Chris Hedges on the Rot Within the American System
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This interview originally aired on November 7, 2018.
The journalist Chris Hedges has spent the last decade and a half trying to ring the alarm about the dangers of the U.S. political system and he writes about a corporate and financial coup d’etat that happened long ago in this country.
Now before Hedges embarked on this mission, he was a longtime war correspondent for The New York Times. In fact, he was part of the Pulitzer Prize-winning team that covered the 9/11 attacks and the aftermath. Hedges’ book “War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning” remains a classic work for studying war journalism. Chris Hedges quit the New York Times after being reprimanded for his public denouncement of the Bush administration’s invasion of Iraq. And that largely ended Chris Hedges’ relationship with large, powerful media organizations.
He’s currently a columnist at Truthdig, he hosts a show on Russian television on RT America, and he teaches a college class at a state prison in New Jersey. In 2012, Hedges sued President Barack Obama in a case known as Hedges v. Obama over Section 1021 of the National Defense Authorization Act. Hedges said that that act would allow for the detention or rendition of US citizens. Hedges won an injunction in that case, but the decision was ultimately overturned on an appeal filed by the Obama administration.
Chris Hedges has written 12 books including the bestsellers “Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt,” “American Fascists: The Christian Right and The War on America,” and “War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning.” His latest book is “America: The Farewell Tour.”
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One thing I know down to my bones....we can't vote our way out of this nightmare.
No, unfortunately there will have to be a revolution.
@@marysouza1882 there must be a revolution, in the sense that transfer of power from one segment of society to another is revolution. if a large number of voters organized over the web to write a simple constitution establishing democracy, and began non-violent demonstrations in support, then the transfer might be achieved without violence. but do one half or more of americans want democracy? i think not. the only change that is likely is military intervention in the political process. usa is headed for slow collapse, at best.
Al Loomis were gonna have to général strike
The revolution will be on the internet
@@koismiah30 Who controls the internet? Not the people...when it gets deep the internet will be censored and blocked to oblivion.
To quote Chris Hedges, "The only thing we have left is the street.."
Yeah it's called homelessness
The most important thing Hedges mentions of all is simply,
We need to have en masse non violent civil disobedience. This passive acceptance of unfettered capitalism and planned obsolescence by the disintegration of virtually all industry and production. This is why the USA throw away culture is so reliant on the very nation that will ultimately replace them as the worlds reserve currency, in China .
@@shawn4900 Since the corporate media is in so few hands protesting the wars is not covered or covered scantily. because it bad for business. in a week, it is all forgotten
Tech companies: Here's our plan for Smartcity
We need to educate and build solidarity with our brothers in the working class ... even if they are self-described "conservatives."
Not all of them are unreachable, and you can usually discern who THOSE characters are rather easily.
To quote Chris Hedges: Corrupt beyond redemption.
America's Real Divide is NOT Left vs.Right, it's Democracy vs.Oligarchy
- www.NationOfChange.org/2019/07/10/americas-real-divide-isnt-left-vs-right-its-democracy-vs-oligarchy/
AND THERES NOT A DAMN THING YOU WILL DO ABOUT IT YOU WEAK A$$ BISH!
@@ongoinglife democracy is partly what got America into this mess. The founding fathers set the country up as a republic because they were smart enough to know that democracies are a failure and that it's only 1 step away from full blown totalitarianism
I prefer to say they are ethically broken beyond repair, for it is not the fault of the cog that it fails, but the design of the machine that is to blame....people are a dichotomy, as Nietzsche said, "Man is a rope, tied between beast and overman--a rope over an abyss. A dangerous across, a dangerous on-the-way, a dangerous looking-back, a dangerous shuddering and stopping. What is great in man is that he is a bridge and not an end: what can be loved in man is that he is an overture and a going under. I love those who do not know how to live, for they are those who cross over."
Chris Hedges is sick.
Awesome and so informative, Chris Hedges is loved worldwide.
Hedges is an interesting animal but sort of like a platypus is an interesting sort of animal.
@s Oh, well, Chris Hedges is white, that cannot be disputed, and he may be a tad over his match weight. Comes With age, I Guess. But there is nothing LAZY about him. I don't know about "world wide", that's a very large Word. But I love the man, because he is knowledgeable, outspoken, brave, and a man of integrity.
