Book TV: After Words: Chris Hedges, "Empire of Illusion"

[237Michael]

This guy is great!

[powergirl901]

Is there any place we can find the remainder of the interview?

[MrPeonPower]

Our illusions, fantasies, fears, and escapisms are feeding the corporate/political wolves, while democracy crumbles 'fore we've readied ourselves for its ascent, collectively. We've chosen to let elites of empire divert our quest for a more united soc. & world, refusing to share rights and resources. So as democracy crumbles globally, people are starving to death in a world of plenty & cope with nature's manmade disequilibrium. We must share- or perish in tensions of globalized capital and hate.

[FrechetteRyan]

He should run for office

[hockeyjester12]

What does he have to say about the Zeitgeist Movement?

[valhala56]

Pretty funny when he was talking about being booed off the College commencmet stage at the runup to the Iraq invasion. People were all for it then, now they are bemoaning being in Iraq, boohooing our domestic economy being broke partialy due to the war.

Personaly I think most people are idiots and deserve what they get.

[translationwiz]

America compromised its soul for power&wealth-and the sad thing is that it didnt have to.........We sold out when we acted to support zionism at all costs. No matter what Israel does........we say, oh it's ok. Like a spoiled child, we let him do whatever and defend his error's by blaming others. HE then brings down the entire family. Jews IN Israel are crying out in horror over the atrocities of Israels actions. Not that Hamas is right.....but Our hands are bloody too.

paz/peace/salam/shalom

[bapyou]

Hello.

If you haven't yet discovered it, you can watch this video in its entirety at the booktv website.

[holzpusher]

So if a reporter spoke in favor of the war he wasn't impugning the impartiality of the NY Times, but if he spoke against it, his WAS impugning their impartiality? Does the NY Times own a dictionary where they can look up the word impartial?

[gustavocologni]

15 years with the NYTimes.

"I knew that To speak out against policy was a career killer ".

[brightsuperstition]

WHY THE HELL DOES THE VIDEO CUT OFF???

[28g34ajbsd]

@brightsuperstition Is it so hard to type in "book tv hedges suskind" in one's google?

booktv.org /Watch/10883/After+Words+Chris­+Hedges+Empire+of+Illusion+Int­erviewed+by+Ron+Suskind.aspx

[herodotus53]

Holy. Shit. Pause at 5:38, C-SPAN misspelled the title of the guy's book as "War is a Farce that Gives us Meaning"! Now, I would be tempted to call war a farce, but that would imply that it's funny in some way, wouldn't it?

[madebutante]

Please watch 9/11 mysteries ed 1 on google video..:-) or here on youtube. then see if you can DISPROVE it. cheers

[DomingoHMaCoolstein]

First of all, a two-year old could disprove it. Second, if you have a theory, its up to YOU to prove it not for others to prove you wrong.

Look up the scientific method.

[edris47]

Hedges is pointing out a fundamental human problem of conditioned illusionary living which it manifesting itself with great force and brutality in american culture. He is showing how we will destroy ourself with our ignorance that includes our most educated whom are most greedy and destructive ob all.

[madebutante]

The people who get to the highest institututions are often the ones who will play ball with corporate uber-capitalistic amerikkka.big pharma funds the universities so that they have free research depts to work for them. NASA isn't allowed to have any project that doesn't have some militaristic value.

charity is replaced w/mean spiritedness..

so sad.

[mrzack888]

go watch any alex jones documentary. 60% of 9/11 commission said it was a lie. it's proven that Condi lied in her testament to the commission.

[spits32]

She lied that doesn't mean it was an inside job, it means she lied.

[mrzack888]

why would she lie then? how come no one was fired?  have you read PNAC? published in the late 90s by the neocons before 9/11 calling for a terrorist attack as an excuse to attack other countries.

[terpis]

Hedges has as incisive--and as bleak--a take on the root causes of America's problems right now as anyone, bar none.

This clip should've been more about the thesis of his book and not this introductory stuff.

I'm a full blown, unshakable agnostic, but the part of Hedges' critique that America's lost a common social commitment to "the sacred" in our commercialized-to-death, atomistic existences is very hard to argue against.

[mrzack888]

what kind of shit school did he go talk to again? typical cunt religious Christian schools in America. 9/11 = INSIDE JOB

[madebutante]

what kinda of nazi steroids are you on? first) stay away from the nationalist socialist movement, 2) stay away from steroids, 3) stay away from twinkies, learn some history about how our beloved country has become a fascist police state, losing habeas corpus, posse comitatus , freedom to assembly, legalizing torture which are all forbidden by our now demolished constitution. If we were really americans we'd work to restore the constitutiojn and not flip someone off whos trying to tell u da truth

[mrzack888]

I already know all those. I was referring to the lying mega churches.  where they corporatized religion.

[bapyou]

The school at which Hedges spoke at a commencement in 2003 was Rockford College, Illinois. The entire ugly scene has been uploaded to YouTube in five parts by several YouTubers. Search using Hedges + Rockford.