GRITtv: Interview with Chris Hedges (2/2)

[deprogramr]

I used to be a salesperson and my bosses would actually tell me to lie. It sucked. Lies and manipulation shouldn't lead to success....The realist in me says "that's the way it is" but the idealist in me asks "does it have to be that way?"

[tanvo93]

that part on positive physcology when i read the book litterly scared me. it reminded me when i would watch cartoons and they would be working in a factory and everyone had to obey and be happy or else they disrupt the harmony. its like wow we are brainwashing people now. this country is an illusion

[willywillyization]

He is soooo right on!!!! It's a pleasure to listen to this honest gentleman. Honesty now a days is hard to find.

[southsydney]

i like Laura Flanders

[bapyou]

The idea of spectacle in contemporary late-capitalist civilization was first articulated in Guy Debord's 'Society of the Spectacle;' which is not to say that Hedges' work is either unimportant or unoriginal. On the contrary.

[livershot]

@bapyou I love me some Situationism but Debord could be so damned hard to read sometimes (maybe I should learn French). Hedges is much more to the point

[bapyou]

@livershot "Debord could be so damned hard to read sometimes"

The Society of the Spectacle can seem impenetrable. I think you need the right frame of mind to read it. It's pronouncements and ideas are meant to stew in your subconcious, I think, and perhaps to make sense only at a later time when the "situation" is ripe for them to do so.

But some passages are straight up history; Debord fulminating about this or that revolutionary moment. These sections are some of its best writing.

[Tippersnore]

Is it just me or does Hedges depress?

[sidg5582]

Amazing book! I couldn't stop reading it till the end. We are living in an age of illusion and the dominant forces that lead our civilization is breaking down. We see it in the news everyday and Chris Hedges confirms this. The media, the corporations that run them and all other spectacles only avert the real situation that is ongoing in our world, such as poverty, health problems, financial crises and other problems.

Thank You Chris and thank you Grit TV

[donpengin]

He is so very right in his assertions. I can't bring up reality to anyone without being labeled a pessimist. I will tell what true pessimism is. It is being so morally bankrupt and having such little hope for the future that you retract into your shell of self delusion pretending that redemption is around the corner without moving methodically towards it.

[Th3Wab3]

@donpengin solid point sadly enough bringing up topics of reality has become synonymous with cynicism..

[blearyeyed09]

@donpengin Word!

[SweetSweetWaldo]

Case in point of Hedges observation of Be Happy Or Die, Inc. is Whole Foods.

[looneyGz]

Chris is a prophet in his own right! Very inspired.

[KhagarBalugrak]

Positive thinking, as it exists now, is really a form of narcissism. It's really a code for saying "This doesn't give me instant gratification and pleasure, so I don't want to pay attention to it. It doesn't matter if the world needs my help; I am concerned only about ME."

[preid2]

Hedonism is everywhere and it's veiled under the "positive thinking" mantra.

[VENGEVENGE]

Positive thinking alone is escapism. Smiling stupidity.

[zhengiszen]

Western mind is indeed very wicked

[DaftAida]

Yes, he describes the psychopathic modus operandi - callous, devoid of humanity, sees others as fair game for conquest, a conquest which gives them a sexual thrill - the more swindled, raped, murdered, the greater the thrill - meet the elite. Psychopaths beneath them, all the way down to the slime on the street, will display nauseating admiration and sycophancy to psychopaths above them. Is this a virus which is spread via vaccines and media mind-mashing? We are becoming non-human/humane.

[larbaud]

Very interesting. I will buy the book.

[perciusmercius]

It's worth it. Very compelling observations.