Some People don't like those traits in a man. And you appear to be one of them.
@s And what the fuck are you doing that puts you on a pedastool? dipshit.
Domingo De Anda
Aye.
Love from Greece.
When the whole system is full of rot, it needs to be overhauled. Both parties are part of the ongoing problem.
Those private corporations called "parties" intentionally cause the problems.
"How do you want your corporate fascism delivered to you?"
Chris Hedges is always a pleasure to listen to and learn from.
Most of the young people I see commenting here do not deserve to live in a free country.
The fundamental problem is the election campaign funding mechanism. When all candidates are forced to go hat in hand to wall$treet in order to just get on the ballot, everyone is being bribed. We need to change the system, but how do you reform a system that profits everyone who gets to vote? It may be time for an actual revolution. Are we ready? I think we're still a little too comfortable, although this past couple of weeks gives me hope.
@@slydog1080 shut the fuck up, boomer.
Hardly a pleasure. As it's all bad news. We need answers, solutions. The facts are laid out well by Chris but its time to SOLVE NOW!
I would like to see governments worldwide go after wealthy criminals harder and not just victimize poor people.
@Elisa Rokston: So would I, but governments are bought and paid for! At least ours is!
Chris is a brilliant journalist and historian. His books should be required reading in high school if it is still taught.
If they did. There wouldn't be a school. Kids would realize. What a sham. This education system is.
As should Ayn Rand's work.
The Nazis were actually, bufoonish,
according to the writings of Anne
Frank.
Now is the time for an Occupy Wall Street reboot.
Occupy scared the shit out of them and they took names, isp's and cell phones #..This is what the NSA is for..
Yes. Let's work toward 500,000 (or more) to assemble night after night, just like at Alexanderplatz!
the a hole dems and repugs this last week literally reauthorized the unamerican patriot act-all else is a sideshow as elites kill the earth
Obama shut down Occupy in one day nation wide. The leaders have been or are being prosecuted. And the movement is largely either unknown, forgotten or ridiculed.
Without a President that will respond properly, as Bernie would, the only point seems to be making ourselves targets of ridicule, state violence, possible incarceration and the torching of our lives.
It only works if the system will respond.
The FBI killed the first one.
Most politicians belong in prison
John Doe couldn’t agree with that statement more .
It's really shame. Justice is Blind for one. Hold peasants accountable. With their laws.
Scaphism.
Decent people don't become politicians!
@@shirleykurtz You can add Cops An Attorney's Judges DAs to that too.
Read “America: The Farewell Tour” - The latest book by #ChrisHedges If that doesn't wake you up to the realities of the USA, nothing ever will.
IF you haven't been awake and needed a book this year you must have been deep in the dream.
@Uncle Sam's If you have no education and are a follower
@Uncle Sam's what?, that two questions in one run-on sentence with no punctuation? What are you trying to ask?
@Ricci Hardow same as 50 years ago, Tune in, Turn on and DRO OUT of the madness. I did 20 years ago. All the shit in the last 20 years you;ve seen on TV/YT hasn't effected me AT ALL, none of it, not 911, not the wars not even the fucking lava.
Well the lava brought me a lot of money and stuff from the internet, thank you my peeps. lol
The analytical style of Chris Hedges impresses me everytime.
Especially when it is joined to a compassionate heart.
*"I saved capitalism."* This was the biggest mistake ever made!
And the alternative would've been...? Would FDR have been able to throw out capitalism? Would Congress, the people, and the courts have gone along with it?
@C Seay Who do you think would have won out if the state feel apart? The 1930s labor left or the German-American Bund? Would we have become Spain?
@@ajsfa I don't believe that capitalism is the glue that holds everything together. Capitalism is an acid that has set the whole world on fire.
@C Seay the great depression was not a product of capitalism. During the roaring 20s, the new federal reserve blew a bubble and it popped in 1929. That recession became the great depression because of government intervention.
Keep in mind that in 1920, the stock market had an even deeper recession than it did in 1929 and it was over by 1921. Why? Because the people in charge then (president and fed chair) did not intervene. They allowed the markets to clear.
