirely by corporations. Imagine what our education and health care, and labor policies would be if we decided what was best from ALL possible options instead of just being able to choose from a very narrowly restricted choice of options corporations provide. The US would be a different country, and quite likely even the corporations would benefit. I moved from the US 7 years ago after becoming so estranged from my own society, it seemed insane to me with no future except chaos. Unfortunately my most dire fears were not fearful enough to describe how powerless the people have become. Americans might be angry and feeling hopelessness but their anger is being directed towards false enemies by the very corporations that control the debate. Unless venturing outside of the veil of illusions, and seeing how other people in the world live and how they control their destinies, Americans will never realized what the current state of the nation is or that there are alternatives. Only one insignificant little change in policy/law in the late 1800s caused all these destructive changes to the grand experiment of the US republic, all current problems trace to that giving corporations the status of super person hood, with a superset of rights and almost no responsibilities. As a result all human persons have had their self determination and influence over their nation severely diminished. There is no reason that corporation could not be healthy and be responsible elements for good for the society if that one trait was removed. They should be regulated, competed against, made to take responsibility for their actions and impact on society. There is no democracy or self determination when non-human entities have rights to dominate public policy. Unfortunately Americans are highly isolated and insulated, and rely on strong but false illusions about how the world works, fewer than 19% even have a passport let alone really delve into other cultures to see what works and doesn't. The quality of life in the US has dropped dramatically in recent decades while almost the entire rest of the world has improved. There is a world of difference in quality and happiness between the US and all of Europe, Scandinavia, even Central and Eastern Europe. These populations are well educated, much more optimistic, happier and more secure, with more personal freedom than Americans. I now live in St Petersburg Russia and dread returning to the US yearly to visit family, the levels of stress, insanity and propaganda is dramatic. Young people here are optimistic and see the future as bright because they see monthly improvements in options, financial and social opportunities, and security. Just having the population very well educated and less susceptible to propaganda is a pleasure to be around. Imagine US circa 1955 during the mass migration into middle class due to the GI Bill of Rights and major national infrastructure investment in highways,schools and sudden ability to buy a home. The US bootstrapped itself into a major industrial giant by intentionally moving millions of people into middle class with well paid manufacturing jobs, access to education and an exploding economy. Everyone was optimistic and believed that the natural order of things was that children would surpass their parents in opportunities, security and happiness. We did have that until about 1970 when the middle class reached its peak. Since that time and the shift to corporate domination of policy it has been a downhill slide. Now compare that reason for optimism to US in today's world. Well, India, China, Brazil, Russia and others are 1956 USA. The whole economic center of the universe is shifting from the west to the east. The demagogues armed with a corporate controlled media have rewritten history and even the meaning of words. The US is living a delusion and no change can occur unless that insular bubble is popped. Personally, i am not hopeful, I think the population is so blinded by the illusion that positive change in the real world is not possible, the people have been so deluded and become so ignorant with myth and superstition as all there being to cling to, that the destruction will only increase in speed. The grand experiment is dead.

Chris hedges is right; The US is doomed ;Hurrah! The rest of the world(apart from Israel columbia and Georgia) will be celebrating in the streets when the bastard Empire Falls! Thre cheers for historical inevitability!

I don't know where to begin... The picture of doom painted by Hedges clouds my vision. I am defeated by his visions of the descent of America into a neo-feudalistic state that makes "Big Brother"(1984) seem like a kindly old grandmother. I want to rebel against his vision, but he has so much evidence that supports his arguments, that I am suffering. At the same time, I am ambivalent about the loss of power in the USA. I see that with that loss, power will be more equally distributed around the world and many millions of people will rise out of squalor into simple poverty. I love America, but I know that America's Empire is doomed just as the other Empires before. I am sad that so many people have to suffer as a byproduct of that descent. Hedges, does not seem to lament the loss of American Empire, as much as he seems to dread what may take the place of Empire. He obviously wants America to follow northern Europe's example, but realizes that our very religious population will not move to a secular and socialistic solution without revolution. Hedges lambastes Obama as a traitor to the left and that disturbs me, because I never thought that Obama was a leftist. I believed he was a centrist who believes that he can make deals with corporations and change their predatory ways from within. I believe that Hedges hates corporations so much that it has clouded his vision of what they are and how you can simply change their actions. I don't mean to preach, but corporations are like armadillos. Hard shell on one side and all soft underneath. Attack them with laws and you have a hard time, educate their consumers and you have them at your feet, doing what you want. Anyway, I intend to watch this again in a few days after giving myself some time. I suggest you watch this...