Stop going around and repeating this Keynesian/ socialist nonsense. Free market capitalism isnt perfect but it's the best economic system that man has created.
Wk Wk Not quite sure what you’re referring to as “free market capitalism,” or how you’re making a value judgment regarding its effectiveness, given that it is a chimera, a fairy tale system that has never existed, and which any corporatist worth his or her Harvard MBA will never allow to replace the predatory capitalism they know and love so well. “Free” markets? Who needs that kind of undirected volatility when you can carefully, quietly (well, not so quietly these days), viciously game an entire economy - heck, an entire polity, government and all - to produce for the Eternally Entitled on time and per spec. Now THAT’s economic efficiency. But it doesn’t even remotely resemble anything legitimately described as “free.” It IS a pretty story, though.
chris's talking style is to be applauded. not all great writers are great orators, but it looks like he is mastering both and it is greatly appreciated
Obama was one major disappointment smooth operator
. . . but he achieved what he set out to do; collect the loot and achieve a place in history. Waste comes in all colours and from all positions.
If only 'America' (USA) was actually democratic in fact and action.😢
He proved that you cannot use the US electoral system to achieve radical change.
Obama was always an obvious Dud, you believed him? 🌑
jaye see Obvious to you an me but not obvious to a lot of people.
jaye see Yeah. He ran as a progressive but was conservative down to his toes.
THE PAUL REVERE OF OUR TIMES.
The Paul Revere fairy tale is a lie in itself.
Hiloha'homa is something of a lobcock.
Common Sense.
Wish we had a Thomas Paine.
You mean Israel Bissel?
Hedges is perfect as usual
I find him so bright, Banks of Barcelona.
Perfect? lol Great! oh yeah! But he's a guy who said that Bernie wouldn't have any support in 2020. Hmm? Have you been to a Bernie rally? Still in second behind Biden, but Chris is hardly perfect.
@@craigbowers4016 Nobody is. I was agreeing in general.
@@craigbowers4016 I also heard him once say there's no way he'd be the nominee. Bernie will be cheated again. The party is corrupt and only serve the donor class
get rid of the patriot act
"We are headed for a crash bigger than the great recession". Dude was spot on, and it happened in just a few months.
Such relief from hearing an intellect able to cut through to clear and simple truths.
Intercept Stay Powerful. Chris Hedges an exemplary american in these befallen times ...
As usual..
Totally brilliant, enlightening, brutal and incisive!!!
If only this had 13 million views instead of 31000.
Then share it on Facebook and Twitter!
Thanks for mentioning that the world is actually in the midst of a huge recession, and the flailing covert efforts of governments to prevent the public from knowing will make it all the much worse.
America you have become to arrogant God will break your backbone and place power in a state that doesn't even know my name. ( dr Martin Luther King Jr. ) truest words ever spoken.
Great podcast. Hedges always keeps it 100! Scary though! I hope Americans wake up before its too late.
125K subscribers...was posted two days ago...has less then 1200 views.....censorship?
Censorship......and kittens.
@@drivenbyrage5710 And sheeple
Really good interview.
Christopher Hedges is the iconic intellectual of our time!
12:15 I'm personally fed up with this, "Most important election" BS. Meaning can only be judged in hindsight, if these politicians had any philosophical insight whatsoever they would realize that it's every moment that is the most important, for we cannot calculate the web of causality created by our very existence, so any moment could be the defining one....
Worrying stuff most people don't want to hear or care enough to hear. Thank you, Chris Hedges!
Reclamation of our humanity, compassion, understanding and the necessity to embody dignity for All!
Thank-you for this!
I’m so glad Intercept is here on CZcams.
That was very strong - you really gave Chris time to lay it all out!
Today is June 9th, 2020. It is the day of the funeral of George Floyd, another black man murdered by terrorists with badges and guns. This has sparked mass protests around the world, in the middle of the COVID pandemic. It is amazing to listen to this podcast. Unbelieavable how precise Chris Hedges was back then.
For me and my Turtle Island(N, Ame'Rica) original human beings it's been over 500 years of ROT !!!!!.
2020 is 400th of Mayflower crash into one thousand Indigenous Nations
Turtle folks may be the answer 🙏🏻💕🐢🕊
Feathers Up! The creator of this Planet has spoken. Babylon is Falling! Good Turtle People must now lead to SAVE us all. Listening to the WIND.
Always good to hear from Chris. Thanks
Im a former Trump supporter and I just want to apologize for my misjudgement
Thanks Chris🌹✌️
To date only 71,000 views. This is a staggering reality to just how few Americans are even aware of the impending catastrophe about to impact their lives !
I have not spoken to one person other than my wife that has any idea whats going on around them. It's as if zombies really do exist !
@Steve's Shed: I hear ya! I just wish I knew more people who I could tell this to! More people I know are brainwashed Republicans who would never listen or a few liberals who aren't that politically engaged. ☹
This should have millions of views. Hedges is a voice of sanity and rebellion in a time of impending collapse.
@Jules P.: Then share it on Facebook and Twitter!
"Obama is the black face of empire." Cornell West
August 2020. It's all happening.
This whole discussion is prophetic for where we are now.
A couple weeks ago I watched an interview Chris Hedges did with John Ralston Saul back in 2013, then surreptitiously, I found a copy of Voltaire's Bastards tucked under the Christmas decorations. It is all still valid today and it makes more sense to me now that it did when I was still a naive university student.
That's awesome you found those things .
James Madison coauthor (founding father) of the US constitution stated that the main purpose of government was protecting the minority opulent (super rich) from the majority poor (non super rich).
Fiat money = Endless wars
DrivenByRage | do you prefer digital currency?
@@diempardon4259 I prefer a currency that retains it value.
@@drivenbyrage5710 Greedy psychopathic leaders = Endless wars.
No currency is the future. Just watch Star Trek and you will see how socialism brought about the abundance that allowed communism to end capitalism.
Question: Where is the best place to store food?
Communist answer: In your neighbor’s belly.
Question: Where is the best place to store money?
Communist answer: What is money?
@@Spiral.Dynamics the irony of course being that the 20ty century is littered with people starving and being enslaved under socialism, fascism, communism and collectivism altogether.
Socialism only works if you have a perfect god leading it because he won't be overwhelmed by his temptations to become a totalitarian dictator. It can only work in a paradise setting.
I dont know what itll take for you to learn but human beings arent capable of socialism. The fact that you can still advocate socialism and communism shows that, well, you probably have a college education.
One of the Best! Love Both these people!
"The revolution will not be streamed."
The revolution will be live.
- Gil Scott-Heron
"The revolution will not be televised "
Two major issues are destroying America today. The corporate and political corruption that saturates everything ( counting as one issue ). The other is the inability to confront the problems associated with drug abuse.
If I could only get my conservative family to listen and learn from this discussion we might be heading in a better direction. But sure enough, the evangelical conservative in them would not allow the discussion to get five minutes in before total shut down occurs.
Always so much to learn from history!Thank you,Chris!
Hedges does an outstanding job explaining and making sense. I wish every single Pastor, Preacher & Politician would be forced to sit and listen and answer their conscience while sitting in a church in front of their followers , or at a Town Hall, and have to look them in the eye. Maybe their body language would say it all and many more would open their eyes and see. Let the Revolution begin for the sake of our country and the world. Peace to us all except those who need to be taken down. Let them be the ones to suffer so that they can learn.
When Nader ran...he receive giant response...…...the news panned how powerfully he got votes
Revolution has to be no violent! I agree!
Co Ragoo Gandhi freed India from England. Martin Luther Kind destroyed the white/black places in buses, etc. Mandela finished apartheid in South Africa. All with no violent action but using disobedience actions. We cannot became the monsters we want to defeat. But I understand your frustration. All is a question of conscience illumination. Who has, understands.
@@NereidaRezende Lol thats very stupid, people like you and chris are part of the problem when it comes to this whole non-violent view esp on this scale. You think the people that have the real power are just going to give up and say "oh that's ok guess you guys run shit now here are the keys have fun" lol the violent part is going to be a necessity, Chris knows this of course but he cant just say it outright because he probably doesn't want to end up in a cell somewhere himself or worse.
people with real power need police and soldiers to carry out their orders.
9 months later and now we are no longer sitting comfortably. I agree with everything I've heard, half thru this video so far, but seriously , we are here and now what do we do? How do we prepare for the revolution bc its here now
Neither party serves the interest of the people.
I. feel we all have to find places to escape before our own fascist manipulators kill us and those like Chris and Jeremy. I've read all their books. I'm personally terrified.
@@Jj-gi2uv Yes we need public banking. But power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Bureaucracies need to be controlled by consumers first and other stake holders second..
I'm voting for Bernie Sanders that is a good start.
This stuff has been going on for over 40 years now.
We have allowed it to go on by being complacent and naivete.
Hes a communist. See, this is why america is in the shape it's in right now. Because you hear this crazy news about how corrupt the government is, yet your solution is to vote for the guy who wants an even bigger, more powerful government that is responsible for even more of your life (health insurance, education). Its like you thought you typed something brilliant: you know what, I'm voting for sanders. No, WAKE UP!
@@firstnamelastname3280 Your comment is intended to create fear by conjuring up a red scare currently. It is disingenuous.
@@dhibba52 no it isnt. Government, if allowed to grow to ridiculous levels is an enemy of the people.
@@firstnamelastname3280 Give me a break, you don't have a government now what you have is funding for the Military! Dah.
I pay taxes, and I'd like to make the rules not the big giant companies!
More for the little people. You have to have a government otherwise law of the jungle.
@@sa-iw4dr strawman... I'm not an anarchist. I do in fact believe that there is a place for government. I just believe it should be much smaller and much less intrusive. All it is supposed to do is have a defensive military, a police force, courts, and pick up the slack if the private sector cant do something. Otherwise, its stepping past its boundaries
Of course its rotting ,when greed and control are the only thing you are about ,that's what you get. What goes around, comes around.
Fascinating conversation. Learned a lot.
I used to donate regularly to the intercept. Until retreads from the Times, Billionaires from the Rot and Snowden's papers are being suppressed. Though, I miss pieces like this... Chris is simply brilliant..
American exceptionalism will keep us thinking we are immune to this collapse.. Just like all other empires.
"...we're headed for a crash that will be as large as the 2008 crash from everything I can tell."
Nailed it.
"Friendly fascism" - for how long friendly?
Like walking through a crowd with your hair on fire and no one notices. Its very frustrating, but TRUTH will prevail, I know it. Just keep doing what you do. Eventually, they will look at the videos I've shared, to incl this one.
American democracy problems :So many brilliant minds_so many thoughtful thinkers_so many loving hearts_used to be very altruistic...but when the vote wrongly cast...no way for them to remdy thể situation...Big impass..
If you haven't already, 'Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt' is a must read! Joe Sacco's illustrations are the icing on the cake.
I wonder if Chris Hedges listens to Bob Marley's music
I bet he listens to a lot of Latin jazz.
Chris don't worry, about a thing. 'Cause every little thing is gonna be alright. Chris don't worry, about a thing. Seriously though, we better get our shit together quickly.
ty
Ever notice how people in non warhead countries are milder I consider them blessed
Allow me to state, “been around the block for many years,” and followed Mr. Hedges for some time, he pretty much encapsulates the “spirit and the severity of societal” grievances and dissent on a structural system that has held our country by extreme fascist forces (the right wing of the elites of a failed two party system.) Mr. Hedges is a force to be reckoned with and correctly makes a very strong argument to “stepping out to save our society,” from all the “bullshit narrative” by the “Corporate State,” and their “One Party of Corporate Fascists.) We’ve lost our two party system to serve the people and not to keep looking for any changes on the real issues.” (Albeit, without “violence,” keeping a revolution in the minds-that, don’t want to be held to the whim of the, “Corporate State and “deranged and fanatical ‘Ed of Days,’ self destructing “Christian Evangelicals fascists as well.) Keeping in mind-Trump is not solely to blame (other than being a con artist and along with the elites,)-simply a benefactor by the, “Structural Changes and in the past decades, by both parties (including Obama and the Clintons” tethered to the, “Wall Street Corporate State.”
Brilliant.
I wish Chris Hedges was a household name...Or, in the least, not mis-understood. His concerns regarding the corporate coup d'etat. Fascism knocks on our doorstep birthed from Neoliberalism to & the lie of free mrkts.
MrWorldasmaya
You have to forward his work to people. Which is what I do. Friend of mine prints out some of his weekly Truthdig columns. She’s become such a huge fan.
@@mmarone333 OH, I do. Thanks ☺. Met & talked with him before - he's quite nice... And a bit shorter than I thought ☺
This frankly, scares the hell out of me...
Chris Hedges is by far one of the most principled, righteous and respectable journalists in the US.
And that corporate bird just keeps shitting on all of us.
Thank you. How much I love you guys. When people criticize me for not voting Democrat, I remember Chris Hedges words and remain steady.
I have more to lose than most if we start pushing back on the system now but I've been there before and I'm game to go for it again because those of us who have the most to lose will lose even more if we wait. The only other real difference is that even more of us will be in a vulnerable position. We have more power now than we will later if we wait. Although the best leader of our non-violent revolution is also vulnerable we have to continue with or without him. We also need to look to the indigenous people of the world as leaders in the fight for environmental justice. We need to look to those courageous whistleblowers, publishers and independent journalists for our information. A free and unfettered press is something we have a constitutional right to, yet they are imprisoned and tortured for informing us in order that a democracy can finally come into existence. However vulnerable you are, how ever vulnerable I am, each one of us needs to grow a pair and go into serious action or the United States will soon be a fascist dictatorship. A theocratic one that would put Saudi Arabia to shame.
The only solution is to set term limit for Congress and Senate.
No it is not, with term limits, you create an expert staff that can then be purchased.Capitalism is the crisis!
So the revolving door will spin faster?
Term limits have benefits, yes. But it won't solve much on its own. If it is a single factor of major electoral reform? Okay. But on its own? Shoulder shrug.
Did putting term limits on the presidency after FDR fix all the problems there? Yes or no?
@@craigbowers4016 Putting term limit only on President is not enough. Sorry I have miss-spoken, I am actually suggesting the next step. Then there will be another next step. Our political system is so messed up, there is no one fix for all.
Thank you chh .
Chris,
Isn't the courageous Tulsi Gabbard, and the Tulsi2020 campaign, a real (albiet long shot) opportunity to wrest power from the military industrial complex?
Mike C Yes it is. But none of these, “intellectuals “ couldn’t get together, form a united coalition and endorse Tulsi. They should have come out strong, together, in her defense. And instead we hear the same intellectual masturbation over and over again...
...they just like to hear themselves talk.
@@AlexS-zc4in
Interesting insight.
I think you nailed it.
Thoughtful
kudos to both of these heroes
Chris Hedges for President!
Thank you for this “reminder” -
Thanks
For the truth
Listening to Chris gets me more pumped than any workout playlist.
The Boxcar Adventurer
Right on!
Like someone said already:"Republicans or Democrats are just two doors to one and the same slaughterhouse."
It is amazing to think that over 100 years ago, the American people were more aware, more literate, more articulate, and a lot more willing to fight for what they had a right to, than the people are today. Socially speaking, we have de-evolved in a lot of ways.
where yall been? brilliant. saw hedges at random, clicked
And this was before covid
Yep
Talk about selling fear....this interview is terrifying!
I don't know why Jeremy says, in the beginning, that Chris hosts a show on 'Russian television.'
The channel's name is RT America. The hint is in the name.
Can you imagine if Chris Hedges became president? We would probably heal. A lit of cleaning up but his cabinet would be STERLING it feels really good, so imagine. I actually almost smiled. Some dream, hu? Can you imagine cleaning up DC I would love to witness...
Gonna go cry in a corner now. Tomorrow I'll try again. 😉
I totally agree, your spot on, if we don’t watch ourselves, it’s not unthinkable that their might at some point, if we don’t get Trump and his administration, out of office that we could be see”death squads” like in Indonesia in the mid sixties, these are indeed dangerous and critical times, Thank you, Peace !!!!
Next phase ?
Great show. 10/10
The reason we’re in such dire straights is because 10 years ago we didn’t start voting against the corporate state. What do we do wait another ten? We have to take the pain we’ve earned by waiting and vote Green Party now. It will never be a better time.